Our Favorite Spring Printables

Even if the weather isn’t reflecting it much in your neck of the woods, March brings about an undeniable hope due to the oncoming spring weather. It’s a time of renewal and rebirth. Flowers begin poking up from the ground, leaves begin to grow on trees, the days grow a little longer, and the freshness of newly green things pervades the air.

It’s invigorating and motivational for a lot of people, and that’s part of why spring cleaning is such a cultural phenomenon. Along with that cleaning, you may feel the urge to brighten or lighten up your décor to reflect the changes going on outdoors.

Printables are, as we’ve said before here on the blog, a great way to update your interior décor without breaking the bank. All you need is a frame that fits in well with your style (which will transition from one season to the next) and the ability to print in color.

Here are some of our absolute favorite printables to help you bring a bright and sunny spring day into your home:

  • Nature’s Way with Banner: This one features bright colors and a quote by Robin Williams that states, “Spring is nature’s way of saying, Let’s Party!”
  • Spring Subway Art: This printable showcasing all the best parts of spring in print is available in several colors.
  • Classy Minimalist Flower: With its pretty teal flower and beautiful fonts, this printable reminds us that spring is worth the wait.
  • Hello Spring typography: This printable features beautiful fonts and modern flowers to help you welcome spring to your home.
  • April Showers Bring May Flowers: Featuring this famous saying, this printable, with it’s beautiful, bright pastel flowers will help remind you that sunny days are to come.

Whichever spring printables strike your fancy, you can check out the Frame Warehouse Facebook page for more unique ideas to get your home ready for brighter and sunnier days!

Showcasing Your Heritage

While we live in a melting pot, there’s a lot to be said for remembering your heritage and being proud of it. During the month of March, St. Patrick’s Day often brings out the Irish in almost everyone, but that could be in large part because the modern trappings of the holiday are so much fun, regardless of ancestry. 

Aside from celebrating holidays in honor of our heritage, there are lots of things we can do to bring our heritage into our homes year-round. Here’s our step-by-step guide to celebrating your heritage. 

  1. Find out for sure where your family hails from. Oftentimes, people don’t have a clue where their ancestors dwelled, but even if you do have a good idea, the results might surprise you. Check out a DNA service like Ancestry or 23 and Me to nail down your origins.
  2. Learn about your heritage. Find scholarly books about your heritage or watch a documentary that explains more about it. You may find traditions or décor that you’d like to bring into your home to celebrate where you come from. It’s also a lot of fun to teach kiddos about their ancestry as long as you find an activity or interesting facet that will hold their attention well.
  3. Celebrate holidays authentically. Do your best to emulate the actual traditions of your family’s homeland rather than the less accurate versions often celebrated in America. For instance, here’s a guide to celebrating an authentic St. Patrick’s Day.
  4. Add your heritage into your décor. Frame photos of your ancestors, cultural symbols, sheet music of the songs of your heritage, or photographs of your ancestral lands.

By doing any of these things, you can help to keep your heritage alive and establish its traditions in your family here at home. For more ideas on how to frame your family’s heritage, check out the Frame Warehouse Facebook page. 

How to Incorporate Frames into Your Wedding Decor

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It’s estimated that almost a third of engagements that occur each year happen on Valentine’s Day, so this month, there will be a lot of ladies and gentleman who will start preparing for their upcoming nuptials. If you’re going to be planning a wedding soon, what better time to consider how you can use frames in your ceremony or reception?

Here are some ideas.

  • Use a large frame strung with wire and an instant camera which guests will use to snap photos of the celebrations to create an instant photo collage. Just hang the instant photos with small clips so people can hang photos as they take them.
  • Beautiful frames can be hung from trees or an archway to create a beautiful, classy photo background. Add flowers or greenery for an extra special touch.
  • Frame a small photo of the happy couple, use a large mat, and a frame that matches the décor to create a unique guest book for people to sign. They simply add their signature and at the end of the night, it’s an instant keepsake.
  • After the wedding, you can have your wedding dress or other accoutrements of the ceremony framed in a large shadow box. Frame Warehouse is up to the task of custom framing these items for you!
  • Use a large frame to put the program up where everyone can see it at the front of the ceremony instead of handing out individual programs.

Whatever your wedding frame needs, Frame Warehouse’s Facebook page has even more great ideas for you. Go check them out!

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Frame a Little Motivation in Your Place of Business

January is a hopeful time of year. Everyone is generally pretty dedicated to their New Year’s resolutions still and it makes for a more positive atmosphere in many places, including at work.

But what about when that extra umph begins to wear off? The dreary nature of February and so many months with limited sunlight can really start to wear on people. If you need an office-wide pick-me-up or if your place of business could use an attitude boost, you might consider adding a little visual motivation.

You can do this by either framing pre-made motivational posters or by creating your own. There are also tons of great motivational printables available on the internet that might introduce a more positive vibe to your workplace.

Here are some great motivational quotes and phrases that will help keep you and your work mates focused on your goals.

  • “The secret to change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new.” – Socrates
  • “You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” – C.S. Lewis
  • “Continuous improvement is better than delayed perfection.” – Mark Twain
  • “Keep your eyes on the stars and your feet on the ground.” – Teddy Roosevelt
  • “A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.” – Albert Einstein
  • “Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.” – Maya Angelou

By framing these high ideals and placing them in high-traffic areas, you can spread motivation all around. Check out more great framing ideas on the Frame Warehouse Facebook page.

Fun Framed Valentine’s Day DIYs

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, there’s always a bit of a scurry as we try to find gifts that are just perfect for our loved ones, whether you’re looking for your significant other, a parent, friend, or a child. There’s a lot of pressure to get it right this time of year, but you really can’t go wrong with a handmade gift that comes from that heart. It won’t hurt a bit if that gift will make an attractive addition to the recipient’s décor, either.

Here are some ideas for simple DIY projects that you can frame so your loved one can display them for all to see.

Use Scrabble tiles to create a custom message board, with a sentimental note acting as a constant symbol of your love and a classy piece of décor. Use a thin canvas in the color of your choice and frame and glue down your message, then frame the canvas sans glass

You can use buttons and other notions in the same way to create a lovely heart mosaic. This is a great project for kiddos to do, and the end result is something any mother would be proud of!

Create a custom wall hanging with the important dates in your relationship by either using stencils and paint or use a vinyl cutting machine to put the decoration directly on the glass.

A beautiful, ornate frame can hang all on its own with a cute little banner that declares a simple phrase like “Love” or “Kiss Me” on it.

There are lots of more ideas for using frames in gifts and DIY projects on our Frame Warehouse Facebook page.

Hand Lettering Basics

Hand lettering may not seem like something you are cut out for, but with a little instruction, a lot of practice, and a willingness to accept the occasional imperfection, you can create brilliant hand lettered posters and signs.

First, let’s learn a little about different styles of fonts. You may already know that serif fonts have small lines at the points of the letter and sans serif fonts do not. There are a million fonts out there for you to begin with, and it’s best to start with a relatively simple one as you get your feet under you. Think even strokes. You’ll want to find a font that you absolutely love to begin practicing, because you’ll be doing it over and over to get it nailed down!

You don’t need any particular items to get started, just something to write on and a pencil.

Start by trying to recreate the alphabet in your chosen font. Write very lightly to begin with so that you can easily erase. It is crushing to have half a perfect letter and not be able to fix up a less perfect aspect. Once you have a good outline, you can go in and add any depth that the font requires, making letters thicker or even just thickening the strokes in certain parts.

There are lots of printable practice worksheets available for various fonts so you can learn how to do fancier, calligraphy style fonts as well. Once you’ve mastered your font of choice, you can add ink or paint to make a more permanent piece of art.

Last, put your amazing creation in a frame and show it off to all the world! If you need an idea for which frame would be right for your creation, check out our Facebook page for advice!

How To Create a Heartfelt Housewarming Gift from a Frame

Moving is a time of new beginnings. It’s a chance to start fresh and aim to make your life just a little more ideal. If you know someone who has moved recently or is getting ready to move, you might be looking for a great housewarming present. It can be tough because oftentimes, people already have much of what they need to make their house a home. So, what kind of gift could add a little joy to their life without being superfluous? A personalized one!

You can create a personalized housewarming gift pretty simply with a frame. Here are a couple ideas for how to do just that:

  • Print off a map of their neighborhood and add a marker to their new address. Add ‘Home Sweet Home’ in either hand lettering or scrapbooking stickers if you’re not much of a penman.
  • If they’re making a big cross-country move or going from one country to another and away from you, a printed map with both their current home and their new destination is great. Add a little heart at each location, and connect them with a curly, swirly line to let them know that no matter how far they roam, they’re always in your heart.
  • Use stencils and paint over thin burlap or canvas covered boards in a frame to create a custom wall-hanging. You can use their name, address, and symbols like keys or stylized houses to add a special touch.

Whether they’re moving near or far, you can give your loved one the gift of knowing you care. For more personal gift ideas, check out the Frame Warehouse Facebook page!

Store Your Make-Up on the Wall

As much as we absolutely adore all our beauty products and love having easy access to them, they can be real mess. Even when you organize your products and aim for some semblance of order, it only takes one session of full-face make-up to send it spiraling into disaster.

If you’re working with a small space, or you just don’t have a nice designated area for your make-up, it’d help your bathroom or vanity look much neater if your products were up off the counter. Here’s our frame-y idea for accomplishing just that!

Here’s what you’ll need:

  • A large frame that will fit your space and match your décor
  • Aluminum sheeting primed with magnetic primer and finished with paint of your choice, cut to size of frame (you can sometimes talk the hardware store into cutting it to size for you)
  • Drill and bits for pilot holes and driving
  • Short screws (8 at minimum, more for larger frames)
  • Strong magnets
  • Adhesive of your choice

You’ll attach the magnetic sheeting to the back side of the frame with screws using the drill. You may need to drill pilot holes in your sheeting if it’s particularly sturdy; just make sure the holes are smaller than your screw heads. Then, you’ll hang the frame on the wall.

Now you’re ready to start sticking your make-up to it. Stick magnets to the backs of your various products with the adhesive. You can add a magnet to a little cup for brushes, as well. Be sure you test out the magnets’ hold for each product and make sure it’ll stay put before you let it go.

For more unique frame ideas like this one, check out Frame Warehouse on Facebook and follow along with our blog.

Bedroom Reno on a Dime: Make a Frame Headboard

If you have a family or roommates, it’s likely that your bedroom is your sanctuary. It’s the place you go when you need to relax and unwind, and it’s where you get the ever-important good night’s sleep. When you live with other people, it’s often the only space that you have total control over (well, maybe you and your significant other share control).

If your sanctuary has been feeling a little drab or you’re just sick of the current vibe in there, it may be time to do a little remodeling. That doesn’t mean you have to buy all new furniture, though. By updating one key item and shifting things around a little, you can give your bedroom a whole new feel. What item do we recommend you change? The headboard! It doesn’t have to be an expensive of daunting prospect to change out your headboard. In fact, you can make one from a custom frame.

First, you’ll need to ponder the style you’re going for. You’ll want to choose a style of frame that suits the room’s intended new vibe. You’ll need to order a frame at least as wide as your bed and a couple feet tall, minimum, but bigger works great, too.

Now, you’ll need to pick out an interior. In some cases, you can simply paint the wall inside the frame to either match or add contrast. If painting isn’t an option, you can fill the frame itself. You can use aluminum sheeting (which comes in cool cut-out patterns and textures these days). You can also use fabric and thin batting stretched over a thin board. Use a peg board if you want to create a tufted look!

For more ideas for how to incorporate Frame Warehouse frames into your décor, check us out on Facebook!

Keep Family Traditions Alive by Framing Them

Life seems to move faster these days that it did once. This means that, for many people who feel like it would be very easy to become disconnected from our history in the current climate, it’s important to take extra special care to preserve family traditions.

This means passing those traditions on to the next generation by practicing them with our younger family members and relaying their significance to our heritage. Whether it’s a cultural tradition or simply one that your family has cultivated, placing reminders of those traditions out where they’re on display can also be a great way to perpetuate them. Here’s an idea for how to preserve those traditions.

Frame them!

You can hang a photo collage depicting decorating grandpa every year with the ribbons, bows, and pretty paper from holiday unwrapping. Maybe it will inspire the next generation to make the next papa a pretty present every year, too.

Frame your great grandmother’s special, positively famous apple pie recipe and give it a place of pride on your kitchen counter so that you never forget to make it at Thanksgiving, or you can hang it on the wall and hang her signature rolling pin underneath it.

Take the beautiful, handmade doily your great aunt always set out at Easter and place it in a frame with a beautifully contrasting background to showcase it each spring.

These small touches will add warmth to your home and will help you pass down the traditions that make your family who they are. If you need more ideas for framing with a personal touch, check out the Frame Warehouse Facebook page and follow along so you don’t miss anything!