Getting crafty!

I recently walked into Chicago's Frame Factory  with a shoe box full of family treasures. The staff was very friendly, helpful and creative. On this visit, I left with a single shadow box and lots of ideas to get me started.

My priority was getting my great-grandmother's diary in an air tight place, yet still have it viewable and accessible... not just buried away somewhere, forgotten.

A couple of days ago, I dug through my craft supplies & found some nice black archival paper. It's acid free, which is important. Non-archival paper could damage the diary by hastening the aging process.

I carefully glued the black archival paper to the cardboard insert that came with the shadow box. Next, I centered the diary inside the box. With a delicate hand I oh-so-carefully put it all back together. Voila! Good enough for now.

That didn't keep me satisfied long, however. I had to improve it. I didn't like the way the diary was simply propped up on the bottom of the shadow box, tilted against the glass. I dug around my craft supplies again, and an old cardboard jewelry box caught my eye. Hm! I thought maybe it would make a great little shelf for the diary, centering it nicely within the case.

I cut the box in half, then eyeballed the overall balance of the case. I wagered the box still needed a little trim. Next, I carefully wrapped the trimmed box in the black paper scraps that were left over from the other day. I wrote a little story of how I received the diary, complete with the date I received it, and tucked the story inside the "shelf" for future generations to discover. Last, I placed a silica gel packet behind the book. The silica gel is great for keeping old books (and other things) fresh and safe from moisture, so save those packets from the landfills! It also helped to keep the book flat against the glass.

In the end, it looks like a little craftiness yielded a nicely preserved family heirloom.
See you next time on Jenny's Crafty Corner! :)