I recently joined a group on Facebook called GAACR (Genealogy Arts and Crafts Room) where there are regular posts about creating arts and crafts using our ‘stuff’.
One item caught my eye, it was an old used envelope that was enlarged and framed. The original post had been found on Pinterest and shared with members of the group. I knew that this was something I wanted to try.
I looked through my files and picked an envelope and a few postcards. I scanned them at a high resolution, 3,000 dpi along the longest side. The large scan is needed so the image doesn’t get fuzzy upon enlarging. My first scan I made into a TIFF file and then duplicated as a JPEG which is the file type usually needed for when ordering.
Here are the envelopes/postcards I chose from my collection.




The next step was to upload them to a photograph ordering site, I used London Drugs. Make sure do to watch for automatic cropping that some of these sites do. I have often found that the automatic cropping will cut off my pictures in odd spots. The size I enlarged to was 12 x 18 and the cost per print, $14.98.
My hardest decision was picking the frames, that took me three trips to the store! The frames were purchased at Michaels where you can often buy an item and get a second one for a reduced price. If you break your purchases up into two separate trips you can reduce the cost of your frames.

I am quite pleased with the results and have hung the pictures in my living room, they are a great conversation piece.


I think there may be room for a couple more!


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