Souvenir Artwork

I’m horrible about buying souvenirs when I go on vacation. I always intend to buy myself something nice to remember the trip, but it rarely happens. I usually end of spending way too much money on random crap and souvenirs for my friends and family, but nothing for myself. Remember our trip to New Orleans last year? Yeah, I only have an alligator oven mitt as a souvenir from that trip. Souvenir FAIL!

So for our London and Paris trip I was determined to bring back something nice for myself. I actually did pretty well with this on our trip and brought home some great items (mostly from London). I still spent too much money on random crap, but at least this time I have some nice items too. Anyway, I ended up buying quite a few art prints (and some postcards that are pretty enough to frame) for myself at various locations. They were pretty cheap and didn’t take up much space in my luggage…and they all made it home without getting bent! That’s a miracle!

 

One of my favorite prints is this picture of the Portobello Road Market in Notting Hill. I bought it from one of the vendors there for £5 (about $8).

Once I got it home I realized the mat was too small for an 8x10 frame, but too big for a 5x7 frame. The print is an odd-size, so I ended up having to get a custom mat cut from Michael’s for $8. It was worth it though because I love the bright white versus the beige of the original mat. Plus now it fits in any 8x10 frame! 
 

I picked up a frame at Wal-Mart for $3 and spray painted it white with some leftover paint. After it dried I added my new mat and Portobello Road Market print. I decided to hang my new artwork on this small wall in the hallway. 

 

It’s right outside of the master bedroom, so I can see it while I’m laying in bed. I love waking up and seeing this reminder of our trip first thing in the morning!

I haven’t decided where I’m going to hang the rest of the prints that I bought, but of course I’ll keep you posted!