Things to Do in Brantford

For 25 years, the talented staff of Creative Art & Frame has encased art, posters, and objects in handmade and custom fitted frames. Bespoke squares team up with acid-free mats, acid-free foam backing, and high-quality glass. Customers can exhibit multiple pictures at once thanks to the shop's computerized mat cutter, which crafts custom picture holes. Specialty frame services easily enshrine three-dimensional display-worthy items, including all manner of sports memorabilia and collectibles such as the elusive albino Rubik's cube. Empty frames find embraceable images by perusing the shop's art canvases and prints.

Since 2002, the Women's Lifestyle Show has gathered exhibitors, chefs, and entertainers from across the country to delight audiences with two days of female-focused activities. Television personalities and acclaimed authors pair with other popular hosts at the main stage to dazzle onlookers with home solutions and beauty tips throughout each day. Rows of colourful exhibitor booths lavish wanderers with products and demonstrations by local spas and fashion boutiques, and the cooking stage grants glimpses of guest chefs sizzling and searing flavourful recipes to spark ideas for upcoming dinner dates, family meals, and tricks to teach robot maids.

The lively group of arts-and-crafts instructors at Lets Art Canada encourages students of all ages to express themselves through the visual arts with unabashed confidence and a focus on having fun. Their varied schedule of two-hour painting, drawing, and sculpting classes invites aspiring Michelangelos to act as the architects of their very own masterpieces using prismatic markers, paints, and lumps of clay. Lets Art Canada also hosts children's camps and birthday parties so kids can channel excess energy into making art instead of twirling in circles or digesting detention slips.

Inside Sky Zone, wall-to-wall floor trampolines, angled wall trampolines, and a wide blue foam pit enable visitors to excise energy by literally bouncing off the walls. Instructors lead participants through low-impact aerobics, core-strength exercises, and aerial calisthenics in SkyRobics, and supervise trampoline-propelled dodge-ball games during 3-D Dodgeball. They also lead one-week youth camps that combine their classes with supervised open-jump sessions. They conduct all activities indoors to ensure supervised safety and that passing storks don't take back their deliveries. Showcasing a commitment to health as well as entertainment, Sky Zone partners with the American Heart Association and its fitness programs.

After making a name for herself in the world of theatrical costuming during stints on the production teams of The Lion King and Mamma Mia!, Dilys Tong co-created Sew Be It Studio in 2005 in order to inspire others to craft their own wearable art. Lindsey Wise, a graphic designer and former magazine art director, joined her in 2009, and together they helm workshops and classes alongside a cast of dedicated instructors. At their two studios, the staff lead students through hands-on tutorials or arm them with DIY patterns for items such as a lace tank top, a flower headpiece, or a leather mini wallet ideal for fitting into a regular-size wallet. Enhancing the space are studio mascots Betty and Madi, a pair of well-dressed pups who can often be found lounging around in a variety of miniature ensembles.

The mission of The Art Studios goes beyond pottery and paints. Put plainly, they "aim to encourage and support each individual as they express their creativity, build confidence, and strengthen their relationships through artistic expression." In camps, classes, team-building sessions, and parties, groups gather to use both their creative brains and their social skills as they paint and chat, talking excitedly to their decorative plates and scrawling "#1 Mom" on their neighbour's foreheads. In addition to painting pottery, students can sculpt with clay or fuse glass to create functional works of art they can tote home.