Are you a crafty hoarder? I am guilty. I admit it! I am always tucking away cute packaging and boxes in the hope that I will be able to pull them out and make something creative with them at some time in the future. Last February, when all the Valentine’s Day candy was on clearance, I purchased a heart-shaped box of chocolates. The box was so pretty that I tucked it away for future use. When the “Love Story” collection arrived on my doorstep, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it; and so I created this cute shadowbox using the pretty “Love Story” papers, stickers and chipboard elements.
To recreate my project, you first need a heart shaped box to decorate. I had saved the insert to my chocolate box which made it really easy to put together the shadowbox shelves. And if you don’t have a box on hand, no worries. The stores are full of Valentine’s Day goodies right now, it is the perfect reason to treat yourself!
Collect your materials. The "Love Story" collection kit
includes the Element Sticker sheet with the pretty banner sticker, and you will
need the coordinating 6 x 13 chipboard set as well. I used the “Cupcake Roses” paper to decorate
the outside of the box, and the “So Sweet” paper for the shelves inside. I cut strips the height of the box plus a
couple inches and adhered around the perimeter of the heart. I used clothespins to hold the paper in place
while the adhesive dried. (Clothespins
are a crafters best friend!) I trimmed
the paper down to about an inch above the rim all the way around. To get a smooth finish, I cut slits about
half an inch apart and folded and glued in segments all the way around. I trimmed strips of the pink reverse of the
“Cupcake Roses” paper to the exact interior height of the box and adhered
around the inner perimeter.
Next, I traced the insert and used it as a guide to fold the insert to make my shelves, and adhered it inside the heart. I chose a variety of stickers and the chipboard pieces to decorate the inside of my shadowbox, and used foam tape to raise the pieces to different heights for a real 3D effect. I embellished the cupcake chipboard piece with glitter glue to make it really stand out.
The little “truffles” sitting on the shelf were created by
crumpling paper scraps and wrapping them with cellophane and tying with bakers
twine. If you spritz the paper lightly with
water or an ink spray, they crumple up more easily. I used Glue Dots to adhere
them along the top shelf of my shadowbox. Once my bon-bons were in place, I attached the banner sticker.
Once the glue was dry and all the interior finishing
touches complete, I glued eyelet lace around the whole piece. I just love how it turned out and look
forward to February 1st when I can include it in my holiday décor!
Are you creating Valentine projects with our Echo Park Paper collections? We'd love to see them. Simply upload them to our Facebook page HERE to share your ideas with our community of crafters.