Iron Craft Challenge #2: Love Is In The Air

Challenge #2 was to make something for someone you love.  I chose to commemorate the trip Jesse and I took this past April to Paris.  Also, the idea of doing this travel shadow box has been on my radar for at least four or five years.

This was actually a really simple project to do.  I totally didn't need to take so long to get to it!

First I painted what would become my shadow box. Any guesses as to what it is?  (It's from this) There are a lot of nooks and crannies to get to in that thing, by the way.  I have one more, which I'm thinking of making Minnesota Twins themed, but for now, this was enough painting.

Then I played with the layout of the things I wanted to use.  A map of the city, ticket stubs from the metro and a few of the museums we went to, business cards from some restaurants, a 5 Euro bill, the plastic bag from the bookstore Shakespeare and Company, a card from Laduree bakery (the home of some of the yummiest macarons in the world), and a few souvenir medals. When I actually put stuff in, I moved a few things slightly, but kept most of the layout the same.

Also, the reason I left the part of the map showing at the top is because that is where most of our travel was based around.  Kind of hard to see in these pictures, so you'll just have to trust me...

Once I got all that in the box, I realized some of the edges on the flat part were showing through, so I added a thicker band of black around the middle.

Luckily craft paint dries quickly, and I was able to get everything mod podged and hot glued in there after a quick coffee break.  I added two picture hangers to the back once everything was dry, and hung it up in our bedroom, along with some postcards we got at one of the art museums. I am also planning to hang up one of my 8x10 prints of the Eiffel Tower on the left side, but I need to get a frame for it.

I love this little decorative corner of our room now, and it's a fun reminder of an awesome trip!