Tag Archives: Framing Unusual Small Items

Decor – Memorabilia Displays

Posted on by

Shadowboxes are a great way to display memorabilia such as travel souvenirs, vintage items, or personal heirlooms.  By having these items protected under glass you and your family, along with the visitors to your home, can enjoy looking at them while keeping these items protected from any damage.   Over the years I have made several shadowboxes that are displayed throughout our home and in this post I will show these examples.

Travel souvenirs

As I mentioned previously in a July 2013 Décor Post, Displaying Travel Souvenirs, in the library of our home nestled among the books are several items that we have collected over the years during our travels across the United States and other distant places such as Europe and Asia.  I have found that shadowboxes are an excellent way to display these travel souvenirs.  One example, shown below, is the shark weapon that we purchased on a visit to the Polynesian Culture Center in Hawaii.  This beautifully crafted piece is displayed in a shadowbox to be admired but the real purpose for having it behind glass is that the sharp edges of the shark teeth are enclosed to prevent anyone from handling this dangerous weapon.  Several other smaller shadowboxes are also displayed on the bookshelves and the examples are shown below and they are: a framed piece of Edelweiss purchased in a small shop near Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany, a small piece of brick from the home of Abraham Lincoln located in Springfield, IL and a piece of cable that we purchased at the San Francisco Cable Car Museum.

Hawaiian travel souvenirs
Germany travel souvenir    Springfield travel souvenir

San Fransico travel souvenir

Discussed in the May 2013 Décor Post, Framing Small Items, during our family road trips, I always purchase pins as inexpensive souvenirs and over the years I have collected hundreds.  These pins, shown below, are displayed in special walnut cases with black liners.  Also shown below are additional cases, one case displays my collection of Hard Rock Café guitar pins purchased during over visits to the restaurants throughout our travels and in another case is a very small part of my collection of over two hundred Disney pins.

Pin collection 2  Pin collection 1
Pin collection 4    Pin collection 3

Another memorabilia display featuring travel souvenirs can be found in our basement displayed above my Disney bookshelves.  It is a vintage Disneyland pendant in a black shadowbox and is shown in the photo below.    As I mentioned previously in the April 2013 Decor Post, Disney Memorabilia Collection, I go into details about my Disney obsession and the items that I have collected over the years.

Disneyland pendant shadowbox

So, instead of storing your travel souvenirs in boxes which are hidden away from view, try displaying them in shadowboxes or special display cases which allow you to look at these items while the items are protected from dust or damage and you will be able enjoy the memories of your travels!

Vintage items

As many of you know from reading previous posts, I enjoy browsing and shopping in antique stores and on EBay.  Over the years I have purchased many vintage items and scattered around our home are several small and unusual framed items which add personality and interest to our home decorations.  In the May 2013 Décor Post, Framing Small Items, I featured a shadowbox that is on display in my home office that contains commemorative medals of the British Kings and Queens that I had purchased inexpensively on EBay.  The pins, shown below, range from Queen Victoria to the present Queen Elizabeth II and it is a wonderful way to have a little piece of interesting history.

Framed collectible 3

In another Décor Post, Framed Jewelry, posted previously in February 2014 features several vintage jewelry items that I also purchased while shopping in antique stores and on EBay.  These vintage jewelry pieces look wonderful displayed in small frames and add an elegant touch to our home décor.  Shown below is a beautiful crystal fur clip which is attached to a piece of white velvet and displayed in a small gold frame.

Framed Fur clip

Recently, one of my Spring cleaning projects was organizing the closet in our master bedroom.  The room is a rather large walk-in closet with a counter positioned in the center and has a wonderful and convenient chute to the laundry room downstairs.  The room also has useful built-in shelving where I have displayed two shadowboxes, which are shown below.  One shadowbox has a set of antique lace collars and cuffs while the other one has a pair of antique men’s spats.  Using these antique items displayed in the closet seemed perfect and I think they look great!

Vintage women's lace collar and cuffs    Vintage men's spats

So, next time you are shopping in antique stores or on EBay think about how you can decorate with vintage items displayed in shadowboxes in your home.

Personal heirlooms

Showcasing family memorabilia or heirlooms is a wonderful way to add a personal touch to any home.  In a May 2013 Décor Post, Framing Small Items, I featured quite a unique item displayed in a shadowbox.  The items, shown in the photo below, are a personal letter and a religious medal from Pope John Paul II and included in the shadowbox is a photo taken on the day of our daughter’s baptism. This is an example of how these very personal items can be displayed to commemorate a blessed event.  For more information about this shadowbox and to read the story of how we came to receive these special items, please click on the link above. 

Framed collectible 1a    Childhood beach shovel

The next item of family memorabilia is an old rusty beach shovel shadowbox display, shown in the photo above.  When I was a child living in California, our family used to enjoy the occasional day at the beach.  This old metal beach shovel, found in my parent’s garage.  The trick to making this type of shadowbox is finding one that has enough depth to accommodate the shovel and then using a piece of sandpaper for the background of the shadowbox because it would look like the sand on the beach, finally the shovel was attached to the paper with hot glue.  Seeing the beach shovel shadowbox hanging in our downstairs bathroom brings back wonderful memories of Paradise Cove.

The next two examples of family memorabilia are framed items of clothing which are shown below.  The first is one of our daughter’s baby outfits and I also included a baby photo of her in a small gold frame, these items are simply displayed in a white shadowbox.  The second shadowbox which contains our daughter’s 5th grade graduation t-shirt and it is hung in her bedroom, she likes looking at the names and remembering her classmates.

Cassie shadowbox 2    Cassie shadowbox 1

The final example of a family memorabilia shadowbox was used a few years ago when my husband’s Grandmother passed away.  She was an artist and for her funeral/memorial services and we displayed several of her paintings and other pieces of artwork and her art ribbons won at local fairs and competitions was arranged in the shadowbox and also put on display at the funeral home.  Sadly, if you are ever put in the position of making funeral arrangements or planning a funeral service, it is always a thoughtful idea to add some items that were of personal interest to the deceased.  When these items are displayed among photos of the deceased, along with the floral arrangements, it helps to “tell the story” of the person’s life.

Grandma Hodge's art ribbons

So, memorabilia shadowboxes can be used to decorate and add personality to the home.  These items can be travel souvenirs, vintage pieces and family heirlooms. For another idea using shadowboxes, please be sure to check out next week’s Craft Post, Childhood Shadowboxes, for an easy and simple craft project to use as a display in your home.

Decor – Adding Personality to a Home

Posted on by

Many years ago I envisioned my home as a place filled with family photographs, travel mementos, a collection of interesting books and other various decorative items that would bring a smile to my face … and that is exactly how I would describe the home that I live in today with my family.

My approach to adding personality to a room is displaying interesting pieces and decorative items throughout a home that have special meaning to our family so that when guests visit these items will tell a story of our life or convey our personal interests and this can be a wonderful starting point for conversations.  Decorating a home with family photos and memorabilia are wonderful ways to remember the people and important events that hold special memories in our lives and they are an important way to surround ourselves with family love and heritage.  Displaying decorative items gathered throughout the years, such as travel souvenirs or themed collectibles also convey our interests and hobbies.  So, let me get started with some ideas and suggestions for adding personality to your home!

Family photos

Decorating with family photos is a perfect opportunity to add our family’s character and personality into a room.  Every year, just before my children’s birthday, I always schedule an appointment at the portrait studio at our local department store.  These formal portraits are displayed throughout our house; some are in the bookshelf in our family room, the upstairs hallway and in our daughter’s bedroom.  It is a wonderful way to show how our children have grown and changed over the years!

In a bookshelf to the left of our family room fireplace are a collection of family photos.  As mention, some of the photos are our children’s formal portraits but others include old family photos such as childhood photos of me and my husband and also my parent’s wedding portrait.  Other family photos are more informal and were taken at family events over the years.  I love the fact that when guests come to visit they are able to see in one place in our home photos of all of our family members taken at various times in our lives.

Displayed in another room of our house, in our master bedroom are formal wedding portraits of my husband and I and these are displayed on the dresser along with childhood photos of the both of us.  I really like the idea of displaying the childhood photos and our wedding photos together because there is such a lovely contrast of the past and it is fun to see how we looked when we were younger!

As you can see, I like to surround ourselves with photos taken over the years but not all of them need to be formal portraits.  Examples of this are the informal photos taken on family vacations and trips that are displayed in the bookshelves of our home library.  Our family loves to travel to places such as national parks or historic sites but we also enjoy getting out into nature by hiking or fishing. Looking at these photos always brings back wonderful memories of fun times and interesting places spent together as a family.

For more information about displaying family photos, please check out the following post, Not Your Normal Wall Art!

Family memorabilia

Over the years I have collected several items that can be classified as family memorabilia.  The idea for displaying these pieces throughout our home is to remember special events or important times in our lives.  Here are a few examples:

Displayed in the upstairs hallway of our home is a large wedding portrait with the date of our marriage inscribed on a small gold plaque and on the mat surrounding the portrait are the signatures of our wedding guests.  To the left of this piece is another series of four photos taken on our wedding day with our families.  These two sentimental pieces commemorate that special day at the start of our lives together as husband and wife.

Two more family memorabilia pieces displayed in our home are hung on the wall above the bed in my daughter’s room.  The two framed pieces commemorate her baptism and her first birthday, two important events in her childhood.  Using an uncut mat board and some special scrapbook paper that was signed by the guests that were in attendance at those two events and then later framed in matching golden frames I created these two pieces that will hopefully be something my daughter will treasure forever as a unique childhood heirloom.

Sometimes other important influences in our lives are the places we have lived.  In the dining room of our home I have displayed two framed pieces of sheet music.  The first one is “My Kind of Town” as sung by Frank Sinatra which is often referred to as the “Chicago” song.  Chicago is a special place in my family history because my mother was born there and my parents met, married and lived there before moving to California.  The other framed sheet music is of the song “San Fernando Valley” as sung by Bing Crosby.  This is another important place to me because that is where I was born and raised and I have very fond memories of living there as a child.

For more information about displaying family memorabilia commemorating special events, please check out the following post, Not Your Normal Wall Art!

Travel Souvenirs

Our family enjoys traveling across the United States and we also have traveled to different parts of Europe to see family and friends and my husband has visited parts of Asia while he was getting his master’s degree.  All of these travel experiences have provided us with interesting opportunities to learn about our country and the world and we have thoroughly enjoyed our time together as a family visiting these places.

During these travels we have collected various items and these are displayed in the library of our home.  The bookcases are filled with interesting souvenirs, such as a weapon made from sharks teeth purchased at the Polynesian Culture Center in Hawaii, Polish dolls and a city certificate commemorating our visit to Krakow in Poland, a piece of the Berlin Wall and framed Edelweiss from a trip to Germany, two jade lions displayed with a photo from my husband’s visit to Asia and a photo of our family taken at the Kennedy Space Center displayed with a model of the Space Shuttle.  All these unusual items are displayed as reminders of wonderful trip that we have taken over the years and are also great way to start interesting conversations with guests visiting our home.

The other parts of the bookshelves are also filled with rocks, minerals and fossils that my husband has collected over the years.  This interesting hobby is highlighted in a post that he wrote recently called “The Rock Guy”.  Please click on the link to check out how he started his collection and information about the different items.

On the opposite wall in the library is another bookshelf filled with beach memorabilia that I have collected throughout the years.  Living in California our family has spent many wonderful hours at the beach walking along the shore, playing in the sand and watching the waves and some very beautiful sunsets over the Pacific Ocean.  We have collected many seashells from the beaches of Southern California and on our visits to the east coast in North Carolina and Florida.  These seashells are also displayed with family photos from those trips and decorative pieces that tell the story of our love for the beach and the oceans.

For more information and suggestions on how to display these items, please check out the following posts:  Displaying Travel Souvenirs and Beach Memorabilia

Themed Collectibles

Over the years I have collected several themed items that are displayed throughout our home and reflect my interests and hobbies.  I have several different series of collectible plates that displayed in various rooms, such as Danbury Mint National Park plates that hang above the bookshelves in our library and within the bookshelves are several plates displayed on easels, two collectible nature plates of ducks and wolves and a Native American decorative plate we bought during our southwest travels.  These collectible plates are another reminder of our family travels and our love and respect for nature and animals.  For more information about the other collectible plates displayed in our home, please check out the post Decorating with Plates.

Living in California our family has been going to Disneyland since it opened in 1955 and we have spent many wonderful times together as a family enjoying the “happiest place on earth”.  Over the years I have started a collection of Disney memorabilia including Disneyland items, Mickey Mouse, Pinocchio and Disney princess figurines and these items are displayed in a trio of glass door bookshelves in the basement of our home and reflect our family’s love for all things Disney!  For more information, please check out Disney Memorabilia Collection.

Another special collection displayed in our home is my Boyd’s Bear figurines and stuffed animals.  In the library of our home is an oak bookcase which displays some of my favorite Boyd’s Bear figurines, some of these items are changed seasonally.  Additional holiday Boyd’s Bear items are displayed in other rooms of our home.  My collection of the whimsical Boyd’s Bears items never fails to put a smile on my face and brings joy to my heart!  For more information, please check out the following posts: Displaying a Boyd’s Bear Collection Part One and Part Two.

In conclusion, decorating a home with family photographs, travel mementos, a collection of interesting books and other various decorative items is a wonderful way to reflect a family’s interests and hobbies.  For additional examples about adding decorative pieces that will add personality to a room, please check out the following Décor posts, Framing Small Items and Home Office.  In addition, please check out the Craft Section of this blog for some wonderful projects, such as Embellished Photo Frames.

Decor – Framing Small Items

Posted on by

Scattered around our home, there are many small and unusual framed items.  Some of these items are a collection of collectible items or cameos or historic royal medals.  These add personality and interest to our home decorations and are displayed throughout the house.

In my home office, I have recently added two wonderful collectible pieces by Margaret Furlong.  She is an artist located in Oregon that designs beautiful decorative pieces inspired by nature made in bisque porcelain.  The two pieces from her collection currently on the bookshelves in my home office are the “Heaven and Earth” and the “Hope for a New Millennium” which were purchased several years ago and originally were displayed in my daughter’s nursery in our California home.  To create these two framed collectible pieces, I purchased inexpensive gold frames that perfectly fit the Margaret Furlong pieces and two lovely pale green “velvet” scrapbook papers from the local craft store.  I removed the glass and backing from the frames then cut the “velvet” paper to fit the frame using the glass as a template.  I attached the collectible onto the paper with hot glue; carefully making sure that it would be perfectly centered within the frame, and then hot glued the paper with the collectible attached to the frame’s glass for additional support.  Finally, I placed everything back into the gold frame and it was ready to hang on the wall.  This easy craft project took 30 minutes to frame both pieces.  These two framed collectibles are a wonderful example of how to display small items in a beautiful way.

Framed collectible 2     Framed collectible 1

Displayed in my home office is a shadow box that displays commemorative medals of the British Kings and Queens.  As mentioned in this month’s Celebration post, Victoria’s Day, I am fascinated by the British Royal family.  My interest was sparked several years ago when I read a novel about Queen Victoria.  Since that time I have read numerous books about the royal family and while visiting England several years ago I had an opportunity to see the castles and country homes of the royal family which I had been reading about in their biographies.  This inspired a collection of commemorative medals of the British Kings and Queen.  The first one dates back to Queen Victoria and commemorates the Diamond Jubilee and her 60 year reign as Queen of England.  Additional commemorate medals include the coronations of the Kings and Queen that followed, King Edward VII, King George V, King Edward VIII, King George VI and finally the current Queen Elizabeth II.  One very unique pin marks the year 1937 when England had three kings.  During that one year England had three different kings, they were King George V who had recently died at the beginning of 1937, King Edward VII who abdicated before his coronation and then King George VI who was crowned at the end of 1937 and he is the father of the current Queen Elizabeth.  This particular pin is my favorite one in the collection.  All of these seven commemorative pins are in a walnut shadowbox and are wonderful way to display the collection in my home office.

Framed collectible 3   Framed collectible 4

Several years ago while shopping on ebay, I came across a great source for cameos.  I purchased several not knowing exactly what I was going to use them for, originally I was thinking of using them for a jewelry project.  Instead, I decided to frame a lovely blue cameo the same way I framed the Margaret Furlong pieces.  I purchased a small silver frame from the local craft store, dark grey “velvet” scrapbook paper and used the same process, it worked out beautifully.  The framed cameo now sits on the side table in our master bedroom and is a lovely decorative accent.

Down in our basement there is a bookshelf which is filled with family memorabilia (in the future I should write a post regarding the bookshelf and how everything is displayed!)  Anyway, there is a very special piece that commemorates our daughter’s baptism and the story behind this piece is very interesting.  First, I need to explain that both my mother’s parents emigrated from Poland through Ellis Island in the early 1900s.  Needless to say when Pope John Paul II became pope in 1978 my mother was very excited.  Several years ago when I was working on a special 80th birthday book for my mother, I wrote to the Pope hoping that he would respond and to my surprise he did write back with a lovely letter wishing her a happy birthday.  To conclude the story, when it came time for my daughter’s baptism, I again wrote to Pope John Paul II and received a letter blessing her on this special occasion and enclosed with the letter was a very special medal for her.  I copied the letter, reduced the size to fit the frame I had purchased, the original letter went into her baby book, and in the small shadowbox I included the medal the Pope sent along with a photo taken at her baptism.  This is an example of a very small item, the medal, being displayed in a wonderful way to commemorate a special and blessed event.

Framed collectible 1a

In the entertainment center down in the basement are several walnut cases specially made with a black liner and they are perfect for holding a collection of pins gathered during our road trips and overseas travels.  Almost every place visited on our travels I will purchase a pin as a souvenir and over the years I have collected hundreds.  Most of these pins are displayed in these special large walnut cases.  Check out this month’s Décor post, Travel Souvenirs, for more information regarding the other items we collect during our vacations and how they are displayed in our home.  Two small walnut cases are also displayed in the entertainment center.  One case holds a collection of Hard Rock Café guitar pins that were purchased while dining at the restaurants in several U.S. cities and other locations in Europe and Asia.  We like the food at the Hard Rock Café and if we are visiting a particular city on our travels I always check to see if there is one located there.  As mentioned in a previous post, Disney Memorabilia Collection, part of our Disneyland souvenirs is a collection of over two hundred Disney collectible pins.  Most of these pins were purchased during our visits to Disneyland or online from e-bay when I am looking for rare or discontinued pins.  A small part of the pin collection is displayed in one of the small walnut cases and the rest of the pins are stored away.  These walnut cases are an example of a terrific way to display a collection of small items and sometimes when we are down in the basement watching movies I will pull out one of the walnut cases and look at the pins and remember the places we have visited.

Pin collection 2    Pin collection 1
Pin collection 4    Pin collection 3

So, when you are purchasing small decorative items, think about displaying them in small frames that would look wonderful on bookshelves or tables in your home.  If you are a collector of small items like pins and medals, think about displaying the items together in shadowbox frames or special cases that are made specifically for this purpose.  My basic idea is that if you have purchased and collected these items take some time to display them in a decorative way to enjoy every day.  This idea is also a wonderful way to add interest and personality to a home.