Happy Labor Day! I hope you're enjoying the long weekend with your family, however you choose to spend it. We are planning to have some friends over and grill. I was really hoping we could have a cookout on our outdoor fire pit, but it has been too hot and humid here! Please fall...hurry up!



I wasn't really sure what to call today's post.

It's not really a canvas...it's not really a poster.

It is a wall hanging.

(This post may contain affiliate links, which are always products I personally recommend! Thanks for supporting this little blog!)

Do you remember this post when I shared my new favorite app that easily turns your pictures into watercolors? And I promised that I was going to show you how to turn those watercolor images into a gift?

Well...this is that post!

I took this picture of my in-laws home when we visited in early summer. And, haha, I just noticed that my father-in-law is in this picture! Can you spot him??


Yep, there he is, coming out the side door!!

I love how this picture of their little cabin in the woods turned out. I love the US flag flying and what you don't know and can't see in this picture is that their front porch is completely dedicated to Americana. It's a red, white and blue masterpiece! They have one of the homiest homes I've ever been in; my mother-in-law (hi mom!) has mastered the art of creating warmth in a home!

I loved this picture so much, in fact, that I thought it would be really neat to turn it into a watercolor and create a gift for their anniversary.

So that's just what I did. I used Photo Painter to create a watercolor of my image. Aside - my father-in-law seems to have disappeared; he has blended right into the image below! 

You know what else disappeared? All the distracting little elements like the hose on the sidewalk and all the shadows and dappled light! It truly looks like a painting.





Once I was pleased with my watercolor, I uploaded it in into Photobucket and using their online store, ordered a Canvas Poster.

I picked a large, 20 x 20 size.

This super-close-up image shows you how I made it into a hanging.



I used a thick dowel rod, cut to size, with a hole drilled into either end.

Using a heavy duty stapler, I attached the canvas onto the dowel and covered the staples with some thick rope, which was then threaded through the hole in each end, and wrapped around the dowel.

I hot glued the ends of the rope together at the top and then disguised that by wrapping some natural jute twine around it.

I love how it turned out! And better yet, they loved it!



It's a wonderful memento of a home that they have lovingly made their own.

Of course, you could make a canvas of your favorite image at Shutterfly or TinyPrints instead...then you won't have to worry about about how to hang it.





bringing beauty to the ordinary,