Today, September 26, 2012

Today’s project: Victorian pocket photo

Although my entrance in to the world of Steampunk has expanded my love of the Victorian era, I’ve always had a fascination for the time period; the clothes, the society, the sentiment.  I have several books dedicated to this specific era in costuming.  Whenever I’m flipping channels and I see something from that time, I immediately stop and am bewitched until it is done.  I’m sure I look a lot like a little kid watching cartoons on Saturday morning.

I love to watch PBS, the History Channel and the Discovery Channel.  They have such glorious documentaries on all kinds of subjects.  The other day, it must have been ‘civil war’ day on PBS because they played three fascinating pieces in a row.

My favorite was on the role of death in America and specifically how the Civil War completely altered how we, as Americans, dealt with death.  I KNOW it sounds super morbid, but it really was enthralling.  I never realized that we didn’t, as a country, have any provision for caring for the dead before the Civil War.  It was a private matter; a responsibility always taken on by the family of the deceased.  However, with the sheer number of soldiers who were killed, the government was entreated to develop some kind of plan.

Because of the daunting task of identifying and burying all the poor boys and men, things we take for granted now were devised.  Like dog tags. And National Cemeteries. And Memorial Day. 

If you want to have your heart touched to the core, research the “first” Memorial Day.  It was an amazing story, I’ll not soon forget.

ANYWAYS, all of that is relevant because something that was common in the Victorian era was an inspiration for today’s project.  And this particular item was shown often in the documentary.  I’m not sure what its official name is, but it is a small framed picture usually clad in a leather case.  It was made to be carried in a pocket and many, many soldiers on both sides brought them to the front lines so they could have a reminder of loved ones to look at when lonely and homesick.  It was the one thing they demanded near them when times were tough and the one thing they kept safe. Here are a couple examples:

I thought this was a charming idea and wanted one of my own.  But of course, I’m cheap and I thought, ‘I wonder if I could make something like that…’

Originally, I wanted to use a business card case – something like this:

However, the ones that I found were rather expensive and had a weird little lip on the one side; which is great for keeping cards tidy in the case, but not so great for housing a picture and photo mat.

Then, at Office Max, I found this:

YAY PLEATHER!

This was great; it was only $2 and seemed very simple to convert to what I had in mind.

Step one:

I cut the little pockets off that hold the cards in.

I wanted the gilted mat look of the example.  That is what gives it the ‘Victorian’ feel, I think.  Step two (make the mat):

Using an old pasta box (wink to my Healthy-Habits friend – see I’m recycling!), I cut out a little rectangle of cardboard.

Then I cut out an oval from the center, so the photo peeks through.

Here is how I got the ‘metallic’ look.  I went to the hardware store and got some foil tape.  I’ve used this before and I LOVE it! You can find it in the section where they sell the air duct stuff.  It’s great stuff because it has the feel of real metal, but is thin enough to really manipulate and wrap around where you need it.  Using two strips, I covered the cardboard.

Cut from the center of the oval to the edge making several wedges. 

Fold these back to expose the open center.

I used a pencil to draw some swirlies and such on the mat.  I had some pieces for reference, but really I just free-handed it.

Then I did a second one.

I printed off pictures that I wanted to use, making them close to the size I needed.

Next, I wanted to make sure the pics were protected, so I used the plastic wrap from some stickers I bought and cut it to be a hair larger than the photo. More recycling - WHOO HOO!

Make a sandwich of the mat, the plastic coating and the pic, and then glue it onto the card holder.

For the gluing, I used E6000 glue rather than hot glue, which is my usual go-to fastener for projects.  I love hot-glue for its quick drying nature, but the E6000 makes a much stronger, long-term bond.  It takes quite a bit longer to dry, so be sure to leave it some where undisturbed for at least overnight.

Here’s how I used the stickers I bought:

It’s stuck to a piece of blue scrapbook paper and then I glued that to the front.

The completed memento:

Here is another version I did:

In this one, I used some plastic ‘window’ things I found at Office Max that are intended for scrapbooking.  The colored background is actually the cardboard from the package that the plastic thingies came in.  I cut the one down a little since it was too big and put the sticker on the other side.

So that’s it.  My silly craft for today is a little pocket frame to give me something to look at when I’m missing my beautiful girls…and I can totally understand why those soldiers back in the Civil War coveted theirs.  I know I will treasure mine.