Hello, Kristen and Kristen Duke readers! Thank you for having me. I’m April from Funky Vintage Lovely and am so excited to be here today to share how we are decorating our home with portraits.
This is my family.
We have a lifestyle blog. And, I say ‘WE’ because my husband actually blogs with me on Tuesdays as we work on our marriage with letters to each other entitled ‘Dear Dave + April’! Plus I also blog a lot about the life, style and times of our family. We are raising a special boy with special needs. He was blessed with an older sister who loves him so much it makes her heart hurt she says. We consider ourselves adventurous. We fly by the seat of our pants, make mistakes, share our trials, laugh a lot and often times, lately, Dave and I are finding ourselves catching our breath because our kids are growing up too fast.
Above our mantel in our family room we had the word ‘FAMILY’ for the past 8 years. That word reminded us everyday that family came first. But as my children were growing before my eyes, I realized I wanted something up there other than the word ‘FAMILY’…..I wanted OUR family up there capturing who we were right then before both of our children were taller than Dave and I. Before they were grown and gone from our home.
On a whim one day I had a friend, who knows a thing or two about photography, take a few photos of us in a vineyard just down the street from our home. Because our fireplace sits directly next to our TV, I knew I didn’t want a traditional photo of us….like the one above…placed over our mantel to ‘watch’ us as we sat and ‘watched’ TV! So I asked her to snap one from the waist down!
I took the high resolution picture file to our local printer and had him print it on canvas. The finished piece stretched on a frame measures approx. 24″h x 41″w and cost me about $80 total. A small price to pay for a picture that will provide a lifetime of memories.
I absolutely love the end result of this print in our family room. I love that it is a picture of OUR family reminding us that family comes first. I love that Blake is doing the ‘hula’ in the picture and that is why his hands aren’t by his side.
I have a feeling this picture will be above our mantel for many years to come!
{Thank you, April! I LOVE this canvas, and I love BIG! I think people are afraid to go big, and not sure about printing on canvas, but I agree that both are great for artistic shots. This is wonderful inspiration (and your family room/fireplace/tv area is set up exactly like mine). April also has a cute shop, where she opens up at markets like the Queen Bee.}
