I absolutely love the beach. It is by far my favorite place to vacation. I can relax in the sun, watching and listening to the gorgeous ocean. My kids are entertained with sand, water, and all the fun those entail. I have a garage full of shells from our many sandy vacations over the years. One of my favorite pictures is my daughter holding a crab shell. Unfortunately I didn’t take great care of that particular shell so I had to glue it back together before making the shadow box. I think it still turned out quite cute though…
Here are easy-to-follow instructions for you to make your own beach shadow box with all your leftover vacation sand, shells, and pictures. Please feel free to ask me any questions in the comment section.
Supplies:
- shadow box
- various pictures
- sand and shells
- strip of sand colored cardstock paper
- beach stickers
- craft bond foam mounting circles or squares
- super glue
Ignore the tape in the picture. By the time I realized super glue would work better, it was too late to update the picture…
Steps:
Cut the strip of cardstock to cover the area you want sand in as seen in the bottom half of the picture to the right. Apply super glue along the inside edge of the opened back of the shadow box where the paper will go. After putting the paper in its place, apply super glue around the edges to help seal it.- Let this dry for several hours so it will be strong enough to hold the sand.
- Cut your pictures and mount to a background the size of your shadowbox. I printed out an 8×10 of a picture of the ocean and cut it to fit the back. After mounting all my pictures and putting it behind the sand, it was covered up. You could probably just use a solid piece of cardstock. I used the mounting squares to get the pictures to different heights for a 3D effect. The squares can be stacked to create this look.
- Pour the sand in between the glass and the super-glued paper.
- Add any beach stickers to the pictures or cardstock behind the sand.
- Finish by adding the mounted pictures and close up the back of the shadow box.
Love it!! Must try thanks for post Candace 🙂
Thanks Mari! Let me know how it turns out and if I can help you with any further instruction or tips.
Love the beach, I can lay on the beach for hours and listen the waves, such an awesome experience being a part of it. Thanks for the directions on the shadow box
You’re welcome Camii! I adore the beach and ocean. If I ever become independently wealthy, I will be retiring somewhere tropical :)!
Pinning!! Love it love it.
I am redoing a few collages now ( well…not NOW now…but the photos are out and my intentions are good!LOL) I used rather cheap collage frames initially a few years ago and now the backing is peeling off of a few of them and etc….so tonight, as a matter of fact, I stopped at Michael’s and picked up a 9 slot frame…I figure if I use those coupons and replace one collage a month or so it’s not so overwhelming…or expensive. But I LIKE this idea for my beach-y summery pictures too! Don’t know if I can pull it off, but I’m def pinning so I can go back to it !
Thanks for sharing!(And for stopping over to my blog and leaving such sweet comments!
Be well and enjoy the night!
Thanks for pinning Chris! I was on Pinterest last night and saw your pin come up. It made me smile :)… You can pull this off. Let me know if you have any questions!
I enjoyed going through some of your older posts and getting to know you better. It is always my pleasure to visit you my friend.
Hi Candace,
I love your picture and sand shadowbox and am working on one of my own but I was a little confused on how to add the cardstock and then the sand. How does the cardstock get placed and glued exactly and then how does the sand get placed ? Does the sand get glued on or glued to the cardstock or just poured in? Thanks for your help. kelly
Hi Kelly, I glued the cardstock to the small indented space inside the back of the frame with super glue. I then let it dry for several hours so it would be strong. After it was dried, I poured the sand between the glass and cardstock. It held really well. I hope that helps! If you have any more questions, just let me know!
Hey Candace I have been wanting to do this for a while. I live in Maine right on the cost so I have all the stuff but there are limited stores. The closest town with a craft store is an hour away and the closest chain (Joann’s fabric and A C Moore) are two hours away. So my question is where do I get the kit to make the box? I’m sure it seems silly but tools aren’t my thing so making one isn’t an option 🙂
Hi Emily, It sounds like a beautiful place to live! I bought the shadow box at either Michael’s or Hobby Lobby. It was many years ago, but since then, I have seen them at a variety of places. I think even Walmart has them. If you have one of those, check their frame and craft sections. Another option would be to order one online. I just did a search on Amazon for Shadow Box and a large variety came up. I hope you get a chance to make one! Mine is back on the mantel. I missed it while all the Christmas stuff was out :).
Hi Candace,
Thanks for your great blog! I am currently working on my own beach themed shadow box but I’m trying to figure out a way to seal in the sand in case the box gets tipped over on its side (in transport, etc). I’m using Sand (pronounced sahnd) which is sand with a polymer added so it holds its shape better. I tried shoring it up (no pun intended :)) with little walls every few inches but it still slides around. Resin? Glue? Double sided tape? Any ideas?
Thanks in advance for your thoughts!
Teresa
Hi Teresa, That is a great question. I actually thought about it some when I was creating this. One idea would be to wrap it in saran wrap. I think if you got the wrap as flat as possible without wrinkles, it might work. The other thought I had was to put the sand in a ziploc bag and hide the top of the bag in the back. If the sand is packed tightly, you might not notice the plastic of the bag as much. I hope those suggestions help. I’m so sorry it took me a couple of days to get back to you! I’ve been away from my blog. Let me know what you end up doing. I would love to hear about your finished project :). Good luck!
Thanks! I have a bunch of sand from a vacation and wanted to stick it with some shells in three small shadowboxes for my bathroom decor but wasn’t sure how to get the sand in there without spilling everywhere. Great idea! I should be able to finish up my project today!
I hope this worked well for you, Bethany! This frame makes me smile every time I look at it in my house. There’s nothing like beach memories :).