Secrets for Turning Your Vacation Photos Into Art (CruiseCompete Cruise Bite #2)

As our mobile phone cameras get better and better, most of us taken at least one incredible vacation photo that we wouldn’t mind seeing every day. Learn how to turn that photo into a piece of art on your wall with minimal effort—and very inexpensively. There really is a very simple secret to saving hundreds of dollars on your one-of-a-kind vacation memory.

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Speaker 1 0:16

Hi, Bob Levinstein here with a CruiseCompete Cruise Bite. As our mobile phone cameras get better and better, most of us have taken at least one incredible vacation photo that we wouldn't mind seeing everyday . Today I'll tell you how to turn that photo into a piece of art on your wall with minimal effort and very inexpensively. There really is a very simple secret to saving hundreds of dollars and I'll tell you all about it right after this.

0:44

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Speaker 1 1:50

Different people have different attitudes toward art on their walls. For me, I want images that are not just aesthetically pleasing, but also take me back to a moment in time that I want to remember a large version of a photo I took on vacation can immediately transport me to Rio or to a secluded beach in the Caribbean or did that incredible hike I took in the Canadian Rockies. It's very easy to do if you follow these simple steps. It all starts with that photo you love. Once you've selected your image, you may want to edit it. This is easier than it sounds. I like Google photos for a lot of reasons, but a big one is that they have some very simple to use editing tools that you can use right on your phone. For me, I usually just crop the picture to show the portion of the image I want. Slide a slider to the right to bring up the light and the image and then use another slider labeled pop that brings details into more focus and that's it. My photo is ready to print. Next, decide if you want to print on canvas or on metal. If you really liked the way the light looks on your phone, go with metal. If you prefer a softer feel or you want to print a panorama or print larger than about say 20 by 30 inches, then canvas. Okay, here comes the big secret reveal: Groupon. If you go directly to the printing website, you can easily pay hundreds of dollars for a single print using Groupon. I've never paid more than 75 bucks and that was for canvas prints that are five feet wide by three feet high. Note that G roupon's process has you pay twice, wants to buy the Groupon and again on the vendor's website where you pay for the shipping. Total price depends on the size and materials you'll select, but figure you'll pay about $12 for an eight by 12 and in the 30 to $50 range for something medium-sized to larger. Once you've purchased your Groupon, the process is very straightforward . Go to the vendor's website and upload your image. If your images in exactly the same shape as what you're printing on, you can move the image to select which part of your image to print. If you're printing on canvas, select a mirrored border . Do not purchase any frames or hangers. These are overpriced and unnecessary. Just enter your coupon code and checkout in a couple of weeks. You'll have your art. One more thing. Don't be nervous when you go through this process. If you're not happy with the result, the company will let you reprint it or print something else. All you'll pay for is the shipping. Again, finally, a couple of tips for hanging your art to hang canvases . All you need are a couple of nails, some larger canvases , and some walls are in perfectly flat. So I like to use some double sticky tape to hold down corners for hanging prints on metal. There's a small amount of work and really almost zero skills involved. Believe me, if I can do it, you can do it. All you need to do is pick up a strip of wood at the hardware store that's an inch wide by half an inch thick. These are usually about three to four bucks for a long, skinny eight foot length. Cut to pieces a little narrower than the width of your picture. And screw two little screw eyes. Think I'm screws with little circles on top into the narrow side of one of the pieces. Glue the strips onto the back of your picture. I like to use gorilla glue with the eyes facing toward the top of the picture and then run a piece of string or picture wire between the two screw eyes , uh , to give you something to hang it with. This will give you a nice modern 3d effect with no need for a frame. I love seeing my favorite photos on my walls every day, and I get lots of compliments from guests. I hope you'll give this a try and I hope you'll be as happy with your results as I am with mine. I'm Bob Levinstein and this has been a CruiseCompete Cruise Bite.