In Memory Shadow Box!..... In Loving Memory of Earl Sword Sr.

December 04, 2019

In Memory Shadow Box!..... In Loving Memory of Earl Sword Sr.

In April my grandfather Earl Sr sadly passed away and I wasn’t able to attend the funeral in Texas which made me sad. My step-grandmother was so distraught she fell sick shortly afterwards and I wanted to send her something to know we love her and we loved pawpaw very much. So I decided to make her a in memory shadow box.

I bought three 8 x 10 golden frames from Dollar Tree and some really cool Texas / country themed stickers. After removing and cleaning one of the glass panes I removed the back prongs from the top and middle frames. Using Aleene’s tacky glue I glued along the inner edges of the bottom frames and laid the middle frame atop it. After making sure it was even I removed using a wet q-tip any excess glue that seeped out the edges of the frames and set aside to dry.

Now using the top frame you take and hot glue the corners and sides of the rim where the glass will rest and then put the glass down and if need be reinforce it with extra hot glue in the corners and sides atop the glue. If done carefully it wont show very much but if it does there are ways to hide it as I’ve displayed in my other shadow boxes but this one went well I only had to paint over a small portion of the glue to match the inner frame color of black. Taking the long horn bull image I centered it and placed it atop the glass on the outside and then followed suit by adding the stars to each corner of the glass.

Using my electric drill I attached the bronze hinges to the side of the frames to make it an opening shadow box. Now with opening shadow boxes to go on a counter and not a wall when its open it leans forward and rests on the frame so you have to be careful when opening so it doesn’t topple over.

Now as a handle I used a pull out drawer handle in a golden bronze color and I think it looked good but the screws stuck out a little and did so in another project when I used the other handle but I learned in the later project to paint the screws to blend in but in this project you can clearly see the nickel color screws. Lastly I used self adhesive magnet roll which I cut piece from and adhered to the inner frame at the top middle and bottom so that the frame will stay shut but open flawlessly when need be.

Now to personalize it I took the back of the frame and measuring against the barn hay loft background picture I measured it to fit and cut the image to size and then put hot glue onto the backing of the frame and put the picture on top. Now I had taken varying pictures of my grandfather from all of his life, young to old, and made two 4 X 6 collages that I intended to hang within the frame. So using some jute twine I made it appear as if the twine in strung to the rafters and beams in the barn scene. I hot glued them to the sides just below the image so you can’t tell it was never there before. It looks 3D and as if it was always meant to be there. Now using two mini-clothespins I put each of the collages on the two different jute twine strings to display the changing days and years of my Pawpaw’s life.

I think this makes an amazing gift to remember a life that has passed or even the very opposite a life just beginning as a similar set up would be great as a baby gift to add pictures to over the years or even a wedding gift. Either way this turned out very well and I’m glad it made my step-grandmother smile.