My Mazon Creek Wall Display

[digit]

We've all seen Charlie's great display case to house his excellent (and ever growing) collection of astounding Mazon Creek finds. My collection is (for the moment) a lot more meager but I'm happy with the pieces I have as they remind me fondly of a birthday spent excavating a chest-deep hole out in Pit 2. That's also where I first met (in person) Charlie, Rob and many other hunters (both on and beyond TFF). A nicer group of guys you'll never get to meet. I decided that the few nodules that I really liked deserved a better display than sitting closed-up on a desk in my office. The thing with Mazon Creek nodules is that when you've run them through dozens of freeze/thaw cycles and are fortunate to have them pop and reveal something nice inside, you want to display both halves of the split nodule. Charlie has come up with an excellent (and very crafty) method of making custom mounts out of plexi to display his pairs of nodule halves but I was looking for something simpler--(read that as, "within my limited crafting abilities").

I decided a shadowbox was a tried and true method of displaying collections of 3-D items so I'd go that route. I found some inexpensive (actually quite cheap) plastic shadowboxes at a local arts and crafts store in my area (Michael's, for those in the USA). My idea was to dress these up a bit customizing them to my needs. Below are a more or less step-by-step process of what I did to make display for my favorite Mazon Creek finds.

First, the 3-pack of 8" x 8" shadowboxes and a nice textured paint to cover the ugly shiny plastic frame.

-Ken

[digit]

Out in my driveway I applied several layers of textured paint to build up a nicer finish on the frames.

-Ken

[digit]

Then I needed to cover the back plate with something nicer to act as a background for the nodules. I found some burlap type material (actually in the needlepoint aisle). I guess this would normally be used as the background for stitching needlepoint designs but it came in a variety of colors and textures and suited my needs so I got a small roll of this material. A layer of spray contact cement on the backer board and it was then flipped over and pressed onto a piece of this burlap material to cover it.

The third image is the newly covered front of the backer board pre-trimming.

-Ken

[digit]

Once the cloth covering was trimmed to the dimensions of the backer board it was inserted into the back half of the painted plastic frame. Once the screws securing the back and front halves of the newly painted frame were tightened this completed the basic makeover from a cheap frame to something I'd like to have hanging on my wall. Now all I have to do is fill it with some nodules.

-Ken

[digit]

I spread out a bunch of my nodules on a bed and sorted through them to see which ones I'd like to display in these small frames. I decided on marine based items (Pit 11) in one frame and Pit 2 material in the other two frames--fern leaves in one and other terrestrial items in the other. I have several 'blobs' Essexella asherae jellies that I found naturally split and so I only have a single half but most other nodules ended up getting arranged as bookmatched pairs. After a bit of rearrangement to get in as many nodules without looking severely overcrowded, I decided on the final layout. To attach the nodules for display I used a hot glue gun to but a dab of melted glue on the backs of the nodules before pressing them into the backing of the display. This should be strong enough to hold the pieces to the display but reversible enough that I should be able to easily pull them off if I ever want to break down this display and recover the nodules for a different display method. Notice that I decided to ditch the glass cover that originally came with the shadowboxes. I didn't like the glare of the glass and I want people to be able to touch the nodules so they feel less like museum pieces.

When I went to hang the shadowboxes I realized that the weight of the contents were more than the cheap plastic frame was ready to handle without bending along the top. The simple solution to this was some picture hanging wire securely attached to the back panel to take the load off the frame. For hanging, I picked narrow wall along a walkway between dining room and my kitchen as an area I pass several times a day and could enjoy my nodules every time I passed. Nothing earth-shattering or ingenious about the displays but my hope is that this might encourage someone else to get some of their favorite fossils out of their drawers, boxes, bowls, or shelves and put them up on display. Brings back fond memories every time I see them.

Cheers.

-Ken

Edited April 4, 2015 by digit

[fossilized6s]

Great work Ken! I like em'. And thanks for the kind words, sir.

Thanks for the DIY step by step.

I've been thinking about altering a shadow box soon for my new Permian tracks.

[ZiggieCie]

Great fossils, great way to display them. I LIKE

[Rob Russell]

Indeed, thank you for the kind words Ken! I hope you and your lovely wife can return again this year for at least one good round of mazon hunts. And if so, I'll be sure to reserve the time.

Your collection looks fantastic! For only spending a small handful of days on the spoil piles you've collected some mighty fine specimens! Congratulations!

Hope to see you guys again this year.

Rob

[jcbshark]

It looks great Ken!

[Hunt4teeth]

Looks great Ken! Thanks for sharing. You post great tips and DIY projects that are very helpful.

Jay

[digit]

Thanks Jay.

I'm a natural born story teller and I like to take photos to help illustrate stories. Those come together in the form of occasional DIY posts or trip reports.

This forum gives me so much information (and vicarious enjoyment) that I have to do my part in my own little way to contribute back.

Cheers.

-Ken

[Darktooth]

Nice work! I like what you did with the shadowboxes.

[bone digger]

Great fossils, and a very nice display Ken.

[JoeySRT8]

Very nice!

I just picked up a new glass case, I need to put it together. This ones will be just for my Mazon fossils.

[MgTattooer86]

Beautiful... really, really nice!

[Harry Pristis]

Good job with the shadow boxes!

[digit]

Thanks Harry.

Hope to make it back up to Mazon Creek this summer to try my luck at topping these fossils. I can always make another wall display....

Cheers.

-Ken