PhotoFiddle

Isn't this picture great? I took this picture of Savannah and Lexi a few years ago at my sister's wedding. I've always liked it and have thought of getting it blown up and framed. Of course, like most of my picture and decorating plans, it's been on the back burner for years.

When someone from PhotoFiddle contacted me and asked me to try out their site, I took a look at it. Now you have to sign up before you can check out all the features. I know, I know, it's a pain to sign up, but you'll be glad you did. You can take an ordinary photo and PhotoFiddle will change it into an oil painting or a charcoal sketch or a watercolor painting or any of dozens of other possibilities. You can play around on the site and see what your picture would look like as a black and white print or an impasto painting. When you've chosen your favorite, PhotoFiddle will print it on canvas and it'll look just like a beautiful piece of art!

I chose to have to above photo made into an impasto oil painting on stretched canvas.

a close-up view


a little farther away


from across the room

In addition to all the creative ways you can change your photo, the Photofiddle.com art team can adjust colors, remove objects, restore photos and more. This is a terrific Christmas idea for those hard-to-buy-for people on your list. You can give grandma and grandpa a family portrait in "oil" or a "watercolor" of the grandkids. And right now, PhotoFiddle is offering my readers a 15% discount on orders! Just enter the code mom15 on the shopping cart page in the promotion code box and click apply.

*****Edited to add: Leave me a comment here for a chance to win a $50 PhotoFiddle.com gift certificate! I'll choose a random winner on Friday, November 21.*****