Guest Post - Valentine Shadow Boxes

Today's Talking a Little Less trash is from Heather Lee.  She is a master at re-purposing materials, and one of our artists in residence at ReCreate. 

Ok, so like me you probably have plenty of pictures laying around with the only real means of displaying them being in a photo album...but lets be honest, how many times do you really LOOK through that album? All of those gorgeous memories sandwiched away between book bindings (or digital albums) got me thinking about creative ways to display them, thus leading to my newest Blog Craft!

 I had taken these Adorable pictures a few years ago of my daughter and niece, but had never printed them out.   I figured it was about time but struggled with how to display them. I mean sure, I could frame them in typical black frames, but I was looking for something more creative.

Earlier this week,  I was walking through the ReCreate warehouse, I noticed some totally neat heart shaped chocolate boxes, and got to thinking that they were just about big enough to fit pictures in! Maybe with a little tweaking and some fancy connecting it would work, so I set on my mission and here is what I did and what I used:

SUPPLIES:

* 2 large & 2 small Heart Shaped Chocolate Boxes
* Red Ribbon (left over from Christmas)
* 4 pieces of Black Cardstock
* 1 8x10 & 2 5x7 pictures
* 6 Small Red roses
* Red Heart beads & tiny mixed beads
* Poem printed about Cousins
* String for back
* Black paint
TOOLS:

* Glue gun
* Scissors
* Exacto Knife

HOW TO CREATE IT:

Step #1
Pick your photos

I had my local box store print me a couple pictures...It only cost $4.59 but could have been even less expensive had I already had them printed or used my own printer.

Step #2
Arrange your boxes in the configuration you like best!
(I personally like odd numbers for displaying things, so I ended up using 7 total)


Step #3Cut out the card stock to fit the INSIDE of the hearts that will be BEHIND the photos

I used black since it coordinated with my black & white photos but you can use what you prefer.

Step #4
Trim pictures to fit the inside of the frames as best you can

Attach them to the cardstock, but Do Not glue them down into the frames just yet

Also, since I wrote a poem to go with my pictures, I trimmed those as well...the poem reads:

We are COUSINS by Birth
But we knew from the start
Fate brought us together
Forever SISTERS in Heart
                             ~HeatherLee


Step #5
Hot glue the frames together where they are touching each other
In my arrangement I have all of my frames touching at at least 2 points for stability


Step #6
As I was getting ready to glue all of the pictures in place it just needed SOMETHING...that something for me was coordination and of course nothing coordinates as well as the uniform color BLACK

So no surprise, Step #6 is paint your frames all the same color (if you are not as particular as me, then just move right along to Step #7)


Step #7
Now that your frames are dry (or you skipped ahead)...

Secure the cardstock, photos and poem if you wanted one into place.


Step #8
Add embellishments

I chose to use a little of the red ribbon for the inside lining of the Large box, tiny roses & small beads to accent.


Step #9
You may choose to mod-podge or decoupage the pictures in at this point.

I didn't feel the need for it, but thought I would mention it as an option.


Step #10
Attach some twine, string or wire to the back, hang it up and YOU ARE DONE!

Total cost: $8.59

Time: Approx. 2hrs

******************************
Now you have something to do with your boxes after you have indulged in all of those Valentine's Day treats...don't just Toss them, RE-CREATE them!

* And if you are like me and don't particularly care for chocolate (crazy I know), stop by our warehouse store...we have extras and all kinds of other shapes too!

As always, I welcome any and all feedback and questions!

Until next time...be mindful of what your throwing out into our landfills and what YOU could be ReCreating instead!

Happy Crafting!

~Heather Lee