Custom framing is an art form in itself. Whether you’re preserving a cherished family photograph, showcasing a piece of fine art, or displaying memorabilia, the frame you choose can enhance its beauty and protect it for years to come. While it might be tempting to take a DIY approach, enlisting the help of a professional framer ensures your project is handled with the care and expertise it deserves.

Expertise and Experience

Professional framers bring years of experience and a trained eye to the table. They understand the nuances of design, color theory, and proportion, helping you choose the perfect frame, matting, and glass to complement your piece. A professional will work with you to ensure the finished product enhances your art, photograph, or keepsake, rather than overshadowing it.

Additionally, framers know how to handle delicate and valuable items. Whether it’s an original painting, a signed jersey, or a vintage map, professionals use techniques and materials designed to preserve the integrity of your piece. This is especially important for items that are fragile, sentimental, or irreplaceable.

High-Quality Materials

Unlike off-the-shelf frames, custom framing projects often require specialized materials. Professionals have access to a wide variety of high-quality frame mouldings, archival mats, and UV-resistant glass to protect your items from fading, discoloration, and deterioration. They can also guide you in selecting the best materials based on the item’s age, medium, and display location.

Customization Options

One of the biggest advantages of professional framing is the ability to fully customize your project. Professionals can create unique designs tailored to your style and space. Whether you’re looking for a sleek modern frame or an ornate vintage-inspired design, they can craft a solution that reflects your vision.

Long-Term Value

While professional framing may seem more expensive upfront, it offers long-term value. Proper framing protects your items from damage and extends their lifespan, saving you the cost of repairs or replacements down the road. The finished product will also look more polished and professional, making it a timeless addition to your home or office.

Trust the Experts

Custom framing is about more than just presentation—it’s about preservation and storytelling. By trusting a professional, you ensure that your treasured items receive the attention and care they deserve, resulting in a stunning, long-lasting display. Ready to frame your memories? Call your local professional framer today!

Custom framing is a fantastic way to showcase and preserve items that matter most to you. Whether it’s a sentimental keepsake or a piece of art, custom frames add a personal and polished touch to your treasures. Here are some of the coolest things you can custom frame to make a lasting impression in your home or office.

1. Artwork

From paintings to sketches and digital prints, artwork is one of the most popular items to custom frame. A custom frame enhances the visual impact of the piece and protects it from damage. Choose a frame and matting that complement the colors and style of the artwork to create a stunning display.

2. Photographs

Family portraits, vacation snapshots, and wedding photos deserve to be celebrated. Custom framing adds a professional touch to your cherished memories, allowing you to create a gallery wall or a standalone centerpiece. You can even include multiple photos in a collage frame for a unique presentation.

3. Sports Memorabilia

Whether it’s a signed jersey, a ticket stub from a memorable game, or a championship trophy, custom framing can turn your sports memorabilia into a showcase-worthy display. Shadow boxes are a great option for larger or three-dimensional items.

4. Certificates and Awards

Diplomas, certifications, and awards represent significant accomplishments and milestones. Custom frames give these achievements the recognition they deserve while protecting them from wear and tear. Add a professional finish with high-quality matting and UV-protective glass.

5. Travel Souvenirs

Maps, postcards, and foreign currency from your travels can be beautifully framed to create a personalized reminder of your adventures. You can even include small items like coins or tickets in a shadow box for a unique keepsake.

6. Textiles

Framing textiles like scarves, flags, or antique fabrics can preserve their beauty and add texture to your decor. Custom framing keeps these delicate items safe from fading and deterioration while turning them into eye-catching wall art.

7. Children’s Art

Turn your child’s artwork into a masterpiece with custom framing. Whether it’s a finger painting or a school project, framing their creations is a great way to celebrate their creativity and add a touch of whimsy to your space.

Conclusion

Custom framing offers endless possibilities to display and preserve the things you love. From artwork and photographs to memorabilia and textiles, a custom frame can transform your items into stunning, one-of-a-kind pieces. Visit your local custom framing expert to start creating your personalized displays today!

You want to adorn your walls and shelves with photos of the things, places, and people that you love. And if you have kids, they’re obviously going to be high up on this list. But taking the perfect photos of your kids can be difficult. From hyperactive infants that never want to stand still, to moody teenagers that won’t smile for a family photo, snapping the perfect still can be difficult. 

In this article, we’ve got some tips on how to take photos of your kids that you can cherish forever.

Professional photos

One option is to pay and leave it to the pros. A lot of professional photographers are used to family photoshoots, so they’re skilled at getting kids to cooperate with photos and capturing good poses from them. You can get a wide variety of shots this way, both posed and candid. Of course, there are the costs to consider, but it can be well worth it for the great pictures you get out of it.

Candid photos

If it’s hard to get your kids to pose for a photo, then capture them while they’re doing something they enjoy. This means you won’t have to work at getting them to cooperate. Photograph them doing a jigsaw or while watching their favorite movie. Or go for action shots and photograph them running around the yard, playing with their siblings, or jumping on the bed. You might get a lot of blurry shots if you’re just using your smartphone, but keep snapping and you’ll eventually strike gold.

Draw their attention

If you really want a photo of a young child looking perfectly at the camera, then you might be in for a challenge. For babies and infants, you could try holding a toy or their favorite food over the camera to get them looking in the right direction. For slightly older children, you might need to get more creative. You could simply ask if they can see their reflection in the camera lens, or be more imaginative and tell them there are fairies in the lens, or whatever would pique their interest. 

Hand the camera over

The selfie generation has arrived, and kids are practically born knowing how to use smartphones and tablets these days. Flip your phone into selfie mode and hand it over to them. They’ll be curious about their reflection on the screen and they’ll soon figure out how to snap photos of themselves. Just be prepared to scroll through hundreds of selfies on your phone. 

Once you’ve got the perfect photos for your wall, bring them into our shop in Clemmons, NC for our expert custom framing services. Get in touch if you have any questions about how custom framing works.

You want to adorn your walls and shelves with photos of the things, places, and people that you love. And if you have kids, they’re obviously going to be high up on this list. But taking the perfect photos of your kids can be difficult. From hyperactive infants that never want to stand still, to moody teenagers that won’t smile for a family photo, snapping the perfect still can be difficult.

Professional photos

One option is to pay and leave it to the pros. A lot of professional photographers are used to family photoshoots, so they’re skilled at getting kids to cooperate with photos and capturing good poses from them. You can get a wide variety of shots this way, both posed and candid. Of course, there are the costs to consider, but it can be well worth it for the great pictures you get out of it.

Candid photos

If it’s hard to get your kids to pose for a photo, then capture them while they’re doing something they enjoy. This means you won’t have to work at getting them to cooperate. Photograph them doing a jigsaw or while watching their favorite movie. Or go for action shots and photograph them running around the yard, playing with their siblings, or jumping on the bed. You might get a lot of blurry shots if you’re just using your smartphone, but keep snapping and you’ll eventually strike gold.

Draw their attention

If you really want a photo of a young child looking perfectly at the camera, then you might be in for a challenge. For babies and infants, you could try holding a toy or their favorite food over the camera to get them looking in the right direction. For slightly older children, you might need to get more creative. You could simply ask if they can see their reflection in the camera lens, or be more imaginative and tell them there are fairies in the lens, or whatever would pique their interest.

Hand the camera over

The selfie generation has arrived, and kids are practically born knowing how to use smartphones and tablets these days. Flip your phone into selfie mode and hand it over to them. They’ll be curious about their reflection on the screen and they’ll soon figure out how to snap photos of themselves. Just be prepared to scroll through hundreds of selfies on your phone.

Once you’ve got the perfect photos for your wall, bring them into our shop in Clemmons, NC for our expert custom framing services. Get in touch if you have any questions about how custom framing works.

When you think of family photographs being used to decorate the walls of a family home, what comes to mind is usually a thoroughly planned picture of the family posed nicely in a line or with the parents at the back and the kids in the front. But this kind of rigorously planned and posed photography doesn’t often capture the personality of the family and individuals being photographed. This is where candid photographs can offer up something a little different.

What is a candid photo?

A candid photo is one that is not posed or planned. The subject may not even be aware you are taking photos, such as snapping shots of your kids while they’re happily playing in the backyard.

Other times, the subjects may be aware of the photographer but still don’t know when photos are being taken. For example, a wedding day photographer often acts as a fly-on-the-wall during the ceremony or the reception, taking photos of people happily chatting, drinking, or wiping a tear away.

Either way, the idea is that the subject does not change their behavior for the photograph, they are simply acting natural doing whatever they are doing.

Candid photos vs. posed photos

Let’s look at some of the pros and cons of candid photos compared to posed photos.

When people complain about not being photogenic, it’s often because they feel uncomfortable in front of the camera. Someone might have a nice smile when they’re laughing with friends, but point a camera at them and it suddenly becomes an awkward and forced smile, instead. Candid photography eliminates this because you’re photographing natural behavior rather than a forced pose.

However, candid photography can still lead to unflattering poses. It can be difficult to time a photograph just right when someone is moving, talking, and laughing naturally. Candid photography can involve a lot of luck and perseverance to achieve the perfect shot, especially if you’re photographing hyperactive children or animals.

But the best thing about candid photos is that they reflect people’s (or animals’) real personality and uniqueness by capturing them acting naturally or in their natural environment. You can capture an image of someone having fun, working hard, pursuing a hobby they love, or the loving look in someone’s eye when they look at their kids or partner. Whatever kind of candid photo you’re taking, the results are real, not staged.

Great candid photos are perfect for custom framing and hanging on the walls in your home, or even to be given as a gift. If you’re interested in custom framing services around Clemmons and Winston Salem, NC, then contact Tanglewood Art and Frame or visit us 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.

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.

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.