Tiny Memories

Don't you find that when you are at the beginning of something, you always start off with far more focus and determination? Well, I'm definitely feeling that right now as I continue along on my journey to complete as many of the projects on our to-do list as possible. Last week, I shared the first step in making our front entry closet a more organized space, and today I wanted to share the first of the few small updates that I plan to make to Halle's nursery.


A few weeks ago, I picked up this shadow box from HomeSense that was on clearance for $10. 

The colour wasn’t what I wanted (I knew that would be easy enough to change), but the size and shape were perfect for what I planned to display in it. 

First things first, I unscrewed the back to get the  whole thing apart, and then used a little glass cleaner and elbow grease to get that stubborn sticker off the glass. Once everything got a quick wipe down, it was onto the painting portion.

Despite having the same turquoise on her dresser, and another frame on her wall, I decided to use it again for this piece. I figured that in the future her dresser may get painted again or even sold off, and picture frames can always be changed out – but this box I really wanted to represent her time as a baby. So, I pulled out our left over Thai Teal and after about four coats (I made this more difficult on myself by not priming before painting), her pretty little box looked like this...

Next, it was time to start thinking about filling it. I already knew I wanted her tiny yellow tutu inside, but it was time to shop her nursery for more. First, I decided that her yellow "H", that I had purchased for the empty frame on her wall would go inside. I never got around to putting it in the frame, which I decided I could remove from the wall when we made our tweaks. The final piece, which would always remind us of her tinyness, was her little hand print we had done at six weeks, by Wee Piggies and Paws...

With my final memories chosen, it was time to get them in place. The tutu was the easiest. I simply used the pins that came with the box, and pinned the back waistband to the board. This kept it in place without damaging it, and the pins were easily kept out of sight...

The next part I wanted to get into place was her letter H. Since I knew that I wouldn't want to move this, I used my glue gun to adhere it to the back of the shadow box...

Halle's handprint was a whole other story. I knew that I didn't want to make this permanent, since I may want to switch it out in the future, but also because the back of it looks like this...

Sweet, right? How could I ever hide that forever? So, in order to attach it, I used a safety pin on the ribbon, and hid it behind Halle's little skirt. The perfect solution, so that I can still remove it to show it off when I want too!

Lastly, I wanted to add a little something for a decorative touch. So down into my craft room I ventured, and pulled out my jar of buttons. I found four that matched my colours and used my glue gun to add them to the back...

I ADORE how the whole thing turned out, BUT you will have to come back next week to see the whole thing together... hanging on Halle's fully tweaked art wall! Yeah, I'm wasting no time on that to-do list!

What have you done to preserve memories that are special to you? Have you made any memory boxes, or do you scrapbook? I'd love to hear what you do to hold onto those memories that are special to you!