Mum's impressive at-home $40 Kmart baby photo shoot
A Sydney mum has left fellow parents impressed after sharing the cheap items she used to give her newborn an expensive baby experience.
Parents know all too well how expensive it can be to hire a professional baby photographer.
That, combined with the current lockdown restrictions, promoted this mum to take matters into her own hands, with the end result leaving fellow mums impressed.
Hannah Borja-Perez, 33, a mother-of-three from Sydney, spent just $13 on two props from Kmart and an extra $25 on accessories from eBay to create her very own professional-looking shoot for her newborn daughter.
She shared the snaps in a popular Kmart Facebook group and immediately attracted more than 11,000 ‘likes’ and over one thousand comments in just a few hours.
RELATED: Woman ‘shames tradies’ with Bunnings reno
“I had been researching what was available with all these Covid restrictions now in place, but at the same time, with a growing family, I wanted to save money,” Ms Borj-Perez told news.com.au
“So I thought, ‘you know what, I am going to do my own’.”
The mum said while she never enlisted a professional baby photographer for her other children, now 6 and 4, she came across some quotes for more than $1,000 while doing her research – meaning she saved over $900 doing it herself.
“It depends if you do it at home to in a studio so it can range from about $570 up to $1000, so I saved a fortune doing it myself.”
RELATED: ‘Crazy’ $9000 saving on Bunnings home reno
Ms Borja-Perez bought the woven basket for her baby girl Harmony Faith to lay in for $10, along with a white woodgrain adhesive vinyl at $3, from Kmart.
The savvy mum also spent $25 on a purple wrap, fur rug and matching headband that came in a set from eBay.
“I had to think about the lighting, the angle, all that stuff and it’s a newborn so you have to be super careful as Harmony wasn’t even two days old yet,” Ms Borja-Perez said.
“I had to go on YouTube to check how they position a newborn and wrap them because they are so fragile.”
Once she worked out the best position in her room, Ms Borja-Perez said it took her all of just 45 minutes to complete the photo shoot.
RELATED: Kmart launches $8 kitchen organiser after viral file hack
“The set up was so easy. I fed her first and after that she was wide awake. It was perfect timing under the natural lighting by the window too.”
The 33-year-old mummy blogger said she was quite taken back herself by how well the images turned out and after hesitation decided to share them in a Facebook group.
Her posts instantly racked up plenty of attention with fellow mums describing her creativity as “amazing”.
”You’ve done a fabulous job and what a perfect little model! Congratulations on your little bundle of joy!” one woman wrote.
“OMG just so beautiful of your new baby daughter and the colours look beautiful Congratulations,” wrote another.
“Wow !!!! This is AMAZING! I want to have this all prepared!” a third person commented.
Ms Borja-Perez also added she used an app called Light Room to adjust only the lighting in the images.
“You’ve done a terrific job you have a great eye,” another woman wrote, while others also shared their at-home Kmart photo shoots.
“This is just beautiful. I definitely should do this for myself as I’m a matter of weeks before I give birth. So I guess Kmart is the way to go and do it yourself instead of paying someone,” one inspired mother-to-be wrote.
‘Disgusting’: Burger photo ‘outrages men’
An entire industry has been divided over a recent ad campaign featuring new mums tucking into a juicy burger after giving birth.
Popular childcare chain collapses
A popular chain of childcare centres has collapsed, with a common trend in Australian workplace habits possibly to blame.
Mum mocked over unusual baby name
A new mum came under fire after sharing the unique name she chose for her daughter, with one comparing it to the sound a cat makes.