I got an email recently from RendiStyle asking me to review their products. After looking at their site, it looked like stuff I would buy with or without the incentive of getting something for free — which is kind of my review criteria — so I agreed. What they offered me was two $50 gift certificates to their store, one for me and one for a lucky Antique Mommy reader.
So here’s the scoop on Rendi. I liked pretty much everything I saw on the site, and after much hemming and hawing and then hawing and hemming, I went with this frame, which after shipping came to tad bit more than $50.
Here is what I observed about this product:
It’s bigger than I thought it would be. But this always happens to me when I order on line. Earrings are bigger, frames are bigger, purses, you got it — bigger. I once ordered a soft light box to photograph small products in and when it came, it turned out to be the size of a tent. Sean and I could play in it. So obviously I have no sense of scale.
My frame is more gold than celedon, but it works with my house. From the site I couldn’t tell what the frame was made out of but it it appears to be MDF. Not that there’s anything wrong with it, as is often said. I love the design on the frame, however it does appear to be stamped on, which is fine with me, I kind of like that. One criticism I have is that the edges are not finished as nicely as I would like. The picture is behind a heavy plastic of some sort, not glass, which is cool with me, one less thing to bust. From the back, it looks like I can change the picture out, but I haven’t investigated exactly how to do that because I probably never will.
When you choose a frame, you get the option of changing the message on the front, but any message I wanted was one letter more than space allowed, so I skipped the message.
Here’s the frame as shown on their site with their message, far more creative than what I went with, although those children aren’t nearly as adorable as mine…
Here are some other designs I considered, hence all the indecision. The brown frame was a problem as I do not have a sister and I am jealous of those who do, but if you have a sister you could get that cute frame!
All in all, I think it is a nice product, particularly for a gift. I am not likely to spend $50 on a frame for myself but if someone else wanted to buy me one I would really like it and I would send a nice handwritten thank you note.
If you would like to win the other $50 Rendi gift certificate, and you know you do, please leave me a comment telling me about your picture philosophy – do you keep them in albums? Do you frame and display them? Or are you like me and seldom get them off the computer? Are you organized or just hoping to get organized? Do you scrapbook? What exactly are you doing with your pictures??
I will draw the winning comment at random sooner or later or sometime in between….
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WINNER! Congratulations commenter #5, Leslie at Geek Mama! Look for an email from me. Thanks to all who stopped by and played along!
Heather says:
Of course I’d love to win, but really just so glad to have your voice back! I’d missed you more than I realized and I knew I missed you
I love photos, have some framed and hung, used to scrapbook (really, like people even paid me to make them) and I REALLY want to start again before my little ones are grown and gone and I have no memories of them recorded.
Thanks for a giveaway, but thanks for just sharing your voice with us again!
February 14th, 2013 at 7:31 pm
Julie at Elisharose says:
I have a combination of photo albums and framed photos. Not nearly enough framed ones, but there aren’t nearly enough that are frame quality. No one in this house is known for taking great pictures.
February 14th, 2013 at 7:35 pm
Judith says:
My photos tend to stay on the computer … something I want to change (someday).
February 14th, 2013 at 7:59 pm
Laura Jinkins says:
I’m all over the place — many in frames, many in scrapbooks, many in boxes WAITING to end up in frames or scrapbooks . . . and of course, plenty of them on the computer. I’m passionately protective of my photos — when we evacuated from Hurricane Ike (being near the coast the way we are), I loaded down my truck with boxes of albums, frames, negatives, and my computer. When we purchased a new vehicle after the truck was totaled in a wreck, part of the shopping criteria was “Will all the photos fit if we have another storm?”
February 14th, 2013 at 8:16 pm
Leslie @ Geek Mama says:
My pictures have been desperate to escape various electronic devices for years. They’ve formulated grand plans and even chosen times and dates, but their schemes have always been thwarted. A new frame may just be the incentive needed to follow through.
February 14th, 2013 at 9:13 pm
Deborah says:
I scrapbook a little–nowhere near as much as I want, and I have a few pictures in frames, but nowhere near as many as I want. Most of my pictures are on the computer while I figure out how best to display them … which may happen one of these days (years).
February 14th, 2013 at 10:55 pm
Jenna says:
I am happier every day that you are writing regularly again! Thank you for sharing!
Pictures: I’m kind of all of the above. LOTS online and on my phone, some printed, a few in frames, and the scrapbook … Well, I’m in the middle of my wedding scrapbook, and I’ve been married five and a half years, so not so much on that one!
February 15th, 2013 at 7:03 am
Kay says:
My photos are mostly on the computer. Some in scrapbooks. And there are many piles of printed out photos waiting to be put in books. But there just aren’t enough hours in the day to do that sort of stuff. Would love to get all our vacations scrapbooked, as that is a much more manageable task. Just three currently needing to be done. “Just”..ha.
February 15th, 2013 at 8:55 am
Amy Sue Nathan says:
I have photos online, on my phone, my iPad, my computer, in albums, in frames on tables and all over the walls. I like ‘em everywhere.
February 15th, 2013 at 9:45 am
SEAS says:
It’s terrible, I just keep buying new sims cards!!
February 15th, 2013 at 10:32 am
Darla Johnson says:
Although I’ve never posted a comment, I LOVE your blog and sense of humor. I’m a writer myself, so I’m very picky as to the blogs I read, but you pass the test with flying colors! As far as photos, my 88-year-old Dad summed it up best when he recently came over to watch the Super Bowl and said to me more than once throughout the day, “You have pictures all over this house – I’ve never seen anyone with so many pictures!” He’s right and yet he hasn’t even seen my Shutterfly books, my three sons’ scrapbooks, and my infinite computer files. What can I say other than I would enjoy a new frame to add to my display! Thank you for the opportunity…and for making me smile when I read your beautfiul posts about being a Mom. God bless!
February 15th, 2013 at 10:57 am
Jake's a Girl says:
I know AD had to be in there somewhere but that sweetie of yours is you made over.
February 15th, 2013 at 12:10 pm
momof8 says:
Oh man, I am currently sorting through boxes of 27 years of photos of 8 children. I am sure a frame would be awesome help! (Yes, I am totally in over my head.)
February 15th, 2013 at 12:11 pm
sharon says:
I have 4 scrapbooks and 8,000 pictures waiting to be scrapbooked. I also have lots of framed pictures everywhere.
February 15th, 2013 at 4:40 pm
Allison B says:
I LOVE pictures, but I only frame a few. I do blog, so I post them there. I also have them well organized (by month/age) on the computer – we’ll see how long that lasts (my punkin is 16 months old…)
February 15th, 2013 at 4:56 pm
Shari says:
Can I choose “all of the above”? We have lots of photos in albums, plenty framed, some in scrapbooks, and yes, a great many still on the computer! I clearly need help.
February 15th, 2013 at 6:36 pm
RosesArePink2 says:
As a grandmother of three little boys (Ages 4,2 and 1) I have recently had an onslaught of cherished photos. A few years ago, I started scrapbooking early photos of my two adult children with the intent of giving them a new book each Christmas. Unfortunately, that stopped after the first Christmas, but I still have high hopes for myself in that area! Meanwhile the vast majority of my children’s school age pictures remain in a box awaiting my inspiration to be fired up! Currently I am sporting beloved photos in a myriad of places: mantle, TV, dressers, walls . . . . I am particularly enamored with pretty frames (none of which usually match) but I’m wired like that as I am prone to buy what suits my current fancy without proper regard to what I already have. Needless to say, my decorating style is on the quirky side but you can tell the real me when looking at it!
February 15th, 2013 at 9:27 pm
Margaret W. says:
I have scrapbooked albums for all 6 of my children. My favorite photos of family members are framed and in my long hallway. There are about 60 frames there now, most purchased for pennies at garage sales. I have been adding photos of my grandchildren, and more of my children and family gatherings too, as the years go by. In fact my children joke that I will soon have to start putting frames on the other side of the hallway too. Every morning I walk down that hall and smile at those faces, remembering precious moments, and giving thanks for each and every one.
February 16th, 2013 at 11:23 am
Charlotte (Shay) Brewer says:
I do display pictures in my house but I also don’t change them out as often as I should. I love the sister frame and I think it would make a great birthday gift for my sister
So I kinda hope I win 
So glad you are back to blogging I missed reading!
Shay B
February 16th, 2013 at 9:14 pm
Cindy says:
I have a shelf of albums, but now that I have an iPad, that’s where all my photos are. I laugh at myself, because here I am a grandma, and my “Brag Book” is an iPad!
February 16th, 2013 at 10:21 pm
Sharon says:
Due to my lack of organization, my photos are everywhere…on the computer, sd cards, storage boxes, and a few have made their way into scrapbooks and frames. One of my goals for 2013 is to scrapbook more and put everything on discs!!!
February 17th, 2013 at 6:58 am
Donna says:
I don’t have enough photographs! When we’re together we are all too busy yammering and laughing and hugging to take pictures, and then the next (day, week, year) everyone says, ‘Why didn’t we take pictures when we were all together?”
So my philosophy is: Take More Pictures!
February 17th, 2013 at 4:33 pm
the other elle says:
My photos live on the computer. As a matter of fact, I have two external hard drives to accommodate them all.
Sadly, the photo albums stop around 1999…the same year my youngest child was born.
Maybe a pretty photo frame would spark my interest in actual printed photos again? Here’s hoping I win!
February 18th, 2013 at 6:50 pm
Yvonne says:
I had high hopes for scrapbooking: bought a bunch of supplies when Z was born, put together 1 page, & never scrapped again! I do have lots of framed photos around the house and just recently became obsessed with Shutterfly Photo Books. SOOOooo simple & such great results. And since most of my photos are on the computer 1/2 the work is already done. So hopefully more photos will see the light of day.
February 19th, 2013 at 1:50 pm
Jo Sue says:
A little of everything. Mostly in my computer tho. My second one is 4 and keeps asking me why his pictures aren’t up so I really want to start!!
February 20th, 2013 at 7:12 pm
Julie says:
don’t know if I am too late but I am trying to be more organized
I do have some photos framed
thank
February 24th, 2013 at 3:49 pm
peggy aplSEEDS says:
i used to put all my pictures in albums, and sometimes scrapbooks, but lately they have been stuck in the computer and i keep downloading free digital scrapbooking kits in hopes that one day i will get some layouts done! the frame is wonderful!
February 28th, 2013 at 2:29 am
A Day in the Life – Edition “We All Need Claritin” | Geek Mama says:
[...] check my email and find out that I won a giveaway on Antique Mommy’s blog! Yay!!! I think we’re going to put the gift certificate toward a sign of Maddox house rules [...]
February 28th, 2013 at 11:04 pm