3 Steps to a Unique Birthday Gift

I am always looking for cute gift ideas for my friends that are both personal and relatively inexpensive. I think that giving a gift that has a little bit of thought and love behind it is always better than spending a ton of money on something that is impersonal and will rarely get used. One of my favorite memories with my friends was a girls’ camping weekend that we took a few years ago. We all piled our camping gear in the car, headed off to Hood Canal on a ferry, played games around the campfire, lounged out on the beach all day and just hung out with our favorite people. I took a few photos from the trip and got them developed at the local drug store down the street. I decided to develop them in black and white for my project.

I bought some small canvases (we have some super cute mini ones at PZ that would work perfect for this project), some Mod Podge, a foam art brush and some black paint:

Step 1 - Paint

I painted the side edges of the canvas black so it would look a little more professional. You can use any color for this to match the project you are creating, or just leave it white.
Step 2 - Adhere
Cut the photo to size and adhere it to the canvas using an ATG gun or any adhesive you have on hand. Next, take a foam brush and brush the Mod Podge all over the photo to create a finished, glossy look. You can put different textures on the photo with varied strokes of the brush or use Matte Mod Podge for a matte finish (I used Glossy Mod Podge for my project).
Step 3 - Embellish!
I wanted my gift to be simple, so I left it as is – but you can embellish these with rhinestones, glitter, or even tie a little ribbon to the top for it to hang from a wall. Tie them up with a pretty ribbon, and your mini photo art is ready to be gifted. This is the perfect time to get started on these for holiday gift giving too, they make perfect stocking stuffers and are so, so cute on the mini easels that we sell. Happy gifting! --Lauren