Monogrammed Shadowbox Photo Montage

Let me start out by saying, I love this!

My husband's cousin's first child is turning one in a few months. Me, being the crafty woman I am, thought I would make her something neat for her room (bright pink walls, leopard print bedding) with yarn covered letters--remember, I tried this a few weeks back with the large "L." Anyway, I've decided, I am NOT going to make a habit of doing this yarn covered letters. They are not my cup of tea. That being said, I love how this turned out. I monogrammed her name. I added pom poms to the P and F (it fixes part of the look I don't like, plus they are cute. I found this shadowbox which was the perfect size for my project. Initially, I wanted to put the letters on the inside, but there wasn't enough space to see the pictures behind (secondary focus) so pulled out my heavy duty hot glue gun and glued them to the frame of the shadow box. Speaking of which, isn't it a beauty? I couldn't find leopard print scrapbook paper, but this pink polka dot was just as perfect, if not better. So, measuring and cutting (even cutting corners at an angle) I covered the front, and sides. Then I modgepoded it for a glossy look. I hot glued pink yarn around the edges to hide imperfections, and more of a fun look. The back of she shadowbox I used modge podge to glue the pictures I chose (I'm glad I was able to mostly find 5x7 images) then modge podged over the pictures. This kept it not only onto the backing, but I like the finished look it has.

Now, the plastic in my shadowbox isn't directly in the front, there is a slight gap between the front and the plastic. And, I also needed to do something with the inside edge too. Originally, I was going to just put more of the pink polka paper, but decided just to paint hot pink. I used index cards to try to save getting paint onto the plastic. It worked OK. I like that I chose to just paint it. I had cut out strips of the hot pink, but didn't really like it. It was over-kill.

So, I realize I'm not a great "tutorial" person, or even that great for blogging so let's recap:

I had:
pictures
modge podge
2-3 sheets of the pink polka dot paper
shadowbox
3 wooden letters (make sure the last name letter is larger)
1 skein yarn
glue gun
hot glue

Decorate shadow box to your liking. I mod podged the polka paper. Then I used my hot glue gun and yarn to edge out my box.

I mod podges my pictures to the inside insert of the shadowbox.

I covered my letters with yarn.

I made pom poms for more decoration, and to help me like my P and F better.

I took out my heavy duty glue gun and glued the letters to the shadowbox.

And now, I just have to figure out what I want to put on it so my husband's cousin can hang it. I realize my letters aren't perfectly level or even perfectly evenly spaced, but it's ok. With the S off a bit, it makes it easier to see the lower picture in the middle.

And now, I'm going to abruptly end this entry.