Hybrid Project ~ decorative picture boxes

Friday, December 9, 2011

Hi everyone ~ Kylie here! :o)  Happy Friday to you all!  Hope you’ve been enjoying all our happy holiday hybrid projects this week!  Lots of ideas to make your holiday season a little more magical…and just incase you missed a post or two, here is a recap:

Jenelle inspired us with some amazing “subway art” and the cutest little gift canisters.

Kim shared the awesome advent calendar she created for her children - we LOVE it!  But, her kids are LOVING it even more!!

Casharina showed us how to create our very own candy bar wrappers, complete with adorable gift boxes.

And today, my little contribution is some decorative picture boxes. (The first of TWO blog posts we are sharing with you today!!)

I made three unique & fun picture boxes to show you…because, firstly, I can never stick with just the one style, and secondly, I simply wanted to keep playing and playing with some of the beautiful Shabby Shoppe holiday-themed kits.  (Lucky I stopped when I did otherwise this post would never have hit the blog in time!! LOL!)  The 3-D look of a picture box is what I love the most.  I guess it’s like bringing a scrapbook page to life by adding some all-important depth with a little shadowing here and there…this is the ‘hybrid’ version.

The options are endless.  You can be as creative as you want – you can keep the box simple, or you can dress it up…and then some!  You can just make one special box to hang on your wall or sit atop your mantelpiece to keep all your xmas stockings company.  You could make a set…or even make one for every room of the house!! ;o)  They make lovely homemade gifts too…something that you can personalise for each recipient!  And don’t forget, these picture boxes are not just for the holidays…they are for anytime, any celebration, any theme!  Imagine a cute little set for a baby’s nursery…precious!  Why not have a favourite scrapbook page printed and add a few small co-ordinating mementos to the box.  Again, the possibilities are endless…so have FUN! :o)

To start things off you’ll need to purchase a framed picture box (also called a shadow box).  You can find them in most big department stores, photographic shops that sell picture/photo frames, craft stores, various online stores – just search, or you can even have them specially made (if you want a particular size and frame type).  I bought my 23×23cm/9×9in (photo space size) from Ikea for $14.95 each…from their Ribba collection. (I haven’t provided a direct link as Ikea in different locations, not to mention countries, may stock different products…you may need to do a google search and a little research if you are looking for the exact same ones) 

Next, have a browse through your Shabby Shoppe products and work out a design for your festive creation.

You will also need:

• paper to print on -> I used semi-gloss photo paper (A4 in size) for almost everything
• adhesive -> I used some mod podge, clear craft glue, double-sided tape, 3-D dots and glue dots – depending on what I was adhering.
• scissors, craft knife
• any other decorations and/or bling you want! -> I used ribbons, sequins, christmas ornaments, acrylic paint, sparkle mod podge and some wooden florishes from HERE.

I am still in love with the SUGARPLUM CUPS & MUGS hybrid set that was released around this time last year.  They are available from the hybrid shoppe and are perfect for gifting treats, gift cards and anything else you can think of!  I really wanted to make use of them again this year…but in a different way.  So, I chose one of the five adorable printable cups and opened the file in photoshop.  I added some “Be Merry” text, printed it out on my trusty home printer and followed the simple directions to make it.  To fit the picture box I did have to cut the already-made paper cup down the middle of the ’side’ section, trim about a centimetre off each and then fit it back together with some double-sided tape.  A quick and easy adjustment.

For the rest of the picture box, I then printed out the pink notepaper, a sweet little peppermint element and “2,0,1,1″ numbers from the Sugarplum Dreams kit on a sheet of photo paper.  Trimmed each component with scissors.  You could ink the edges if you want, I didn’t worry about it this time and left the edges clean.  Then it’s just a matter of positioning the cup on the background paper and adding the ribbon and peppermint – all with either double-sided tape or glue dots.

For the ‘year’ I added 3-D dots to the back of each number and then adhered the bottom of each to a strip of paper with double-sided tape.  This helps the numbers stand up as one piece.

To finish up, I popped the ‘year’ into the box and secured it with a little tape.  I then added the photo matte (provided with the frame), then the teacup piece…and closed the picture box up.  First box complete! :o)

For my Santa Sleigh picture box I had lots of fun with the adorable BELIEVE kit graphics!

After measuring the ‘inside photo matte’ dimensions, I opened a photoshop work area and typed a little of the Jingle Bells chorus.  I also added one of the Believe digi-stamps; to which I added a green colour-overlay and played with some digi-watercolouring (on a new layer) to fill in the holly leaves and berries.  I added my newly edited digi-stamp to the top and bottom of the page.  To another A4 size work area I added my favourite believe graphics and re-sized them using the full-frame dimensions as an approximate guide.  I then printed both pages and trimmed everything as required.  To the presents I added sequins to the front and 3D dots to the back to help them stand on their own.  To the tree I added a little length of craft wood in an upside-down ‘T’ so that it would stand unassisted at the bottom of the picture box.

For the wooden sleigh flourish – I painted it red and silver, a quick coat of mod podge to seal and then some bling (sequins) with a tiny squirt of craft glue.  Just make sure that you allow enough drying time between coats of paint, the mod podge and glueing the sequins.

I positioned all the pieces in the box, added the matte, then the Jingle Bells print-out (securing it with a little scotch tape so it didn’t move), and finally closed up the box ever-so carefully.  Oh and a little tied bow to the front of the box.  Second box complete!! :o)

This was my attempt at a more elegant and traditional picture box.  And what better kit to use than ‘TWAS THE NIGHT!!

I used the same dimensions as the above ‘jingle bells’ work area and added the cream paper from the ‘Twas the Night kit as my background.  Added text ~ a couple of lines from my favourite Christmas carol.  I then filled another A4 size work area with wide strips of the ornate blue, gold and cream papers.  Printing both is the next step.  For the ‘O Holy Night’ background I used photo paper, but for the other “paper strips” I used standard office/photocopy paper (the thinner paper makes it easier to trim and decoupage the wooden angel.)

To decorate the wooden angel flourish I cut a rectangular shape about the same size as the area I needed to fill.  I then attached it to the wood with mod podge, let it dry and trimmed the excess and inbetween the ‘flourishes’ with a craft knife and even a sewing needle for the small spaces.  I added a little gold paint to the halo and sealed the whole piece with a coat of mod podge.  I then took out my Sparkle mod podge and added several coats (allowing for drying time between coats also).  And if that wasn’t enough glitter I also sprinkled some onto the wings…oh and three gold sequins to the sleeve.

To attach the angel to the background paper I used 3-D dots (two on top of eachother placed in various spots around the back of the angel) to add as much depth as I could.

The final decorative touch was adding some hanging baubles using gold wired-ribbon and some fine gold thread.  Put the matte in place, the angel piece (secured with a little scotch tape) and then closed the box up.  Third and final box complete! :o)

Ok, so I didn’t quite stop there!!! LOL!  You may have noticed that I arranged the picture boxes with some of my holiday decorations – ornaments, little xmas tree, and even some framed photographs…to build up a festive scene.  With the ‘Twas the night’ box I decided to make some handmade ornaments.  I used the leftover paper I printed for the angel and cut it into lots of small paper strips – about 2×1cm (about 1×0.5in).  And then with mod podge I glued all the little pieces (overlapping them) onto small styrofoam/polystyrene balls (available from most craft stores).  To seal and add sparkle I added coat after coat of sparkle mod podge!  Lets just say it took a while, if you add up all the drying time, but soooo worth the effort.  I pinned a little half-cap craft ‘bead’ and a piece of ribbon to the top of each ball.  And to the two-tone ball a border of pinned gold sequins.  I used special beading pins – they are much shorter than standard pins.  Hey presto!!!..my very own ornaments using ‘Twas the Night papers!!

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 THANKS for joining me today…hope you enjoyed reading about my little “Happy Holiday” picture boxes as much as I enjoyed sharing them with you!  But don’t go anywhere yet…Rosy has a fantabulous scrapbooking inspiration post that is soooo perfect for the holidays!  So read on my dear friends…

KylieHybrid Projects, Uncategorized 7 Comments