Mother’s Day Gifts | DIY Photo Art

Hey friends!  I have one more fast and fun idea for Mother’s Day gifts that makes a great gift from the kids.  You can DIY this with a home printer, or you can send your photo art off to become a canvas, poster, or panel if you prefer!  This DIY photo art project lets the kids show off their silly sides, and you can get as creative as you like.

This collage was fun to photograph and it wasn’t hard at all to put together.  I took the photos on my phone with the aid of an app called Mopic (they aren’t paying me to share their app, I just wanted to pass along the app I found to be helpful).  It shows where to align the camera with your child’s arm or hand, and you can help them to get the proper curves with a little coaching.

One tip I’ll suggest is to keep the colors simple, if you can, using solid or monotone backgrounds and clothing.  Using multiple photos within the collage will give the art plenty of “pattern” so if you can limit the patterns within each photo as well, you’ll get a cleaner end result.

The app I used captured a final collage and also each photograph individually, so I imported the original photos into my favorite online editor, PicMonkey.  Doing it this way allowed me to use text and overlays, and to change the dimensions of the final collage to fit into an 8×10 frame.

You can complete the entire collage within the free app, but it will be watermarked with the brand name.  There are also several other body art collage apps – but after trying a couple I found Mopic to be the most user-friendly and to have the least intrusive advertising.

You can also experiment without using any apps at all!  Just draw out a grid representing the photo collage style you want, and draw the shape within it.  Use each square as a guide for how your kids should shape their arms or hands in each photo.

Once you have combined all your photos, just print and frame them!  Your DIY Mother’s Day gifts are as simple as that, and you can print multiple sets for grandmothers too!

I’m sharing this project as a part of Craft Lightning, which is a collection of 15-minute projects.  Depending on how well your kids pose for the camera, and how much you get into graphic design, this project can take anywhere from 5 minutes to… well, they’re kids.  You know best how and when to get their attention for photos.

(A quick note – it’s hard to photograph a photograph, especially behind glass.  The image is much clearer in print!)

You can check out more quick Mother’s Day gift ideas from Scrappy Chick Designs, Morena’s Corner, Pet Scribbles, A Sweet Berry, It Happens In A Blink, Busy Mom’s Helper, Nap Time Creations, Happy Go Lucky, Underground Crafter, The Country Chic Cottage, and 30 Minute Crafts!  Just click on any photo below to visit the post for more information!