Decorating with Portraits and Photography Series

Hey everyone!!

I shared this post last month on Kristen Duke Photography's great series, Decorating With Portraits. I love the challenge of sprinkling pictures of my loved ones throughout my home and enjoyed reading all of the entries - 30 days worth by 30 different bloggers! There were a lot of great ideas floating around, so check it out if you missed it!

Also, I wanted to share something new that I'm going to be doing with you on Mondays.

When we surveyed our readers a few months back and asked what you would like to see more of on Lemon Tree Creations, we were overwhelmed by the number of you who expressed interest in learning more about photography. So that is what I'm going to give you!

Every Monday I'll be sharing some of my favorite photography tips, tricks, gear and gadgets. I'm so excited to get started!!

Here is my post about decorating with portraits in my home. Enjoy!

Hi there!

My name is Erin and this is me most days! I'm a momma of two and enjoy juggling these gorgeous kids, a wonderful husband, and finding time to indulge my passions for creating and photography.

I love when I have the opportunity to get professional portraits taken with my family!! It is a rare treat to be able to see our interactions portrayed in such a beautiful way, and I am giddy in the days leading up to previewing the images, and the weeks leading up to the arrival of prints. Once they finally arrive I am just so excited...that I leave them in the box.

Okay, it's time for me to admit it. Deep breath. I am frame commitaphobe.

I live in a small town with an even smaller selection of stores. Thrift stores can provide some great options, but then I'm left with how to refinish them, and sometimes that lets me put off the framing decision even longer. But I'm committed to getting my photos out, even if that means they sometimes are displayed unframed.

I searched high and low for the perfect frame for my daughter's birth announcement to keep in her nursery, but in the end, decided that just leaning it on a shelf was my best option. The family blocks were a fun way to sneak in a family photo as well.

In addition to not committing to frames, I can't commit to a favorite snapshot. (Whew! It feels good to get this all out in the open!) I take photos on a daily basis, so I have new favorites every week. I made this clothesline photo display so that I can change them up regularly, and it's a great alternative to matting a bunch of the pictures in little frames and grouping them together.

I recently tried another option with some professional portraits that I had done and I whole-heartedly recommend it. If you have professional portraits taken, choose the photos that are your FAVORITES, you know, the ones that you immediately swear you will have blown up to near life-like proportions, you'll want to look on daily, and show off to ALL of your friends and family, you know the ones? Have them mounted.

I had my two favorite shots mounted and blown up to 8x10 and 11x14 sizes and I love them. There are several different mounting options available: matboard, styrene board, foam board, masonite, and some of them have varying thickness options as well. Talk to your photographer and see what options they have available or what they recommend.

Let me just tell you, as soon as these pictures arrived at my house, they were up. I popped one up above the fireplace and another at the entryway. (The 5x7s I left in the box until I could find some suitable frames.) The photo below of my son and I is my favorite!

I just love the versatility of my mounted photos. The stiffness allows me to "lean" them in my displays, much like you would a piece of framed art. Since I don't have to decide on a specific style of frame or commit to the holes that I have put in my walls, I've shifted the photos around several times to different locations throughout my home. Though the images themselves are timeless, this slight change up, much like I change up my seasonal decor, seems to keep them fresh. Plus, leaning them is so easy, requires no tools, and no commitment. Yessssss.

My other favorite thing about my mounted photos is that there is still the option to frame them. The board is sturdy enough to stand on it's own, but thin enough that I could still pop it in a frame behind glass if and when I find the perfect frame. But is it crazy that my favorite option for this photo is in this old barn window screen? I just love it.

Now that it's the end of October, you may already have a favorite fall photo. Is it of the kids at an apple orchard, in a pumpkin patch, or at the park with the leaves changing beautifully in the background? Or will you favorite photo not appear until next week once the Halloween costumes are out? Either way, remember that you can still get your FREE 8 x 10 canvas through Canvas People right now. It's an awesome deal with beautiful results.

No matter how you choose to display your family photos, be sure that you get your photos out somewhere in your home so that you, and everyone else around you, can enjoy them.

As always, Happy Monday!

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{Pinterest Inspired} Polaroid Magnets

One of my first days on Pinterest, I stumbled upon this adorable photo of mini polaroid magnets.  Are you kidding me?  It doesn't get much cuter than this.  It originates from the Ambrosia Creative Blog.  

photo from Ambrosia Creative Blog via Pinterest

I couldn't wait to make them!  Her tutorial was wonderful but I do not have Photoshop so I had to think of another way.

I bought these cheap wooden squares and rectangles at Hobby Lobby.  I wasn't sure which shape I wanted to use.  

I ended up choosing rectangle although I think either would work.

1.) Paint your squares or rectangles with white paint.

I painted the front, back, & sides.

2.) Choose your pics and size them down to fit on your chosen shape.

I copied my pics into a word document and sized them to 0.75" x 0.75".

3.) Print the pics and cut them out.

4.) Glue the pics in place.

5.) Apply a light coating of Mod Podge to protect the photo.

6.) Glue a heavy duty magnet to the back.

7.) Sit back and admire.  

8.) Last but not least, put them on your refrigerator or give them away for somebody else to admire!

Okay, I have to admit that my method does not deliver the same amazing results as the original tutorial I found through Pinterest. 

I still love them though. 

Happy Tuesday!

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My Memories Giveaway

We have a great giveaway for you today!  

Are any of you scrapbookers???  Well, I was back in the day when I only had one child.  When I had my second, time and energy went out the window so I stopped.  I do the occassional mini album but there isn't much time for anything else.

We were contacted by My Memories to review their software and host a giveway.  I got the opportunity to try out the software and it is a super fun and easy way to get those scrapbooking pages done digitally. 

I completed this simple page of my daughter's first day of school...  

If you want to hear more about the software and have a chance to win, please click HERE.  

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Decorating With Portraits at Kristen Duke Photography

Have you guys been following along with this great series over at Kristen Duke Photography?

Each day throughout the month of September there is a different blogger sharing how they decorate with portraits in their homes, just check out the calendar below, and I was delighted to share my take on this yesterday.

Did you miss it? Check it out here, along with many other incredible tips.

As always, have a great week!!

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Fun & Simple Photo Card

I love how inspiration is at our fingertips constantly and left for us to interpret however we please.  It is an amazing thing how one idea can take off in twenty different directions.  Love it.  

I have a friend named Jody.  She blogs at Clean and Simple.  She is awesome.  She recently threw a party for her oldest daughter who turned 18.  The party was held outdoors and on their garage door she created a huge # 18 formed by 100 black & white photos of her daughter.  Genius, right?    

She shared the original photo that inspired this special feature at her daughter's party.  It came from Martha Stewart.  

I fell in love.  My niece was also turning 18 and I thought this idea could be used on a much smaller scale to create a birthday card for her.

I found a photo of her as a baby and a current photo.  I copied and pasted the photos into a word document on my computer, shrunk the pics to tiny, and printed off several rows of both pics.

I then cut out each tiny pic and glued them onto a folded piece of cardstock in my niece's favorite color in the shape of #18.

Super fun, simple, and completely personalized for the birthday girl!

Thanks, Jody { & Martha} for inspiring me! 

Check out these blog parties for a crazy amount of inspiration!

Happy Tuesday!

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Silhouette Project - Tattoo Photo Prop

We all know the possibilities are endless with a Silhouette machine.  When I was sent the tattoo paper to try out, I was stumped.  I searched Silhouette's blog for some tattoo inspiration and then thought about Erin's amazing fabric baby age photo props.  So I decided to use the tattoo paper to "brand" my baby with her age.  I take an outrageous amount of pictures of my kids on a daily basis so this made for an extra fun photo shoot.  

And we won't talk about the fact that she is just a few days away from turning 11 months old.  No we will not.

I love it.  I will definitely be doing this again and wish I had been doing it every month.  So fun.

While we were at it, the big kids wanted in on the action so they each got a "tat" as well.

Oh, and don't make the same mistake I did.  Can you tell?  Yep, that's right.  I put his mustache upside down.  Oops.

So, are you ready to have some photo shoots with tattoos now???  Here is your chance to get a great deal on Silhouette machine and tattoo paper.

Lemon Tree Readers are being offered this deal from Silhouette...

1 Silhouette SD

2 Packages Temporary Tattoo Paper

for $199 (U.S. only) (120 dollars in savings!)

Also, (wait for it…) 25% off all other products in the Silhouette shop (excluding gift cards and download codes)!  This sale ends June 29th.  

Use promo code "LEMON" at checkout.

I'll be partying here this week!  

Thanks for stopping by!  Happy Tuesday!

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Photo Bottlecap Magnets

My sister-in-law gave me this bag of plain bottle caps just in case I wanted to do something with them. That is the great thing about having a crafty type blog because people are always giving me stuff and saying, "I am sure you can do something with this". It challenges me to come up with ideas and I love that.

This is such a simple and quick idea and by now you all know that is how I roll, right?

I started off by searching for photos of my kids' faces. I made them into sepia tones so they would fit in well with the color of the bottle cap. I printed them off in 1 inch squares. I cut a cardstock circle the size of the bottle cap for a pattern. I placed the pattern on top of the picture and cut out the circle.

Next, I used my Mod Podge to adhere the picture to the bottle cap. I then brushed on a top coat to protect the photo.

Then I applied super glue to the back of a heavy duty circular magnet. I stuck it to the back of the bottle caps. That was it. Done. Super duper easy project.

Now these will make a super fun gift for someone who likes my kids! They are even better packaged in a fun and festive metal container like this...

{TIP: The top coat should simply be one light layer and all brush strokes in the same direction. I know that sounds so basic but just don't want you to get in a hurry like me and make the same mistake. Notice the bottle cap magnet on the left shows brush strokes like crazy. Oops.}

Any ol' bottle cap will do for this project and these would also be fun with a ribbon hanger attached to the back for use as a Christmas ornament!

I will be linking to these fun parties this week!

Thanks for stopping by Lemon Tree! See you next week!

Happy Tuesday!

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Picture Pawfect

My poor pooch has this drab corner of our house allotted for his food and water bowl. It is so boring, one piece of art work, a walking stick (used to hang his stocking on for Christmas) and that's pretty much it. Well, have a look for yourself.


I mean I love this print and all, but, Moose deserves a bit more than this I think.



Recently, I have been noticing how much I love the colored, mixed matched sized frames. So, why not make a little pet corner for the Moose? After all, these frames are cheap and fabulous--if you purchase them from Homegoods, TJMaxx, and Marshalls like I did!



First, I laid my prints on the floor to get an idea of space and how I wanted to place them. A little to "boxy" on this try. Don't you think? Plus I was looking to extend this project from the bottom to the top of the windows..this wasn't going to work.



Trial 2: Ah-ha! Perfect. An elongated version of the first try and hey look, Moose is even checking out how awesome he looks in all these photos.



Now, to start hanging them on the wall. I started from the bottom up just to keep my spacing in tact and to make sure everything would fit nicely. I was immediately excited after the first piece hung. (Why hadn't I done this before?)



I love this print (rt), a couple of years ago Moose was in Live Spa magazine and this was the photo featured..the cute robe was ours to keep!



Lastly, I quickly printed a greyhound coloring page onto scrapbook paper and wrote "happiness is a warm puppy," cut it out and placed it in the last frame for the finishing touches.



As you can see, everything fit just as exactly as planned! I also ran across the monogrammed M in that terrific green and had to have that!



Moose can now enjoy his dinner in style and I can enjoy looking at my new display of happiness...my love sponge!

Have a great weekend and check out other great blogs here!

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