Father’s Day Art

My son and I had a ball creating gifts for Andy’s first Dad’s Day. Here’s a bit of what we’ve been up to.

This canvas has been lying around our basement for years. Time to put it to use! I painted it, took photos of H posing with it, then used Mod Podge to adhere the best photo to the canvas. Baby footprints and handprints finish it off. The bright colors coordinate with Andy’s office at work.

I borrowed letters from a friend to spell out “DAD.” You may have seen this idea on Pinterest.The frame was about $25 at Gordman’s. It holds three 5 x 7 photos and came with the mat.

To hang the canvas, I bought several sawtooth hangers at Hobby Lobby for about $1.50. It hammered in easily.

For only $1, Hobby Lobby attaches hanging wire to the back of frames. It took 5 minutes.

I had a little extra time on my hands, so I used iMovie to create a Father’s Day photo montage. In it, pictures of Andy and H accompany each line of this poem.

Walk alongside me, Daddy

And hold my little hand

I have so many things to learn

That I don’t yet understand

Teach me things to keep me safe

From dangers every day.

Show me how to do my best

At home, at school and at play

Every child needs a gentle hand

To guide them as they grow

So walk alongside me, Daddy

We have a long way to go.

Inspired by a friend, I dressed H in Andy’s baby clothes and recreated some of his old baby photos. H has been a good sport through all these photoshoots.

Watching my husband as a father is a dream come true. He’s patient, kind, and fun. I hope all this “stuff” shows him just a bit of how grateful H and I are to have him in our lives.

Happy Father’s Day.

You might also like Guest Post: Advice For New Grandparents and Writing a Family Mission Statement.

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Filed Under: Parenting Tagged With: diy, fathersday, photos

Giveaway: CanvasPop Print

04/22 by Caroline Wise 87 Comments

It’s no secret I love CanvasPop. They’re the absolute best for printing on canvas. Upload your favorite photo or art, they provide a free digital proof, print it on canvas, and ship it to your front door.

We first used CanvasPop for the “H art” in our son’s nursery. Because it was our first experience printing on canvas, Andy and I were nervous to take the plunge. CanvasPop’s über-polite and helpful customer service assuaged our fears. For a little extra charge, they mailed us a small version of our print, on the actual canvas so we could double-check the color. That sealed the deal. The final print is perfect.

Canvas prints are such a cool alternative to traditional prints. I was so impressed by the quality of their printing that I’ve used CanvasPop for two more pieces in our home. I might need a CanvasPop intervention.

Needless to say, when given the opportunity to do a CanvasPop review and giveaway, I was stoked. Since they’re known for printing Instagram photos, I decided to give that a whirl for the product review. I sent this image I took of a sunset outside the art museum in St. Louis. Notice the iconic “Apotheosis of St. Louis” horse statue silhouetted at the bottom.

They sent a 12″ x 12″ print of the picture, and it’s beautiful. The colors perfectly match the photo I sent.

You can choose from a variety of canvas thicknesses. We’ve gone with the 1.5-inch thickness for all four prints in our home.

CanvasPop’s print is detailed and sharp, despite Instagram’s low resolution. Even up close, the print looks great.

Each print arrives well-packaged and ready to hang. They really couldn’t make life easier.

Giveaway

I’m thrilled to offer a CanvasPop giveaway! The winner will receive a 16″ x 20″ canvas print ($80 value). CanvasPop will provide the winner with a promo code worth $80 to print an image of the winner’s choosing. There are a myriad of options for what to print: family portraits, artsy shots, scanned children’s drawings; the list is endless.

To enter, simply comment below, describing what you might print, should you win. Two additional entries are available for liking Wise Mama Blog and CanvasPop on Facebook. Make a separate comment for each Facebook follow in order to gain your extra entries.

Contest closes Friday, April 26 at midnight.

Promo code will be delivered to the winner via email.

Disclosure: I was given a free CanvasPop print in exchange for a review. I was not paid and all opinions are my own.

☆☆☆☆☆ Giveaway closed. ☆☆☆☆☆

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Filed Under: Giveaways Tagged With: giveaway, homedecor, photos

Pictures Pictures Pictures: What To Do With All Those Newborn Photos

03/04 by Caroline Wise Leave a Comment

Pearhead Babybook and Shutterfly Photobook

H is our first child, and he’s the first grandchild on both sides of the family, and my husband and sister-in-law are photographers. Needless to say, we could wallpaper our home in pictures of our son. Not that I’m complaining; I absolutely love the photos. However, the inner-organizer in me always wants to do something to make the pictures meaningful, shareable, and presentable.

Shutterfly Photobook

The wildly popular Shutterfly is a website that enables you to create photobooks, personalized cards, calendars, and other photo gifts. My husband used a coupon to create a free photobook (pictured above) with H’s early pictures. I loved it so much, I replicated it for both sets of grandparents. We used personalized art on the cover: the same “H” in the nursery. Shutterfly is user-friendly, prompt in their delivery, and makes a beautiful product.

Pearhead Babybook and Bragbooks

I looked long and hard to find a babybook with a contemporary feel. The Pearhead Babybook (pictured above) is just the ticket. This dots pattern is timeless but cool. Best of all, the pages are removable, enabling you to rearrange the book as you see fit. It includes photo corners and photo pages, so even non-scrapbookers wind up with a professional product. I purchased a couple of matching Pearhead brag books (only $9 each!) for H’s two grandmas — not that they need any help in the grandson-bragging department. I love that their brag books match H’s babybook.

Flickr Photo Sharing

We use Flickr to share photos with family for a couple of reasons. My husband feels safe knowing that if our hard drive was damaged, we’d still be able to access our priceless photos online. I like Flickr because it prevents me from over-sharing on Facebook; I know the people who truly care can access our Flickr images. Flickr’s free account allows you to upload 2 videos and 300MB worth of photos per month.

CanvasPop Printing

It’s no secret I love CanvasPop. They printed the “H art” in our nursery. I couldn’t help but use them again. This time, they printed our best newborn pic on a giant canvas. It looks great in the nursery. I hear CanvasPop does great things with Instagram pictures as well, but I haven’t tried printing those yet.

Whether you’re a scrapbook-maker or an Instagram-taker, I know you’ll find creative ways to highlight your babe’s pictures without letting them collect digital dust.

You might also like Nursery Framing Ideas and 5 Apps for Pregnant and New Moms.

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Filed Under: Products Tagged With: gifts, newborn, photos, technology

Nursery Framing Ideas

02/10 by Caroline Wise Leave a Comment

As I put the final touches on H’s nursery, I snagged some white frames at Target and put them on the display shelves. Then it struck me. What the heck do I frame? You can’t frame baby pictures if you don’t yet have a baby. Here are some ideas for what to frame in the nursery before your baby is born.

Greeting Card

I still have all of H’s baby shower cards in a basket in his room. Some of them are truly works of art; I don’t yet have the heart to pitch them. Choose one of your favorites to frame. Cards with “Welcome Baby” wording on the front are especially sweet for this purpose.

Your Own Baby Pictures

In all of our picture albums, I could only find a small handful of baby pictures of my husband or I. This Christmas picture of Andy was the best of the bunch. I’ve got to remember to steal some from the grandparents.

Children’s Book Page

If you have an old favorite children’s book that’s falling apart, steal a page out of it to frame. Or, if the book is thin enough, frame the whole book.

Grandparent Photos

There’s nothing more touching than feeling like past generations are with you on the journey.

Sonogram Images

Use scrapbook paper as a backdrop to make the sonogram pictures work in a regular-sized frame. That way you can avoid the extra cost of buying special-sized frames just for sonogram shots.

Maternity Shots

We had a ball doing a maternity photo shoot with Fresh Art Photography in St. Louis. Jodie makes you feel so comfortable. If you prefer not to spend the time or money on a professional shoot, just snap a few pics on your own. What matters is documenting the exciting experience of pregnancy.

I know you have framing ideas of your own, and I’d love to hear them. Who knows, I may need fresh ideas for a future baby Wise number two someday…

You might also like The Happiest Baby on the Block and Pictures Pictures Pictures: What To Do With All Those Newborn Photos.

Photography by Samantha Wise.

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Filed Under: Pregnancy Tagged With: homedecor, nursery, photos

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Father’s Day Art

Giveaway: CanvasPop Print

Giveaway

☆☆☆☆☆ Giveaway closed. ☆☆☆☆☆