I fell in love with Tara McPherson's "Gamma Mutant Space Friends" series the moment I saw it. Trouble is, they're so small! How do you display a bunch of 3-inch figures?
Sorry about the photo; the glare from the glass gave me trouble.
This was a fun, easy project, since it's just an 8x10 shadow box frame with an acrylic shelf attached inside. The background is cut scrapbook paper, and matches the design and colors of the series' boxes.
Seriously, isn't this set adorable?
I always thought he looked like he was flying, even though he's meant to stand up, so I got a bit of fishing line and suspended him from the top of the frame. (Much harder than it sounds. Heh.) I also stuck one of the slugs on the side wall, just for fun.
The figures are held in place with museum putty, a kind of tacky, removable adhesive. (I need to find a clear version, though; you can see little blue bits of it reflecting up from under their feet.) The putty is vital; without it everything would topple over at the first bump.
Shadow box frames are also fantastic if you collect ACEO. ACEO stands for "art cards, editions and originals" and are each the size of a baseball card: 3.5 x 2.5 inches.
so it floats above the background. It looks great, and costs next to nothing - a win/win!
Choose papers with lots of texture for a rich, custom look.
Because he's only about 10 inches tall, I wanted to display our diver dude in or on something that would call more attention to him. At first I wanted a cloche - one of those glass domes with a handle - but then I learned that the size I needed would cost anywhere from $40 to $65. Yikes! No, thanks.
Plus, this lantern was less then $20. Sweeeet.
Oh, that reminds me: when I was still intent on finding a cloche, I realized you might be able to substitute a footed vase, turned upside-down. Big glass vases are cheap, so if you find the right shape you could save yourself $50 or so, easy.
Cool, right? I left the TJ Maxx price tag on just to show you that this gorgeous vase/dome was only $6.99! Plus, the shape is really growing on me - like a modern version of a cloche. I still like the lantern best for our diver, but I'm sure I'll find something else to display under this soon.
Ok, guys, your turn! How do you display your favorite geeky collectibles or art? Tell me in the comments - or, better yet, send me pictures!
A GREAT place to find frames/glass domes/candle holders etc for your art? GoodWill or some such place...they have AWESOME items, often 'antique'...all are able to be painted and the best part? CHEAP!!! WOOHOO!!
There is a Boba Fett shrine in my bedroom (my hubby's obsession.) I always feel a little creeped out the Boba watches me while I sleep! But I make up for it with my X-Men figures in the living room! I love Jean Grey and collect as much as I can find!
I don't have a single decorative bone in my body, but your ideas have inspired me.
You have a steampunk dining room? Can I be your new best friend?
We collect local art with interesting subject matter,like olives on shrimp forks. Where to display that is pretty straight forward, the Lego guys tend to be more challenging since I like to kind of hide them amongst other things and at the same time not loose them, and the books, well, I'm sure where to put books /should/ seem simple, but we have a LOT of books, my husband built me a bookshelf that runs he entire length of our house (it sits just above the door frames about a foot from the ceiling), we keep all the manga on the top of the kitchen cupboards (You know that annoying space between the ceiling and installation cupboards that nothing fits on top of? Turns out all standard manga is exactly that tall.)and the Smurf bus we keep on the hearth with the bumpercar radio, and the statue of Pan.. but really where else would the vintage smurf bus go?!
Garden Ridge is also a really great place to find things on the cheap. They have all kinds of stuff! My next go-to is Home Goods (that you mentioned) and then to Goodwill. Scouting yard sales is also excellent.
Love those little figurines and I can't wait to see pics of your steampunk dining room! Way cool!
I love what you did with the Shadowboxes! Such pretty pictures. One recommendation,though, as someone who used to do custom framing-don't use cardboard if you expect to keep a piece collectible. The acids in the cardboard will eventually turn paper yellow and ruin your fabrics. I recommend using acid free foamcore instead. It'll cost a little more, but preserve your pictures beautifully!
Oh, and I LOVE the steampunk diver! He's so cute!
Great post! You gave me some great ideas. I can't wait to try them out!
You're into Spaceship Earth AND Ghostbusters? I think I love you.
I have a bookshelf that I bought to display my biggest collection (my books). To make it special I painted the front edges of the shelves with a quote from Orson Scott Card's "Xenocide", and I display all my keepsakes at the front edges of the shelves near the books they are similar to. It keeps everything in one place, where it doesn't get broken, but I can always look at all my favorite stuff.
Loving your new blog Jen, I have been an avid reader of CW, so I knew this would be a treat too. Happy Birthday for last week! I must say you have great taste, I love all your collectibles! Sounds a bit like my house, but Star Wars stuff and various dragons and wizards everywhere :) Looking forward to reading more!
I recently started work as curator at a small museum, and lemme tell you, Museum Gel is my new best friend. It's completely clear and disappears under glass. The drawback is that since it is a gel, if you get too much of it under your object, a little will ooze out the side over time. It's easy to clean up, though. Also: it wouldn't hold your little dude vertical like that, either. So... some pluses, some minuses.
Love the post! And I second the request for a look at the full steamy dining room.
I believe I bought the clear Museum wax/putty at The Container Store.
It's amazing the difference a frame can make. We framed our movie posters (Empire Strikes Back, Labyrinth, Dark Crystal, and Shawshank Redemption) and suddenly our livingroom actually looks more like a real adult abode than a college dorm room.
My collection of ATCs/ACEOs are too numerous to put up, so right now they're in a binder of baseball card sleeve pages. I love flipping through it.
The shadow box is such a great idea! I have 2 hand drawn cards of Jack and Sally from Nightmare Before Christmas and they are just sitting on top of my dresser proped up against who knows what, so I could see them. I think the shadow box would work so much better.. and keep them free of dust too!
Me: "NO you can't watch your hunting show, this is GHOSTBUSTERS!!"
Brother: "That's my point, it's ghostbusters."
Please please PLEASE put up pictures of the steampunk dining room! I mentioned it to my husband and he's super excited to do ours too.
I have a Hagar the Horrible cardboard "world is a cube" item inside a plastic container which originally was filled with candy.
For the shadowbox containing the "Gamma Mutant Space Friends", if you are concerned about the blue putty showing, use a clear silicone adhesive instead. You can get small tubes at hardware stores. It takes a long time to dry and smells awful (unless you actually like the smell of vinegar) but it won't damage the pieces, is very strong and is removable. You could always use hot glue, but there is no telling what the heat would do to delicate objects or different paints.
ZOMG! Thank you thank you thank you! I have all of my Star Wars collectibles on display in my antique curio cabinet (inheirited from my Great Grandmother, so technically free!) and have been continuing to have trouble with the action figures falling over. One little bump (or adding a new figure and the closing of the door is a little too jarring)and down they go. And I say they because they're like dominoes...one goes, the rest follow. Dang it! But now, I know about museum putty! Yay! You're my hero, Jen! Seriously. Probably going to save me hours of restanding the figures, not to mention making the collection look nicer than it does, because I've been too lazy to stand everything up. Again.
So very cool! I am working on our kitchen at the moment but when that is done I am hoping to move on to the family/media/computer room with a steampunk theme. I LOVE what you did with the little figurines in the shadow box its absolutely perfect and makes me want to redecorate my son's room with a space theme rather than the castle theme it has now.
I love the shadow box shelf idea, but how did you get a shelf the right size, and how did you attach it? My little pewter dragons really want to live in a shadow box now instead of the over-stuffed curio cabinet.
I love your steampunk diver. Awesome piece!
One of my favourite display ideas involves getting a big ornate frame from, say, Goodwill, painting it gold (for maximum gaudiness), and removing the glass. It then gets mounted around a small wall shelf, for a three dimensional painting sort of effect. Currently it's covered in vases of feathers.
I have these three collectible scenes from the three Haunted Mansion events done at Disney some years ago. They fit perfectly into those basketball display cases you buy at Michael's.
Awesome. I have the Stay Puft bank too, he makes me giggle.
For out wedding centerpieces we're doing IKEA lanterns with action figure couples inside in various scenes. I'm hoping future husband lets me keep them for displaying the action figures after!
I currently have a gazillion PEZ (eh, closer to 300), and they would obviously overtake my home at a moment's notice. The kind people who we bought the house from left us a thin-profile plate display rack that I believe they had Elvis plates on. It's the perfect width for PEZ, but I can only display about 25 on the shelf. The rest are sleeping in large tote buckets until it's their turn to be swapped out with the ones on the shelf.
So how do we send you pictures? There was a submit section for Cake Wrecks, but I'm too dumb to figure this out here.
Jen, as for the glare on the first picture, you could use a polarizing filter. There's another blog I follow called A Photo A Day by Tyler Hewitt (http://tylersphotoaday.blogspot.com/2010/05/polarizing-filter-ii.html) and he has a couple of examples up showing the difference it makes in glare/reflection on glass when you use a polarizing filter. I don't know how to use it, but the difference in his examples is significant.
My collections are rather mainstream...pincushions, giraffes, and figurines/dishes made by Wade of England. A shadowbox might be just the thing for my tiny giraffes, but my walls are covered with needlework (another obsession).
I'm definitely passing on your art card framing ideas to my friend, as she has a whole bunch of them! Thanks!
Hi Jen! Love your new blog. My hubby said he should buy John a drink after reading him your Bioshock entry, he said he knows just how John feels. I'm a bit the same way with the video games. Currently the largest of our dorky collections are Star Wars, Joker and harley, and Potato Heads. Your post gave me some great ideas for different displays, so thanks! Dorks Unite!!
I have a Bealls Outlet near my work that always has odd and unusual stuff in the home decor section. I'm a packrat and have lots of random things in my bedroom: a shadowbox is an amazing idea, going in my decorating scrapbook.
We have about four lightsabers hung throughout the apartment. Unfortunately we had to move them due to my husband being afraid they would fall down.. not caring that they might hit someone mind you just that they could fall lol. Plus, and yeah this just shows how into Halo we are, we have a replica of the Master Chiefs helmet sitting on top of our bookshelf looking down upon us. Scary to think what we might end up adding to all of this..
The decor in my house is also pretty low key, but now you've inspired me to create an office that is totally ME. I'm thinking a Beatles theme!
I have our Dilbert and Mr. Potato head cookie jars in a square 6' tall glass display case. I just put other kitchen-y ceramics on the other shelves.
Great ideas! Our office is filled with toys too, in a really random and disorganized way. I may have to start a couple projects now!
Wow! I think all that stuff is GORGEOUS. I particularly like that last picture you posted with the little glass dome overhead, so cute!
Someone else mentioned something similar (basketball display cases) but I use the football and baseball size cases to display my Disney snow globes- smaller globes fit inside the cases with other stacked on top, it creates depth on my display shelves and also protects some of the more intricate pieces. Plus, snow globes are a pain to dust! This one I only have about half as many to do on a regular basis. It's also easy to put in other small pieces such as confetti, ticket stubs, or fast passes to round out a display.
stellar photography going on thar!
My mom made this really cute...er, thing (i have no idea what it's called) for me when I was younger. It's a foam sphere on a foam cylinder in a pot. She covered the foam in fake moss and put little fake roses, tied with ribbons, over the sphere. Finally, she tied a huge bow at the top with the ribbons draping down the sides. It's so awesome.
I love your art! Love the card art and the mini shadow boxes.
If I had wall space that did not have a bookcase against it I would so steal! Maybe for my next house!
Another option would be a fish bowl, turned upside down. I made a great sculpture in college with a fish tank and a pair of Chuck Taylor high tops.
If I find a puzzle I absolutely love, I use that modge podge stuff to seal the puzzle once put together (goes on white, but dries clear). Then I find a frame to fit and VOILA! instant art! If the puzzle is pretty big, I'd recommend finding a thin sheet of cardboard to glue it onto. I have my own Thomas Kincaid and it cost me less than $10! And a fairly big one of the Budweiser Clydesdales that my grandma put together (a great memory of her now that she's gone)! =) Oh and I LOVE the shadow box idea!!
B. You have adorable taste in art. I'm so going to have to hunt down some more on Etsy now as I'm suddenly afflicted with art envy.
C. Lovin the new blog!
Love the pics and ideas with shadow boxes. I too have a ton of books, and a little ocd when it comes to color coding. I was able to display my collection by taking the dust covers off those that had it and arranging them all first by color and then by size. Placing some flat and some standing, against my dark cherry book cases they look architectural, graphic and colorful. It was a little weird at first to try and find some titles in a series because they were broken up but eventually I remembered what color they were.
I'm surprised you haven't mentioned THIS possibilty, all such things considered...(hehe).
I mean, you know...it's like a bell jar, kinda sorta...maybe not.
How's about those "garden bells" (from garden supply stores, oddly enough)that are big and bell-y and glassy?
One could put just about anything one had a mind to under them. They're more than big enough to put a few actual minds in, quite.
Another great place for frames, laterns, glass pedastals/vases, and anything else you could want is Hobby Lobby. They usually have a wide variety of home decor options, and they are on sale for half off about every other week!
I collect abondoned beehives. They're fascinatingly intricate and delicate. So many different types/shapes/sizes, but mostly all the same shades of dust gray to lightish oatmealish brown. I also have a huge collection of Egyptian stuff (books, figures, art replicas, etc.). I sort of get almost goosebumpy from the mysterious aura of ancient Egypt. I used to display some of it in a bookcase, but now I'm looking for something that's more catproof, seeing as how our critters are into ancient Egyptian playthings.
We have a spare room that will become the library/craft/collection room sooner or later.
Loved the shadow boxes with the postcards, Jen, and my hubby, too, has a Star Wars obsession... including a few obscure Star Wars tattoos, LOL... loving the new blog, too! Kudos, and good for you! Been a Cake Wrecks fan since pretty much day one; hubby and I think you're hilarious... Not usually a poster, but just wanted to wish you well!
Erm...I'm not an antique. And I'm from 84.
I really don't have any way to DISPLAY any of my stuff, but I live in a bedroom of my parents' house, so I don't really have much space for display either.
I'm a shadowboxer myself. We have quite a few things displayed in them, though I've never changed the background. I'm going to try that next time!
What I did was build a secret room in my house in which all my random collections can be stored.
Ok I made that up. I hide mine in the closet. I have major ones Twilight, Michael Jackson (I know, I know. But I have been a fan since I was a zygote) The Office, and my Army stuff.
What great ideas! I love those home discount stores.
I recently got the hubby a bunch of pretty black shotglass display shelves (each has 36 cubbies for, presumably, 36 shotglasses) for the scads of D&D gaming minis he has all over the place. Best part is they cost less than ten bucks a piece at abcdistributing.com! I've found similar shelves on others sites for up to 100 bucks. Granted the quality isn't as nice I'm sure but they are perfect for what I want them for.
I think collecting shotglasses would be rather odd but then I have to remember that all those minis are pretty silly too, heheheh.
Squee!! I love the art pieces being displayed, nifty idea!!
And I *love* steampunk (gonna have a steampunk wedding, whoot!). So the idea of a steampunk dining room sounds AWESOME.
Wait you didn't tell us what you did with Stay puft because my fiance has the EXACT SAME ONE and I cannot for the life of me figure out how to make our living room not look like a 12 year old lives there :-) I might need to get some shadow boxes.
I need to figure out how to work my Star Wars stuff into my decor - the little gray spaceships and figures just do not match my otherwise warm tinted house!
Steampunk dining room? you are now my new favorite blogger. I want pics of the steampunk dining room!
I am decorating-impaired but I do have a small collection of fantasy figourines on a basket shelf in my bathroom, along with a stuffed dragon. I intend to at some point get some dragon material to make curtains for the room to match.
I love the paper backing behind the third art card! It really makes the colors of the card itself stand out!
Looking forward to the steampunk dining room!
sendingtheclowns - For your beehives and small items, you might try looking at glass-fronted "entertainment center" units. A unit with clear glass might provide enough room and protection.
For your books... I don't know if glass/plastic covered bookshelves are available, but a hardware store has hinges and glass or plastic shops can provide the fronts. Sliding doors have other advantages, but I don't know how hard it would be to add those without using a router to cut slots -- you could check the wood trim and paneling areas of a hardware store for trim with a slot to hold plastic sliding doors.
Pleeeeeeze post a photo of the Steampunk dining room!!!
My collectibles right now sum up to a Spock-Prime and a Darth Vader happy-meal toys (got Spock at Burger King and Vader at Mc Donalds, oh the irony), a Spock action figure, Wall-E figurines and an Enterprise model.
I used to collect Hot Wheels cars, or at least play with them when I was younger. Now that I've noticed how many cool cars they put out, I've started my collection again, and I'm sure I have hundreds of them.
A couple that remind me of my childhood are the Batmobile, the original one that my brother has a model of, the Ghostbusters station wagon, and recently they put out a De Lorean (sure hope that's spelled right), it's not the Time Machine, but until they put that out, it's close enough. It came out around Christmas, so I had to buy one for myself and my brother. I noticed today, they have put it out in gold, I can't justify buying that one though.
I wanna see your steampunk room when it's done!
I'm the geek that likes to keep her toys in the package they came in and then hang them on a nail or tag sing their original hangy tag. I also have a house with built in shelves with doors that a LOT of my stuff is in.
I think the most original display device I'm using is a snare drum I got at Salvation Army for a dollar. I took one of the heads off of it and have it standing vertically and I have put my Neopet plushies in and on it. I just took pictures, just for you.
Why yes, those two Storm figure are from childhood when the X-Men cartoon was on Fox after school I'm still shocked they survived five little brothers.
Love your stuff, Jen, I'd love to see your house!
I hung some old wooden crates on the wall and use them as deep shelves (bottom of the crate against the wall, so it's kind of shadowbox-ish) to hold some of my many collectibles. I found mine for $2-$10 apiece at peddlers malls, they come in all sizes, and look vintage and cool. I have a big glass display case from our old store that housed my Simpsons collection, but the collection out grew it and is currently in boxes until I can get my husband to build shelves for me! By the way, love both CW and Epbot!
Loved seeing your storage ideas!
I collect ATC's (Artist trading cards - the original trade only (not for sale) version of ACEO's) and think that's a great way to display my faves! God only knows I have enough scrapbook paper for the frames! LOL!
I'm absolutely horrid at displaying my geekiness. My police public call box is shoved next to my foam alien head. My "My Little Pony" collection is pushed into some unseen shelves in my closet along with my "Pullip" doll and other knick knacks of geekery.
I've got a rubber duck collection in a plastic shopping bag.
Conan "the auto-penned framed photo" O'Brien is hiding behind my laptop.
Stuff is everywhere. Organization? Pssh, we don't need no walking space!
Truth be told, you might become an instigator of geekiness with your showcase, here. Fabulous drawrings! Shadowbox for tiny collectibles! Brilliant!
I'll probably procrastinate on this a good while. But good thoughts. Awesome entry!
I haven't made one yet myself, but I keep meaning to... DIY Victorian Domed Display Case. Hope this helps.
Several years ago, I had a shrine to the rock group Journey in my apartment. It got even better when I roomed with a fellow fan (she was older than I and had even better stuff). That was so awesome.
We have out Nightmare Before Christmas figures, playsets, and Hawthorne houses inside a 75 gallon aquarium.
Hi Jen! Excited about your new blog! Huge CW fan. My husband and I collect Disney big figs but can't find a way to display them that prevents dust. All of the mickey's have flocked ears so...dust becomes and issue. Haven't been able to find any of those large acrylic display cases to set over them. Any ideas?
Can I just say, "steampunk dining room" is perhaps the coolest thing I've ever heard! Awesome. This thought actually kinda makes me want to buy a house (rather than rent) just to geekify it all to hell.
Holy crap. You just solved about a thousand of my decor problems. I can't believe how simple and brilliant your ideas are and how I couldn't come up with even one of them on my own. :) Love it.
BTW I was a huge CW fan when you started that blog, and I have to admit (ashamedly) I drifted away a bit when it became just impossible to leave a comment. I'm so happy for your success, but I'm also really glad you've stared another blog that you can be a bit freer to write in (and we can be a bit freer to comment in). :) Yay!
I know it's way late in the game here, but have you tried museum gel? The wax is clear, sure, but sometimes a mess to get off stuff. If you're working with a level surface the gel is sweet to use because it just kind of oozes and levels itself out and is less of a mess if you go to move stuff later. Plus really fun to play with.
Just found Epbot! I've been a fan of your CW writing, looking forward to catching up with your work here!!
Hi, I'm new to this site so I guess I'm kinda behind (I've been checking out CakeWrecks for a while though) I am a miniatures addict! I love miniature ANYTHING. I like to display in a shadow box. I know, sounds kinda boring but I came up with an idea. I traced the inside of each box with a pencil and then took the back off. Then I cut out squares/rectangles with colors and patterns to compliment each shadow dweller and glued them to the back of the corresponding openings. Then I glued and tacked the boxes back on to the back part. Hope this more clear than it looks to me. I haven't actually finished the project yet so I have no pics, but I can't wait for the end result.
Yes! Your solution for framing ACEO's solves a framing dilemma I was having. I wanted one of those completely clear frames (glass back so wall shows thru) to frame 2 irregularly shaped bark paintings. But I couldn't find those frames anywhere.
Using pieces of foam to prop them up in front of scrapbook paper is not only a cheaper solution, it lets me select a background that coordinates better with the bark painting.