Wednesday, September 9, 2009

WHERE TO PUT ALL THE ATC’s?

ATC’s are really mini works of art and I find them very inspiring. When I receive a package from a swap, it’s like opening a birthday present! Incredibly thrilling! I look through them and am amazed at the creativity. The conversation with myself usually includes “Wish I had thought of that!”, “Wonder what adhesive was used?”, “How did they do this technique?” and on and on.

After participating in a few swaps, display and storage questions arose. The precious, little cards are too pretty to hide away in a drawer or box and they stimulate my own creativity. I thought and thought—maybe a tree type thing? Nope—too big for my space. Maybe a clothesline? Hmmm, that might work. Or what about a teeny tiny shelf? So off to the hardware store and this is what I ended up with.

I found plastic ceramic tile starter strips and screwed them into the wall. They have a little groove along the horizontal edge that most of my ATC’s fit right into. A few of the ATC’s in my collection don’t fit exactly—they are thicker and made with multiple layers of cardboard or include fibers or top heavy embellishments. For those, I added a little rolled up painters tape stuck to the back of the sleeve and the wall to hold them upright. (I was concerned about the tape pulling the paint off the wall but after a month, it’s still intact.) The best part of this project: it was CHEAP! An 8 foot length was less than $5. I just cut the strips with a hacksaw to the desired length and cleaned up the cuts with a bit of sandpaper.

Since I only have a few free feet left, I started thinking about long term storage. I visited a local sports card store and found bunches of cardboard storage boxes—all different sizes and price points! I bought a midsized one for $4. As soon as I personalize my plain white box, I’ll share a picture with you! I don’t want to put any of my treasures in a box but my wall space is limited. I plan to rotate the display and am anticipating how much fun that will be. Just thinking about it brings back memories of playing with dress up dolls. I’ll just be playing dress up the wall!

If you’ve joined the ATC brigade, let me know how you display and store yours! The birthday RAK is still up for grabs so leave that comment, or another, here and become a follower if you aren’t following yet. Thanks for stopping by!

12 comments:

  1. I like how you have your ATCs displayed Lesa

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  2. Awesome idea! You will never lose your Mojo this way..your creation is right in front of you...:) Thanks for the RAK
    viji#5858

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  3. Do you think they sell those at Ikea? We're moving in a month and we'll be going there to get some furniture. (yeeeeeesssss... finally.....!) We're upgrading to a 4bd./4bth. from a 2bd./2 and a half bth. soooooo, we need more stuff! (if that is even possible..) I get my own craft room too! Hopefully it won't overflow!

    ♥ Lauren

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  4. Lauren, not sure if Ikea has them because we don't have an Ikea here :(.
    Congrats on your move! Enjoy all the new space and your craft room.

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  5. I have joined the ATC brigade, and I store mine in a binder. I just recieved all of the state ATC's and may do a book just for them.
    Have a great day~!

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  6. I like your plan to rotate your wall display. Since a lot of the swaps are seasonal you can decorate your craft space for the seasons that way. I keep mine in baseball card sleeves in a binder...I know, not too original or exciting, but it works for me.

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  7. That is a very cool way to display your ATC cars. Great idea.

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  8. Since my sons were little...they have collected baseball cards....THOSE sleeves work PERFECTLY...so if they were good enough for them, they are good for me...I can flip thru and see them...all safe and sound, just like my photo memories...in an album. Love your display!!

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  9. Neat idea for a wall display!
    Mary#5509

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  10. Great way to display!!
    Holly #5486

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  11. Neat idea! I've been trying to come up with a way to display mine, now that we're remodeling my scrap room. I was thinking about putting up a wire then clipping them on, now I'm mulling over setting up a year-round aluminum xmas tree to hang them on. :) For the moment, they're overflowing a couple of baskets. Thanks for sharing the idea! I adore ATC's (email me if you'd like to swap a few. :) I have a lot right now, ready to go.)

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  12. This is a great storage idea! I'm considering doing something like this or putting them in a binder. It just depends on space issues. I think that for the holidays I'm going to make a hanging display of them in my living room. I'm still working out how to do it, but at the moment it looks like they will be hung on a piece of twine using tiny clothespins.

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