How to Make a Shadow Box - How to make a sand & sea shadow box

Hello this is Jenny with simply beautiful crafts on behalf of expertvillage.com. We are making shadow boxes this is a traditional shadow box purchase with a very purpose in mind to become a shadow box. First thing that you want to do take the back off of your shadow box and then in this case because this shadow box does not have a hanger of its own you have to want to take a picture hanger and attach it to the top. Whichever is going to be the top of your shadow box. Mine is going to hang this way so I want to attach my picture hanger to the back. What I'm going to put in this one and I call this one sand and sea. When we were in Okla Iowa I found a lot of beautiful shells on the beach and I never had a opportunity to display them. So I thought I would like to find a unique way to display these shells that came from Okla Iowa. So the first thing that I did is to take scrap booking paper that looks like water and cut it to fit the back of my shadow box. So you cut it to fit and then you can either use spray adhesives or good old Elmers glue and glue it on. Then I thought what could I use to make it look like sand. I thought about several option that I could put sand on with glue, I can use sand paper or I can use this peel on press cork. I went for the peel and press cork because it was simpler. Then I just cut kind of a wave edge with it and then you peel of the back and you stick it on. Now I kind of have a ocean and sand effect. Then I have photographs of the ocean to. If you have a favorite photograph of a trip that you have taken to the ocean you can always put your photograph on like this. Something that I like to do with my photograph is to take plain cork card board, cut it a little bit smaller then my picture, and glue the picture and then put it on my back and that gives your picture a 3-D effect. Then it is just a matter of laying out my sea shells in a pleasing array. Of course this is your shadow box you take all the time that you need to lay your shells out in a design the you would like. Put as many or as few on as you want. Let the glue sit until it is completely dry and then you are ready to put it back together. So you simply slip the back on the back of your shadow box into your shadow box. I have not glue this on but you have the idea. Then there you have it a sand in the sea shadow box in your very own design.