DIY Life - From Drawer to Shadow Box

Consignment Warehouse had two of these great drawers that really were nothing much to look at but the possibilities in ways you could utilize them was endless.

So I bought one!

All it needed was some TLC. I sanded it down, peeled off the liner in the drawer and then used Valspar's Rushing Stream on the edges to frame my drawer (soon to be shadow box). I also got the paint for FREE! Real Simple magazine had a coupon for a free sample size, which was all I needed!

I purchased a yard of gray and whiteish chevron print duck cloth at Hobby Lobby (used my online coupon through my phone for 40% off). By the way, they are no longer allowed to alert people to their coupon on their website, but if you have a smart phone, just google it in line and give them the 4 number code. So while I was there I also grabbed some furniture tacks. I got some in gold that were larger to border the edges and a package of matching smaller silver ones for contrast to use on the drawer itself.

The next step was selecting my items to go in this new creation. (Truth: this is a story unto itself, but summarizing for time sake). Then I had another quandary. I had no idea how to fasten things into the box without damaging some of the items of sentimental value. I reached out to my DIY creative Facebook friends and got some great (and some silly) responses. No, I am not going to use Duct Tape, but thanks for that suggestion :). So I got some clips and magnets, Velcro (had it already), and Command strips. I used the Command strips on the hand prints and Velcro for the ballet slippers. I hot glued magnets to the cloth, the clips were magnetic so they just stick to it. I used the small tacks to attach my Clipboard styled clip, Voila!

The top left corner is my oldest stepdaughter, below her is my younger stepdaughter, top right is my son, bottom right is me and the middle is my husband. I included an art project from one, hand prints from the other two, my ballet shoes and a card my husband made for his parents when he was little and of course, there are pictures of all of us as babies.
The process looked something like this:

I am a creative person, and I have more Pinterest boards than one person should, but the truth is the best creativity doesn't come from coping someone's idea it comes from the journey of walking out one of your own. Get the tricks of the trade off Pinterest, but make something new to pin!