Home And Family USA

There are so many expenses when trying to decorate your home. One of the ways to save money is in picture framing. I was shocked at the prices when I took several prints to a local shop to be framed. I had found the prints at the arts and crafts fair and thought they would go well in our living room. The prints were reasonably priced, but custom framing was going to place me over budget.

I made a trip to a local craft shop that sells picture framing supplies. I brought along the prints and with the help of the clerk picked out mats and frames that complimented them well. I went home and in a matter of minutes I was custom framing at my dining room table. The prints looked really good in the picture framing that I had picked out. My husband and I hung them on the living room wall. It turned out that the wall needed something more. The prints were wildlife scenes depicting one of our favorite state parks. I started going through photos that we had taken the last time we visited there. I found two photos that went very nicely with the prints.

I took the photos to a camera shop and made enlargements of them. I then went back to the craft shop that has picture framing supplies and looked for matting and frames. From the picture framing supplies I found a double mat that brought out the colors of the photos. The double mat also complimented the ones that I had purchased for the prints. It was the same clerk that was working when I purchased the other picture framing supplies. She observed that the other project most have gone well being I was back for more. I showed her the enlarged photos and explained that I was going to use them as a grouping with the prints. She thought this was a great idea and mentioned how much I was saving in picture framing costs by doing the project myself.

I went home and again turned my dining room table into a picture framing center. The photos turned out great and rounded out the arrangement on the wall nicely. We have decided that in the future we are going to use more of our own photos and custom framing to replace other art work in our home. By using photos and doing the framing ourselves we can create one of a kind art work for a reasonable amount of money.

A great way to preserve cherished memories of family and friends, of special places visited, as well as milestones such as graduation, weddings and the birth of a baby is with a photo scrapbook. If you have boxes and boxes of old photographs and mementos, a photo scrapbook is what you need to get your memories organized.

A visit to your local hobby and craft store will afford you the opportunity to examine the many different styles of photo scrapbook that are available. They come in all shapes and sizes, as well as in a multitude of colors. You may want to purchase a plain one and customize the cover yourself. As for the inside of the photo scrapbook, there are endless choices when it comes to photo mounting pages, papers with pockets for securing mementos such as napkins, ticket stubs and matchbooks, and different tools to use for decoration purposes.

Some families are so organized and so thoroughly enjoy putting together a photo scrapbook, that they end up having to purchase bookshelves just to store their photographic creations on! People who enjoy making photo scrapbooks as a hobby will make one for just about any celebration or occasion. I have seen a photo scrapbook made for birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, the birth of a child, graduation from high school and college, retirement, as well as ones centered on a families’ genealogy. Many people also enjoy putting together scrapbooks that center on family vacations.

There are many ways in which to make yours’ unique. Different colored paper can be used within the photo scrapbook, as well as different sizes and fonts for the text pages. Colored pencils, markers and paint pens will also add a personal touch. If you have loose mementos such as napkins, invitations, hotel receipts or the like that need to be secured, stiff paper featuring pockets can be put into your scrapbook as a way to keep these items together.

When mounting photos for your book, it is wise to first sort the pictures by date, occasion, etc. before placing them into the photo scrapbook. More than one picture has been ruined because it was mounted on the wrong page and then had to be removed. Also, to add some flair to your photo scrapbook, consider using both black and white, as well as color film when taking pictures. The contrast between the two when mounted on the same page is dazzling.

Don’t be afraid to experiment! Use stencils, glitter glue, border edge scissors, multicolored paper, textured paper and different types of film to make your photo scrapbook one of a kind. It can be passed down from generation to generation, and will provide your loved ones with wonderful stories of all the memorable times your family has shared.