I need your creative, artsy, unique minds!

[jacks'thunder]

I am so stuck and at a complete loss as to what to do with these! My uncle passed away and I inherited thousands of match book covers! Some are neat some not so much! Lol! I'd like to display a few and make something for my mom sense it was her brother.

I am at a total brain freeze with these. Any ideas? I'm open to cutting them if I have to, they are worth no $. But family value is priceless. I find it really neat that this is what he collected and enjoyed. That's why I need your creative minds!

 

[chandab]

Perhaps a nice matted framed grouping of some of the nice ones. One for you and one for your mother.

I bet one of those mats for kid's school pictures with the 11 holes in a circle wallet size and the big hole in the middle would work nicely for matchbooks and you wouldn't have to pay a custom mat cutter; then you'd just have to come up with something for the larger center hole (perhaps a picture of your uncle with his date of birth and passing). [At least you should be able to find a precut if you have more store selection than I do; Hobby Lobby, Walmart (maybe), other craft stores, perhaps even a framing shop would have pre-cuts available.]

 

[jacks'thunder]

Thanks chanda! Good idea!

 

[madmax]

Actually they are worth money, especially vintage ones. Check out ebay to see what they sell for, and sort through yours to see if he had some desirable very old ones.

I think the idea of framing some unique ones is a nice memorial.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

If any have bees, spiders, or Moline tractors on them I'd be interested!

If you want to store them where they can be looked at easily, you could use 3 ring binders with baseball or ATC pages. Collectors sometimes remove the matches, unless the matches are part of the design.

 

[lucky seven]

Do you have a local antique dealer that you could ask for an estimate of possible worth? That is a very nice collection.

 

[jacks'thunder]

Thank you all!

Yes, My small town is full of antique stores and I'm sure out of the 8+ stores someone should know something about them. I may pack them up and see.

I did check out EBay and compared completed listing and whats running now. I did see a hand full that went for a few bucks. I also found this great site that has lots of info on collecting and whats collectable. Most of the ones from just skimming the top are not worth anything. Now that not to say that someday they may be worth something. People dont push smoking any more so matches are not things that people give away much around here.

My son will be home this week on spring break, I'm going to see if he can help me sort through at least 1 box. Maybe start off with like themes then like colors? Most do not have the matches in them and the ones that do have matches have some type of special wording on the matches.

Now that I'm thinking about it I kinda like the sort by color idea! If you had a large enough surface and enough covers you could fade from color to color... Hmmmm got me thinking.....

 

[Marsha Cassada]

I sold an Oliver tractor one on ebay a few years ago. Farm and industrial machinary usually have a following. I have never seen one in person that has the matches as part of the design. Country Living magazine several years ago had an article about matchcovers. If I run across it, I'll make a note of the issue. It showed the Pep Boys cover and I think the matches were the Pep Boys.

 

[poniesrule]

If you would like to make something useful, what about using the mat idea & making placemats? If you sorted by color and used the same color family, you could have a few different sets. Or coasters? I think it's really neat to want to re-purpose them. We recently moved my grandparents to the nursing home & I hoarded a bunch of cattle sale cards of my grandfathers (It's what I remember most about him) & plan to do something like that with them. Paper products are tricky, but I love me some ModPodge & a laminator!

 

[Marsha Cassada]

Talked to an antique store friend today who had a lot of match books. She said they don't sell well, but she has them in bags priced seperately. She saw an idea that she was thinking of trying--making a Christmas tree out of some junky ones. She saw the idea on Pintrest.

 

[jacks'thunder]

Thats so funny! I talked to someone too and they said the same thing. They just don't sell. they did try to sell me the ones in the store though! I said noooooo thanks! I have plenty! LOL!

I did sort through a small portion of one of the boxes and found some neat advertising ones for coke, 7up and some candy that look like they could be from the 50's. Those are pretty cool and when I make something I think I like that type the best so far. Oh and my goodness I must have found the pin up girl section!

LOL!

I'll have to check out the pinterest idea!

 

[jacks'thunder]

If you would like to make something useful, what about using the mat idea & making placemats? If you sorted by color and used the same color family, you could have a few different sets. Or coasters? I think it's really neat to want to re-purpose them. We recently moved my grandparents to the nursing home & I hoarded a bunch of cattle sale cards of my grandfathers (It's what I remember most about him) & plan to do something like that with them. Paper products are tricky, but I love me some ModPodge & a laminator!

I just saw Modpodge at Meijers! What does it do?

 

[jacks'thunder]

Do you think I can some how use this old window? Pop the glass thats left out, clean it up?

 

[poniesrule]

Oh man... you don't know about Modpodge?! AHHHH!!!!! It's the most wonderful stuff

! It's a clear adhesive. You can get it in all different finishes like shiny & matte and such. I need to find some pictures of what I made for Christmas a couple years ago. Basically I used it to "glue" photos on blocks of wood, then put layers of Modpodge over the photos to adhere it all together & because I chose the matte finish, it made it look a little more rustic. The best thing is, it doesn't allow the colors, inks, dyes, etc. to bleed together.

As for your old window.... I need to find pictures of what I did a couple Christmases ago (That year was a Pinterest biggie). I made shadow boxes out of them & old barnwood and put my hubby's grandfather's WWII photos & items in it. Made another one for my Grandfather's as well. They are really cool! With yours missing glass, I would recommend using them as picture frames or build a small box behind it to make shelves? My sister in law has a picture of her favorite show heifer blown up and framed behind a 4-pane window, it looks really cool. I LOVE the rustic feel associated with using windows!

 

[Marsha Cassada]

Don't remove the good glass panes. Just get some more cut for it. You can install it with simple glazier points. You could layer the holders between the glass, or put some mat board behind the glass with the holders attached to the mat board with archival tape or putty. If glass is too heavy, you could use plexiglass, but it is more expensive and scratches easily.

Modgepodge is wonderful stuff, but it is permanent. If you ever think you won't want the holders to be glued someday, don't modgepodge them.

I hate to say this, but the pinup girl ones would probably be worth some $$. I pet peeve of mine is seeing silly women exploited. But the reality is there are plenty of people who collect that very thing. I used to be very avid about postcards, and any card that had someone nude on it was worth lots more. I used to subscribe to the postcard collector magazine. At first, they would black out the private parts on the postcards, but it got a new editor who did not black out. I did not renew my subscription.

 

[Mona]

How about a nice mosaic piece of artwork?

 

[jacks'thunder]

I like that idea mona but on what medium and how do I get it to stay? Glue? I need a visual I guess.

I kinda like the modge podge idea. What if I go to Michaels or Joann fabrics and look for a little treasure/ jewelry box that bare and go from there. I think I'd still like to do the window but for me not my mom. I think it's too big for her home. It's up in my barn so it's not going any where.

 

[Riverrose28]

I couldn't live without mod podge, since I love, love, love to work jig saw puzzles. Did see something interesting once in a bar using matchbooks and mod podge. They were placed according to size on a wooden table top, mod podged then covered with glass.