Pictured Clockwise from top left: 1, 2, 3, 4

We all have to have a "fall back" gift sometimes. It's a busy time of year and it's easy to get fried out. So when that hits and I lose creativity juices and can't quite get my brain to focus on yet another task, I have a "go to" gift that I can use for Holidays and Birthdays. For me it's a photo gift. For the past few years I've explored a few different ways of doing this, essentially plastering my child's face on anything a photo can be plastered onto. But there's definitely a refined way of doing a photo gift so I thought I ought to pop in and share it; We are, after all, getting quite close to Christmas so I thought it might be helpful for those of you still shopping.

Especially for family that lives farther away and that we don't see often, I like to give them a photo gift so they can be reminded of how much we love and think about them. My mother in law lives in New York and we live in Virginia. She makes the drive to visit us many times during the year and we try our best to send videos and pictures, but just like the busy holiday season, life in general gets busy. So gifting a professionally printed and framed portrait for her to display with her decor is our way of being there without being there.

Here are some elements I'm loving right now for photo art gifts:

Foil Pressed. It's totally in right now and I hope it stays in trend forever because the glow of rose gold flashing in the light is dreamy. It gives the art an ethereal vibe and I love working a bit of ethereal into my home so it's even more like giving a piece of us to our family.

Custom Framing. Frames make or break a piece of art. They either integrate it into a room or make it stick out like a sore thumb. I am pretty smitten with the antique filigree and natural french farmhouse frames. But I do have a print in the whitewashed herringbone frame and that's beautifully crafted too.

Black and white and/or nature backdrops. A family photo in the woods just has that, I don't know exactly how to put it, a "one with nature" feel to it. I love the ominous look of forestry and how it pairs with smiling faces. Kick that feel up with black and white and I'm googly eyed but even changing up a standard family photo to black and white really lets any foil design pop.









I've created two photo art gifts in partnership with minted this year. Putting my favorite photo art gift elements to use and taking into account where these pictures will end up hanging, here's what I created.








For my mother in law, I still chose the rose gold for that sweet vibe, but I went with the distressed cottage white frame because I feel like it fits her style. She's got a very hip style about here that always speaks to spring and summer. I've not had the chance to see her home yet so I based my frame choice on her style.

I also created one for our home. We serious lack at hanging photos of ourselves and our loved ones so this is the perfect catapult to starting a collection. I went with the antique filigree frame for the romantic boho feel and again the rose gold. It'll suit our design aesthetic and I think it makes a great gift to "us" since we rarely get to focus on that.

Whether sourcing a gift for someone you're stuck on, or you want to add a special touch to a gift you've already settled on, the personalized touch of a custom photo gift is heartfelt. It's an easy "fall back" kind of gift if you already have a general idea of what you like and people love these things.

If you're still working on cards for the holidays, I've also put together a guide on "Little Ways To Make Card Giving Extra Special." I'll be using the feather card stuffer idea from those ideas and I'm using it with the Fir Frame Foil-Pressed Holiday Cards. I'm sharing a look at the card's design in that post so head on over, gather a few ideas, and check out our cards!