a holiday project: how a shadow is made shiny... shiny brite that is

 This is a project I've been looking forward to for quite some time.  I came across the idea, or so I thought, a couple of months ago on Pinterest...

This was the first one that caught my eye... then when I pinned it I realized I had pinned a number of them perhaps last year... or the year before.  Hmmm, I guess need to spend time going through my own boards one day!

via pinterest

Today I was looking forward to pulling out all my baskets and bins of bits and pieces of Christmas that I've collected... little ornaments, spun cotton millinery bunches, metal bells, sugar coated bells and balls, ribbon, angels, Santas, bottle brush trees... well you get the idea.

The first box I used was an actual vintage shiny brite box.  The kind that would hold small one inch ornaments.  I love the graphics on these boxes and have a bunch stashed in my Christmas bins, so I know I'll be making some more of these when I bust out the bins to decorate!

I removed the cellophane from the "window", it was torn anyway.  The box itself is a bit beat up with remnants of old tape and even someones name on the back side... but I kind of like that history.

First up was to give it a little bit of a backdrop.  I came across this free printable on Pinterest... it looks like an old typewriter or newspaper print of The Night Before Christmas.  I printed it on off white card stock to give it some structure, especially since these boxes can be a bit flimsy.  I cut it to size and glued it to the back of the box.  This box was fun to re-purpose since the lid is "hinged" and doesn't come all the way off.

After the backing came the fun part... adding all the bits and pieces inside!  This one is done with a certain person in mind and I used angels, white bottle brush trees, crinkly red seam binding ribbon...

 And in the upper left corner?  Well that is actually a Christmas earring.. the clip on kind like my grandma used to wear.

There's some of those sugar bells with red and gold edges... and those angels... I've collected a number of those over the years.  I remember every year as a child getting my mom's out every Christmas when we decorated... she gave me hers a few years ago but they won't be showing up in a craft project!

The red ribbon has a little tiny metal tree pin attached to finish it all off.  Some of the ones I found also had a little ornament or bell hanging from the bottom... I may have to try that on my next attempt.

Once I got the shadow box fever I realized this box that came with a philosophy gift would be perfect for a larger project!

I added a vintage looking, bingo style card in the back and a red bottle brush tree... it was sitting a bit too low so I added some old wooden game pieces to give it some height.

The box cover needed something to cover up the text... so out came the washi tape in fun red and white patterns.

It was hard to get a good picture of this one... I didn't remove the plastic covering which I now know is probably the best idea... maybe I'll try to remedy this with a craft knife... I also added some white shredded paper to cover the emptiness of the bottom space.

And finally for today was another ornament box... but this one isn't actually vintage!  It's a replica that came with small replica ornaments.  This box was a bit smaller than my first attempt so the bottle brush trees are smaller ones and I added a wooden bingo number "24" of course!

I used the same paper backing and the mate to the earring on the corner again...

And a fun Santa and reindeer too.

So a fun afternoon project and three gifts are completed... but for now the glue gun is cooling.

Because up next week?  Are these cute little guys like this one that I picked up at a local craft show.  Little peat pots, from the garden center, painted and glittered and filled with all sorts of vintage loveliness!

Tomorrow I'm off to a local thrift shop's annual Christmas sale... after all, I need to replenish my stock!