Thanksgiving Shadow Box Tutorial | P.S. Don’t Kill Your Family ;)

Happy Thanksgiving!!! Are ya’ll having a good one so far? What are you most looking forward to – turkey, pretzel salad, greenbean casserole? Not killing your family? That can be a winning Thanksgiving for a lot of people, so hang in there if you’re one. I personally can’t wait for some stuffing on my plate and some pumpkin pie.

This post had been in the works for a bit and it’s absolutely perfect timing because this project works best when used to show off the things/family/life blessings you are so thankful for! And on the up side, if you need something to keep you occupied today and not feeling like you’re ten-years-old again, this is an easy breezy distraction. We’re talking about the shadow box, that empty wall hanging box just waiting for you to fill it to the brim with memorabilia from your beloved suprise birthday party, wedding day, fill-in-the-blank.

I’ve been wanting to take this on for a while:  

Shadow boxes might be one of the most intriguing wall art concepts. They have this quirky flair that gets the happy juices flowing and I for one can’t get enough of them these days. They can be done up real artsy and minimalistic like so, or become a practical see-through scrapbook with layers of fabric, coins, dried flowers, shells and anything else your heart desires. You name it. There really isn’t a whole lot that can’t get pinned up in a 13″x13″ glass box. Except for things that are longer than 13 inches. That won’t really work, now will it?

Back to the things you can get it your shadow box. Go crazy. Start the dreaming process, and you’ll probably begin remembering that little charm or friendly note or black and white photo you haven’t seen in decades and then tear your house apart trying to find it. Or am I the only one who gets obsessed with her nostalgic items?

I eventually stopped ransacking my own place and started to create my very own, first-of-its-kind shadow box. For me, this involved placing things in certain areas of the box and then rearranging them a hundred times. I went with the wedding theme since I’ve been feeling rather overwhelmed lately with the thought that we are coming up on our FIVE YEAR wedding anniversary. How can this nonsense be? I am barely eighteen-years-old so it’s just plain insano talk.

I filled it with one of my favorite wedding-day cards from my best friend, Alice;  the key to our very first apartment together in Fort Sanders in Knoxville, TN; a letter I wrote on the save-the-date card to the Hubs and then added this awesomely crafty note that our friend Dave made for us. He and a couple other friends made home brew for our wedding gift and left us this note – “Redeemable for 2 cases of Lager of Love.”

Take note now. You never know when a good friend is going to get engaged and need a gift stat. He also printed the photo and “Lager of Love” to create labels for each bottle. Hands down one of the most thoughtful and meaningful gifts we got, and still reminds me of our incredibly fun wedding where my hub’s college band played (including Dave, Scott and J.P). I could relive that night a hundred times. I wasn’t exactly one of those calm-and-collected brides. I danced the night away and basically had to be dragged out when our reception site needed to close their doors for the night.

To be honest, the shadow box craft was lots of fun and made for a super quick wall art transformation. It also encouraged some lovely family bonding moments. Happy Thanksgiving to us! I got the hubs involved so he could help by yelling, “No NOT in the right hand corner, wifes! Pin it in the middle!” He has what I like to call a true crafter’s spirit. Then we wrestled and I stabbed him with the key-to-our-very-first-home, so now the freakin centerpiece is all bloody.

It’s amazing what some bleach can do…

Mission accomplished. I’m obsessed with these delicate boxes and can’t wait to start packing another one full of trinkets we’ll be accumulating during our upcoming Italy trip. SO. ECSTATIC. Now, it’s your turn. Here’s how to get the shadow box project moving. Go on. All the cool kids are doing it.

Shadow Box Ingredients:
1. Shadow box from Hobby Lobby or here. The cost was $15 with a 50%-off discount offer, which I think HL keeps up most of the year. Or just get a discount by joining their enews list. (I recently heard that you can combine discounts so start stashing them and see what they’ll let you get away with.)
2. Craft paper for the back ($1). You can also just use the black velvet backing if it meshes with your theme and style. I used a 100% cotton canvas sheet that I found at Hobby Lobby in the scrapbook paper  section (of course, because I heart Hobby Lobby).
3. Gather your memorabilia together for arranging. My recommendation is to pick a theme such as wedding, birthday, Christmas, etc. and use that to build your display. The box can also feature some fun, creative art. Say some butterflies or die cut scrapbook paper.

Final Budget Breakdown: $17

It’s another simple and cheap way to sauce up a wall or little nook. Long live the shadow box.