Crafters - help! Need advice on displaying campaign pins.

[Neecy]

My sister is very active in the party and also loves historical items. I decided to combine the two and put together a collection of old campaign buttons to give her this Christmas.

It was a surprisingly inexpensive project. eBay has an extensive selection and once you root out the reproductions you can find some nice pieces. I picked out a '32 FDR button, Kennedy '60, an "All the way with LBJ" '64 button, a Humphrey/Muskie '68, a "Grits & Fritz in '76" button, a couple of Clinton/Gore buttons and finally a couple of nice Gore 2000 ones (I had to really hunt and peck through those so I wouldn't have that frickin' Lieberman on any of them). The Truman selection was limited but I'm still looking. I also picked up some fun little things, like some DNC floor passes from past conventions and a 1968 RFK bumper sticker.

Now that I have this stuff I realize that my skill level is such that I'll be tempted to dump it all in a box and wrap it. I'd rather present it in a little nicer fashion, so I was wondering if anyone here in DU-land might have an idea of how to display this stuff. I can put the paper DNC passes and bumper sticker in clear sleeves and I thought about pinning everything to a cork board but that seems a little tacky - they just finished their basement so I'd like to make it a nice display piece for the wall. Could I mount some dark blue felt to a foam backing and try framing that? Non-glare glass or no glass? I'm so totally un-crafty and probably hopeless and left entirely to my own devices it might turn out highly crappy. Any ideas would be very gratefully received.

[Lars39]

1. A shadow box would work well.

They're good at keeping dust out.
If you have rudimentary carpentry skills you can make one using a store-bought picture frame, hinges and some wood.

[Warpy]

2. Right, and stretch felt or velvet over the back so you'll have

an attractive background to pin the buttons to.

I have a McCarthy 68, but I'm not parting with it.

[Neecy]

3. that's a good idea....

I'm going to start shopping for something to put this stuff in this weekend, so I'll look into a shadowbox.

Thanks for the reminder, I meant to look for a McCarthy pin but I got bogged down trying to find a Truman one. While I didn't find a Truman campaign pin, I found one that was commissioned by our union friends at IAMAW in 1972 and distributed during the Nixon campaign. It made me laugh and I know my sister, a dedicated Nixon-hater, will love it. And hey, it was only five bucks:

[Nite Owl]

4. How about a box?

Michael's (I know they are red and I only go there to use a coupon when all else fails), they have a selection of wooden boxes with lids. They had one with a glass top I think it was to display a flag, the buttons could be put on fabric (Joanne's sells quilting squares and they are inexpensive). If the box is unpainted it could be painted blue and use some small donkey stencils to decorate.