Last month, we quietly slipped away for a family vacation. It had been so long since we had taken a really big vacation. Off we went, even the kiddos, to the beautiful Hawaiian Islands. We had such a blast exploring. We hiked to waterfalls, rode horses, swam in the most amazing lagoons with sea turtles, snorkeled, sailed, and peered into a sleeping volcano. Of course it is never long enough and I knew it was a complete success when my kids asked me when we could return. As I was unpacking the bags, I realized that the kids had picked up maps, brochures and oodles of pamphlets. To me, holding onto these meant something to them. So instead of putting them away in a box to collect dust, I scooped them up and decided to turn them into this vacation shadowbox.
The kids helped me find our favorite places from both islands. We also decided on circles for the shapes. Although my daughter really wanted to do hearts. Fortunately, for the men in my family we decided to opt for circles instead, but I’ll be creating a vacation shadowbox for her room with hearts. I wanted to keep this vacation shadowbox neutral, but it would look super cute if we did a heart instead of the last circle on the bottom right.
Anyway, we used a small measuring cup for our circles and began cutting them out one by one. I love how we used assorted artistic styles that varied between the brochures in the circles.
After a bit of preparation, we pinned these keepsakes into place on the backing of the vacation shadowbox.
I really love how it turned out. I can’t wait to hang it up in the family room. I know it will just have us Hawaiian dreaming of the islands. For the next one, I might even print out some photos of the family and mix it up a bit. The possibilities are endless.
This vacation shadowbox technique also works great with other favorite keepsakes such as concern tickets, invitations, showers, parties and more. It’s a creative way to preserve your memories and display them. For the full tutorial, please visit my post on DIY Network. Feel free to share what you create on your social media pages and don’t forget to tag me so I can see them too!
