My grandmother recently passed away. We had a very close relationship and I didn’t realize what a great source of historical information she was until she was gone. I never had an interest in exploring our family history while she was alive. Now I feel like I not only lost my grandmother but all of her experience, knowledge and life. She feels farther away than ever, which only deepens my sadness. However, her death brought to light a new found interest in family history for me.



I decided to make a special gift for my mother in memory of my grandmother. I found this amazing window at an antique fair. My clever husband took the measurements of the area behind each glass panel and had Plexiglas cut to fit. You can have this done at most hardware stores.



For the smaller panels, I decorated the Plexiglas with antique lace and then distressed the photo edges with ink. My grandparents went in the middle with their respective parents on either side of them.



I used various rub-ons to give some color and a modern flare. I also used some of my grandmother’s belongings (jewelry and measuring spoons) on each of the pictures to tie them together both physically and spiritually. The Plexiglas panels then fit neatly behind the window panels and I secured them with photo turns.



The large panel was a little more challenging and it took me a long time to figure out what I wanted to do. It’s a large area to cover and I ended up changing my mind several times. I’m telling you this so that you know it is okay to struggle. It helped me to take some time away when I wasn’t happy with the results. I would let it sit for a few days and come back to it. I was able to be more objective and see where I needed to make changes.

I ended up using a large piece of black velvet for the background, adhered with strong spray adhesive. I found a cool piece of textured paper that was the right size and layered that onto the velvet. I then used a metal platter for the centerpiece. My husband drilled a hole through the center and we attached it to the Plexiglas with a bolt. I hid this by mounting a picture of my mother as a child above the bolt head. It didn’t quite fill the space so I used floral wire to make the outline of wings and used some of my tattered baby blanket to wrap around. I added a cut-out bird to the right wing. Finally, I layered more rub-ons to the rim of the platter.

The space around the centerpiece looked empty so I used a cool transparency sheet for more interest. It was too large so I cut out the tree element and added the sections to the corners. I used a peacock feather to represent my mother’s early married life; we lived on a peacock farm when I was a child. I also added the cameo necklace to the bottom of the platter, attached with epoxy. My mother loves cameos and I remember her wearing them when I was younger. My husband and I finished the project by attaching the Plexiglas to the frame with photo turns. Luckily, the Plexiglas fit very tightly so the photo turns ended up being mostly decorative. We then strung wire from a hanging kit to the back so my mother could mount the project to the wall.



Supply list:
• Antique window
• Plexiglas, cut to size
• Antique lace
• Distressing ink
• Rub-ons
• Antique jewelry and measuring spoons
• Black velvet
• Textured paper
• Metal platter
• Bird cut-out
• Floral wire
• Tattered material
• Transparency sheet
• Peacock feather
• Cameo necklace
• Photo turns
• Frame mounting kit

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