Maybe you have taken photos of your Christmas decorations, the surprised look on the children’s faces as they are opening their presents or the whole family around the dinner table on Christmas day. Maybe you spent new years eve out with friends or at a house party and took lots of photos. Most pictures from good times like these seem to just end up on social networking sites these days but nothing quite compares to displaying them in your home in nice picture frames.

Since Christmas is a time for gift giving, maybe you received a new camera. You’ll likely have been playing with your new toy and perhaps have taken some great photos. Even if your photography skills aren’t quite up to scratch just yet it is a great idea to frame these early shots you’ve taken so that you can see how much you improve in the future. Alternatively, maybe your loved ones bought you a poster or a nice piece of artwork for Christmas that you want to put in a frame and treasure forever.

We have a massive variety of frames available for all your different needs in different colours and styles to suit your personal taste. We have frames in all of the standard sizes and a configurator that allows you to create the perfect picture frames for your specific purpose.

Sometimes though people can go a bit too far and it’s these that we will be taking a look at this month. So instead of showing you examples of good Christmas photos we are going to take a look the bad side of Christmas decorations and here is our top five worst offenders. You may notice a similar theme throughout.

Christmas lights on the outside of your house are acceptable if done well with a few carefully positioned lights hanging from the roof or windows. But this example takes things too far with hanging lights, lights in different shapes and light up characters all over the garden. These is a good example of too much going on with no thought to positioning, colours or theme. As with hanging a picture frame, these are all factors that contribute to the overlook that you are trying to achieve.

This example takes the idea of lighting the front of the house and runs away with it. I don’t think there is a single brink on the house or patch on the grass that hasn’t got a light on it!

Whilst this one doesn’t have too many lights, the house has far too much going on for it to look good. The roof has all sorts of characters on top and the entrance to the house has been decorated in white tinsel which doesn’t look very nice. The wooden train or the inflatable Nutcracker might look good on their own but with the multiple snowmen, light decorations and everything else there is far too many items in one place.

This dazzling display must cost a fortune to run and all those giant inflatable characters must take a fair while to blow up. As seems to be the case with bad Christmas decorations, there is too much crowded onto a small house for it to look any good.

All we have to say about this one is…why an elephant?

For more examples of bad Christmas lights and decorations have a look at www.uglychristmaslights.com.

There is a standard rule that Art Gallery’s use with regards to hanging a frame, which is that it should be 60inches or 1520mm from the floor to the centre of the picture. This allows the picture to be positioned at the average person’s eye level so that the focal point of the picture is right in eye line. Whilst this is very easy to do in an art gallery with all its bare walls, it might not be as easy in the home due to a fireplace or other unmoveable object. It is only a suggested rule though so keep it in mind but don’t worry if it’s not possible.

Another good technique to use if you are unsure of where to hang your picture frame for maximum effect is to create a template the size and shape of your frame. This could be made by taping together old pieces of paper and then using blu-tack to stick it onto the wall in different places. This will give you an idea on what something the size and shape of your frame will look like on the wall. Using this method allows you to stand back from the wall to take in the full effect and positioning of the frame and allows you to test different ideas.

If you find a position you’re happy with then you can go about hanging your picture, but if you don’t like the positioning you can simply remove the template and stick it to another area. This method means you can test different positions without having to hammer lots of holes into the wall.

For a guide on how to hang a picture frame, have a look at our previous blog post.

When taking a photo of the setting sun on your holiday, take one photo and then move your camera across the horizon and take another, repeating for as many photos as you want. This can also work with large groups of people; get everyone into a line and move along taking photos.

Be careful to make sure that your photos don’t overlap and that you don’t leave too big a gap in between them either. You can then display these multi photos in a frame to create a larger image, as you can see below.

You could have one image of a horizon...

...or split it into three!

If you want to give it a go then you can get a custom picture frame from Picture Frames Express and use the frame designer to order whatever size frame you want. You could even be really adventurous and try and create an image split over two rows and two columns!

Here are some of our favourites which we think would make great wall decorations if put in a picture frame and displayed in your home.

Machu Picchu, Peru

The Eiffel Tower, Paris

Christo Redemptor, Rio de Janeiro

And if we were to get one picture frame produced of any famous landmark then we would have to go with this…

Easter Island, Polynesian Triangle

If you have any pictures from your travels that you think would look great in a picture frame, then we can help mount or frame your favourite picture so that you can display it proudly in your home for all to see.

1) First of all you are going to need a hook to hang your picture frame and we offer four types of simple hanging hooks that you can purchase online to suit all kinds of picture frames.

2) Before any hammering takes place, you need to check the stability of the wall and whether there are any wires or pipes behind the wall you want to hang your picture frame on.

3) Place the frame against the wall and make a small pencil mark on the wall where the top edge of the frame will be.

4) Measure from the hanging tab on the picture frame or if hanging by a wire or string, hold it taunt and measure to the top edge of frame.

5) You then need to measure this distance down from the pencil mark on the wall and make another mark and that’s the spot where your picture frame hook will go, so nail it in and hang up your frame, adjusting it until it’s straight.

As with any kind of DIY, remember to take care when hammering the nails into the wall and we hope this advice is helpful, however we accept no responsibility for any injuries or damage caused by installing any hanging hooks incorrectly.

Happy hanging folks,

The Picture Frames Express team

Check out the Take That Progress Live 360 Wembley Photo.

Although not as big as the 80 gigapixel panorama of London we previously posted, this 20 gigapixel panorama of Take That’s recent concert at Wembley stadium is truly impressive. The panorama takes in everything from the band onstage and their giant stage prop, to the screaming girls in the front row and the steward stood on the very back row. It even allows each every individual fan that packed into the stadium to tag themselves on Facebook.

If you were there with friends and have found your group within the crowd then we think you should have multi picture frames made as a memento for everyone. You could have a picture of you and your friends in the crowd, a close up one of the band and one of the whole stage. This would look great in any of our styles of picture frames and be a great reminder of the sell out concert.

If you were there and have tagged yourself, then why not let the Picture Frames Express team know.

Till next time.

Picture Frame

A picture frame is an attractive way to show off your favourite holiday moment and really highlight it on your wall. Having a black and white image in a black picture frame can look very sophisticated in a modern apartment of a stylish couple or if you have bright family photos you could choose a light or coloured frame to fit the decor of your room.

Multi Frame

If you have a series of photos that you want to display you could choose a multi picture frame which allows you to select the number of pictures you want to display in your frame. You could have a multi frame to show three of your favourite photos or a large one which can display 32 photos, the choice is yours depending on how many photos you want to display.

Picture Mount

This is a cheaper option to display your photos when compared to a picture frame but still frames your photos well for display. They are available in a range of styles so you will be able to find the best mount to suit your holiday photo.

So whether it’s a photo of the kids building a sandcastle on the beach in Spain or you and your best friends enjoying some cocktails in Greece, any holiday memory would look great in a picture frame or mount.

An ancient proverb says a picture is equal to thousand words.

What about picture frames? The main function of a picture or photo frame is to protect and highlight the content it holds.

A beautiful work of art can be made to look drab by framing it improperly, using wrong materials. Similarly an excellent frame can definitely enhance the beauty of the picture it holds.

There are many types of frame and mount to choose from, the problem is deciding which is most suitable for the picture or photograph; a difficult task.

A wrong choice and you lose the contented feeling you get when you look at a work of art.

Occasionally, pictures are abnormal in size so you need custom picture frames. To complement the picture and help it merge with ambience of the room, frame colour and texture are everything.

Picture and photo frames of standard sizes are not expensive and they can be bought from almost anywhere. To suit our individual style and also to enhance the quality of the pictures, care should be taken to incorporate these factors when we select standard picture or photo frames.

Picture frames come in hundreds of colours, different shapes and a wide variety of materials which will complement the interior decoration.

The photo frames are made of pewter, stainless, ceramics, composites and crystal. Your budget is the only criteria to select the best available design and material.

Picture frames can be artful in their own right with wide borders, bright and bold colour. Try to avoid a picture frame which overwhelms the image it carries.

For the contemporary home select metal frames in darker shades such as black, copper, gold or silver. To get a Mediterranean style select bold white frames. To create an antique Victorian look ornate gilded frames are the best choice to highlight beautiful art and special prints.

The children’s room will get a youthful atmosphere by using plastic frames in vivid colours.

Avoid metal frames to encase valuable pieces of art. They are priced moderately and sold as kits with their backs open. This makes the contents exposed to dust and moisture.

With proper tools and after little practice you can make your own wooden picture frames and it is a correct choice for original arts, limited edition prints and other valuable photos.

As you’ve probably noticed, the UK has got it’s groove back! In terms of weather anyway!

Say goodbye to those wooly gloves, hats and winter jackets because spring is officialy here!

All over Britain we’ve been bathing in a lovely warmth for the past week or two and the effects are really starting to show. People are scrambling to their sheds and brushing the cobwebs off the deck-chairs and there are smiles where-ever you go! Though we may be known as a nation to over-react with any weather, it hasn’t stopped anyone from lashing on the suncreams!

We have a wonderful series of bank holidays coming up, giving us all a little time to relax and lounge about in the garden, basking in the beautiful weather. Don’t forget though, easter is only a few days away too! We’ll all be having to cram our fridges with choccy so it doesn’t melt!

This fantastic weather has arrived just in time to make our May!

It’s a great time to dig those picnic baskets and coolers out of the loft and start packing some sarnies! A perfect reason to dig out those dusty digital cameras and snap a few photos to frame! Summer and spring can bring us some of the best times of our lives, so why not give yourself something to remember those good times by?

What better way to preserve a memory than framing it and hanging it on your wall!

Here at picture frames express, we offer a great range of fully customisable and made-to-measure framing options to suit any photo, any wall and any customer!

Take a look around our site and see if you can find the perfect from for those sunny photos! We’re sure you’ll find something to suit your taste!

Until next time, The Picture Frames Express Team