I just turned on the TV and automatically changed it to channel 13, wondering if Clifford was on. Then I looked around and realized it was 9pm and all the kids were asleep. Needless to say, I need to get out more.
But that was not the point of my story. That was just a little anecdote for your reading pleasure.
Today’s topic is framing pictures. Up until we bought this house, we had always rented and I didn’t really give much thought to the artwork on my walls. We usually just hung posters to cover up the nail holes from previous tenants.
But that was not the point of my story. That was just a little anecdote for your reading pleasure.
Today’s topic is framing pictures. Up until we bought this house, we had always rented and I didn’t really give much thought to the artwork on my walls. We usually just hung posters to cover up the nail holes from previous tenants.
And then one day, the sweetest woman named Naomi, a colleague of my husband, gave us a beautiful painting that she had done herself. The second I laid eyes on it, I knew that we had to hang it in our (future) dining room, right behind where Josh would sit for to make kiddush on Friday nights. The painting, among other things, depicts the words of kiddush, the blessing made over a cup of wine.
I was in love. I saved this painting, unframed for three years. It lived in a garbage bag between two pieces of cardboard behind the couch. I didn’t frame it because I didn’t want to mat it in a color that would not match my imaginary dining room in my make-believe house.
And then we bought our home and I needed to frame that picture like I need to eat a frozen brownie(s) from the back of the freezer after the kids go to bed.
I was in love. I saved this painting, unframed for three years. It lived in a garbage bag between two pieces of cardboard behind the couch. I didn’t frame it because I didn’t want to mat it in a color that would not match my imaginary dining room in my make-believe house.
And then we bought our home and I needed to frame that picture like I need to eat a frozen brownie(s) from the back of the freezer after the kids go to bed.
I took the painting to Michaels (or AC Moore or any framing store – this is an equal opportunity maligning here) and brought it to the framing desk. The framing guy and I, we chatted, flirted a little and after a half an hour, the price for the cheapest mat and frame was still $178 (plus tax), and that was after the “50% off framing” coupon. And it would take two weeks to do the job.
Very annoyed, I thanked my new boyfriend (manners, ladies, manners) and off I went to the framing aisle. And there I found a white frame that was too big for my picture, but you know what, it was on sale and it was going into my shopping cart. Then I bought a piece of some sort of paper, not quite oaktag but not quite a picture mat either. They happened to have it in the same size as my frame and in the same gorgeous grey-blue color as one of the dominant colors in the painting. Into the cart it went as well.
After my “40% off coupon”, the whole thing cost me $23.69. I’m no math whiz, but that seems to be less than $178 plus tax.
Very annoyed, I thanked my new boyfriend (manners, ladies, manners) and off I went to the framing aisle. And there I found a white frame that was too big for my picture, but you know what, it was on sale and it was going into my shopping cart. Then I bought a piece of some sort of paper, not quite oaktag but not quite a picture mat either. They happened to have it in the same size as my frame and in the same gorgeous grey-blue color as one of the dominant colors in the painting. Into the cart it went as well.
After my “40% off coupon”, the whole thing cost me $23.69. I’m no math whiz, but that seems to be less than $178 plus tax.
Long story slightly less long, I brought those babies home and laid them all out on the folding table that we, at that point, made pretend was a dining room table. I measured, I drew lines, I erased and I measured again. Then I asked Josh to do it. When he was done, I used my Exacto knife to cut a shape in the “not quite oaktag” paper that was slightly smaller than the painting, and presto, a mat for my beloved picture.
Josh hung it up and I have to say that it looks totally professional. I tell people this story when they are in my dining room and they don’t believe me when I say that I did it myself. Like I always say to my kids, “Aren’t you proud of yourself?” You betcha.
p.s. I realize you really didn’t need a third picture of the painting, but the point of the picture above was to highlight my beloved (and child-friendly) cordless shades that I bought for my oddly-shaped dining room windows at (drum roll here) Target! And, wait for it, they were only $20 each. I know! That whole wall costs me less than 70 bucks.
Josh hung it up and I have to say that it looks totally professional. I tell people this story when they are in my dining room and they don’t believe me when I say that I did it myself. Like I always say to my kids, “Aren’t you proud of yourself?” You betcha.
p.s. I realize you really didn’t need a third picture of the painting, but the point of the picture above was to highlight my beloved (and child-friendly) cordless shades that I bought for my oddly-shaped dining room windows at (drum roll here) Target! And, wait for it, they were only $20 each. I know! That whole wall costs me less than 70 bucks.
