Hello ABM readers! I’m Rubyellen from Cakies, and I’m back to talk about some of our collections and how to display them. I’m sure most of us have a collection of sorts going. A popular one that I have seen on the internet is globe collections. I’ve got a ton of them myself. When I see one while thrifting, my friends won’t let me walk out of the store with it, because I have way too many (I really do!). I had my husband put up a wooden shelf to display some of my globes, and I have a few more (okay, maybe a lot more) scattered around the house. They all look so good grouped together!
Something else I collect is old keys and I have them grouped on a wall together. It’s a simple collection, but together they make a nice piece of wall art.
We are also rock collectors over here, especially with my 4 little ones. Everywhere we go, they are always finding rocks to bring home! We had all of our rocks on a shelf, but I wanted to use the shelf for something else, so I came up with another solution to display some of our rocks. I wanted to make a poster of our rock collection and this is what I did…
1. Choose a background for your collection. Since I wanted to keep it simple, I chose white and purchased a white foam matte board.
2. Lay out your collection to be photographed. I laid out all the rocks in an arrangement I liked and took a picture.
3. Find a frame. I got a frame from IKEA and in Photoshop, adjusted the photo to the size of the frame. If you aren’t Photoshop savvy, you can take your image file to the print shop and they can probably do it for you, but they might charge for that extra labor.
4. Take your image file to the print shop. I took my image on a flash drive to the print shop and had them print it out for me with a matte finish.
I love how our poster came out. It’s a great way to get wall art and still display our rock collection!
You could easily do this with any of your collections! If an object is larger (for example, a globe), you might want to purchase 2 white foam boards so that the base and background is the same (or whatever color/pattern it is you are going for). You would have to take a picture of each item individually, then in Photoshop, put all the individual images you took and put it together into one poster. It will definitely take a little bit more Photoshop know-how to put larger objects together in a poster.
So if you’re finding you’ve collected too many things over the years, but don’t have the heart to give it away or don’t like the space your collection is taking up, putting them all on a poster is a good way to still display it (and document it for memories sake). Maybe this will make giving your collection another home (or storing it away) a lot easier!
Happy collecting friends!
Credits // Author and Photography: Rubyellen.
It’s great! Haha, now I wish I had a collection to display 😉 You guys have such great content on your blog, it’s wonderful 😉
http://taleofthegreat.com
Love this idea! Rubyellen does it again!
That poster idea is PERFECTION. We move constantly (military life) and it is hard to contain the collector in me…but then we box it all up every 2 years and things get smashed/damaged/I’m heartbroken. This is a beautiful way to preserve those collectibles! Thank you!
Jelena — put that collection into a display case, depending on how many you have, you can find a tabletop type to put on a side table or bookcase. You’ll be able to see the pretty things, feel connected to your grandma, and not spend time dusting. I’m very conscious of dust (and not wanting to do it if at all possible) so I put things under glass domes or in display cases, especially delicate or fragile items.
My son, too, has a globe collection and is a lover of maps. Funny, what kids like!
This is such a lovely idea! 🙂
ANDREA
I just inhereted a giant coin collection from my grandmother (includnig nazi german coins, soivet russian coins and coins from the 1700s), and I’ve been looking for a way to display them. They’re so cool and I hate the idea of them just sitting around in a tin. This is absolutely perfect!
Love the idea of the rock collector. I’m geologist so you can imagine!!! What a good idea!
I also love the blue little wardrobe!
Love those rock photos! Perfect home- additions 🙂
xx
Alex
https://www.etsy.com/shop/MasonJarLover?ref=l2-shopheader-name
That’s a really good idea! We should use that for our homeschooling lesson too!
I still have a couple rocks displayed, but most of them are sitting together in a big basket now that they are all on a poster.
My sister got the print for me from her boyfriend who works at a print shop.
That’s a good idea! I do know where they come from by looking at them, but dating the back would be better because I’m sure I will forget one day!
I have a geode collection. Taking a photo of them to display would be perfect! Thanks for the idea Rubyellen!
The poster idea – LOVE!!!
I love that you took a photo of your collection! That is such a great idea… and it makes a lovely, unique piece of art!
That rock print is so cool! I actually thought, upon first seeing the picture, that you were going to instruct us to glue the rocks to the foam board, which I also think is a great idea! That way you don’t actually have to store the collection elsewhere, If it’s something that your kids will want to touch though, that probably wouldn’t work. Love these ideas!
-Jen
yourstrulyjen.com
I love the photography idea! I might have to use this idea for some acorns and leaves I preserved this past fall.
I love the idea of the picture of a collection!
I feel silly for not thinking of this idea before! Now I’m truly inspired to wrangle my bouncy ball collection (yes I said bouncy ball) together! Now I might just have to do a new office photo shoot afterwards!