DIY Wedding Shadow Box

Happy Monday!

Here in BC it's a stat holiday, Family Day, so I thought, why not post an extra blog this long weekend?! Today's blog will be about creating your own shadow box. The one I made was for my destination wedding, containing special items from the day, but you could create a box using any items you want to preserve. They make a beautiful piece of art in your home and would make an equally lovely gift as they are personal and filled with memories. I found this to be a really fun DIY project and I love the results.

A shadow box is typically made of wood, has a glass panel in the front to create a window, they are about two inches deep to allow the storage of three dimensional items (as opposed to a photograph), and the inside has cork board or fabric to allow you to pin items onto the surface. I found this box at HomeSense for around $20, purchased with a gift card we had received as a wedding present. They had so many different options for size and shape and colour. I chose this white box because it felt bridal and the inside fabric is a lovely blue and taupe damask pattern and it came with a handful of pearl-headed push pins. It would have been perfect if it was Teal or Aqua fabric to match our wedding colours but most of the inside gets covered so it doesn't really matter. I chose a long rectangular shaped box, but they had square as well. I think this store is the best place to look for your box as the pricing is affordable and they have so many beautiful choices.

To fill the inside think of your theme and collect items that will conjure a memory when you look at them, or choose items that are really special and you want to preserve and keep them safe. You could use items that belong to a friend, family member or pet. A baby's first outfit, bib or hospital certificate. I used items that would normally go in an album or scrapbook but ones I wanted to see on a daily basis. Put together a collection of more items than you may need, that way you can play around with what actually fits and looks best. I opened up my box and lay items inside, layering and moving them around, without pinning them yet. Once I determined which one-dimensional items would go on my bottom layer I pinned them in place and continued playing around with the rest. Once you determine the pattern that you want to create you can start pinning things in place, it's all changeable so you can't go wrong.

Here's a list of what went into mine to help give you ideas:

-The hotel wristband where our destination wedding was held 

-Starfish paper cutouts that sat on the edge of water glasses at our reception table. I had purchased these from EBay as they helped bring a touch of our starfish theme to the dinner place settings

-Our formal invitation and save-the-date; something so special to display and keep because I wrote the passages and hand stamped them with a starfish, plus they contain key details of our day

-a mini card from a dear friend; how cute and small, it fit perfectly in this box

-a bouquet shaped card from family; this bouquet card symbolizes my bridal bouquet that I was unable to keep and preserve. Had I been able to bring it home with me from Mexico, I would have tried to dry it to put in this box, but the card is a pretty alternative. I did however keep the two crystal-headed pins that were used to hold the ribbon around the stem of my bouquet and I pinned those into the card's stem.

-Eat Cake cocktail napkin; this brings a bit of the teal colour into the display and is a small token from one of the pre-wedding parties we held.

-My garter a gift from a close friend

-Vintage turquoise hair comb; this was part of a set that my mom and I purchased online from an Etsy store, it was my "something blue" to go in my hair. The seller said the stones were aqua but they turned out to be clear and turquoise and still just as gorgeous. 

-Lastly, my lace "I Do" bridal panties; yes that's right my undies, they are just too pretty not to include!!

I hope you have enjoyed this shadow box tutorial and maybe it has given you a nudge towards creating your own. Maybe this will be your next long weekend project! Happy Family Day everyone and,

Teal next time....xoxo

Kathleen