Design Tip #1 - Oil Paintings

I LOVE photography, especially of my babies. But I mean I really LOVE pictures. So I was super excited to see that Southern Living at Home was doing Signature Portraits where they take your photograph and do an oil painting of it. I was devastated to learn that as of July 25, they will no longer be offering this service! So, I have been trying to figure out WHAT I want my oil painting to be, and the cheapest way I can get it (because I also LOVE bargains)! In the picture to the above, you will see the oil paintings. I want one for each of my children.

These are featured on page 17 of the Southern Living at Home Spring 2010 catalog. You do have to be a "host" to get this product.

So, here is how I have figured the cheapest way to get these oil paintings...

Southern Living at Home is having a HUGE July sale to get rid of discontinued items before rolling out the new company, Willow House, Aug. 1. Start your Christmas shopping now. Spend $125 on Christmas gifts for mothers, sisters, in-laws, teachers, etc. That will qualify you as a "host," to be eligible for the oil portraits. That will also get you a 50% off item (your oil portrait), plus shipping and tax.

You may ask why an oil portrait? First of all it is unique, elegant, and classic and secondly, every southerner should have an oil painting in their home.

But most importantly because it gives you options. For example, if you have a photograph you LOVE but it is a snapshot, or before the age of digital cameras, or it has another person you want cropped out, you can do all this in a beautiful oil painting. I have an 8x1o photograph of my son that I adore, and I want it bigger, but I can't get in touch with the photographer. So I plan to get it for my oil painting. The one of my daughter I want is a terrible photo of my son, so I want to crop him out! My sister has a 4x6 photo of her son that she needs to have done to match the already 16x20 photograph she had made of her daughter. If there is a family homeplace, they can do an oil painting of that for a gift. The possibilities are endless.

So back to spending the original $125 to be eligible to get the oil painting, I would begin my search for Christmas presents in the 4 page July sale. Items are 50-70% off.

So, if you are interested, remember you only have until July 25. Leave me a comment or email me at dbeatty207@comcast.net.

Thanks for stopping by. Please leave me a comment and let me know what you think, and if there are any design tips you would like me to address on the blog!