What to do with that box of junk in the attic.
Like most people, I have a variety of boxes in the attic filled with old pictures, report cards, and a variety of other things most people would probably have donated years ago. Every couple years in search of something else, I open up these boxes and enjoy the nostalgia before putting the top back on. As I close each box, I always get this feeling of guilt. Like I should have a better plan for these things that were once special. But what? What do you with old, moth-eaten baby clothes? Or that little coin purse that belonged to your great grandmother? Generally speaking, these items are meaningless to everybody but you. They don’t hold any value so you can’t sell it, yet it’s just so hard to throw it away. I have always had a very hard time throwing things away, especially things that remind me of the most important people in my life. After all these years, I have finally found a solution. Don’t throw it away. Don’t donate it. Frame it. Framing things that are special to you can add a beautiful, meaningful element to your decor. Much more meaningful than that $36 canvas from World Market.
The Display Frame
I love frames with depth. I might have made up the term "display frame", but I couldn't think of anything else to differentiate between a shadow box. Shadow boxes are much larger and don't allow for any sort of matting. A display frame allows you frame objects that would not ordinarily fit in a regular frame and has only a little bit of depth between the glass the object, like intaglios.
This particular example is my grandfather's christening gown. I have had it in storage literally forever. People said, "what are you going to do with that, it's not like it can be worn." True. But it's also almost 100 years old and it belonged to such a special person in my life I just couldn't throw it away. My brother recently had a baby and I wanted to give this to him for the nursery. I talked to some professional framers, but nobody seemed to get my vision. They knew how intaglio art was framed, but for some reason nobody could visualize the same concept with clothing. They kept talking about shadow boxes and turning it sideways and folding it. I wanted matting and I wanted it portrait. I was not willing to bend on that. I finally just decided to build it myself. It turned out to be such an elegant and beautiful tribute to our grandfather. I can't wait to try this with more things!
Gallery Walls
Framed stories are a great way to add character and simplicity to your home. I have seen this done in nurseries with children's stories like the Velveteen Rabbit and it sparked an idea. My husband's father wrote this short story when he returned home from WWII. He was a paratrooper in the 11th Airborne and I have no doubt he had some stories to tell. He never talked much about what he experienced, but my husband was fortunate enough to receive a scanned copy of the original via email. Just like many other things, it got stored somewhere and was only read whenever we came across it in search of something else. I felt like this was way too sentimental to just throw in a box in the attic. Wanting to keep it as close as possible to the original which was written on a typewriter, I matched the font, character spacing, and line spacing down to the letter and reprinted it on watercolor paper. It's now on display in our home and looks perfect above my pine console table. It's the first thing people see when they walk in the room. Whether it be a children's story, a special prayer, a letter you received, etc, the same concept can be applied.
