Holiday Decor: Family Photo Bonanza 101
Tis the season, y’all. The holidays are upon us and ya know what that means? Brandy be searching Pinterest for decor ideas. Ya see, I’m not the Christmas village and chunky garland type. I like our decor to reflect our personality as a family and to me that means homemade. Paper banners made from cardstock and fishing line. Chalkboards with snarky phrases. Kid art. And most certainly, lots of family photos. Since the holidays are about spending time with family, to me, they are part of my decor. As you may have seen your Facebook feed fill up recently with perfectly matched outfits and fall leaves, know I am right there with them. I try to get at least one official family photo shoot in a year with sessions where I bribe reward my kids in fruit snacks sprinkled throughout the year. It’s not an addiction. I CAN STOP WHEN I WANT. Anyhoo with all these family photos, I try not to let them just sit on my computer to make pretty screensavers. I frequently get prints for my office and around the house but in the past few years I find myself hunting for deals on canvases. I like to have varying sizes in my holiday displays and canvases are perfect for that bigger WOW factor. After I was cleaning up the Halloween mantle decor recently, I started pondering on a massive family related Christmas look. Lo and behold, the lovely people at Walmart let me know about their deals on canvases. Not only that, they would let me try one out! 11 x 14 Same Day Canvas from Walmart 11 x 14 Same Day Canvas from Walmart.
I actually have always loved this photo. Our first Christmas as a family of 4. I was sleep deprived and probably cranky but this day sticks in my mind because Ollie was so fascinated with Landon. Watching him get so excited. I even got this shot that is etched in my memory. So I decided it was time to make the memory a permanent part of my Christmas decor. Since one picture wasn’t really representative of our life together, I decided to decorate our buffet area with a hodge podge of family photos and Christmas elements. I added a large 8 x 10 print (same day pick up!) from our recent photo shoot, a 5 x 7 from our 2013 photo shoot, some tiny skis from the $1 spot and, of course, their Santa photo from last year. I initially had that up and realized I needed more. MUHAHAHAHAHA. So I threw together a few other standard elements that I rotate for the mantle (vases from our wedding full of stuff, chevron painted canvas board, a giant M from my bestie) and one of my favorite family drawings from Landon when he was 4. I’m pretty happy with how it turned out and I am probably going to be getting a few more canvases to really flesh out this whole concept. Good news for me, same day canvases are even on sale until 1/5! Now you may be thinking, “But Brandy, I’m not a decorator type and how will this ever go with my Christmas village?!”. Fear not, my friend. I have 2 words for you: Grandparent Gifts. The last couple of years I have given canvases and other photo gifts (books, coffee cups, christmas ornaments) and they are just great. Walmart has tons of options for this as well as online ordering and free same day pick-up in store for select products. Pair it with a homemade kid card and BOOOOOM. Don’t go just yet, there’s more!
Be sure to visit Walmart Photo’s brand page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ posts.
Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Instagram | YouTube | Google+.