Have you recently moved or know someone who has? Then you will love this personalized housewarming gift!
More times than not, moving is an emotional time. You are leaving behind a home that often times has many memories tied to physical objects. Within those walls you may have brought your child home from the hospital. On that staircase, your teenager may have posed for their high school dance portraits. In that backyard you may have celebrated your retirement party. Whatever the association, the physical appearance of the front of that home may forever hold a special place in your heart. Or at least I knew this was the case for my family…
After my parents relocated, I decided I wanted some sort of personalized housewarming gift that could serve two purposes: 1) decorate their new home and 2) help illicit those wonderful memories tied to past homes. This was when I decided to create a very basic, yet sentimental gift– a frame displaying their past homes. This same idea has now been passed around and served as a perfect gift for many of my loved ones.
* Affiliate links are included in this post. All this means, is that if you click on one of those links and purchase something, I may receive a small commission. However, you will not pay a penny more- promise!
How to Make Your Own Personalized Housewarming Gift
- Locate pictures of the front of each of the past homes. Tip: if you don’t have a picture of a former home from the time you or your loved one resided in the home (perhaps from 20+ years ago in some cases) and don’t wish to ruin the gift surprise by asking the recipient… (if possible and not out of state), simply drive to the home and snap one now. While certain aspects of the front of the home (i.e. landscaping, porch decor), may look somewhat different… the concept still works! (Note: if a previous home was that of an apartment, be sure and include this as well if it was sentimental to the recipient!)Â
- You can choose to either keep the pictures in color or turn them into black and white. Personally, I opt for the black and white look. I enjoy the classic look of this and feel the flow of the entire art piece works better this way. Â
- You will want to be sure all pictures are printed in the same direction (i.e. all portrait or all landscape) so they fit effectively in a frame. I believe all horizontal is ideal for this project in order to get the length of the home. Â
- Print the photos and place them in a picture frame. Here is the kicker… you will need a frame that has the appropriate number of open slots that is in alignment with the number of previous homes. Make sense? In other words, if you have lived in three homes prior to the new one (I don’t usually include the newest home in the frame as I feel like it isn’t quite a memory if you are currently residing in the home) then you would need a frame with three slots. Finding a frame like this can prove to be a bit tricky so I’ve done some online digging for you. Simply click here
 to view a large collection of frames that would be perfect and skip the shopping trip!Â
- Frame the pictures and enjoy!! You now have a very special piece of wall decor for your new home, or the perfect sentimental house warming gift for a loved one!
 to view a large collection of frames that would be perfect and skip the shopping trip! 
Interesting in yet ANOTHER fun housewarming gift? Check out my DIY Housewarming Basket here!
SO pretty! 🙂
I would love for you to share this with my Facebook Group for recipes, crafts, tips, and tricks: https://www.facebook.com/groups/pluckyrecipescraftstips/
Thanks for joining Cooking and Crafting with J & J!
Thanks Jess :)!
What a nice idea. It is a present that will mean so much and can be given to friends and family.
Thanks Debra 😊. I love giving personalized and meaningful gifts!
You can’t bring your old home but you can bring the memories in this decor. Thank you this is a great idea!
Thank you so much!:)
This is super cute! What a great idea. I want to pull out the albums and make something like this now! Thanks for sharing your tutorial at the #happynowlinkup
Thanks Jen! 😊
You’ve thought of a very clever way to keep memories alive and to ease the discomfort of a move.
Thank you! 😊
What a great gift and memory. I grew up moving a lot, my mom paints water colors and has often done house portraits for people of the homes they have lived in. Thanks for linking up to #HomeMattersParty
How fun, I bet her work is beautiful :)!
That is a sweet idea! It would be fun to display the homes my husband and I grew up in too! I’m going to search for some photos! Thanks for linking this idea up with Funtastic Friday!
What a wonderful idea! Have fun with it! All the best!
Thanks for sharing on the Pleasures of the NW’s DIY party!
Thank YOU!
Such a lovely idea! I especially like the way you’ve printed the photos in black and white–a timeless look.
Thank you for joining the Grace at Home party at Imparting Grace. I’m featuring you this week!
Thank you so much for the kind words and the feature! I am so honored! Thank you for hosting 🙂
I love this idea, for myself and as a gift for others. Thanks for sharing:).
Thank you so much Donna!
Cool idea!! We were a military family and moved A LOT! This would be so cool to have, unfortunately many of our previous homes are in other countries. Another idea to get the images is to do a google map search and just use the shot they have of the home now. Thanks for sharing!!
I LOVE that idea! Great idea with Google Map!
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