Frugal Tip of the Day
Tuesday, August 31st, 2010I’ve been covering my walls with pretty things since the days of Teen Beat tear out posters of Scott Baio and Ricky Schroder. I later graduated to Bon Jovi and Motley Crue. By college, I had moved on to Monet and travel posters. Now my taste in wall art, like most things, is eclectic but I still love to hang things I love to look at on my walls. I have many prints collected over the years rolled up in tubes waiting for me to hit the lottery because it is expensive to have things professionally framed. As I’ve mentioned, I will soon have some new walls to decorate (assuming all continues to go well) but we didn’t win the lottery so I’m not suddenly able to frame them all.
I’ve bought very little fun house stuff in the past 4 years because we have felt very transient here in Nashville up until now. But fter the flooding this spring, there were many different efforts to raise money to aid flood victims. One was a cute poster that depicted some of the downtown Nashville skyline. I liked it and it on the small side so I bought it. When it arrived, it was an odd size (10″ x 17″ I believe).
If the print/poster you want to frame is 24″x36″ or smaller, you can frame it pretty inexpensively. Hobby Lobby has its poster frames on sale 50% off this week (if you like anything at Hobby Lobby and wait 3-6 weeks, it will be 40% or 50% off at some point). I took my print to Hobby Lobby. I found a 16″x20″ frame that I thought suited it. At the framing counter, I asked for a custom cut mat. The clerk helped me pick a color and decide how to cut the mat to best suit the print. Ten minutes later, he had not only cut the mat, he put the print in and papered the back and put hanging hardware and the little feet so it doesn’t scratch my wall – all at no additional charge. (I didn’t even ask – he just did it.)
Frame originally $40 on sale for $20 and the mat was $9.99 = $30 for a framed piece to hang on my wall. Not bad.
I’ve had custom mats cut before to frame odd shaped items in ready made frames but I’ve never done it at Hobby Lobby so I had no idea that they would actually do the framing and put on hanging hardware for me for free. The clerk also said that if I bring in a painted canvas and purchase an open backed frame, they will clip the canvas into the frame, paper the back, and put hanging hardware on free of charge. Good to know considering I’ve had a little bit of a painting fetish lately.