Craft TuesD.I.Y with Lisa Lopez: Make a Keepsake Shadow Box for Your Child

In celebration of my son's 5th birthday tomorrow, today's craft is a beautiful way to collect memories from over the years and place them in a keepsake shadow box to hang and display. Recently, my mother gave me my shadow box that she made for me when I was a child. Having it as a treasured memory of my youth inspired me to make one for my son that he can cherish for years to come. Shadow boxes are so fun to make, and they are like scrapbooks that hang on the wall!


Materials You Will Need:

• Special items: little figures, crayons, favorite candy, (wrapped is best), themed paper, fabrics, ie: blankets, a favorite dress, that has been outgrown and you don't mind cutting. Note: take care not to take items that will be missed if displayed behind glass and can no longer be played with!

• A picture for the center of the box

• Regular glue and hot glue
  

• Whatever you can dream up! I even found an old wooden box, pictured in the lower right corner of my son's box, which I turned on its side to store more little trinkets. You can add shelves, like the shelves seen in my own shadow box. And if you are really adventurous, you can make your own shadow box out of an old dresser drawer!

• Or you can find a shadow box at your craft store all ready to go.

How to Make A Keepsake Shadow Box

1) Once you have gathered your cherished mementos, remove the back of your shadow box and mount your child's picture, regular glue works great for the picture mounting.

2) Next, you can use your hot glue for securing heavier items in your shadowbox. I recommend completing the back portion of your shadowbox, and then moving on to the inside items, (the items that will go on the ledge.)

3) You can line edges with paper, fabric, etc. And be sure to measure as you go, holding up the back part so all of your items fit and are visible.


I'm thrilled that my son Logan now has a keepsake shadow box that he will treasure for a lifetime. And I just want to wish him the happiest of birthdays! The past 5 years have been the best years of my life and I cherish him dearly.