Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Gorgeous Shadow Boxes

I have been having "Neglectful Mommy Complex" lately. Silly, I know. I'm a good mom. That I know. My daughters are played with, fed, loved and adored...

But I was at a birthday party for one of Gracie's friends the other day and for the present, I framed my Princess Cordelia picture (it looks so beautiful in a frame!) as well as went out of control making a hot pink, luxurious flower fairy tutu for the little girl. One of the mothers, who had seen the mural I painted for Gracie's other friend (see here), said wistfully, "I bet your daughters have the most wonderful dress up clothes and room decorations!"

Um... nope.

In fact, Gracie and Annelie's walls have been institutional white with zero decorations or artwork of any kind. And while Annelie does use my Tootsie and Grace bibs (I honestly believe they are the BEST bibs!), I haven't made my daughters anything!!!

WHAT KIND OF MOTHER AM I??? I had a baby boutique and am an artist, for heaven's sake!!!

Well, that was just the kick in the behind I needed. We ended up renewing the lease on our apartment for another year, rather than high-tail it straight for England. But even though I can't paint their apartment walls, I can at least decorate!

Project number one (that would be these two shadow boxes) was easy to complete and only took about an hour and a half, which was nice because I was able to knock it out while Annelie was napping. I have been saving Gracie and Annelie's hospital shirts, diaper, and hat since they were born, without any idea what to do with the lovely little things. The hobby store was having a sale on their shadow boxes and scrapbook paper, so I grabbed some up and made both these little shadow boxes for under $20.

I have decided to decorate their room in a pink, black and white Parisian Chic theme so here are the end results!


Annelie's shadow box is the one at the top, but here is a detail of her name letter and photograph. I just printed the photos off the computer, using regular paper and was so thrilled with how they look. You'd never guess they were made so quickly!!

Anyway, I am so happy with the end results! Enjoy!

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

These are so cute!!! I love the colors and combination of patterns. How wonderful for Gracie and Annelie to grow up with them.

Leah said...

I love it - great job!

New England Quilter said...

They are beautiful and will be a cherished keepsake I am sure!

Unknown said...

That looks so great- i love the idea of it. Awesome!

luv4sams (Lisa) said...

OMG - that is stunning - makes me want to cry - so sentimental!

Oh Mandie said...

Oh my goodness~! Those are gorgeous!! I love the letters!

Carry Grace said...

awww...these turned out wonderful!

Anonymous said...

That's awesome! Good for you! I too hope to make things for my children someday! :) You're very inspiring! :)

Unknown said...

what a lovely idea. what lucky kids you have....

Anonymous said...

Oh, they turned out lovely! Great job! I'm with you, though, in that I rarely keep the things I make for myself. Although I love making jewelry, I just don't make much for myself. Silly, isn't it? SOmetimes you just need a kick in the pants to do that kind of thing!

Candice said...

Adorable!! Such a cute idea!

Anonymous said...

Thank you for your sweet comment! :) I have some fun on my blog, you should come check it out! ;)

Michelle Engel Bencsko said...

These look fabulous! I am also a "'bad mommy" I haven't made my own sons personalized prints that I make for everyone else's kids! Hey, better late than never!

Cathy said...

i love, love, love the way your shadow boxes turned out! they look fabulous and i'm sure your girls will be the envy of everyone who see them :)

confession: i'm a bad mum too - i've hardly made anything for my boys and their album pages are empty! i'm always making things for everyone else and i never seem to find the time to do theirs! i really want to though... i always feel guilty about it!

Nichole said...

Gorgeous shadow boxes...love the letters!

Anonymous said...

Beautiful blog and I love your shadow boxes.

Marie said...

Great idea! I love how it's personalized to each girl. You did a great job, thanks for sharing.

Kimiko said...

That is so beautiful! I'm so jealous of all you awesome artists cause I have ZERO artistic talent :o(

Mom O Matic said...

Gorgeous!

Shyliegirl said...

Hi! I was searching the net for ways to make these and here you were! They're so beautiful. I'm never sure of the right way to mount clothing, any pointers? Thanks in advance!

Unknown said...

Shannon,

I knew that I wasn't going to be using the clothes for anything else, so I did a tiny drop of hot glue in select spots to hold them in place.

I'm glad you all like them!!

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