Grandparent Gifts

Long before Pinterest, I had saved a copy of these photo blocks thinking they would be a great gift idea. I don't have a link. If anyone knows, please let me know and I will include the link

Well, as usual, it took me awhile to get around to making them but they are done! And they are Christmas gifts to the grandparents. I had my sisters and sisters-in-law all email me pictures of their kids in both my family and my husband's family. On my Hubby's side of the fam, there are 6 grandchildren, so coming up with what to write on theirs was fairly easy. Now on my side of the fam, there are 16 grand-kids, making that one more difficult.

Here's for the Hubby's parents:

Here's for my parents:

I apologize for the poor quality pics. It is a rainy day and I was in a hurry so I used my cell phone camera. I also didn't take pictures while I was in the process of making them. It is a simple project. 

1 - I uploaded the photos into Picnik.com. If you're not familiar with the site, it is a wonderful app that allows you to edit, crop, add lettering, add effects to pictures (I also create my subway art with it - more to follow on that). For this project I used the sepia effect and added the lettering.  I then had them printed at Costco.

TIP: The blocks are 2x4's, but if you haven't worked much with wood, the measurement is not truly 2x4. It's more like 1 1/2 x 3 1/2.  So you will need to keep this in mind when creating your pictures.

2 - I cut the wood into 3 1/2 squares and then sanded.

3 - I spray painted them with Rust-Oleum's satin finish in Dark Brown. I knew that I was going to do minimal amounts of distressing, so I applied two coats of paint. 

4 - I used Elmer's multi-purpose Spray Adhesive to hold the pictures in place, sanded slightly to add a distressed look, then finished by applying a thin layer of Mod Podge Gloss Lustre-because I wanted the shiny finish.

I had the Mod Podge and the Elmer's spray from prior projects. For the wood, spray paint and printing of the photos, it was less than $15. Great gift especially when you have a small budget!!

My in-laws were here over the weekend, so I have given them their's already. They loved them!  I hope you like them too!