Two Easy DIY Gift Ideas

 

I’ve always envied people who can paint and draw.  I’m a fairly creative person, but drawing and painting have never been my forte.  I am so excited to tell you about an app that can do it for you.  I learned about Waterlogue from Karianne at Thistlewood Farms.  She made a watercolor picture of her home using the Waterlogue app.  I typically don’t use a lot of apps, but Waterlogue is now my new favorite thing.

Waterlogue works with iPhones or iPads and costs $2.99.  This app allows  you to create custom watercolor art which would cost far more than $2.99.   I created the picture above using Waterlogue from a picture of my dog Fritz that I had stored on my phone.  After downloading Waterlogue you simply click on the camera button and you can either take a picture or upload one from your camera roll.

There are several different filters to choose from.  I chose the Travelogue filter.

If you keep scrolling after you’ve selected the watercolor technique you can even select the size of the image and if you want it lighter or darker.  Since I’m impatient I skipped this part, but I love how my picture turned out of Fritz.

When you’re finished with your picture which literally takes less than a minute, click on the heart button and you can share it on social media or email.  I emailed it to myself then printed the photo on white card stock.  This is an easy and inexpensive gift for Valentine’s Day, birthday, Christmas or just because I’m thinking of you.   There are endless possibilities using photos of family and friends or photos from vacations for a gallery wall.

I can never have enough journals.  They are one of my favorite things to purchase. I found this easy DIY journal idea in the A Beautiful Mess Photo Idea Book.  I adore Elise and Emma of the blog A Beautiful Mess.  I love their fun photos and poured through their idea book the minute I received it in the mail.  I made this journal for my friend Anne with a silhouette photo I had taken of her dog Rascal.  I cut out his silhouette then traced it onto a book page.  I didn’t like the look of just the book page silhouette so I decided to include both and just glued them to a black journal I found at Target.  The possibilities are also endless with this project.  You could use a silhouette of your children and make them each their own journal or photo album.

I find joy in making easy gifts for friends and family.  Days seem to fly by and I don’t get to spend much time in my craft room, but these are two projects that don’t require much time or money.  Some of the best gifts are homemade and heartfelt.  Let me know if you give them a try.

Linking to: Inspire Me Please , Tater Tots & Jello