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Figuring out how to curate a collection and knowing when enough is enough

Figuring out how to curate a collection and knowing when enough is enough

MommaIvy

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I have an absolutely lovely shadowbox that will be the future home of my Frozen collection, and I’m trying to figure out the best way to fill it without going overboard. Since “Frozen” is such a broad category, I thought I’d group similar themes together in the frame, figure out what’s lacking, and make future purchases based on that. I don’t know if anyone else does that, if it’s a brilliant idea or dumb, so I thought I’d ask you all how you know when your collection feels complete, of if you’d actually put your pins in a frame that can’t be opened easily. Pic 1 is current collection, Pic 2 is frame.
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I don't have an "answer" for you, but I will empathize by saying that this is my current situation. I am "reviewing" my Wonderland collection to cull some of the excess, and in tandem, I am working on re-doing my displays. (When I say "working on," I am in the "thinking/planning" stages, ha ha. Very little action, aside from taking advantage of Michael's coupons to stock up on supplies.)

My current struggle/debate is how to "group" my pins in the new displays. Do I: arrange them accordingly to what fits nicely/looks nice in a frame? Do I group subthemes (such as "holidays" or "attractions")? Do I need to balance out colors? There are so many ways to look at it!

What I will say from experience is that even if you decide on something today, there's a chance that in a few years, you'll revisit this entire process again. Ha ha. You'll get new pins, want to part with other pins, finish a collection, restart a collection, get into a new collection. So sometimes you have to be OK with "semi-permanence" and do what works and makes you happy now. And if it stops working in future, you'll change it.

Some stray thoughts (sorry, this whole post is random, but it's been a loooonnnng work day, hoochie mama): I want toying with smaller shadowboxes for certain sets or subthemes, but then I worried that (a) as far as sets, they might be complete so that's "safe"--but what if I start to generate more frames than I reasonably have room for? and (b) for subthemes ... well, I can arrange what I have today, but if next Thanksgiving there's a great pin and I add it to my collection--oh crackers, I have to bust up the display again! Ha. These are some of the things I'm personally debating as I try to figure out what to do with my pins.

Good luck in your own voyage of discovery (ha). Hopefully you'll get some great actual suggestions (I'll be reading them, too). But this is the ongoing qualm of a pin collector: What do I do with my pins? :D
 
Oh, PS: I think your actual current arrangement looks really nice! I like the grouping and the breathing room around the pins. Makes each pin more noticeable--I often go the "every inch filled" route because of overall space constraints, ha, but I do sometimes think that means I don't really "see" individual pins!
 
I'm in similar thoughts at the moment...

Mickey, as you know Ivy, is my main collect but do I keep him and the rest of the gang in a separate frame from Sorcerer Mickey? Hmmmmm!? It's kinda fun trying to work it out though :)

And might I say your Frozen collection has grown so much!!
a5def1615154974f8363ed5ca49a041c.jpg


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You've got a great Frozen collection and I really like the way you have it organized! There are SO many ways to organize collections. I guess that's why each of our collections is unique. I don't have any suggestions for you, but it looks like you know what you're doing. Please post a pic once you've decided how to put them in your frames when you do!
 
I think as your collection grows, it will take on it's own pattern. Take my collection for example: Cheshire Cat/Alice in Wonderland. I started by collecting all AIW pins. I noticed that I REALLY liked the pins of the Chesie by myself. So I started a board for the solo Chesie pins. I bought a postcard in WDW of Alice with the Chesie so I made the focal point of a new board and started to put all of my group AIW pins/Chesie with other characters pins. Move forward a few months, I noticed that I had a nice collection of Chesie/Queen of Heart pins so I got a heart-shaped board and moved all of those to that board. I recently started a Grail board featuring my favorite pins.

So I guess my advice is let the pins decide???

I really like how your current board is organized. You have already started to organize them by characters.
 
I'm in similar thoughts at the moment...

Mickey, as you know Ivy, is my main collect but do I keep him and the rest of the gang in a separate frame from Sorcerer Mickey? Hmmmmm!? It's kinda fun trying to work it out though :)

And might I say your Frozen collection has grown so much!!
a5def1615154974f8363ed5ca49a041c.jpg


Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

This looks great!!! Love it. It is fun moving them around. I just hope I’m satisfied once they’re in that huge gilt frame. It’s so old and heavy. Once it’s on the wall it’s staying!

I am very happy with how my collection is coming. It’s been a lot of fun searching for pins. I’ve made a few mistakes (I know my Elsa and Anna stained glass pins are scrapped) but I’ve learned who to trust. So now it’s just a matter of saving up for the last few pins I need. A marquee pin for sure, a jumbo Anna and Elsa embracing, another Hans pin, and hopefully the parents to round out the young Elsa and Anna lower corner.

As much as I’d love the profiles, they’re just never going to happen. I’m ok with that. If I do someday get them due to some great change in fortune, they’ll go on a pedestal similar in style to the one that held Aladdin’s lamp lol.

And as others have noted, as time goes on, I might have to change things up. At this stage that’s fine by me. It’s easy to move them when they’re not in a frame. I probably should invest in some nice cork boards for the future pins I’m already buying in my head.


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I have no idea because I haven't stopped collecting, lol.

But I am starting to cut down (somewhat) on side collections....although PODMs are so pretty.......
 
I was Facebook chatting with a gal I traded with a few years back and she sent me a pic of her little mermaid collection. I saved it bc I was blown away at how beautiful it was displayed. She sorted by color and I thought it was stunning. I dont think I have the artistic eye for this kind of thing but I’d love to do something like this. Here’s the pic: y
6dce7b552db603eb11a299b63c87f56a.jpg



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I was Facebook chatting with a gal I traded with a few years back and she sent me a pic of her little mermaid collection. I saved it bc I was blown away at how beautiful it was displayed. She sorted by color and I thought it was stunning. I dont think I have the artistic eye for this kind of thing but I’d love to do something like this. Here’s the pic: y
6dce7b552db603eb11a299b63c87f56a.jpg



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I love how most of the Ursula pins are purple and black - a nice little dark corner on the board - Really Nice!
 
I was Facebook chatting with a gal I traded with a few years back and she sent me a pic of her little mermaid collection. I saved it bc I was blown away at how beautiful it was displayed. She sorted by color and I thought it was stunning. I dont think I have the artistic eye for this kind of thing but I’d love to do something like this. Here’s the pic: y
6dce7b552db603eb11a299b63c87f56a.jpg



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
The placement of all the pins looks like how they were meant to be presented, as a jigsaw puzzle. Amazing. I’ve seen some people on here do the same thing. My pins tend to be arranged like there are boxes in rows.
 
I was Facebook chatting with a gal I traded with a few years back and she sent me a pic of her little mermaid collection. I saved it bc I was blown away at how beautiful it was displayed. She sorted by color and I thought it was stunning. I dont think I have the artistic eye for this kind of thing but I’d love to do something like this. Here’s the pic: y
6dce7b552db603eb11a299b63c87f56a.jpg



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Insane layout! Must've taken some time
 
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