Create a Vintage Christmas Scene in an Illuminated Rustic Shadowbox

My partner, Joe Morgan, loves vintage decorations, especially Halloween and Christmas! A Rustic Shadowbox made from reclaimed lumber (pallet wood) was the perfect frame to showcase some of the miniature animals he has collected. This vintage Christmas scene is illuminated with 20 LED battery powered lights.

Proxxon tools make it easy to work on a small project like this. The scale of the tools is perfect for a project this size.

What You’ll Need

• A rustic shadowbox with a recessed back – check out this blog post to learn how to make one out of reclaimed lumber
• 2x4x8 Smoothfoam block
• 1 sheet of paper to use as the background of the scene – anything from wrapping paper to scrapbook paper to art paper
• Pencil
• Battery operated LED light string (20 lights)
• Black felt
• Snow glitter
• Vintage animals, Christmas tree, moon, etc. to create your scene
• Vintage pipe cleaner
• Quick dry liquid adhesive (I love Aleene’s Quick Dry TackyGlue)
• Hot glue gun (I love AdTech’s glue guns and glue)
• Proxxon Cutter THERMOCUT 115/E (bench top)
• Proxxon Hot Wire Cutter THERMOCUT 12/E (handheld)
• Proxxon Professional Rotary Tool and drill bits (1/16 works great!)

Steps to Follow

1. Cut the paper to fit the shadowbox and adhere it with the quick dry adhesive. This makes the background for your scene.

2. Use Smoothfoam to make the contour of the ground. First, decide on the maximum height (most likely at the back of the scene, the depth (give yourself about ¼” from the front to show the wood of the shadowbox) and the length (the opening of the shadowbox). The foam in our shadowbox is about 1” tall, 8” wide and 2-3/4” deep. Use the bench top Proxxon Cutter THERMOCUT 115/E hot wirecutter to cut the foam block to the desired dimensions.

3. To continue making the contour, use the handheld Proxxon Hot Wire Cutter THERMOCUT 12/E to “carve” the contour of the ground. Make it slope to the front and dip up and down, just like snow drifts.

4. Adhere the Smoothfoam to the shadowbox using quick dry liquid adhesive.

5. Decide where you want lights to shine through the back of the shadowbox and mark the spots lightly with a pencil. Use the ProxxonProfessional Rotary Tool and drill bits to drill the holes. You can vary the size of the bits if you want different sized “spots” of light.

 


6. Adhere the lights to the back of the shadowbox using hot glue. Line up each bulb with a hole you drilled. Work your way from one side to the other. We tried adhering the lights with electrical tape, but it didn’t stick. Other tapes didn’t work well either. Hot glue worked perfectly!

7. Cover the back of the shadowbox with black felt. Adhere it with quick dry adhesive. This prevents light from peering out the back of the box when you place it on a shelf. You can also adhere the back of the battery box to the shadowbox. Just be sure to position it so you can slide the top back and forth to change the batteries!

8. Cover the Smoothfoam with quick dry liquid adhesive and apply the snow glitter.

9. Build your scene and adhere the pieces to the foam with quick dry adhesive.

10. Optionally, decorate the front of the box with vintage sparkle pipe cleaner, adhered with quick dry adhesive.

 Do you collect vintage decorations and trims! Everyone at Create N Craft loves the look of old-time goodies! Check out the boxes we went through to decorate our shadowbox!

What are your favorite vintage finds! We would love to know. Mention what you like in the comments below.

Happy Crafting!
Joe Rotella

Make a Rustic Shadowbox from Reclaimed Pallet Wood

A shadowbox is a great way to display your favorite collection, frame a photo or piece of ephemera or house a miniature scene. Using reclaimed lumber, like the slats from an old pallet, is a great way to get a rustic or vintage look while re-using materials that might otherwise go to a landfill.

In this video, Joe Rotella, founder of Create N Craft, shows how to use a Proxxon Table Saw to create an 8”x10” shadowbox with a recessed back from old palette wood.
The Proxxon Table Saw gives you perfectly straight cuts and is can easily cut wood, non-ferrous metals, plastics, Plexiglas, fiber-glass reinforced sheets, foam and many other materials.

Are you a fan of vintage Christmas decorations? Well then, you're going to love how the finished box was decorated. Look for the blog post coming up on Thursday, December 10, 2015, for the finished project.

What You’ll Need

• Proxxon Table Saw
• Slats from an old pallet (2 at least 12” long and 2 at least 10” long)
• 1/8” plywood or Luan for the back (about 10” x 12” so you can trim it to size)
• Ruler
• Pencil
• Safety glasses
• Wood glue
• Hammer and finishing nails (optional)
• Corner clamp (optional)

Steps to Follow

1. Trim one end of each of the 4 strips of wood to be sure they are square.
2. Cut two pieces at 12” long and 2 pieces at 10” long.
3. Cut a 45° mitered corner on each end of each piece, about 1” from the end of the piece. That gives you 2 pieces 10” long and 2 pieces 8” long.
4. Cut a groove about 3” from the front edge of each piece, about ½ the thickness of the wood, and wide enough to fit the back panel. This gives you a recessed groove to hold the back in place.
5. Trim the 1/8” plywood to fit the groove of the shadowbox.
6. Assemble using wood glue. Optionally use finishing nails as well. TIP: A corner clamp makes assembly even easier.

Thanksgiving Turkey Framed Decor

Hi everyone! Tammy Santana here from the creative lifestyle blog, www.TammySantana.com, with my take on a fun home decor project that is perfect for a gift or just to showcase on an entry table or mantle.

Supplies I used:

Proxxon Hot Wire Cutter

Smoothfoam 

Metallic copper and gold paint

Ribbon

Zip Dry adhesive

Dollar Store Frame

Straight Pin

Red glitter cardstock

Needle and thread

How I made it:

 

Cut your turkey shape out of the Smoothfoam and freehand the squiggle cuts inside the shape. Separate the pieces a little bit to create the raised effect.

 

 Add a little Zip Dry adhesive to the back of the piece to keep the pieces separated and paint metallic copper. Drybrush some metallic gold on the top of the piece sticking out. Add pieces of red glitter cardstock and a black straight pin head for the eye.

 Cut and heat seal the ribbon with the Proxxon Hot Wire Cutter and glue to the back of the turkey body.

 Add some fabric adhesive tape to the ribbon

 Adhere the finished turkey to the outside of the frame. Add some glitter cardstock to the inside of the frame and attach the back onto the frame.

 And that's it...easy peezy!

xoxo Tammy