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.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:16):
Hi, Bob Levinstein here with a CruiseCompete Cruise
Bite.
As our mobile phone cameras getbetter and better, most of us
have taken at least oneincredible vacation photo that
we wouldn't mind seeing everyday.
Today I'll tell you how to turnthat photo into a piece of art
on your wall with minimal effortand very inexpensively.
There really is a very simplesecret to saving hundreds of

(00:39):
dollars and I'll tell you allabout it right after this.

(00:44):
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(01:27):
amount of money on your cruisevacation via cruise compete
today.

Speaker 1 (01:50):
Different people have different attitudes toward art
on their walls.
For me, I want images that arenot just aesthetically pleasing,
but also take me back to amoment in time that I want to
remember a large version of aphoto I took on vacation can
immediately transport me to Rioor to a secluded beach in the
Caribbean or did that incrediblehike I took in the Canadian
Rockies.

(02:11):
It's very easy to do if youfollow these simple steps.
It all starts with that photoyou 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 lotof reasons, but a big one is
that they have some very simpleto use editing tools that you
can use right on your phone.
For me, I usually just crop thepicture to show the portion of

(02:33):
the image I want.
Slide a slider to the right tobring up the light and the image
and then use another sliderlabeled pop that brings details
into more focus and that's it.
My photo is ready to print.
Next, decide if you want toprint on canvas or on metal.
If you really liked the way thelight looks on your phone, go
with metal.
If you prefer a softer feel oryou want to print a panorama or

(02:55):
print larger than about say 20by 30 inches, then canvas.
Okay, here comes the big secretreveal: Groupon.
If you go directly to theprinting website, you can easily
pay hundreds of dollars for asingle print using Groupon.
I've never paid more than 75bucks and that was for canvas
prints that are five feet wideby three feet high.

(03:19):
Note that G roupon's process hasyou pay twice, wants to buy the
Groupon and again on thevendor's website where you pay
for the shipping.
Total price depends on the sizeand materials you'll select, but
figure you'll pay about$12 foran eight by 12 and in the 30 to
$50 range for somethingmedium-sized to larger.
Once you've purchased yourGroupon, the process is very

(03:41):
straightforward.
Go to the vendor's website andupload your image.
If your images in exactly thesame shape as what you're
printing on, you can move theimage to select which part of
your image to print.
If you're printing on canvas,select a mirrored border.
Do not purchase any frames orhangers.
These are overpriced andunnecessary.
Just enter your coupon code andcheckout in a couple of weeks.

(04:03):
You'll have your art.
One more thing.
Don't be nervous when you gothrough this process.
If you're not happy with theresult, the company will let you
reprint it or print somethingelse.
All you'll pay for is theshipping.
Again, finally, a couple of tipsfor hanging your art to hang
canvases.
All you need are a couple ofnails, some larger canvases, and

(04:23):
some walls are in perfectlyflat.
So I like to use some doublesticky tape to hold down corners
for hanging prints on metal.
There's a small amount of workand really almost zero skills
involved.
Believe me, if I can do it, youcan do it.
All you need to do is pick up astrip of wood at the hardware
store that's an inch wide byhalf an inch thick.
These are usually about three tofour bucks for a long, skinny

(04:46):
eight foot length.
Cut to pieces a little narrowerthan the width of your picture.
And screw two little screw eyes.
Think I'm screws with littlecircles on top into the narrow
side of one of the pieces.
Glue the strips onto the back ofyour picture.
I like to use gorilla glue withthe eyes facing toward the top
of the picture and then run apiece of string or picture wire

(05:07):
between the two screw eyes, uh,to give you something to hang it
with.
This will give you a nice modern3d effect with no need for a
frame.
I love seeing my favorite photoson my walls every day, and I get
lots of compliments from guests.
I hope you'll give this a tryand I hope you'll be as happy
with your results as I am withmine.
I'm Bob Levinstein and this hasbeen a CruiseCompete Cruise

(05:28):
Bite.