Shadow Boxes

So now that I am blogging and posting about a few DIY things we do around the house, I’m starting to realize just how much stuff I go and raid out of my grandparents old house and transform it for my own home.

Brian already knows that a project is waiting for him if I mention that I went over to my grandparents house over the weekendJ But don’t be fooled he likes all this DIY stuff just as much as I do!

So back at the beginning of the summer, my dad had these super cool looking wooden boxes that he was storing flats of annuals flowers in to carry around the yard to plant. I recognized those old planter boxes. They were the ones my grandfather used in his greenhouse. I asked dad if he had 2 of them that he wasn’t using. Well sure enough, that ended in dad and I going over to Pa’s house to raid the old greenhouse! Well I came home with 2 really cool reclaimed wood looking plant boxes!

My dad did not understand what I was going to do with these for decorating but I assured him I would figure something out! These boxes are super cool (sorry I do not have a before picture). They look like old reclaimed wood from the old house that is still on my grandparent’s property. Pretty much they are backed with some old reclaimed beadboard from the old farmhouse and then they are framed with some wooden planks.

I had these 2 prints that I got from an antique mall in Collierville that I framed and matted myself and they looked a little bare on my walls. So I thought they would be perfect to hang within the plant boxes to make a shadow box. The only problem was… my prints in side of their frames were not symmetrical with the boxes. The plant boxes were much longer and leaner than my photo frames. So they kind of looked bare inside the boxes so I’ve had these planter boxes sitting in the floor of my living room for months trying to find a solution.

Then I got the idea that I needed to add something else to have at the bottom or top of the picture within the shadow box. I love all the metal work artwork that is so trendy right now but I needed something very small. I already have lots of metal crosses hanging in my house and I need something that hung horizontal. I saw a bunch of iron keys art at hobby lobby and decided that would be perfect for my shadow boxes! I picked up 2 iron keys for $3.99/piece at hobby lobby and went home and attached them to the shadow box.

On Sunday, the hubsters and I headed to Lowe’s to purchase the proper tools that we would need to hang the shadow boxes since they are so heavy now.  Then we picked the placement for them on the walls. It was Brian’s idea to hang them at the corner of the living room which looks way better than what I would have done! Here is how it turned out!

 I love how rustic the wood and keys look against the clean lined silver frames!
There is even something written on the side of the box in my grandpa's handwriting. But I have no clue what it says!

Hayden dropped by later that night just after we had hung them and put the TV back in place. This is her and Brian in front of the TV playing with her "baseball" which is actually a ball made of rope that is a dog toy...She's a silly girl!