A home craft just in time for Valentine's Day! Last week's blog was about using photos for your gratitude journal. I listed suggestions for photos garnered from the internet. But it occurred to me that we could also put those photos to good use so others could enjoy them as well. Craft idea #1~ Simply frame your photo. My husband took this picture of a monarch butterfly visiting the milkweed in our backyard. He liked it so much, he framed it. That's easy--we can all do that, and I'm sure you have. Craft idea #2~ Use those photos for notecards, particularly those nature photos you take on your walk. Simply find those photos and gather them up. Decide which ones would look good on a note card. You can either have your favorite printing place print up your photos, and then simply glue them on your notecard. You can find blank notecards at craft stores or stationary supply stores. They even come with envelopes. I am fortunate to have a printer at home and the PrintShop program downloaded on my computer, so I can create my cards at home. I just use card stock, and can make them any size I want. Craft idea #3~ Make postcards! Then you don't need envelopes and you can save on postage. How delightful for friends and family to receive one of your postcards in the mail. Same technique. Just find those nature photos from your walks or from vacations and make postcards. Look for those panoramic views that would lend themselves to a postcard size. And my PrintShop app has postcard-making in one of their projects, so all I had to do was download my photos to that. But if you buy card stock and make your own, a typical postcard is 4x6 inches. Important reminder: When making postcards, DON'T use photos printed on photography paper. Print those postcards on card stock or have your local print shop do that. Craft idea #4~ And I think this craft idea is the most fun of all, and can be used for gifts for the upcoming holiday--Valentine's Day! I did this myself to give for gifts on Valentine's. I chose to use family photos rather than nature views. I made one coaster for each of my immediate family. I made four--one for my daughter-in-law, one each for my two sons, and one for my husband. I imagined that they could use them on their desks at home, work, or school. I chose photos that would appeal to each of them, in this case, a family photo, an individual photo and for my husband, a picture of all his grandkids. The how-to's of making coasters using photos~ Now mind you, I've never had an original idea. I just googled crafts using photos and discovered these ideas. I only share with you in case you might not have thought of it. That's how I get ideas besides googling and looking on Pinterest. Oftentimes my readers share with me or one of my friends will tell me about their latest project. My motto is, live and learn and pass it on! Now back to how to do this. The website said to get some of those 4x4 ceramic bathroom tiles. Guess what? When I went to my big box home improvement store, THEY DON'T HAVE THEM ANYMORE. But I told the clerk what I was looking for, and he said he had 4x4 samples of flooring. And guess what? They were FREE! I found images that would work with that 4x4 size. The one of the four grandkids that I was making for my husband didn't lend itself to 4x4. So I printed it out 2 1/2x4 and I think it looks just fine. Finally. . . Print your image on card stock (DO NOT use actual photos printed on photography paper) and simply decoupage them on the tile. Paint Mod Podge on the tile and place the photo on. Use a roller or ruler and press out any air bubbles, etc. After you let that dry, spray with several coats of spray acrylic. And you're done. I'll post a "how-to" website at the end of this blog. And there you have it. Now you don't have to leave those "pictures of gratitude" on your phone. You can share them with others. When I found this idea on Pinterest, I knew I had to share.
Until next week!
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AuthorRetired school teacher and now full time grandmother sharing ideas and looking for new ones about grandparenting! Archives
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