Birthday Baby Shadowbox

Yesterday was my nephew's 1st birthday.

I can finally say things like, "I remember when you were born" and "where did all the time go?" and other such gems that I used to associate with the 'older' generation which I suppose is me now!

I had picked up a few nice vintage market finds when he was first born which I've shown on the blog before.  The lady who sold me the baby rattle actually gave me the idea of making a 'shadow box' with it last year so, many google image searches later, I gave it a go for part of his birthday gift.  I'm quite happy with it for a first attempt! It was definitley a lot harder to get it going and to source all the wee pieces than I thought it would be.  When it was complete and I put the glass on, it really did take on another quality that I can't quite describe.  Something about putting all those little things in their own world like that made them look more interesting and sentimental.

For anyone who is curious here are the crafty details:

Box Frame - 12 x 12 bought on Amazon UK from Arrowfile seller.
Painted with sample pots of Farrow and Ball - Strong White then Pavillion Grey on top of frame and sandpapered for distressed look.
Backing sheet (after much deliberation!) is from 5th Avenue collection by Melissa Frances.  Found it in single sheets in Dunelm Mill.
Wooden letters from a craft store and dyed with Distress Ink in 'Stormy Sky'.
Blue lace from a local haberdashery.

I was hesitant of doing too much as a beginner and also because I didn't think an overly frou-frou shadowbox would be fitting for a little boy so...

What I put in it:

The bib is antique Irish lace and  I bought it for his Christening gift .
The rattle, I just loved!  Also a vintage find and what started the shadowbox inspiration because I just wanted to use it in something!
His name with an oak leaf we collected in the park last Autumn. We used them for decorating at his Christening party last October as his name is thought to come from 'doire' - the Irish word for oak tree.  This is also why I decided to write the date of his birthday in Irish.  That plus I think Lúnasa is a nice month name, one of the prettiest in Irish.

He is just a few hours old in this picture,  I gave it a little vintage effect in photoshop and printed it in a tiny size at a Kodak machine.  Great tip for crafters who like using photos but not always full size, is to print those collages Kodak machines offer with 2 or 4 photos on a 6x4 print.

I hope I don't look at this in a few months and am embarassed by it!  I initially bought a much smaller frame so still have that to maybe try a second shadowbox project on a smaller scale in the future :)

I am so bad at finishing any craft project so I loved having an incentive to finish this one .

xox