Shadow box frame with souvenirs

Now, when after the summer we are charged with holiday energy, it is worth taking care of preserving holiday memories. When it’s rainy and foggy outside the window, and the day is short, we will be happy to return to the carefree and sunny moments. A shadow box frame with souvenirs will be perfect for this role.

Polska wersja: Gablotka z wakacyjnymi pamiątkami

You will need

Holiday souvenirs, everything you managed to collect and bring back. These can be, for example, shells, pebbles, sand, coins, tickets, entry cards, maps, leaflets.
Holiday pictures
Shadow box frame – e.g. Sannahed from IKEA
Glue
Optional printer and photo paper

How to make a shadow box frame with souvenirs

The most labor-intensive is to make the name of the city and country with photos as filling. There are two possibilities here. The first is physical cutting out letters from photos. This method is quite tedious to perform and requires high precision in cutting out letters. I decided on the second way, namely preparing the letters in an electronic version and printing the finished inscription. This option requires a printer and photo paper. Making the inscription itself is quite simple using PowerPoint. Of course, you can also use more advanced graphic programs 😉

Write the name of the city and country
Select the font size so that it fills the entire slide (the font size will depend on the length of the inscription)
Select one letter, use the right mouse button to bring up the menu and select ‘Format shape’.
Then ‘Text options’, ‘Text fill’, ‘Image or texture fill’, ‘Insert image from’, ‘File…’ and select the desired photo.

Repeat for each letter. You can also insert one picture for all the letters, then instead of selecting one letter, you should select the whole word.
Print on photo paper. Print quality depends on the printer. On my print you can see the banding characteristic of an inkjet printer, but it is only visible up close. When you look at the finished work, this undesirable effect is not noticeable.

The next step is to create a composition of souvenirs. It is worth trying a few layouts and after reaching the most desired one, start sticking souvenirs to the frame.

Finally, put on the glass front of the shadow box frame and close it with snap fasteners.