shadow boxes: reigning in the small stuff.

It seems that all of my life I have been collecting little things.

Do-dads.  What-cha-ma-call-its.  Bric-a-brac.  Knickknacks.  Trinkets.  Odds and ends.

A myriad of items that are literally small in size.

And sometimes those littles wind up on shelves improperly displayed.

But more often, those tiny treasures are stashed in boxes with lids with nary a chance to be viewed and appreciated.

Enter – our new house.

A house with many extra walls, tall walls.

This begins the story of my love affair with shadow boxes.

I used empty Clementine crates for boxes next to each kid’s bed for their own personal treasures.

(I already have hoarders for children – why not embrace it?)

And I re-purposed a former Melissa & Doug wooden box that held wooden food items into a cute little shadow box for the school room.

A little decoupage and leftover scrapbook paper fixed this guy right up.

Any box can become a shadow box.

And any piece of paper can be decoupaged inside to create a vast variety of whimsical and sweet interiors.

I’ve used a sturdy kids’ shoe box here with the cardboard from a six-pack of beer.  (It had a great little design.)

And another Melissa & Dog box.  (Those things are so sturdy, they’re perfect.)

And a page from a formerly ripped Berenstein Bear book.  I find myself saving all ripped books now. It might become a problem.

And this great old Coke crate that has had many recycled lives in its long history with me.

Placed on a hall wall all together – this is one of my favorite displays.

Just a wealth of small singular souvenirs from the history of our lives.

The beauty of the eclectic keeps a strong pull on me.

I keep a critical eye out now for empty boxes.

With a little paint, a little glue and a little treasure to stash inside, almost anything can become a shadow box.