Category: Blog

The Best Custom Framed Gifts for Dog Owners

For many people, their pets are just as much a part of the family as any person, so they deserve to be a part of the family portrait or have their own frames on the wall.Whether you’re buying a gift for a friend or family member with a beloved pet dog or want to celebrate your own dog through custom framing, then we’ve got some ideas for the best things you can frame.

A dog portrait

A simple photo of your dog looking adorable would make a great addition to your walls or shelves. Choose a favorite photo to have custom framed or even book a doggy photoshoot to get professional shots of your pet. If you’re looking for a gift for a friend, then one of these photoshoots could be the perfect option. 

A painting of your dog

Instead of a photo, you could opt to commission someone to draw a painting of your dog, which would usually be based on a photo you provide for them. This allows you to enjoy an artistic interpretation of your pup in whatever style or colors you’d like. Or you could leave it up to the artist to decide these details. You can even commission funny dog portraits like the uniformed dogs here.

Pawprints

Let your dog leave a mark in your home by framing a print of their pawprints. Simply dip the bottom of your dog’s paw in paint (make sure it’s safe for dogs!) and gently place their paw down onto a piece of paper or card. You can do this for one or more paw and can choose whatever colors you’d like. Properly wash the paint off their paws afterward. Or, instead of paint, you can have their paw imprinted in clay or a similar material.

Their collar and tags

Want to remember how cute your dog was as a tiny puppy? Save their old collars to display inside a frame when they move up to a bigger size. You can keep their tags on the collars too with their name displayed. If they have multiple collars as they get bigger, then you can frame them together, each circled inside the next.

Give the gift of custom framing to yourself or a loved one to commemorate a family dog. Contact Tanglewood Art and Frame to find out more about our custom framing services around Winston Salem and Clemmons, NC.

Fun Creations with Your Kids

When it comes to decorating your walls or shelves with artwork and frames, why not get your kids involved to add some more fun and personality to your décor? And you can enjoy a fun, family activity as well by creating something together. Here are some simple ideas for fun, creative activities you could do with your kids to make colorful creations for the walls of their bedroom or other places in the house.

Handprints

Most kids will love the idea of getting messy and sticking their hands in paint without getting in trouble for it! Handprints in a picture frame make for a simple yet effective aesthetic. You may want to do this with your baby’s hand and footprints to look back at how small they were. And if you have more than one child, they can stamp their handprints in size/age order. 

If you’re willing to take the risk, then colorful handprints can also make a fun and eye-catching decoration for the walls of the nursery or kids’ room. Draw out a border around the room in the middle of the wall and have your kids fill it with handprints! Look for non-toxic paint so that it’s safe for babies and infants, or you could even make your own safe paint.

Decorated frames

Good-quality and nice-looking frames don’t have to be your typical stained wood or sleek metal. Liven them up by letting your kids loose with the paints or crayons. This is a good way to personalize a baby photo or a photo of your kids playing together. They could draw or paint their art onto a plain frame or you could have fun with splatter art by flicking paintbrushes at the frame in different colors of paint.

Squirt gun painting

Water fights with squirt guns are already a fun activity, but you can also have fun with them without getting wet by using them to paint a blank canvas or piece of card. Buy a few of those cheap, plastic squirt guns (or use ones you already have lying around) and fill each with a different colored paint. 

Squirt the paint at the blank canvas from close up or further away and in different colors to create fun and interesting patterns. Do this outdoors to keep your home safe from flying paint, and make sure you lay some ground rules so your kids don’t start spraying paint on each other’s clothes or in faces.

What fun and imaginative creations could you make with your kids? If you need a custom frame for your creations or for their photos and artwork, then contact Tanglewood Art and Frame or visit us in our Clemmons store.

Framed toys and keepsakes

Your child’s bedroom is somewhere you can get really fun, colorful, and creative when it comes to decorating. You could decorate it in a way that reflects the things they love, whether that’s dinosaurs, cute animals, or superheroes, for example. Or you could just opt for bright colors and more generic decorations like geometric patterns. After all, some young kids tend to move quickly from one phase to the next when it comes to their interests.

If you’re looking for some interesting ways to decorate your kid’s room, then here are some fun ideas you could try.

Decals

Decals are a simple way to apply patterns and images to your kid’s walls. The image or pattern is prepared on some material and then can be easily transferred to the wall. These can be made in a wide variety of sizes, so you could cover one wall with an image of their favorite character or animal, for example, or apply lots of different images as a kind of border. There are lots of possibilities when it comes to decals.

Posters

You can add pops of color to their walls with posters, which can be stuck up on their own, prepared on canvas, or custom framed and hung up. Kids will love choosing their own posters or pulling them out of magazines. And you can find posters for pretty much anything your child is interested in.

Photos

Framed photos are another great option for your kid’s walls. Parents are especially likely to do this when the child is still a baby or infant, framing baby photos and putting them up on the walls. As they get older, your child may want to choose their own photos, such as a fun family moment or photos of them with their friends.

Framed toys and keepsakes

At Tanglewood Art and Frame, we don’t just frame 2D pieces like photos and artwork, but also 3D objects. Maybe your child has a favorite toy they no longer play with, an item of clothing they’ve grown out of, or a baby blanket, for example. You could have this item, or multiple items of this kind, custom framed and hung on the wall. 

If you need any custom framing services for decorating your child’s room or any other areas in your home, then contact Tanglewood Art and Frame to find out more about our services, or visit us in-store in Clemmons, NC.

Things You Didn’t Know You Could Frame

When you think about framing things to put on your walls, your mind probably goes straight to paper. Photos, drawings, paintings, certificates. Whatever it is you’re thinking of, it’s probably flat. But why should the pleasure of framing and preserving meaningful or beautiful thing stop there?

When it comes to custom framing, you can frame lots of different things that you might not have even thought of before. Read on for some ideas of different things you can frame with us and why you might want to do so.

Clothes

Old clothes can serve as great memories of the past, especially things like baby clothes, sports uniforms, and graduation gowns. Usually, these things just get left in a box somewhere or thrown out. By framing an important item of clothing, you can preserve it and keep it on display in your home. Read more about framing clothes here.

Memorabilia

Memorabilia like concert tickets and souvenirs from events help you to remember special nights with family or friends. You can put these things together in a framed collage to commemorate an event or a relationship. For example, a collection of all the movie stubs you and your partner have collected together.

Books

You can frame larger items like books in a display case. Light books may be suitable for framing and mounting on the wall, while heavier ones can be placed in a freestanding display case.

Textiles

A sample of your child’s baby blanket is a great example of a meaningful textile you can frame for display. Perfect if you can’t decide what to do with something like this.

Maps

Is there a specific place that means a lot to you? Maybe it’s an old holiday destination, your place of birth, or the place you and your partner first met. Framing a map of this area is a good way to commemorate this.

Children’s toys

Your child’s toys are something else that can mean a lot to you and your family, but often just end up causing clutter. Choose your child’s favorite toy and preserve it in a frame or display case. 

Souvenirs

You’ve probably collected a lot of souvenirs from past vacations, and they’re probably scattered in a drawer somewhere in your home. Things like postcards, keyrings, and other souvenirs can be framed to remember each vacation.

At Tanglewood Art and Frame, our motto is “if you can carry it in, we can frame it.” This blog just has a handful of ideas of things you can frame, but if you have other ideas, then let us know. Take a look at some of our past projects if you need a little more inspiration. You can also visit us in store in Clemmons, NC to ask us any questions or get your items framed.

The benefits of kids creating art

It’s a great moment for parents when your child comes home from school with their latest creation, and you get to stick it up on the fridge to show them how proud you are. But these moments shouldn’t just be limited to what they’re told to draw in school. They could be having fun with drawing, painting, and more creative pursuits after school, at the weekend, or in the school holidays.

Creating art has so many benefits for kids. Mentally and emotionally speaking, art can be a great way to express ideas and feelings, especially at an age where they might not have the ability to really express how they feel through words. It’s a way of expressing themselves and exploring their thoughts and personality. It’s also a fun and engaging activity, providing some variety, especially if you’re trying to encourage your child to spend less time in front of screens.

Art also helps your child’s development in a number of ways, helping to support their education at the same time. It aids in developing hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills, among other abilities. It can also be a useful tool for understanding concepts being taught to them, which is why drawing and painting are such popular activities in schools.

So, how do you encourage your child to pursue art and other creative activities in their free time? One way is to get involved with them. You could each sit down and draw or paint a picture. Encourage them to draw whatever they want or you could set a theme or something more specific to draw. For younger children who may not be able to create their own art, you could draw an outline of a picture for them and have them color it in, similar to a coloring book but in a more engaging way that lets you bond with your child.

Buying your child a variety of arts and crafts supplies can also encourage them to be more creative. If you buy a selection of coloring pencils, crayons, and paint supplies, then they can choose what they want to do and what to create. Designing a space for their art activities can also be helpful, especially for messy activities like painting where they need to be able to create without making too much mess.

Finally, celebrating your child’s art by praising them and displaying their art will encourage them to do more.

If your child creates something that’s worthy of remembering and celebrating, then why not get it custom framed to stick up on the wall or on the mantlepiece? Contact Tanglewood Art and Frame or visit us in-store to find out more about our custom framing services around Clemmons and Winston Salem, NC.

Printing Your Photos at Home vs. In-Store

Most of us take a lot more photos than we used to since we have a pretty high-quality camera with us at all times thanks to smartphones. But these photos often get left on our devices and barely looked at again. Printing some of your best smartphone photos can allow you to frame your favorite moments and hang them on the wall or display them on shelves in your home.

You want to make sure that these photos look good, so what are your options for printing them? Let’s compare two options of printing your photos yourself at home or having them professionally printed in-store.

Home printing

You may be able to print your photos at home using your regular printer with some specific photo paper to produce a slightly sturdier and better-quality end result. Or you can get better results by purchasing a quality photo printer. Obviously the second option is costlier, but could give you much better-looking photos.

Generally speaking, you will need to adjust some of the settings on your printer or your laptop/computer to get the best results, which may require good knowledge or research into photography and printing. If you’re printing photos regularly, then this extra investment in terms of time spent learning the tools and money spent on a new printer can be worth it.

However, if you’re just printing a few photos a year, then it will be more cost and time-effective to simply choose between getting your photos printed professionally in-store or compromising on quality by printing your photos at home on good-quality photo printing paper.

Professional printing

Various stores offer printing services, from general stores and supermarkets to more specialist printing companies. The specialists are likely to be more costly but also produce better results, while general stores may be cheaper and more convenient but with slightly lower quality. Overall, it can be much more convenient to rely on professional, in-store printing rather than having to mess about with your own printers, cartridges, and paper to figure out how to print good-quality photos at home.

Another option is to use an online printing service, which will print your photos and mail them to you. All you have to do is send in digital files of the photos you want printing, plus information about the number and size of prints required.

When your photos are ready for the wall, come to Tanglewood Art and Frame to have them professionally custom framed, making sure you present them nicely in your home. Contact us for custom framing services around Advance, Winston Salem, Clemmons, Lewisville, and Mocksville, NC.

Exploring the Appeal of Custom Metal Framing for Your Photography

In the world of photography, the presentation of your images plays a crucial role in conveying their impact and significance. While traditional wooden frames have long been a popular choice for framing photographs, custom metal framing has emerged as a modern and stylish alternative. Offering sleek lines, durability, and versatility, custom metal framing has captured the attention of photographers and art enthusiasts alike. But is custom metal framing the right choice for your photography? Let’s delve into the reasons why it might be the perfect fit.

  1. Sleek and Contemporary Aesthetic: Custom metal frames exude a sleek and contemporary aesthetic that adds a touch of modernity to any space. The clean lines and minimalist design of metal frames allow the focus to remain on the photograph itself, enhancing its visual impact without overshadowing it. Whether you’re displaying black-and-white landscapes or vibrant portraits, metal frames provide a stylish backdrop that complements a wide range of photographic styles.
  2. Durable and Long-lasting: Unlike traditional wooden frames, which may be susceptible to warping, cracking, or fading over time, custom metal frames are exceptionally durable and long-lasting. Constructed from high-quality materials such as aluminum or steel, metal frames offer superior strength and resistance to wear and tear. This durability ensures that your framed photographs will remain pristine and protected for years to come, making them an excellent investment for both personal and professional use.
  3. Versatile Design Options: Custom metal framing offers a wide range of design options to suit your preferences and artistic vision. Metal frames are available in various finishes, including matte, brushed, and glossy, allowing you to achieve the perfect look for your photographs. Additionally, metal frames can be customized with different widths and depths to create a unique and personalized display. Whether you prefer a sleek and understated frame or a bold and eye-catching design, metal framing provides endless possibilities for customization.
  4. Lightweight and Easy to Hang: Metal frames are significantly lighter than their wooden counterparts, making them easy to handle and hang. This lightweight construction simplifies the installation process, allowing you to effortlessly display your photographs without the need for heavy-duty hardware or complex mounting systems. Whether you’re hanging a single print or creating a gallery wall, metal frames offer convenience and ease of use.
  5. Protection Against Environmental Factors: Metal frames provide excellent protection against environmental factors that can potentially damage your photographs, such as humidity, moisture, and insects. Unlike wooden frames, which may be prone to swelling or rotting in humid conditions, metal frames remain unaffected by changes in temperature and humidity. This ensures that your photographs are safeguarded against degradation, allowing them to retain their beauty and clarity for years to come.
  6. Customization for Every Space: Whether you’re decorating a home, office, gallery, or commercial space, custom metal framing can be tailored to suit any environment. From sleek and minimalist designs for modern interiors to ornate and decorative styles for traditional settings, metal frames offer versatility and adaptability to enhance the ambiance of any space. With a wide range of finishes, colors, and customization options available, you can create a bespoke framing solution that perfectly complements your surroundings.
  7. Professional Presentation for Exhibitions and Displays: For photographers showcasing their work in exhibitions, galleries, or commercial displays, custom metal framing offers a professional and polished presentation that enhances the prestige and impact of their photographs. The sleek and contemporary aesthetic of metal frames creates a cohesive and cohesive look that elevates the overall presentation of the artwork, making it more visually appealing and memorable to viewers.

In conclusion, custom metal framing offers a host of benefits that make it an excellent choice for framing your photography. With its sleek and contemporary aesthetic, durability, versatility, and protection against environmental factors, metal framing provides the perfect combination of style and functionality for displaying your photographs. Whether you’re a professional photographer looking to showcase your work or an art enthusiast seeking to enhance your home decor, custom metal framing offers endless possibilities for creating stunning displays that truly stand out.

Custom Framing and Matting 101: Elevating Your Art and Memories

Custom framing and matting offer a personalized touch to artwork, photographs, and cherished memories, transforming them into stunning pieces that enhance any space. While off-the-shelf frames are readily available, they often lack the uniqueness and quality craftsmanship of custom options. Whether you’re a seasoned art collector or a homeowner looking to showcase your favorite photos, understanding the basics of custom framing and matting can help you create visually striking displays that truly stand out. Let’s dive into Custom Framing and Matting 101 to discover the essentials of this artful process.

  1. Selecting the Right Frame: The frame serves as both a protective enclosure and a decorative element for your artwork or photograph. When choosing a frame, consider factors such as style, material, and size. Wood frames offer warmth and versatility, while metal frames provide a sleek, modern look. Additionally, consider the frame’s profile and color to complement the artwork and complement your home’s decor.
  2. Understanding Matting Options: Matting, also known as mat board or matting board, is a border placed around the artwork within the frame. It serves several purposes, including providing visual space between the artwork and the frame, protecting the artwork from direct contact with the glass, and enhancing the overall presentation. Matting is available in various colors, thicknesses, and textures, allowing you to customize the look and feel of your framed piece.
  3. Choosing Mat Board Colors and Thickness: Mat boards come in a wide range of colors and shades, from classic neutrals like white and black to vibrant hues and earthy tones. When selecting a mat board color, consider the artwork’s color palette and the ambiance you wish to create. Additionally, the thickness of the mat board, known as its ply or depth, can impact the depth and dimensionality of the framed piece.
  4. Understanding Matting Techniques: There are several matting techniques used to create visually appealing displays. Traditional matting involves placing a single mat board around the artwork, providing a clean and classic look. Double matting involves layering two mat boards to create depth and dimension, with the inner mat serving as a border or accent color. Float mounting is a technique where the artwork is attached to the back of the frame, allowing it to appear suspended within the frame without matting.
  5. Consider Conservation and Preservation: When framing valuable or irreplaceable artwork or photographs, consider conservation framing techniques to protect them from damage caused by light, moisture, and pollutants. Conservation-grade materials, including acid-free mat boards, UV-filtering glass, and archival mounting techniques, help preserve the integrity and longevity of the framed piece.
  6. Customizing Frame and Mat Dimensions: Custom framing allows you to tailor the dimensions of the frame and matting to perfectly fit your artwork or photograph. Work with a professional framer to determine the ideal proportions and spacing for your framed piece, ensuring a balanced and visually appealing presentation.
  7. Collaborating with a Professional Framer: While DIY framing is an option, collaborating with a professional framer offers expertise, precision, and access to a wide range of materials and customization options. A skilled framer can guide you through the design process, recommend the best framing and matting choices, and ensure that your framed piece is expertly crafted to your specifications.
  8. Exploring Finishing Touches: Once the framing and matting are complete, consider additional finishing touches to enhance the overall presentation. This may include adding fillets, liners, or decorative corner accents to the frame, as well as incorporating museum-quality backing and hanging hardware for secure and stylish display.
  9. Maintaining and Caring for Framed Artwork: Proper maintenance and care are essential for preserving the beauty and longevity of your framed artwork. Avoid hanging framed pieces in direct sunlight or humid environments, as prolonged exposure to light and moisture can cause fading, discoloration, and warping. Periodically dust the frame and glass with a soft, dry cloth to remove any debris or buildup.
  10. Enjoying Your Custom Creations: Once your artwork or photographs are beautifully framed and matted, it’s time to enjoy the fruits of your labor. Display your custom creations proudly in your home or office, and take pleasure in knowing that they have been expertly crafted to showcase and protect your cherished memories and artistic endeavors.

In conclusion, custom framing and matting offer endless possibilities for enhancing the beauty and significance of your artwork, photographs, and mementos. By understanding the fundamentals of custom framing and matting, collaborating with a professional framer, and selecting quality materials and techniques, you can create stunning displays that elevate your space and bring joy for years to come.

Framing Your Experiences with Scratch Maps

Are you looking for some different ideas of what to frame and hang on your wall? Here at Tanglewood, we can provide custom framing for pretty much anything. And we’ve got an idea that could look good on your walls, celebrate your experiences, and even reflect your goals – scratch maps!

In case you don’t know, a scratch map is a map of the world or a certain area that you can scratch the surface off to reveal something underneath. They are typically used to essentially tick off countries or cities that you have visited and show you all the ones you haven’t been to yet. They’re great for travel addicts, but if that doesn’t describe you, then you can buy scratch maps or lists with lots of different themes.

Maps of the world or a country

As we’ve already mentioned, you can get a scratch map of the world, a continent, or a country. If you don’t do much international traveling, then you could get a scratch map of the US and check off all the states you’ve visited.

Must-read books

If you prefer a good book over a plane journey, then you can also find scratch maps with lists like “The top 100 books to read before you die.” Once you buy it, you can tick off all the books you’ve already read and then set a goal to read the rest of them in the future.

Must-see films

And there’s a version of the above product for movie buffs, too. How many of the top 100 movies have you seen? Or you could find a more specific poster like ones listing the top movies of the 20th century or the top musical films. Next time you’re bored in an evening, you can consult your list to see what film to watch next.

Bucket list

Do you have a bucket list? If you’re stuck for ideas of what to add to yours, then you can buy a scratch-off bucket list filled with things that people typically want to do before they die. Daring things like sky diving and driving a motorbike, but also more laidback things like writing poetry and making a birthday cake.

Places to visit

A little more specific than a scratch map of the world is a scratch-off list of specific places and landmarks to visit. Have you been to the Grand Canyon or the top of the Empire State Building? What about Big Ben, the Taj Mahal, or the Sydney Opera House? This kind of list will give you great vacation ideas, both nationally and internationally.

There are loads of different scratch maps and lists that could suit your interests, so find one and start scratching. And get in touch for custom framing for your scratch map. Framing it and hanging it on the wall can serve as your motivation for checking the next thing off the list, while also displaying your achievements so far.

The Best Ideas for How to Display Your Travel Photos

You make so many amazing memories while traveling and you’ll see lots of incredible sights. Your photo reel will probably be full by the end of your trip, but what do you do with those photos? It’s a shame to leave them on your phone only to be viewed once in a blue moon, but it can be hard to know how to show them off.

We’ve got some ideas about how you can do your travel photos justice. Check out these interesting ways of displaying your travel photos.

A large feature piece

If there’s a single photo that you absolutely love, then it can make a great statement piece in any room. Print that photo in large dimensions and place it above the fireplace, behind the TV, above your bed, or on any wall with enough space for this kind of feature. This photo can be a real focal point of the room, one that everyone notices when they first walk in. Good options include printing your feature piece on canvas or having it custom framed.

Travel photo collage

If you prefer to display lots of smaller photos from your travels, then you can always make a collage of your favorite photos. Just select a group of photos and print them out together in a collage that you can have custom framed. Or, you can print and frame them all separately, arranging them nicely together to create a stylish photo wall.

Mantlepiece displays

This one is a great choice for renters who might not be able to hang pictures or frames on the walls due to restrictions set by their landlords. Mantlepieces, shelves, and window ledges are all great places to show off your framed photos. You can choose a few smaller photos and frames to display across the mantle, or a slightly larger centerpiece photo frame.

Photo prints

Maybe you don’t have the perfect space to display your photos but you still want to get them offline. You could always create a photobook of all your favorite pics or print them out and place them in a traditional photo album. Another great idea is to have a custom calendar printed with some of your favorite photos from the previous year. If you travel a lot, then you can create a new calendar each year with your latest travel pics.

Are you ready to frame your travel photos? Come into our frame shop in Clemmons to find out how we can perfectly present your memories. Or contact us online to inquire about our services and prices.