DIY Gift Idea for Your Budding Photographer

Happy Holidays! The most festive time of the year is once again upon us…and I couldn’t be happier about it! In the spirit of the season, I wanted to share a really cute gift idea that can be made for kids or anyone who has kids! The idea came to me earlier in the month when I was visiting with a friend of mine. She has two adorable children, and the day I was over just happened to be a few days before her son’s third birthday. It was still morning, so we were having our usual bagel and coffee breakfast while Patrick entertained us with his dance moves and cute sayings. At one point, I handed him my digital camera and showed him how to push the button down, snap some photos, and then check them out. He loved it. He ran around the room snapping shots of everything and everyone. The entertainer was at it again, and it was another great morning. It wasn’t until I got home that I came up with the idea to turn Patrick’s fun time with the camera into a personalized present for his birthday. Take a look to see how I created his gift…and how you can, too!

Step 1: Give the little one in your life a camera and let him or her have at it! Then, choose the photos you want to you use for the gift:

Step 2: In addition to shots taken by the child, I included one that I took of him! It’s a good way to document the moment – plus, kids always love to see themselves in pictures!

Step 3: Using a Photo Editor, create a watermark that you can place on the pictures that the child took. I think this adds some cute authenticity to the child’s work. In addition, if the child can already read he/she will love seeing his/her name on the photographs. For this project I used PicMonkey Photo Editor.

Step 4: Add the watermarks and any other creative labels to the photographs. For this project, I created a label that said: “Mom, Dad, and Me…When I turned 3!”

Step 5: Purchase a frame to go with your project and get those photographs developed!

Depending on the frame, you may need to cut some of the pictures so that they will fit in each slot. For example, my frame had four slots for photos. Two of the slots were for 4×6 photos, while the other two were for 4×4 photos. I simply cut around two 4×6 shots and turned them into 4×4 squares.

…And finished! That was easy. Now for Step 6: wrap up that gift and put it under the tree with a card addressed to your favorite little photographer! Oh, and you might want to snap some pictures of him or her opening the present…just add them to the memory box : )

Patrick definitely recognized his photos and immediately wanted to use the digital camera again! Mission accomplished. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I hope you enjoy the long weekend with good food, good company, and good times.

Natalie xo