The Big BIG Picture!

I'm so excited about phase two of my dining room. I rarely complete a room before moving on to the next. It's kind of like finishing a good book. I never want to finish. That's how I feel about decorating. Except money is the usual stopper for me. I'm kind of cheap when it comes to decor and it has to be totally functional and sentimental. Everything has to be personal or it just feels cluttered to me. It's actually a total pain, because personalizing things ends up being a lot more work! I have loved these photos of my parents as children. They were hanging in my home growing up and have been dying to do something them. My parents both grew up in the Seattle area but never knew each other until their early twenties. There was a traveling salesman taking photos of children in costumes and on a horse. Surprisingly enough, both my grandparents purchased pictures even though money was tight. (very, very tight!) When I saw these huge photos, I knew exactly what I had to do:

photo found here at Laura Winslow Photography


I love everything about this funky room above. Brick wall, fun letter F and black & white photo. Image found here.

This water photo is quite the conversation piece. I love quirky. Image found here.

I would love to blow these shots up and have them made into wall paper, but wasn't willing to spend $300 on something I like to change up. Large prints would cost around $120 and then customize framing would be another $200. That's too much for a cheapy like me. Here's my much cheaper version: (ignore the orange scrolly thing behind the photo- painting over the bird & branch soon)

Sorry about the glare. It's impossible to get a non-glare photo with plexi-glass frames. Here's the original scanned photos. My mom's photo was actually colorized and I converted to black and white.

So the cost break down is $50 for 2 Ribba frames from Ikea. And $18 for 2 20x30 photos printed at Costco. Total cost is under $70 and I can change out the photos without any guilt. Not that I'll want to- these photo's make me so happy!

New Photo Prop

I'm always on the look-out for interesting photo props. There's a fine line between super cheesy props and WOW props. "Why use props at all?" you ask. Sometimes its hard to get a real smile. I can't tell you how many photos go in digital trash can because they look more like their posing for the dentist x-ray machine than smiling. Say cheese- and now you can count how many teeth are in their entire mouth! So that's why I use props. I get them acting like their diva-selves and I get some pretty great smiles that way. I can especially capture my kids personalities. The shy one, (nix that- NONE of my kids are shy when I pull out a camera) the sweet innocent one, the soon-to-be broadway star. It's all there, just waiting for a prop to show them how to be themselves. Here is my latest attempt at Christmas card photos. Take 3. That's right, 3 different times of dressing up, getting in the car, and bribing with candy. 3rd times a charm right? You be the judge:

Here are some chalk board thought bubbles: soon to be selling in my sisters store found here.
There are so many possibilities. Your child holding a naughty sign with an arrow pointing to big brother. A scrooge sign for the dad who doesn't want to pose for pics. What would mine say? Oh, that's easy. Trophy Wife. My hubs would say, Eye Candy. As you can see, we're a sarcastic family. But you get the drift. You simply write on chalkboard bubble and wipe off with a baby wipe when you've changed your mind. Easy peezy and a hint of funny. Best kind of pictures!