Sister-in-law Shadow Box!
My sister-in-law
Lacy had been given a signed script from her favorite tv show Brooklyn
Nine-Nine by her husband Andrew, my husbands brother, as an early 1st
year wedding anniversary present and she needed a shadow box to put the script in. So
since she had seen some of my shadow boxes she asked if I could make her one
and of course I said yes.
Lacy chose the Sunny Day Yellow color spray paint she wanted for the frames but after the glass is removed certain spray paints or even acrylic paints make the frames loose and frail at times so be warned. My first set of frames I left outside to dry and while I was an hour away out of town our town got hit by a thunderstorm and my frames got massively soaked and warped and were unable to be used. So because the more expensive frames got ruined I was looking for a new set of similar size frames to get and well time got away from me and so by time I found the right frames to use it had been about two or three months and I felt bad but she was patient.
After I ruined the first set of the frames I found an acrylic paint in my paint stash that nearly matched the spray paint Lacy had chosen and so I decided to hand paint the new frames instead of spray painting them. Hand painting them worked out better and they matched the color so it all worked out there.
So I made the shadow box like usual. I removed the back prongs of the first top and middle frames. I then used Aleenes tacky glue and glued the middle frame to the bottom frame and using a wet q-tip I removed any excess glue that seeped out. Now I initially wanted to use E-6000 to keep the heavier frames together as Lacy intended this to be wall mounted but I realized Aleenes tacky glue has always been strong and held up just fine so I kept with the method I was most comfortable with and Aleenes tacky glue dries quicker than E-6000 glue.
Once the frames were dried I took the first frame and after cleaning and drying one of the glass panes I hot glued it to the inside of the top frame and reinforced it with more hot glue. Then I took the brass hinges and using my electric screwdriver I attached them to the sides of the frames and its really eye balling it to make sure it goes on right and size of hinges matter in relevance to the size of the frames. Next I attached a handle which was a golden brown drawer pull handle, the matching one I had used on my step-grandmothers shadow box in memory of my grandfather but with this one I found a golden bronze acrylic paint which I was able to paint over the exposed screws so it blended in.
Last thing to do is attach the scrapbook paper to the back of the frame but since it is a longer frame the paper I had was only so long so after sending some options to Lacy she chose this pretty background. So I found two of the same design in my packet and decided to cut a little off at the bottom and attach them and use a contrasting design but similar color to hide the line where they were connected. I will say I got in a rush after work and decided to use spray adhesive when applying and it massively bubbled and so Anthony helped me remove and smooth it back out. So finally I decided to do it properly and hot glued it down and it looks good. I lastly added self-adhesive magnet to the inside of the frame so the door stays shut but is easily opened as well.
I will admit that it wasn’t perfect there are flaws to the wood where the screws are and it wasn’t my best shadow box but I learned a lot and I did do my very best I could and Lacy was really appreciative and loved it. She show cased it on her Facebook page and so I am happy she loved it. In the end I learned I work better on smaller shadow boxes (4x6, 5x8, 8x10) as the larger ones are harder to work with but I am glad I was able to do this one.
Lacy chose the Sunny Day Yellow color spray paint she wanted for the frames but after the glass is removed certain spray paints or even acrylic paints make the frames loose and frail at times so be warned. My first set of frames I left outside to dry and while I was an hour away out of town our town got hit by a thunderstorm and my frames got massively soaked and warped and were unable to be used. So because the more expensive frames got ruined I was looking for a new set of similar size frames to get and well time got away from me and so by time I found the right frames to use it had been about two or three months and I felt bad but she was patient.
After I ruined the first set of the frames I found an acrylic paint in my paint stash that nearly matched the spray paint Lacy had chosen and so I decided to hand paint the new frames instead of spray painting them. Hand painting them worked out better and they matched the color so it all worked out there.
So I made the shadow box like usual. I removed the back prongs of the first top and middle frames. I then used Aleenes tacky glue and glued the middle frame to the bottom frame and using a wet q-tip I removed any excess glue that seeped out. Now I initially wanted to use E-6000 to keep the heavier frames together as Lacy intended this to be wall mounted but I realized Aleenes tacky glue has always been strong and held up just fine so I kept with the method I was most comfortable with and Aleenes tacky glue dries quicker than E-6000 glue.
Once the frames were dried I took the first frame and after cleaning and drying one of the glass panes I hot glued it to the inside of the top frame and reinforced it with more hot glue. Then I took the brass hinges and using my electric screwdriver I attached them to the sides of the frames and its really eye balling it to make sure it goes on right and size of hinges matter in relevance to the size of the frames. Next I attached a handle which was a golden brown drawer pull handle, the matching one I had used on my step-grandmothers shadow box in memory of my grandfather but with this one I found a golden bronze acrylic paint which I was able to paint over the exposed screws so it blended in.
Last thing to do is attach the scrapbook paper to the back of the frame but since it is a longer frame the paper I had was only so long so after sending some options to Lacy she chose this pretty background. So I found two of the same design in my packet and decided to cut a little off at the bottom and attach them and use a contrasting design but similar color to hide the line where they were connected. I will say I got in a rush after work and decided to use spray adhesive when applying and it massively bubbled and so Anthony helped me remove and smooth it back out. So finally I decided to do it properly and hot glued it down and it looks good. I lastly added self-adhesive magnet to the inside of the frame so the door stays shut but is easily opened as well.
I will admit that it wasn’t perfect there are flaws to the wood where the screws are and it wasn’t my best shadow box but I learned a lot and I did do my very best I could and Lacy was really appreciative and loved it. She show cased it on her Facebook page and so I am happy she loved it. In the end I learned I work better on smaller shadow boxes (4x6, 5x8, 8x10) as the larger ones are harder to work with but I am glad I was able to do this one.
- 11 X 14 Frames- $1 for each at Dollar Tree the original ruined frames were $7.98 each at Walmart
- Brass Hinges- $1.68 at Walmart for pack of two
- Golden Brown Drawer Pull- a few dollars at Walmart for pack of two
- Scrapbook Paper- $5 for the big pack it came in at Walmart
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