A few weeks ago I read THIS post on Offbeat Home. When I was a kid, I was fascinated with seashells and I wanted to be a biologist. I had a massive collection of sea shells and other oceanic items. Ever since I left home for college they have been packed up in shoe boxes at the top of my closet. I had always wanted to display them some how but didn't really think that a shadow box was big enough (I have some larger pieces in the collection) plus i didn't know where you bought on or how i would go about making one. I also didn't have a place to display them. When I saw the letterpress drawer turned shadow box I thought it was a great idea, and hey now i have a house to put it in.
As soon as I saw the article, I clicked over to Ebay, figuring many of the readers would have the same idea as me. I found a large letterpress drawer for a reasonable amount and started bidding. A day later, I won! The Letterpress drawer was on its way to my house. It arrived on St. Patrick's Day and that weekend I got started.
It was pretty dirty and someone had written the letters for each tray on the wood. My Dad was just as fascinated with it as I was. When he was in college he used to work for a printer as the type setter so he used them all the time and explained to me what he used them for.
Once I cleaned the drawer, I painted the whole thing with 2 coats of indoor latex paint (Behr - Neptue Blue) the same shade as a dresser in the room where this was going.
After it dried, I attached 2 picture framing hooks on the back and got to work placing and arranging my collection.
I walked away from it for a day or two and rearranged again, before hot gluing them in place.
Jon hung it up for me in our spare room (the nautical room).
wow, what a stunning collection! <3
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