Family Road Trip Photography Gallery

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Richard and I have been together over 14 years. In that time, I’ve learned lots of lessons about him, but one that is really important: Richard is not a good gift-giver. He is an amazing husband, amazing father, amazing educator, and just all-around awesome person. But he absolutely stinks at purchasing gifts. So over the years, I’ve learned the best gifts we can get each other are those that we can enjoy together, like trying a new restaurant, going on a road trip, or purchasing something for our home. As a special gift for Richard this year, I decided to create a Family Road Trip Photography Gallery for our newly-designed dining space. This gift combines our love of family and home. Here’s what I did to create this project for him.

Materials & Supplies:

• Nine 12″ x 12″ photo frames matted to 8″ x 8″
• Scissors
• White card stock
• Clear tape
• HP ENVY Photo 6252 All-in-One
• Nine anchors and screws
• Tape measure
• Level

Directions:

I began by selecting some of our favorite road trips from this year. We visited New Orleans for New Year’s, the Florida Keys for our wedding anniversary in April, Atlanta for our children’s birthdays, and Savannah for my birthday. We also did several day trips to places like Cedar Key, FL and an awesome pumpkin patch about an hour from our home. All of these trips were very special to us!

Once I selected photos, I edited each one. I tried to select images from all different places we visited and pictures that displayed each family member’s personality. When they were ready to print, I tried out my new HP ENVY Photo 6252 All-in-One. This HP Envy features easy Mobile Printing with HP Smart App. It’s great for printing photos and making scrapbooks!

What was once our formal dining room was converted into my office space by adding a wall and pocket French doors, which is why our dining area is smaller and in desperate need of some life. This photo gallery will be the perfect addition!

I chose a three-by-three gallery layout for my wall. Each frame is 12″ x 12″ with a mat that makes each photograph 8″ x 8″. I really like the square presentation of each image, and I thought converting them black-and-white would tie all of the images together, creating a unified gallery. I printed the photos on matte card stock to tie in with the overall appearance of my kitchen.

When all nine images were printed, I trimmed around the edges to create squares {no need for precision since the mat will cover the raw edges}, and I placed the photographs inside the frames I recently ordered from a custom framing company. I chose frames with a matte black edge to coordinate with our matte black drawer pulls, faucet, and sink in the kitchen.

To hold each image in place, I taped it to the back of the mat. I ran out of clear tape, so I used some paper tape. Any lightweight tape will do! Just make sure each photograph is well-centered, add the backing, and they are ready to hang!

So here’s my dining space before adding the photo gallery. As you can see, it’s very empty/boring. The wall color is a grey with a touch of aqua to complement the grey, black, and white in the kitchen.

I purchased my picture frames as a set of nine. It came with this awesome guide that shows you where to place each anchor and screw in the wall to hang your gallery evenly. We used a level to make sure we hung the paper straight.

Once the holes were marked with a drill, we removed the paper, and inserted the anchors and screws that came with the frame. All that was left was to hang our framed photographs. I tried to balance the images based on content and appearance to create a cohesive gallery. I think it turned out awesome!

Head to Walmart where you can purchase the HP ENVY Photo 6252 All-in-One. I found the printers between the electronics and photography sections, toward the back of the store. The HP ENVY is the best in class photo printer. It offers Quite Mode, allowing you to print in any room without causing disruptions, and Wireless connectivity and fast set up with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. It makes a great gift for the photographer in your life!

What are you excited to gift this year?