Household Hints By Rosemary ~ Framing and Saving Pennies

A couple of rainy days and I've had time to indulge in one of my favourite pastimes, framing family pictures. Because I'm a bit of a hoarder when it comes to old frames I have a storage bin filled with some old and some not so old frames that for one reason or another haven't been used. We recently attended a family wedding, which means more snaps. One of the guests took some very nice black and white studies of the bride and groom, I had some paper copies made at the local office supply store and lightly washed a couple with a tea bag to get a sepia tone. I wanted to use an old Victorian style frame, but the glass was chipped and the mat was water marked. Some small scratches on the wood were taken out with a stain pencil and then the whole frame waxed.
The glass has to be cut by a professional as it's oval shaped. To hang the picture in the meantime I used the cardboard backing as a template to cut a piece of clear plastic from the cover of a new shirt box. I also made a template of the glass that I can take to the glass cutter. The plastic must be a temporary measure as it isn't acid free and can therefore damage the picture. To keep the plastic from touching the print I cut several small pieces of hobby foam and glued them to the edges of the plastic that fit under the lip of the frame so they wouldn't show. It's a handy and inexpensive way of getting a protective cover for artwork or non-valuable photographs.
Then, the problem of getting the right size oval mat; such a frustrating exercise as most mats now are made to fit current standard frames. Older mats were often cut and provided by the photographer who took the picture and framed it. Having a mat cut to size was very expensive, so I looked for a less costly alternative. As usual, when stumped I refer to the computer, after going to “Ask” and stating the problem I was pleased to get a response from a really computer savvy lady. Such a great hint, very simple she wrote, the size of mat I wanted could be easily formed by going into the “Word” program, clicking on Insert, selecting the shape and dragging the mouse to the size required, who knew!
This was lots of fun, using heavy stock paper, embossed paper and different colours gave me several options and styles. She also suggested photocopying a lace doily to a sheet of paper and then shaping the mat on it which would really give a nice old fashioned look.
I finished it by using a very heavy stock textured paper in soft beige and I'm really pleased with the look. Because she's a pretty much old fashioned girl herself I think the bride will like the effect and I'm happy with the recent addition to our family wall of brides.