DIY Day: Shadow Box Memories

Today’s DIY project is one I did several years ago.  While unpacking from our move, I got inspired to display some of those mementoes that had previously been packed away.

Mardi Gras has always been an important part of Louisiana culture, and it’s always fun for me to look back on photos and trinkets to remember the fun times I’ve had at Mardi Gras.  I created this shadow box to display some of the vintage doubloons and glass beads that my mother saved from the parades she went to in the sixties and seventies. 

Today the majority of the beads and trinkets thrown in parades are plastic ones from China, so this was a good way to preserve a piece of history.

Some of these beautiful glass beads that they used to throw could still be worn with today’s fashions!

I hung the shadow box in the hallway along with a Mardi Gras photo collage and fleur de lis mirror.   Using a shadow box is a great way to display small treasures that would have otherwise been lost in a drawer or box.  I did the same thing with some of my husband’s military coins:

All that’s needed to do this kind of project is, of course, a shadow box (I usually purchase mine at Michael’s when they are on sale or I have a coupon), some hook & loop tape (velcro) and/or straight pins, and the items you want to display.  Simply arrange the items on the provided background mount and add velcro to the backs or use straight pins to secure them.  On both of the shadow boxes I used, the background already had a fabric that the “hook” side of the velcro could adhere to.

A quick and simple project that will make you smile and reminisce every time you walk by!