The "A Hero's Tribute...Framed For Life!" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Just arrived at Grebinger Gallery and there sitting on the work table was a rather unusual project that I knew would take quite a few hours to complete.  On the work bench was a 5X7 photo of a military veteran with the last name of Page.  I have done many of these memory boxes over the 20+ years I have been working for a former student of mine at Manheim Township High School, but I have never done a job for a female member of the armed forces.  Pretty neat to see all the medals, ribbons and name tag that were laying on the work table along with her Army insignia and a red flag labeled Task Force Medical Falcon.  After talking with my boss, Keith, I began by figuring what size frame was needed to accommodate all of the awards that sat in front of me.  After I determined a size I cut a piece of conservation foamboard on which I would place a piece of white conservation mat board which was the color of the customer's choice.  Follow along with me as I show you by photographs the steps I followed to achieve the final results.  Click on images to enlarge them.  Some steps I'm sure I forgot to photograph, but I believe you will get the idea as to how I finished the project in about four hours.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

All the materials needed for the project placed in the position I plan to use them.

I cut a double mat 30 inches across and 18 inches deep with openings for the
planned items.  I attached the top mat to the bottom mat and cut a piece of
conservation mounting board also. 

On the conservation mounting board I placed a piece of white mat board
and then began to build the sides and center piece to the height
needed to accommodate depth the medals and pins. I fastened the
photo to a piece of conservation board so it
 would be the same height as the side pieces. 

This photo show how I fastened the pieced of foam to the bottom board.

I fastened the name and U.S. ARMY on the right side inside the space allotted with
clear fishing line and fastened all the medals and bars with either fishing line or
hot glue.  Nothing is used that can't be removed if the recipient wanted to take it
all apart at some time in the future.  The red flag was sewn with fishing line on
all corners as well as the center of the flag on the right side.  The three patches alolng
the bottom were all sewn in place with fishing line.

This shows the back of the project.  You can see that some places I was able to sew
and tie the line together in the rear while on other items I had to run the fishing line
through the same hole and then use a button to place each line in a hole so I could
tie it in place.  The metal pieces you see were the bars I placed along with a bit of hot glue.

Nest I was ready for the frame which was about 1/2" in width and two inches in depth.
After cutting the 45 degree corners I glued and used  fasteners to hold it together.
When it was dry, I cut a piece of Museum Glass for the opening.  Museum Glass
is non-reflective as well as protective of that is behind it.  It will not allow the items
and colors to fade.  You don't see any reflection from the glass.

I placed the job, face down, into the frame and used a special gun to drive in pins
to hold the project in place.

Around the edge I used the yellow tape gun, seen at the top right,
to place a layer of double-sided tape around the edge and then stretched
a piece of Kraft paper on the back to keep out critters from eating anything.

Final step was to add the labels for the gallery at the bottom and place
Wall Buddies on the top for hanging.  Because of the weight, I didn't
feel that picture wire was safe enough to support the weight of the job.  

The final result.  I'm sorry I didn't get a better photograph since the light bar above
 it was so intense that it showed.  Normally lights or sunlight from a window would
not be seen, but in this case the bar was so close and just at the right
angle to be seen.  I'm sure the customer will love the final result.
I did...and it will look great hanging on her wall.