"Family" Picture Frame

While stopping in at my local thrift store to look for a particular book, I passed by the picture frames shelf, and happened upon this really nice, good quality frame. I didn't end up finding the book I had wanted, but I walked out very happily with my new picture frame!

When I came home, I dug out some pictures and came across a few that the children, Dean and I had taken when we went to a place called Putt Putt. They have this really cool photo booth that we had a blast squeezing into, and paid a small fortune to get our pictures painted by Leonardo, the "artist". We did this two years in a row, since going to Putt Putt was my son Charlie's request each of those years for his birthday.

I cut them to fit the openings of the new frame and, wah-lah! I was very pleased with the finished results.

There was one picture, though, that my son ended up having taken of himself upright, and obviously it would not fit with the others. So I dug out an extra black frame from my stash for that one.

Don't ask me what he's doing here, because I don't really know, but apparently it's "cool"!

Then I started looking at where I could display the new frame. I settled on the top of my roll top desk, which had already been decorated with items, but I felt it was time for a change. I placed the pictures and a few other things on the desk top, and stood back to look. Hmmm, not quite right.

I immediately decided on putting my son's picture in another black frame I have, because it also had a border of gold that tied in with my smaller gold frame, in addition to matching the new "family" one. Ahhh, that was better. But.....the display was still off. Not balanced correctly and lacking something....... So I added a bit of greenery.

Yes! That was much better. But the balance was still off, and the placement of everything just didn't seem to "fit". So, I shifted some things around, stepped back and breathed a sigh of relief. Ahhh, yes! This arrangement seemed to look appealing and balanced to my eye. Apparently, it must have passed the test with Becca, too. When she came home, she noticed the change right away and complimented that it looked cute. Now that's what I like to hear! 

The end result. Nothing fancy, but I really like it!☺

P.S. The lamp is quite special because it's one that my father made. The red vase is from beautiful Valentine flowers Dean gave me. The little gold framed picture is from my mother ~ it's the Thousand Island Park Gazebo. When I was younger, my family lived in T.I. Park for a few of the most memorable years of our lives! The plant is one that Becca chose and she's had it for several years now. The votive candle holders are a gift from my older sister, and the cat plaque is a gift from my parents. WOW. That's a lot of memories and "specialness" on the top of that desk!!