Savin' Maven: DIY Photoshoot

As soon as I had my LO, I knew I would be taking lots of pics of him. I'm talking every day lots. If he could talk right now I'm sure he would have a few choice words for me. Mommy snaps pics whenever the urge arises-during sleep, during poops, during nursing, during bath time. I even play dress up with him and have real photo shoots. Because sometimes it's just not financially feasible to take him to the portrait studio. Sometimes you want your photos to look a little less 'planned' with a lot more personality and character.

Last week I shared some tips on how to save money on family portraits in this post. However, if you're super frugal like me and you have somewhat of a knack for photography and creativity this post is just for you.

Since I take pictures of my LO so frequently I wanted to try my hand at some Valentine's Day shots-a little more fun and personable than the family portraits we recently took at JC Penny's and a helluva lot cheaper.

I purchased my LO's outfits from Target just after Christmas. They weren't on sale or clearance but I love the Carter's brand so much that I was willing to pay full price for them.

Next I visited my local Dollar Tree for some cutesie Valentine's Day decor that would make for some decent background props. I ended up with these glittery hearts...

and this heart themed ribbon...

Since my LO isn't quite sitting up on his own yet, I placed him in a little pail that I found on clearance at WalMart a couple of years ago. 

Add the props and the baby and viola...

A super easy and successful photo session for all of 2 bucks. You can visit my Instagram page to see the final product after editing with photo apps. I had a great time doing this with my lil man and I'm sure he enjoyed the bonding time as well. 

I hope this will prove to be resourceful to some of you. 

Thanks for reading! 

XOXOXOXO

Savin' Maven: DIY Valentine's Day Mail

Hello my loves.

Listen, I know I'm late as hell; please forgive me as I'm still trying to get accustomed to life with a newborn. Its like my days are literally stuck on fast forward. Seriously though, every waking moment that I have is spent on my lil one. 

I did however want to stop by today to share a quick,  easy, and fairly inexpensive holiday DIY project with you all. This project can really be done for any occasion bit since my family just recently had Valentine's Day pictures taken we will roll with that. 

Alls you need are some fancy scissors, a few pieces of solid color printing paper, and some washi tape.

I started by searching for a nice quote online and creating a Publisher document that would allow me  to print several of them on one sheet. i decided upon a nice quote about friends and family and since it's Valentine's Day I chose red paper.

Next,  I used the fancy scissors to cut the 'quote cards' out. All of the scissor designs were so pretty.  I ended up going with the 'Sculptured' pair for nice, frilly edge. 

I added washi tape to the outside of the envelopes just for character. After using my coupon the tape was almost free, $.05, from Target. I figured this was a great way to use it.

So there you have it-a quick and easy way to spruce up your holiday mail. By the way,  I love how great our family portraits came out. The JCPenny's portrait studio did an awesome job. See how we saved a ton of money on them by viewing this post. 

Until next time-thanks reading!

XOXOXOXOXO

Savin' Maven: How To Save Money on Family Portraits

Happy Monday my loves. 

I hope each of you had a great weekend. 

Mine was pretty awesome. I spent Saturday shopping with my Mom and on Sunday my honey and I went on an outing with our little Peanut to get family photos taken. They came out great! I can't wait to pick up the finished product.

I'm such a picture fanatic however, I'm always surprised at just how costly professional photos are. Like what exactly are they charging you for? 

I've noticed some downright outrageous sitting fees since I began getting professional photos done for my lil man. Seriously though, must these companies charge a full fee for a child who hasn't even reached 2 months old.  Clearly this has to be against the law.

I've honestly seen families stray far away from the traditional family photos in the recent years all because they are way too expensive. A lot of people have even taken it upon themselves to create their own photo shoots. In a world where Instagram is so popular almost everyone has become a photographer. Once I feel more comfortable with the settings on my 'big girl' camera I will definitely experiment more with snapping my own portraits. However, for those of us who love the cheesy poses and backgrounds at our local studios, there must be a way to lower the cost of these portraits. 

How, you ask?

You guessed it.....

Coupons!!!

I literally used to toss these picture coupons right in the garbage until my lil man came along. These things are lifesavers! They're like paper gold!! One of these coupons lowered the cost our Christmas photos by 70%!

Who wouldn't want to save 70%.?

Another great thing to do would be to sign up or register on photo sites such as Tinyprints and/or Vistaprint. If you place frequent orders with any of the online sites you sign up on they will automatically send you special offers and discounts in the mail.

These coupons and discounts will allow me to get tons of portraits of my little one at a fraction of the cost. That means we will be in the studio at least once a month. Because every holiday is like a special event in my family-especially when there is a new baby involved! 

What are some things your family does to save money on portraits?

I can't wait to hear from you!

And remember, think about how much money you can save before tossing the next batch of picture coupons that appear in your mailbox!

Thanks for reading.

XOXOXOXO