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What are some of the most fun, interesting, or ODD things that you have framed?

I framed a fragment of the pillow case Abraham Lincoln died upon with a letter of provenance...it had his blood on it.....and once many years ago as a joke we had another employee disguise his voice to sound like and old man, call another frame shop and inquire about framing his dead cat in a shadow box...it freaked ot the poor girl at the other shop....and I worked there part time now and then, so got to hear about it...and act like I had no idea.


Other wierd objects like spears and blow gun darts from the Amazon river area, probably still covered with poison, bird wings that were dried out in rice, more native artifacts from around the world that have often "come to life" once hung in the sunlight and warmed up like an incubator....

I love reading this thread!

Sue Davis CPF
Master Framers
 
OK, let's guess what these are? You are absolutily correct, an 18th Century Scarificator and other related tools. Every one has the family Phlebotomy tools framed this time of year. The irony comes that it is for an Accountants office decoration. For the one or two who don't recognise these items they are "Blood Letting" tools.


View attachment 482View attachment 481 The exciting part is this is my "first" 3D glass shadow box. Thank you Jim.
 
I once framed your typical family portrait, husband wife, daughter and son. After a year he brought it back with a problem, his son was giving everyone the middle finger and no one noticed for the longest time :shocked:. I retouched it and they where on their way.
 
I just took an order for the control panel of an communication system for a war plane the gentleman used to fly back in the 60s.
 
Erin's post reminded me that I framed an item that was testament to a love story. Bill met Joy while he was stationed in Adelaide. They married in 1946 and had 6 children. The plywood navigator's table was used by Bill while flying bombing missions in the war. Bill carved the table with 'Joy' in one heart and 'Bill' in the other!
Lib_Desk.jpg

Another strange item I framed was a bunch of cotton stalks from a cotton farm that a customer formerly owned. There were two sets framed for siblings.
Cotton.jpg
 
I'm not a framer, but I've conserved some odd things so they could be framed or mounted for displays.

An unusual project was a home pregnancy test from a museum co-worker. It was her first child. I stabilized the indicator spots with acrylic resin and covered them with Mylar circles. Then it was on to the framer. I can only imagine their reaction.

Probably the weirdest object that I conserved as a museum lab conservator was a dried cow patty that was believed to have the footprint of a Bigfoot creature impressed into it. It came from somewhere in the Dakotas. I stabilized it so it could withstand the plaster casting process to create a positive impression. The cast approximated a large bare foot, but I never heard what the final conclusion was.

And of course there were the 300 or so canned grasshoppers (reptile food) that I freeze-dried for a case display illustrating the Minnesota grasshopper plagues of the mid-1800's. They're still on display in their second exhibit.

Paul Storch
Objects Conservator
St. Paul, MN
 
I've been organizing years of photographs and came across these. The circuit board is from the console in a radio station. During the morning show one of the - do you call them DJs if they don't play music? - one of the guys spilled his Starbucks on the air. I listen to public radio so I missed it, but while it was in my shop a few people who had heard it saw the frame and found it amusing. Apparently he was keenly aware that he'd messed up and said goodbye to his listeners because he was sure he'd be fired. They didn't fire him. They got him this instead.
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p.s. Next time there's a "what classes do you want?" thread, I want a class on how to take and edit GOOD photographs of custom framing. You can't shoot everything before the glass is on.
 
"The oddest thing we framed was for an ENT who had collected years worth of objects that he had removed from kids ears , nose and throats. It is on display in the hospital."
 
Taught myself to knit socks from a $3.95 booklet. So stinking proud I framed them.

They are on display, naturally, beside the sock yarn. Great conversation starter on sock knitting classes, cool self-striping yarn, and Museum Glass, and Shadow box framing.

Win all around. But sometimes my feet get cold.

Where is that picture?
 
I framed an antelope hide with an image of custar's last stand done by a native american on it. the customer outbid the smithsonian to buy it. Can't find the photo but it was WAY taller than me.

Framed a pair of Houdini's handcuffs, one side still locked. Framed it with an original Houdini show poster.

Framed a pair of musketballs from the battle of waterloo.

Framed an abacus with the beads set to the customer's husband's birthday and a plaque saying "Bob's first calculator".

Framed a civil war flag, 100" x 55". Took a month just to sew it down properly.

and most recently, framed a lifering from the US Normandie in a round frame. Has turned out to be a total nightmare of a customer. broke the frame while having it hung and blamed me. waiting right now for him to show up with it for me to reframe. uggh!
 
We recently framed one of these Career Story frames. There were items that had national security issues, so we weren't allowed to photograph it.

But trust me, it looked really cool when it was done, and the customer was delighted.

I love doing the things that tell interesting stories. Everyone has had a life of fascinating stories, and I love to hear them and then preserve them.
 
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