You won’t believe how easy it is to make the perfect customized newborn shadow box. Learn how to make a personalized baby shadow box with a few basic supplies and keepsakes!
I have seen some pretty creative newborn shadow box ideas lately, and knew this was something I wanted to do with our twins. There is a little corner in the hallway outside their bedroom; I felt like this would be a perfect place to display some newborn mementos.
Enter my decision to make two newborn shadow boxes with all of our keepsakes from the hospital.
Here’s what I kept:
- hospital hat and kimono top (the ones given to us by the hospital)
- the footprints from their “souvenir birth certificates”
- ankle bracelet identification tags – I used two in Miss. B’s shadow box, since the back of hers had a stamp that reads “twin #2”
- the identification card from the hospital bassinet
- the socks the babies wore home from the hospital (so small!)
- a photo from the night they were born – I edited the pictures and reduced the color saturation level by about 50%
I bought two shadow boxes from Michaels during a BOGO sale as well as pink & blue scrapbook paper and two little wooden letters – R and B. I painted the letters pink and blue to match the paper I would be mounting some of my keepsakes on.
First, I arranged everything on the back board – walking away and coming back with fresh eyes to make sure I liked the positioning of all my items. I decided to do a mirror image of my first arrangement in the second shadow box. This way the boxes are not too similar.
I displayed my two newborn shadow boxes outside the nursery. This was for several reasons. One: I’m not a big fan of hanging newborn pictures in the nursery itself. I think the nursery should be a room for the babies to grow in, explore, and enjoy. Two: I wanted to keep the shadow boxes close to the nursery as a reminder of how much they have grown and changed. Three: The corner just outside the nursery was pretty empty looking.
My sister gave us a collage frame filled with newborn and baptism pictures, which I decided to hang on the opposite wall from the shadow boxes. I love this project, and constantly find myself looking over at the keepsakes and telling myself I can’t believe just how tiny they were, and how blessed we are to have two happy and healthy babies in our lives.
UPDATE: Here are the shadow boxes in our new home. This is still one of my favorite DIY projects!
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Well done and very touching…………………
Those turned out great! Nice location and Loree’s collage looks great with them.
I am currently searching for tips to make a shadow box for my 7 month old baby boy that died of SIDS in 2009. I am open to any ideas because this is something that is extremely special to me. Thank you in advance!
My daughter has made up a shadow box of her deceased baby, but when hung up the door will not stay closed ? I will say there is a small teddy bear, with his nose pressing up to glass. Is there a way of securing the door? We have looked at Hobby Lobby for a decorative hook/eye latch,no luck Do you think Velcro could work ? Would so enjoy hearing from you. Thanks, Nana
How do you attach clothes items to the back of the shadow box?
I just used photo quality double-sided tape.