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I want you all to take a minute and do something for me, ok? Go down to your basement, into the big closet full of crap. You know the one… The one you shove everything that you don’t really know where to put, but don’t want to get rid of. Yes.. that one.
I’m willing to bet that somewhere in that dark abyss is a box of baby stuff. Really cute baby stuff, that brings back all kinds of memories from when your little ones first came to be. Ultrasound pictures, baby booties, the works!
Now take a minute and feel shameful for tucking that all away to gather dust. You feel it? K, good. Now get over it. Cause, let’s be real, life is busy. If at the end of the day your kids are fed, dry, and cleanish, you’ve had a pretty successful day (or is that just me..?)
But I’m here to tell you that there is a simple solution! Shadow boxes! I know you’ve all seen them, and probably thought that they look like a lot of work. Wrong! So so easy.
Here’s what you need:
- Shadow box
- Glue dots
- Pins
- Cute fabric or baby blanket (optional)
- Baby items, such as: clothes, binkies, pictures, newborn diapers, hospital bracelets, info cards, birth announcements, etc
- Decor, such as: flowers, bows, wooden initials, etc
These took me all of 30 minutes to slap together. I just pulled out that dusty old box, organized the items to my liking, and stuck them on using pins and/or glue dots. Piece of cake! For some of the items, I even used packing tape. I know… so professional of me. But hey, it worked! 🙂
The shadow boxes I used are from Walmart, but you can find a similar box HERE. They came with the burlap background you see, but you could easily swap that out for some cute fabric or even one of your child’s old baby blankets.
The awesome thing about these is that they are totally customizable. You can throw in whatever you want – clothes, binkies, pictures, newborn diapers (so tiny!), hospital bracelets, info cards, birth announcements, decorative items such as flowers, bows, wooden initials, etc. Endless possibilities! And so darn cute.
Just make sure you don’t use permanent adhesives – what if you change your mind and want to switch things up later on? And you don’t want your precious baby items covered in glue. Other than that, there aren’t really any rules! Just have fun with it 🙂
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Really cute project… Makes me want to go dig out my closet and find all the cute little things 🙂
Way too cute Alli! Makes me want to go digging through storage to make one of these for all my babies. You did a great job!
Blessings,
Thank you so much, Deborah!
I love this am making one for my daughter inlaw
Thanks, Angie! So glad you loved it 🙂
What size frame do u use?
The frames I used are 13″ x 13″ but you can use any size you want! It just depends on how much stuff you want to put in 🙂
how did you place the objects on the burlap? Glue? Pins?
I used pins and glue dots. I wouldn’t use anything permanent, in case you want to change things up!
These are oh so cute! I’m planning to do this for my twins when there born!
I love the these shadow boxes ideas. Wish I seen these long ago. I was wondering if you can help me. See I’m on baby three, and still have time to do his. So what can I put in the boxes from my 1st and 2nd because I don’t really have their homecoming outfits or their first diapers. Because it was so long ago. But I do have the other stuff their bracelets and I’m a boy card and blankets. So what can I put in place of the homecoming outfits?
Hi Crystal! Track down everything you can – birth announcement, hair accessories, etc. Maybe you could make a little card with their birth stats, or some fun info about when they were born? Or even their birth story! Another fun idea is to paint some wooden letters (like from Hobby Lobby) to spell out their name. That could take up a good amount of space 🙂 When all else fails, you could just include another newborn picture or 2!
Thanks for the tips can’t wait to get started on these projects.
What kind of adhesive should I use for holding down the baby items? Where do I buy it? And does it hold well?
I used pins and glue dots – which you can find in any craft store. They hold pretty well! It doesn’t need to be super secure if the displays aren’t being moved a lot. I even used tape for some of the items – anything that’s not permanent would be fine 🙂
Really good idea for those baby items from the hospital. I am sharing this on Pinterest
Thanks Roberta!