How to Make a Shadow Box Display
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Honor your sentimental mementos in a shadow box...
If anyone has little mementos or sentimental items in storage, it’s time to bring them out. It is time to honor those precious items and display them where you can see them and enjoy them every day. A shadow box is a display box with a glass-fronted picture frame that is deep enough to display small items in an artful way.
What will you display in your shadow box?
Obviously, the first thing you need to do is to gather the item or items that you want to display. Do you have a sports jersey, wedding paraphernalia, baby keepsakes, some old toys you can’t part with, old ticket stubs from a special concert, photos or certificates that are meaningful to you?.
Display heirloom mementos in a shadow box...
Over the years I have made a few shadow boxes to display some heirloom items. My maternal grandfather and /or great uncles’ christening gown was also worn by my oldest son so it is extra special to me. I also inherited my paternal grandmother’s antique spoon collection, as well as a few from my mother.
Materials needed to make your shadow box display...
- Shadow box in the size, shape and materials of your choosing.
- Background material – fabric, scrapbook paper or paint.
- Scissors.
- Adhesive – glue or tape.
- Pins or wires ( depending on what it is you are displaying)
- Mounting foam *optional
How are you going to arrange the items in the shadow box?
Even if you are only displaying the items by themselves, you will want to figure out how best to display them. If it is a piece of clothing, you may need to make some strategic folds to have it fit in the shadow box. If you want to display a collage of related items in different materials, you may need to “play around” with the arrangement until you come up with a configuration that works for you.
A Christmas gift...
For Christmas this year I decided to make a shadow box for my mother. She had a toy monkey that had belonged to her brother who had died as a child. It was wrapped in tissue and had been stored away in a trunk for years. Her brother’s name was “John” so I found some music sheets for the nursery rhyme “Brother John”. I found some pictures of him that I had copied, typed out his birth and death dates, and the words to “Brother John”, in fancy script.
Don’t let your sentimental items stay in the dark corners of a closet or drawer… bring them out! Display them!
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2 Comments
Deborah Montgomery
Such a thoughtful gift! You are so talented ?
Carole
Thank you.