Author: Beatrice Bisais Page 10 of 32

Bea is Nixplay's Social Media Manager. She enjoys drinking coffee, reading about wars, and writing stories. Send her a message at beatrice.bisais@nixplay.com.

A Brief Guide to Displaying Fine Art Photographs

By Beatrice Bisais

On April 20, 2017

In Home & Interiors

You’ve finally gotten that beautiful photograph you’ve wanted – the one you couldn’t take your eyes off of when you first saw it. It’s no run-of-the-mill photograph, either. It’s a piece of fine art that you just had to have for your home.

So now what? How do you display it in a manner that both protects it, and presents it in the best light?

Here are some tips for perfectly displaying that new fine art photograph in your home.

Framing

It might seem like the most obvious aspect of the process, but selecting the right frame is extremely important. And you absolutely do need a frame to display the photo properly.

Remember, an unframed photo isn’t just less attractive. It also leaves the photograph unprotected from damage by light, air, even fingerprints from the younger members of your household. Frame it like the valued item it is.

Types of frames

Not only do you need a frame – you also need the right type of frame for your new photographic masterpiece. Wooden frames are actually cheaper to buy than metal ones, and a deeply finished wooden frame can lend a real feel of elegance to your picture.

But metal frames shouldn’t necessarily be disregarded altogether. They’re generally easier to work with than wooden frames, and there are cases when a well-made metal kit frame may fit the style of your photograph better.

And don’t forget about colors in your frames, either. A well-polished black is a good modern approach, and silver is a solid choice for those with more traditional tastes.

As far as a finish on wooden or metal frames, a more muted luster is generally better than a highly polished shine, which can be distracting.

Hanging

What kind of wall are you displaying the photo on? At what height will you place it? Do you want your photo to be right at eye level, or mounted above a mantel or shelf?

You might want to consider what’s called “gallery height” for your photo, which is at a height of about 58 inches. If your photo is one of a series of pictures you’ll be hanging, they should be at the same height for the best presentation.

Even though you may have a great eye, it’s best not to guess whether your picture is hanging evenly. Instead, pull out your level to make sure.

Matting: Dry, conservation or pressure sensitive

While most frames that you buy at an arts and crafts store come with mats already included, if your piece is highly valuable you may want to choose a custom frame and custom mat. You can have this done at a frame store, or you can do it yourself.

There are several different methods you can use.

Dry mounting means you’re affixing the photo to a rigid backing. The main advantage of this process is that it can remove wrinkles and creases from the picture, but it’s also an irreversible process. Once you’ve dry mounted a photo, you’re stuck with it whether it worked or not.

If you’re looking for something more temporary, try pressure-sensitive mounting. It’s a procedure that’s similar to dry mounting, but it uses a special adhesive that doesn’t activate until it’s been applied to the photo. Then you simply apply pressure until the photo is in a fixed position.

On the positive side, it’s an easy process to pressure-mount a photo, and it’s inexpensive. It’s an ideal method for beginners who want to display a photo nicely.

As we mentioned, however, this is a temporary process. The adhesive isn’t powerful enough to hold the photo for a long period of time, so you’ll have to reapply at some point.

For most artwork you frame, you’ll want to use conservation matting. This method uses an acid-free mount board, hinges and acid-free tape.

The positive aspect of this approach is that it’s an excellent way to protect artwork that’s going to be displayed over a long period of time.

Unless the piece you’re displaying is of museum quality, you can almost certainly find conservation matting materials at a local frame store or arts and crafts store, and complete the process yourself.

Don’t forget that your digital photos can be beautifully displayed, too. For a stylish, elegant frame that will let you show off your family’s most precious digital images, try the Nixplay Iris.

Beatrice Bisais

Bea is Nixplay’s Social Media Manager. She enjoys drinking coffee, reading about wars, and writing stories. Send her a message at beatrice.bisais@nixplay.com.

7 Incredible Easter Desserts

By Beatrice Bisais

On April 18, 2017

In Holidays

One of the best parts of Easter – like any other holiday, really – has to be the food. Whether or not your family celebrates with a big Easter dinner, we’d bet that everyone around your table will enjoy some special springtime desserts.

Try one of these recipes for an excellent addition to the chocolate bunnies and jelly beans that the Easter bunny brings. And don’t forget to snap some pictures of your beautiful creation to display on your Nixplay WiFi Cloud Digital Frame!

Lemon Cheesecake Morning Buns from Willow Bird Baking

via Willow Bird Baking

Nothing says springtime like the bright, citrusy flavor of lemon – and adding in cheesecake just makes everything even better.

While they’re called “morning buns,” they’ll be just as welcome on the dessert table. They’re light and fluffy, filled with tangy cream cheese filling and topped with a lemon glaze.

Mini Strawberry Tarts from Southern Living

via My Recipes

These pretty little tarts, with their bright red strawberries and white filling, will make for a beautiful presentation on your Easter table.

The recipe calls for pistachio pastry crust, which is no doubt delicious – but if you’re pressed for time, we bet you could use some pre-made mini pie crusts and no one would know the difference.

Carrot Cake with Salted Caramel-Cream Cheese Frosting from Betty Crocker

via Betty Crocker

If you need a decadent, impressive dessert to display when family and friends come over for Easter brunch, this carrot cake with salted caramel-cream cheese frosting is the one for you.

Four layers high and finished with a drizzle of caramel sauce, this cake is not only food photo-worthy, but also completely delicious. Perhaps the best part is that is uses a box of cake mix as the base, so it’s easier to put together than it looks.

Chocolate Zucchini Cakes from Southern Living

via My Recipes

There’s nothing like adding a vegetable to your dessert to make you feel less guilty about eating it (see: carrot cake!). The best part about these intense chocolate zucchini cakes is that you’ll never know there’s anything healthy in them.

These cakes are rich, moist, and chocolatey, and covered with an incredible sour cream fudge frosting. They’re perfect for those Easter guests who don’t buy into the idea that springtime desserts must be light and citrusy.

Bunny Cookie Pops from Bakerella

via Bakerella

If you’ve got children who will be joining you for Easter, why not make these adorable bunny cookie pops? Better yet, let the kids help!

For this recipe, you’ll need white and pink candy wafers, a bunny candy mold, M&Ms or other candies for decoration, Oreos, and lollipop sticks. They’re easy, fun to decorate, and a definite eye-catcher.

Simple Easter Bunny Sugar Cookies from SheKnows

via SheKnows

Who says sugar cookies are only for Christmastime?

Use either homemade or storebought sugar cookie dough, roll it out, cut out some bunny shapes, and pop them in the oven. Once they’re done and cooled, decorate them with icing, chocolate candies, jelly beans – whatever your (or your children’s) heart desires.

Homemade Peanut Butter Eggs from food.com

via Food.com

You don’t need to run to the store for a chocolate peanut butter egg fix. You can make your own right at home with just peanut butter, powdered sugar, butter, milk, chocolate chips, and shortening.

Mix up the peanut butter filling by combining peanut butter, powdered sugar, butter, and milk and mold the resulting dough into egg shapes. Freeze the eggs for one hour. Then create your chocolate coating by melting the chocolate chips and shortening together, and dip your frozen eggs into the chocolate.

You can decorate them with sprinkles, candies, or royal icing.

Easter is a wonderful time to share delicious treats with friends. For more fun Easter ideas, check out our post “6 Fun Alternatives to Dyeing Easter Eggs.”

Beatrice Bisais

Bea is Nixplay’s Social Media Manager. She enjoys drinking coffee, reading about wars, and writing stories. Send her a message at beatrice.bisais@nixplay.com.

4 Ways To Congratulate Your New Grad

By Beatrice Bisais

On April 18, 2017

In Gifting Guides

Graduation season is a time that many high school and college seniors look forward to, and not just because they won’t have to attend a single class again. They look forward to the multitude of congratulatory presents and praise that awaits them. Whether you’re a family member or friend, it won’t be hard to find a great gift that will let the graduate in your life know how happy and proud you are of this accomplishment.

Since graduation marks a new chapter in a graduate’s life, it is best to think of potential gifts that will help them in their journey towards a higher education or employment. We have come up with a short list of useful gifts that any graduate would love.

A sturdy leather messenger bag

Your graduate will find this very useful when he or she is going off to college or job interviews. Leather not only looks great, but it’s also durable enough to hold school essentials, like a laptop or heavy books. For college grads, a leather bag goes well with any office wear, and can also keep their work computer and documents neat and tidy when they’re out and about.

A digital photo frame

For high school grads who are going to attend an out-of-state university, living away from home can be an exciting, but also nerve-racking prospect. No matter how much they crave this “moment of freedom,” homesickness can strike at any time. During these homesick moments, looking at photos of loved ones can help get them out of their lonely funk. A digital photo frame like the NIX Digital Frame is the perfect gift for your photo-obsessed graduate, because he or she can use it to quickly view endless pictures of family and friends. Even better, purchase a Nixplay Wi-Fi Cloud Frame that lets them see cloud-stored photos from their nightstand.

A cookbook of simple recipes

It’s no secret that college students and young professionals usually stretch their tiny budgets at the expense of their meals. If your graduate didn’t pick up your cooking skills, it would be a good idea to give him or her an excellent cookbook with recipes that are not only delicious, but also economical and relatively easy to follow. They will love you for giving them more food options than Top Ramen, instant mac and cheese, and frozen pizza.

Gift Cards

The reality is that new graduates are short on funds more frequently than they (and their parents) wish they were. If you want to help them during these moments without having to give them cold hard cash, gift cards are another great option. For instance, an Amazon gift card can get them groceries or even new clothes for work. There are so many other types of gift cards that you can give to your graduate, depending on what he or she likes. Restaurant and spa gift cards are also excellent choices any graduate would love.

Although this is a fairly short list of valuable, memorable gift ideas for graduates, there is a wide variety of choices out there. All of the items above are readily available online or at retail stores. And if you are looking to get a digital photo frame, you can visit the Nixplay website and browse our many models today.

Beatrice Bisais

Bea is Nixplay’s Social Media Manager. She enjoys drinking coffee, reading about wars, and writing stories. Send her a message at beatrice.bisais@nixplay.com.

6 Fun Alternatives to Dyeing Easter Eggs

By Beatrice Bisais

On April 14, 2017

In Special Moments

Dyeing Easter eggs can be a great family project, but it’s far from the only way to decorate them this spring.

Maybe you’ve got very young kids who want something a bit more hands-on than just dunking an egg into a cup. Or maybe you want to create a more grown-up version of the Easter egg – one that will look beautiful nestled into an Easter-themed centerpiece.

Whatever you’re looking for, take a look at this list for some fun alternative ideas to dyeing Easter eggs!

Painted eggs

Young children may enjoy painting eggs more than dyeing them, as it allows them to exercise their creativity and use bolder, brighter colors.

If you’re painting eggs, all you need are a few hard-boiled eggs, paintbrushes and some kids’ fingerpaint, tempera paint, or watercolors. You can also use sponges to create a more textured look. Children may also enjoy placing stickers in the shape of birds, flowers, etc. on their eggs and painting around them. After the paint dries, remove the stickers and you’ll have a design in white relief.

Glittery eggs

via CraftaholicsAnonymous.net

If you’re ready to get a little bit messy, glittery eggs can be tons of fun!

One method of creating sparkly, glitter-covered eggs is to first dye the eggs and let them dry. Then, mix together Elmer’s glue and whatever color glitter you want to use, and paint the eggs with the mixture. Since the glue will dry clear, all that will show up is the glitter.

Another way to create glittery eggs is to simply paint them with Elmer’s glue, sprinkle some glitter on a piece of paper, and roll the eggs through the glitter.

Black-and-white doodled eggs

via Paper & Stitch

Create striking Easter eggs with nothing more than a Sharpie.

Sketch out a pattern or design you want to create on paper first, so you have an idea of what your finished product will look like. Then draw that design onto a hard-boiled or blown egg. Geometric patterns, floral designs, and other repeating patterns will look best.

Pressed flower eggs

via The Magic Onions

If you have time to press some flowers before making your Easter eggs, this can be a wonderful, unique project.

About a week or so before you want to create your eggs, pick a few flowers (make sure they’re clean and dry) and press them in a flower press. If you don’t have a press, simply line a book with parchment paper, sandwich the flowers between the paper, and weigh it down with a heavy encyclopedia or other book.

Fabric-dyed Easter eggs

via Better Homes & Gardens

One interesting way to create unique dyed eggs is to wrap them in a textured fabric, like lace or tulle, and dip them into Easter egg dye.

Cut a square of your chosen fabric, wrap it around the egg, and secure it with a rubber band. Then dip the egg into your dye, allow it to dry, and remove the fabric. You’ll end up with a beautiful egg covered in an intricate design.

Sprinkle eggs

via Studio DIY

Somewhat akin to glitter eggs, sprinkle eggs are easy to make and especially fun for kids.

To start, pour some pastel (or any color you like!) sprinkles into a bowl. You want your egg to have plenty of room. Paint your egg with glue (something a bit stronger than Elmer’s will be necessary – Studio DIY suggests tacky glue) and then press the egg into the sprinkles in the bowl.

To cover the rest of the egg, spoon the sprinkles over it and firmly press the curved part of the spoon onto the egg to help the sprinkles set.

Easter is the perfect time to create original egg decorations that are a bit more out of the ordinary than your typical dyed eggs. For more creative springtime projects, take a look at our post “Take Incredible Springtime Photos with These Photography Tips.”

Beatrice Bisais

Bea is Nixplay’s Social Media Manager. She enjoys drinking coffee, reading about wars, and writing stories. Send her a message at beatrice.bisais@nixplay.com.

4 Reasons to Hire a Professional Photographer for Your Family Photo Shoot

By Beatrice Bisais

On April 13, 2017

In Photography

We’ve all got those friends who dabble in photography – the ones whose services are often called upon for taking the big group shots, or for capturing extra photos at weddings, christenings, and bar mitzvahs.

Amateur photographers can be incredibly talented, and after all, you’ve got to be an amateur before you can be a professional, right? Lots of people end up hiring amateurs for everything from family portraits, to newborn photo sessions.

While there’s nothing wrong with asking a photography-savvy friend to do a family portrait session, professionals can offer certain things that amateurs just may not be able to.

Here are a few reasons why hiring a professional photographer for your family photo shoot might be the right choice.

You know you’ll get what you want

When you’re paying a professional photographer, they’re working for you – you don’t have to worry about taking up too much of their time, requesting changes of location or style, or wanting to experiment with lots of different compositions or poses.

With a friend, you can easily start to feel that you’re being too demanding, or making the shoot inconvenient for them. That can be true even if your friend is more than willing to offer their time and services.

Now, of course one must always be kind and respectful of a photographer’s time, whether that photographer is a pro or not. However, since hiring a photographer often includes a set number of hours, it’s generally easier to set limits.

A pro will use more sophisticated camera equipment, letting them capture a wider variety of shots

Unless your amateur friend is also a collector of expensive, advanced camera equipment, it’s almost certain that a pro will have better photographic equipment.

It may not seem like it, but light meters, remote flashes, lighting umbrellas, and special lenses can make a world of difference when it comes to portraits. Lenses, in particular, can allow your photographer to capture different formats, like wide-angle and panorama shots. These can add an element of uniqueness to your portrait session.

Not only can a pro take better shots, they can edit them more effectively, too

Your photographer’s work doesn’t end once your session is complete and you and your family have headed back home.

On the contrary, now your photographer must go through the challenging work of culling through the hundreds of images he or she took to find the best ones.

Then those images have to go through an editing process – and if you’ve ever worked in a photo editing program before, you know how time-consuming editing photographs can be.

Professionals are great at directing their subjects, including children

Perhaps one of the most overlooked reasons that hiring a professional photographer can be a smart move for your family photo shoot is that pros know how to direct people.

Think about the last time you tried to get your entire family to sit still together, while dressed nicely and looking happy. It’s not that easy. Pros, on the other hand, are used to getting everyone’s attention, telling them what to do next, and keeping the session moving along. They’re also good at helping everyone get comfortable in front of the camera.

If you’ve got very young children or babies, you may want to consider searching for a photographer who specializes in working with kids.

As any parent knows all too well, getting a child to smile or laugh, especially in front of a camera isn’t always easy. A great child photographer will know how to draw your child out and get the best possible images.

When thinking about doing a family portrait session, it can really pay off to hire a professional, rather than rely on a friend or family member. It may cost more up front, but what you get in return will be more than worth it.

Once you’ve got your portraits, naturally you’ll want to display them. Get some ideas on how by reading our post “6 Fun Ways to Integrate Family Photos into Your Home Decor.”

Beatrice Bisais

Bea is Nixplay’s Social Media Manager. She enjoys drinking coffee, reading about wars, and writing stories. Send her a message at beatrice.bisais@nixplay.com.