There are some gifts that are lovely because of what they are, and others that mean a little bit more because of the memories behind them. Paint By Numbers by Paint A Moment falls firmly into the second category.
I was asked if I wanted to review a painting by numbers kit, all I had to do is send over a photo and leave the rest to Paint a Moment. We chose a photograph of Bruce and his mum standing outside her Welsh cottage, turning a personal family memory into something we could recreate as a painting. I love the idea of taking a photograph that means something to you and turning it into a project that you can spend time on, before ending up with something to keep.
The process is straightforward in principle. Your photograph is turned into a paint-by-numbers design, giving you the outline and numbered sections to work through. Ours involved a lot of green! Which, to be fair, is hardly surprising given the setting. A Welsh cottage surrounded by greenery was never going to be a minimalist colour palette.
One thing we did notice was that the finished painting didn’t quite capture the red of the berries in the original photograph. It was a shame, as those little pops of colour were part of what made the photograph special. We did wonder whether there has to be a limit to the number of colours used to make the kit practical, so perhaps that’s an unavoidable compromise when turning a photograph into a paint-by-numbers picture.
That said, I think the idea behind it is lovely. It’s a way of doing something a little different with a favourite photograph, particularly one that holds family memories. Rather than simply printing a picture and putting it in a frame, you get to spend time recreating it yourself. There’s something quite nice about that, especially when the finished piece represents a person or a place that matters to you.
Bruce took it up to his mum recently and it was immediately unrolled and set up on the kitchen table. And there it has remained, being painted every now again in snatched minutes here and there. Friends popping round for a cuppa have been drawn to it and picked up a paint brush without being asked twice. It has become a real conversation piece as it slowly comes to life.
There was just one small thing that I felt let the presentation down. The kit arrived in a plain cardboard box, which felt a little underwhelming for something that could make such a thoughtful and personal gift. A more considered box or some prettier packaging would make it feel that bit more special, particularly if you’re giving it to someone for a birthday, Christmas or another occasion.
Overall, Paint By Numbers by Paint A Moment is a lovely gift idea for someone who enjoys a creative project, or for anyone who would appreciate turning a favourite photograph into something they can make themselves. It’s personal, it’s different, and it gives you a reason to revisit a memory while you’re working on it.
I’d have loved to see the red berries reflected more accurately, and I think the packaging could do with a little attention, but the underlying idea is a good one. After all, the best photographs aren’t always the ones of famous landmarks or spectacular views. Sometimes they’re the ones of the people we love, standing outside a little cottage in Wales.
Prices are from around £22.
We were gifted the kit using our photo and there was no commitment to post unless we wanted to. All thoughts are also our own