Things to Do in Stratford

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.

Dance instructor James Lyndon preaches a simple, passionate philosophy about dance: break all your own rules, own the dance floor you inhabit, and let yourself go. James gives students the skills and self-confidence to dance free of inhibition. First-timers share the dance floor with more experienced students as instructors shed light on the rhythm and moves behind the salsa, hustle, samba, or cha-cha. James and his fellow teacher emphasize techniques and basics and offer specialized intensive classes and wedding-dance choreography.

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 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.

Initially, beading for Marja Veldhoen was just a hobby. The then-graphic designer started sliding down the slippery crafting slope more than a decade ago after discovering Cindy Jenkins' book How to Make Glass Beads. Soon, she was hooked. Marja shares her zeal for unusual looking beads and jewellery that springs from nature's influence with students through courses teaching the art of inventing handmade wearables from semi-precious stones, pearls, and glass. Her Bead blog keeps crafters abreast of events and promotions, which can include trunk shows, tax-free offers, and workshops on installing chic beaded garage doors.

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.