Need a great meaningful gift idea that won’t cost a ton of money or take a lot of time? The possibilities are endless for gift giving when you use a little creativity with picture frames.
No matter what the occasion is, or who the recipient is, you can’t go wrong with choosing one of these easy gift ideas. These gifts are great for friends, family members, significant others, and anyone else who might be special to you and deserves a meaningful present.
Picture frames can usually be obtained inexpensively, either by rummaging through garage sales and thrift stores, recycling unused ones, or purchasing them at dollar and other discount stores. Free-cycle is another great way to find them, as many people have stacks of old picture frames lying around unused. Picture frames can also easily be made using newspaper, cardboard, clay, plates, cereal boxes, or other items readily available in your home. You can also dress up old photo frames by applying a fresh coat of paint or wrapping it in decorative paper.
Once you have collected enough frames for everyone on your gift list, you can choose from any of these options below to place into the frame:
Poetry: Poetry always looks beautiful in a frame. Write your own original poem or choose a classic favorite your recipient will enjoy. You can choose to use a page straight from an old book, handwrite it in your favorite type of ink or crayon, or type the poem in word processing software and enhance it with color, graphics, or different fonts.
Scrap Art: A swatch of fabric, dried plants and flowers, labels and wrappers from products in your home, magazine cut outs, mail, playing cards – basically anything flat enough to fit in a frame can be considered instant art.
Souvenirs: This is a great gift for couples to hang onto those “first times” or to remember another special moment with someone. As a “scrapbook in a frame” this option is great for anniversaries and people who cherish happy memories. Movie ticket stubs, parking receipts, napkins, wrappers, a quick note written to each other, photographs, and any other similar souvenirs can be a very meaningful gift.
Sheet Music: To the music lover, a page of one of their favorite songs can be very beautiful in a frame. You can choose classical music pieces or a contemporary song with meaningful lyrics. You can find sheet music on-line or in a local music shop near you. You may even be able to find some music at your local library and make a copy of it to put in a frame.
Mosaic: This popular form of art is simple to do even for beginners. You can use broken pieces of tile, dishes, plastic, or other flat items and then glue the pieces together to form a design.
Pictures: While it may seem obvious to place pictures in a picture frame, there are still many different things you can do to make it more special for the recipient. Using free photo software such as Irfanview or other software, you can add many special effects to make digital photos more interesting. Don’t limit yourself to photos only: clip-art, hand drawn smiley faces, stick figures, or even a picture you liked out of a magazine can all look great in a frame.
Once you assemble your items in the frame, you are ready to give someone a very special and personalized gift he or she will appreciate and treasure long after the wrapping paper is gone – without spending too much time or money to make.
