IKEA Travel Shadow Box

NEW YORK IN A BOX

The big apple...the city of dreams 

The thing I loved most about New York was its vibrant and energetic atmosphere. Day and night the city was alive and buzzing with flashy neon lights and people from all walks of life. Just as Alicia Keys said it would be...

Now you're in New York
These streets will make you feel brand new
Big lights will inspire you
Hear it from New York, New York, New York!

Despite having just under two days in New York we managed to visit all the major tourist spots on Manhattan Island including the Statue of Liberty, Wall Street, Time Square, Central Park and Ground Zero as well as a 3 hour Les Miserables production on Broadway!

And now I have something to remember all those happy moments by....in one place. I often collect little momentos on our travels which 9 out of 10 times go for a nice ride in my suitcase and then land in a drawer and never get seen again. But not this time, no this time they all made it into this nifty travel themed shadow box :)

Having only lived in Hong Kong for a few months I am still finding my away around, especially when it comes to finding anything craft related.  

I'm sure there are many cheaper alternatives to the shadow box I bought, but because I was too excited to start this project I went to the only place I knew for sure would have photo frames....... IKEA.....again! 

The exact frame I purchased was this Ribba Shadow Box from IKEA for HK$90

When I was in New York I had this project in mind so made a point of collecting all our tickets, coins, pamphlets and Broadway programmes. 

HOW I MADE IT

1. Flip the grey paper insert (top right picture) to the reverse white side - use this as your background
2. Cover this with pictures and quotes
3. Arrange and glue down your thicker paper items like tickets and coffee holders
4. Open the frame, place it upright as it will stand on the shelf or wall and arrange coins, notes and trinkets on the bottom ledge of the frame.
5. Put the frame back together, hang it up and admire you handy work :)

I am really happy with how it turned out, and so is my boyfriend. He even asked me to do one for every country that we travel too. Now I wish I had kept more keepsakes from our previous trips to Thailand and Singapore.

My shadow box was inspired by this travel display roundup on Pop Sugar - How to Display Travel Souvenirs

Since searching Pinterest a bit more I have discovered many more cool uses for shadowboxes. I will definitely be doing these more often in the future.

These are some of my favourites

Left: Merry Xmas Shadow Box - by Adriana L via Pinterest

Top Right: Scrapbooking Shadow Box - by Scrapper at Heart

Bottom Right: Baby Birth Shadow Box - by Taking Care of Monkey Business