The important thing to remember when looking for acrylic photo frames is that they are meant to accent your décor and photo, not distract from them. Too many homeowners these days opt for wild designs that stick out in the middle of a room that take all attention from the picture in the actual frame. The best way you can use them is to match up their colors with the rest of your room, it’s really not difficult.

Block Acrylic Photo Frames

Never heard of these? Block acrylic frames are made up of two slabs of acrylic materials that actually sandwich the photo and keep it in place with magnets. They are available in thick, medium, and thin slab widths. Block frames like this are a modern spin on the traditional frames and you can find them in various finishes and colors. If you want them clear or opaque, those are viable options as well. A frame like this is well-suited for any modern home or office setting, preferably on top of a glass table!

Acrylic Photo Frames for Posters

Did you ever think to frame your posters? You should start! Posters are very large photos that are often overlooked but most of the time has the largest impact on a room. Acrylic frames are a great addition to your favorite posters because not only will they accent the image and make it more noticeable, it will also protect them from getting damaged. Unframed posters are very fragile and can be ripped very easily.

Types of Wooden Photo Frames

Wooden photo frames can be purchased in a variety of different styles including pine, spruce, cedar, mahogany, aspen, oak, elm, maple, and many more. Each wood will have its own unique coloring so you’ll need to decide on a color that is fitting in your décor. The most common wooden frame colors include brown, rust, and classic black. The finishing coat of wax and primer can also help the frame to shine and give it some life!

Decorating with Wooden Photo Frames

Wooden photo frames are a great way to take your home to the next level. They are small accessories that can be a huge impact. You can buy them individually, in pairs, and even sets. Some wooden frames have additional decoration included like stones, leaves, seashells, feathers, markings, and more. There is nothing like having a wooden frame accentuated by other natural items, the designs are inspired by nature and that homely look and feel will carry over to your décor.

Light Brown Wood Photo Frame

A frame like this is one of our favorites here at AccentsCity.com because of its color. Something like this will be accepted into any décor because of the neutral color. Nothing is going to put up a fight and it will blend right in with the surrounding colors and accessories, regardless of the theme.

Hardwood Photo Frame

This style is another favorite because of its perfect match with hardwood flooring. Can you imagine having a piece like this right next to your hardwood or laminate flooring? It’s a perfect fit and since hardwood floors are very popular we thought we would include this hardwood photo frame!

Personalized Photo Frame Materials

Like any other home accent, personalized photo frames come in various materials including sterling silver, mosaic, metal, plastic, wood, and terracotta. The event, occasion, or reason for the frame will ultimately determine the material you want to go with. Sterling silver styles are quite expensive and should be reserved for very special occasions. Wooden styles are very classy so they will certainly suffice in a more serious manner. Mosaic is very pretty and often used for casual occurrences, so any occasion of this sort would call for a mosaic frame. Terracotta is a versatile material that it’s appropriate to use in almost any décor setting or family occasion.

Personalized Photo Frame Ideas

Personalized photo frames are appropriate for any occasion as long as they are done tastefully. We understand if you have never dealt with them before and they are a bit out of your comfort zone and that’s fine! They can be used on special occasions or used to customize your living space. Here are a handful of occasions that can be captured by personalized photo frames…

Weddings

If you know someone that is getting married and you aren’t sure how to properly congratulate them, a personalized frame is perfect. You can congratulate them, wish them the best, and add in a clever quip all in one shot. A wedding would be best captured by more upscale frame like sterling silver with your own personalized message. Of course we can’t tell you exactly what to say because that will depend on your relationship with the person in question. You can go with something safe or make your message a little bit more personalized. Address it to both the bride and groom, talk about your favorite part of the wedding, include the date and time of the picture, wish them all the best, and voila!

Collage

No, that’s not college misspelled, that’s collage! If you are browsing through pictures and find one with you and some friends, you can buy enough frames for everyone and include your own personal message. You can include things like the names of each person, the date, what activity you were all partaking in, your favorite part of the night, an inside joke, and then send it off to each one of them. It’s a nice way to stay in touch with friends or reconnect with them.

House Warming Gift

If a friend or family member has just bought a new home, what a perfect way to settle them in. Find a photo of them that you like, write up a quick blurb congratulating them on their new purchase, wish them all the best, maybe include a clever remark, and call it a day! You must be starting to see how easy and convenient these personalized photo frames really are, right?

Rustic Décor

If your home features rustic or country décor you can create a simple wooden personalized frame with a welcoming greeting. Something along the lines of “My home is your home” will suffice for something of this nature. The reason you want to choose a wooden frame for a rustic décor is because it will fit right in. Your message will be etched directly into the wood making for an unbelievable display. But aren’t they supposed to be gifts? Absolutely not! Personalized photo frames serve many purposes, they can be used as gifts or decorative items.

Inspiration

If you know someone going through a tough time or you just like to have positive and motivational quotes around your home, put them on a photo frame. How many times have you seen words like “Believe”, “Inspire”, “Dream”, plastered all over someone’s home? Did you like it? If the answer is yes then do it yourself!

Where can you buy personalized photo frames?

They can be purchased at the same stores you would find any sort of picture frame. These stores range from small dollar stores to large Bricks & Mortars stores like Wal-Mart, Sears, The Bay, and Kmart. You can also shop online at literally hundreds of retailers including some of the major players like PersonalCreations.com, MakeMyFrame.com, 1stFrame.com, and Shindigz.com!

Are Personalized Photo Frames expensive?

They will certainly cost you a little bit more than a regular frame but it surely won’t be enough to discourage the purchase. A standard frame can cost anywhere from $10 – $30, a similar frame with a custom note or marking will probably be inflated by 10%. It’s going to cost you more time than money in most cases because you’ll have to wait for the engravings.

Digital photo frames first and foremost make pictures that much more viable and easy to take. You can snap a quick shot from your cell phone, iPod, or digital camera and have it displaying in your frame in seconds. They allow you to easily share photos that otherwise would have remained unseen because they are so convenient and easy to use.

How do digital photo frames work?

You can bet your bottom dollar that using these advance pieces of technology is quite simple because if they weren’t, they would be out of business. All you need is a USB cable or a flash card and that will do the trick. A USB cable is a little cable that will run from the device with the pictures (phone, camera, etc.) to the digital photo frame. With a simple click of the button you can upload hundreds, even thousands of pictures to one frame. A flash card is even easier, just plug it into your frame and start uploading. It’s so easy even a cave man could do it!

Digital Photo Frame Visual Effects

Let’s talk about the possibilities that you have as a digital frame owner in comparison to a standard photo frame. Not only are they affordable pieces that make your life that much easier, but they also enable you to make your photos more exciting. Play around with your digital photos and incorporate special effects. You can edit the backgrounds of your photos with custom beach scenes, scary settings, or famous people. They also enable you to edit the lighting and overall coloring of the photo. This might not sound too exciting but it’s quite useful to snap a photo in the daylight and quickly edit out the colors so it’s displaying only in black and white. You can even touch on the texture of your photos by making them gradient, fuzzy, or much clearer. Digital photo frames are neat tools that almost force you to have fun!
Digital Photo Frames will save you money

There are even more reasons to go with a digital photo frame and they are extremely beneficial. Here are the biggest ways that these advanced photo frames can work to save you money…

Developing Photos

Did you ever stop and think as to how you can actually save money by using these advanced frames? It’s not uncommon for various electronic devices to be filled with thousands and thousands of photos, is it? How are you going to ever decide which ones to develop? How about printing all of them? Is it cheap to print hundreds of even thousands of photos? You get where this is going. If you really did want to have all of your pictures developed it would cost you a fortune not to mention incredibly time consuming.

Picture Frames

Now, let’s forget for a minute about the retched cost of developing thousands of photos. Let’s pretend that you had thousands of photos developed for free. Where would you put them? Would you buy frames for all of them? Definitely not. Maybe some of them? That’s a possibility. Even if you chose 10 of your favorite shots and decided to frame each one in a standard photo frame, that’s 10 frames. You would be lucky to find that many frames for under $100 and that’s being very modest. Are you beginning to see how digital photo frames can fatten your wallet?

Storage

We are going to consider another hypothetical situation. Let’s pretend that those 10 photos you chose from the above scenario were put in 10 different frames free of charge. For some strange reason you were given thousands of developed photos and 10 standard picture frames, ok? So at this point you’ve spent no money on your pictures. Where would you put the remainder of your pictures? Would you throw them on the ground in your room? No, you would store them. Do you think storage for a high volume of pictures like this is cheap? It’s not. Even if you were to find a reasonably priced box or storage unit for $10 – $20, that’s still money that you wouldn’t have had to spend if you had a digital photo frame.

There is absolutely no way around it, digital photo frames will save you money, it’s unavoidable!

Digital photo frame placement?

Digital photo frames are available in a wide range of shapes and sizes. You can find small tabletop sized frames as well as oversized pieces that are meant to hang on the wall. If you want to transport your frame and have it fit comfortably in your backpack or purse, there are styles like that as well. It’s hard to believe but you can actually buy digital photo frames that act as key chains. That’s right; you can have your keys and favorite pictures stored on one device.

More Digital Photo Frame Features

If you thought that was it you’re wrong! Digital photo frames are so popular because they have boat loads of features. Things we haven’t touched on that you should know include their ability to share files between devices. This means that if you have multiple frames, you can share pictures between the two devices. Or, if you and friend have a digital frame and you want to exchange pictures from device to device, you can.

Not all, but some digital photo frames will actually have the option to display text. So as your photos display, you can have a custom message underneath. Or you can choose to have one main greeting like “Welcome to my room!” running across the top of the frame in a custom font. Another cool thing about these frames is they actually allow you to display slideshows of pictures saving you from having to make that hard decision of what photo to use.

Have you ever been browsing pictures and knew the minute you saw one that you had to have it printed? Well, with digital photo frames if this situation ever occurs, you can immediately send any number of selected pictures to a wireless printer and have them printed automagically! It’s another convenient feature that will help save you a lot of time.

Would you believe it if we told you that digital photo frames can actually play music? That is correct; there are some styles that have built in speakers so that you can listen to your favorite tunes while browsing your favorite pictures. Believe it or not, they can also be used as a clock radio. Set your alarm on your digital photo frame and wake up to a custom slideshow. If that wasn’t enough, these super frames have the ability to act as a TV screen. You’re joking right? Nope! They can be hooked up to a PC or DVD player and you can watch your favorite shows and movies!

What are candle holders made of?

Candleholders are unlike candles in terms of their materials. Candles are made of wax and not much else. You can find them in a number of materials including wood, gold, silver, copper, iron, and ceramic materials. The material will impact the price of the item so it’s up to you to decide. For casual occasions you can go with something cheap like copper and for special events, silver or gold pieces might be more suitable.

When should I use candle holders?

Candle holders are quite fitting in many instances including holidays, family gatherings, parties, or if you’re just relaxing. They can be used effectively to leverage your candles away from water or children. They can make for a romantic evening with you and your significant other on an anniversary or birthday. You can use them wherever you feel is appropriate; they are fitting for virtually any occasion.

Types of Candle Holders

Like many accents, candle holders come in many styles and each one brings a new look and feel. Your home will help dictate what style is suitable, but here are some of the choices you have…

Standing Floor Candle Holders

Standing Floor Candle Holder

Standing floor candle holders are very big and they can be used in the lobby of your home, living room, or kitchen area. As you can see from the image above, they are much larger than the candle itself and it’s meant to draw attention to the area. If you have big, heavy candles that aren’t meant for a countertop you can use these. They are going to cost you a bit more strictly because of their size.

Tabletop Candle Holders

Tabletop Candle Holder

Tabletop candle holders are just as they sound, they are meant to sit on top of a table or counter. These styles can be used for smaller candles. The image above features an elegant glass tabletop style but there are more generic, basic pieces that are much more affordable.

Wall mounted candle holders

Wall mounted candle holder

The image explains it all. Wall mounted candleholders are used to hold your candles snug against the wall. They are perfect for the dining area because they will allow you to have candles with dinner but not have to worry about making room for them on the table.

Candle holder Safety

Sometimes candle holders can actually make your candles more dangerous. The regular safety rules apply but be extra careful about using them around drapes, curtains, or loose textiles.

How do wickless candles work?

If this concept is new to you it might a bit puzzling as to how a wickless candle burns? Well, the simple answer is that it doesn’t burn. It slowly melts away and provides the same scents as regular candles. In fact, their scents can be smelt up to a 20-foot radius! How they work is really quite simple. You lay them on specialized heater that heats the candle at a very low temperature. You light the heater and that’s it! Depending on the size of your candle, it can last for hours on end, with no wick!

Wickless Candles are environmentally friendly!

That’s right, wickless candles are eco-friendly! You are probably a bit shocked at this but think about it, a candle without a wick means a candle without a flame. No flame can only mean one thing… no smoke! There is no more having to worry about polluting the environment so you can have these candles burning for hours without a care in the world. It’s awesome that developers are creating these kinds of household accessories, soon enough maybe everything accent piece will be environmentally friendly.

Wickless Candles are entirely risk free!

The simple fact that wickless candles have no flame makes them incredibly safe around children, pets, and elderly people. Without a flame you don’t have to hide these candles on high ledges, tables, or cabinets because if your kids or pets happen to get a hold of one, knock it over, or decide to start playing with it, nothing will happen. You might be wondering about the heater itself… is it hot? No, it’s not going to burn you or your children so you’re safe there too!

No Wick, No Mess!

Wickless candles are incredibly clean and won’t leave your counters, tabletops, or stovetops covered in wax. They don’t burn and won’t get soft enough to stain any carpeting or kids clothing. They really are quite amazing!

Various Fragrances

Wickless candles are available in just as many fragrances as you’d find in a standard scented candle. They can be found in cinnamon, apple, cherry, vanilla, brown sugar, watermelon, coconut, lemon, and all of the above. Just because they are a smaller niche candle does not mean they have limited smells!

Disadvantages of Wickless Candles

Now, you are probably thinking that wickless candles are too good to be true, there has to be something they can’t do. Well, the one big pitfall is that they don’t have a flame to look at and admire. Flames can be soothing and help to relive stress. They are mysterious and provide heat to your home. These two things are certainly going to have to be a trade-off if you want to buy wickless candles. Do you like the benefits of both wickless and standard candles? Then buy both and stop complaining!

Wickless Candles are Great Gifts

Wickless candles can make a great house warming gift for friends and family. If you have never seen their homes and it’s your first time visiting, choose a neutral color like brown, grey, or tan. Neutral colors work in any décor regardless of the surroundings. On the other hand, if you are familiar with the person’s home interior you can find wickless candles that match the rest of their décor!

Where are wickless candles sold?

Where aren’t they sold is more like it! Wickless candles are growing in popularity each and every day with new styles being released all the time. They are available basically anywhere you look. They are popular in arts & craft stores, dollar stores, home accents stores, garage sales, trade shows, classified ads, and on the internet. Some people even make their own personalized wickless candles and sell them straight from home!

Assembling Floating Candles

To create an efficient floating candle you will need a few bare essentials. First off, you will need to decide what type of bowl you want to use. What shape is it going to be? We recommend using a sphere or oval shape as they have the most striking effect. There are large or small bowls that can be used. You can used transparent glass or choose something that’s stained so only the flame will be visible. Whatever you decide to choose, there are a few tricks that will apply to all styles of candles and bowls. Keep your bowl between 4” – 6” in depth, that way it can be filled with enough liquid to make the candle float. You also need to be sure that the diameter of your bowl or casing is wide enough so that the wick of the flame doesn’t burn the sides. It needs to be able to burn smoothly so you aren’t constantly having to relight it.

Now, the next decision to be made is what you will be putting in your bowl. Is it going to be plain water? Colored water? There are loads of options to choose from and it will depend on your personal preference and room décor. Ideally you want a color that matches the colors in the room. You can choose to put flowers, sand, marbles, or any number of colorful decorations at the bottom of your bowl or vase that will contribute to the overall effect. If it’s the Christmas season and you are decorating your centerpiece, why not use red water, white candles, and some floating Santa designs? The list of possibilities goes on and on so don’t be afraid to utilize your imagination!

The last thing that you need to worry about is the floating candle itself. Generally, the floating candle of choice is very basic in design, small, and most importantly, light in weight. You can pick up floating candles like this in small bunches of 5-10 for just a few dollars; they certainly aren’t going to dent your budget. Whatever you decide to go with just make sure it floats! Test it out before you lay the centerpiece and make sure that it works – that’s all!

What are scented soy candles?

Soy scented candles come from the soybean wax. These beans are cleaned, cracked, and rolled into flakes. The oil from the soy flakes is then removed and then they are hydrogenated.

Scented Soy Candles Benefits?

Soy scented candles have huge benefits that make them a hot commodity among many homeowners over the world. They are non-toxic candles, complete eco-friendly, and have no carbon footprint. Not only that but they completely renewable and sustainable items. They are affordable candles that are made predominantly in the United States of America. Not only do Soy scented candles excel where paraffin candles fail, they also burn cleaner and can last up to 40% longer. You will notice that there is very little soot or smoke when you light these candles. It’s important to keep them away from children, loose blinds or curtains, and in a waft free environment.

Wait, there’s more! Once your soy scented candle is all done, you can rinse out the glass container and use it as a decorative piece. Fill them with marbles, buttons, colored sand, or pins. They make for a great display in the bathroom!

Making Scented Soy Candles

Do you prefer to make your own decorations? Soy scented candles can be made very easily and there isn’t any expertise required. To start, you will need pure soy wax flakes, a wax melting device, candle dye, candle molds, a fragrance of your choice, and a wick. It’s important to note that the chosen dye is specific for candles. Some people try and use crayon wax but that will cause problems in the finished product. Anyways, here are the steps to make your very own soy scented candles…

1. Melt soy wax flakes using your melting device. You can use an electric melter, a double boiler, or a tea kettle. The ideal temperature is around 175 degrees Celsius so once you’ve reached the desired heat, your wax is ready.
2. Add your candle dye to the wax
3. Mix / stir the dye and wax
4. Add your fragrance to the concoction
5. Heat your candle molds up briefly, about 5-10 minutes in the oven.
6. Cool wax down to 150 degrees Celsius and poor it into the heated molds
7. Continue to cool the wax and insert wicks before it hardens
8. Smooth out your candle with a blow torch or lighter if necessary
9. Let it sit for 6-8 hours before use
10. Voila!

Video: Soy Wax Candle Making for Beginners

Storing Yankee Candles

Yankee candles can’t be stored any which way and it’s important that you keep them in a safe place in order to prevent from color fading, melting, and cracking. The ideal temperature to store your Yankee candles at is in between 15-22 degrees Celsius which is essentially room temperature. There aren’t any major tricks or things to keep in mind when storing these candles other than being responsible and thinking logically. Don’t just throw them in the back of your closet and think they’re going to come out in perfect shape when you’re ready to use them. You want to keep them as far away from moisture as you can and away from any light in general whether it be from the sun or a lamp. If you are moving and you find yourself on a long road trip, be careful as a candle buried in the trunk can be susceptible to melting.

Cleaning Yankee Candles

If you are using your Yankee candle often it’s going to need to be cleaned just as frequently. For proper care, wipe the soot from the candle off immediately after use, while it’s still hot, with a regular paper towel. You can use candle wipers to do this as well but those are much more expensive.

How to properly use Yankee Candles

Keep the wick of your Yankee candle at a reasonable length so that when it burns properly. The best practice is never allow your wick to get past a ¼” in length. That means that after each use you want to quickly cut it down, using scissors or a knife, to its appropriate length. Other than that, the only other thing to keep in mind is to burn your candle in a safe place. Don’t have it accessible to children or anywhere it might be accidentally knocked over by a pet. You don’t want to leave your candle burning when nobody is around because all it takes is one loose spark to cause some real problems. Burn your candle in a holder and if you find that it’s smoking uncontrollably and not burning properly, blow out the flame, trim the wick down, and re-ignite. Be safe and don’t leave any loose napkins, boxes, textiles, or clothing around a burning candle because again, it doesn’t take much for problems to arise with fire.

Yankee Candle Tips

There are a few healthy tips and tricks that we’ve assembled that will help you keep your Yankee candles in good shape and not overused. First off, you may have read on other blogs or forums that you shouldn’t refill your Yankee glass case with wax and re-use it. That’s not true and the only reason this “tip” is out there is because the manufacturers put it there. It’s Yankee’s best interest to not have their candles refilled and reused because it will prevent consumers from coming back to them but rest assured, you can refill your Yankee candles and use them over and over again. Obviously it’s not going to give off the same scent as a brand new Yankee candle but it still works!

Something else to keep in mind with your Yankee candle is once the wick is barely visible, around 1-2cm in length, it’s time to call it quits. If you are trying to light a tiny wick like this, it’s dangerous and not worth it. If you happen to get it properly lit it’s not going to last anyways so just give up while your ahead. The cases are made of glass so you want to avoid piling a bunch of them together; glass to glass contact is an easy way to break your Yankee candle cases. While burning your candle, make sure the flame stays away from the side of jar. If you let the wick get too close to the side, it’s going to get too hot and could cause you to burn your hand if you happen to try and move it. The proper way to put out your Yankee candle is with a wick dipper but if that’s not available you can opt for blowing it out from a distance. It’s important that you be sure no hair or loose article of clothing is in the way when you bend down to blow it out.

The first thing you’re going to need to do once you decide to make a chocolate fountain is to decide on what type of chocolate you’re going to use. If you are on a budget you can find cheap chocolate but be aware that it’s going to be much too thick. You can counter the thickness and thin out the product by adding vegetable oil but the amount you’ll need to use will severely diminish the taste of the chocolate. The best chocolate you can use is called Couverture chocolate and the reason is because it’s thin enough to run smoothly as a fountain. If you can’t find Couverture you want to find a chocolate with a high cocoa oil content (between 30%-40%). By picking a high quality chocolate for your fountain you won’t have to worry about adding oils to thin it out and ending up with a diluted chocolate taste. If for whatever reason you have to add oil, use something that doesn’t have much flavor like canola or safflower oil.

Melting chocolate for your fountain

There are a couple of options you have to melt your chocolate. The first option is to use a double boiler. This is the process of using two pots stacked on the stove and putting the chocolate in the top pot so it catches the heat but isn’t too close. Your other option is to place you chocolate in a heavy duty freezer bag, crushing it as best as you can, and then putting in the microwave. Once it’s finished in the microwave you will need to mash out the remaining chocolate chunks. It’s important that you don’t overheat the chocolate in the microwave so always under heat it if you are unsure. Now, which of these melting options is better? The double boiler will actually give you a high quality melted product but having your chocolate in a large freezer bag makes your last job much easier. Once you have all of your chocolate melted you need to pour it into the fountain, that’s much more difficult to do when you are pouring from a pot. The ideal situation is to have your melted chocolate in a large plastic bag where you can simply cut off the edges and watch the chocolate pour out on its own.

Additional flavor for your chocolate fountain

If you want to spice up the chocolate taste you can add some liquor to it. The most appropriate liquors are going to be the thicker, texture liqueurs like Baileys or Grand Marnier. Obviously this isn’t appropriate in all cases, for example if there are kids or people who don’t consume alcohol at your gathering. For instances like these you can substitute the liquor with vanilla extract or some cinnamon.

If you find yourself second guessing the chocolate taste, test it out with some of your guests and judge their feedback. Whatever the situation is, there is no need to stress because you can always add more chocolate, oil, liquor, vanilla, or cinnamon to the mix!