Following are the instructions for the Heritage Shadow Box Craft that was presented in the Heritage Craft Video Series. It can be printed out or saved as a PDF document.

Supplies

• Unfinished shadow box from a craft store [Mine is from Michaels.]
• Old frame the size of the photo
• A plastic coin collector case
  
• A copy of the photo of an ancestor
• Heirloom
• Mod Podge and Craft Glue
• Black Craft Paint
• Finishing Wax Paste
• Cheese Cloth
• Painter's Tape
• Wood Stain Marker in a light stain shade
• Course sand paper
• Paint brushes
• Heavy Duty Hairspray
  
• Paper to cover your work surface

Instructions

• Affix painter's tape to the glass near the edge of the wood on both the outside and inside of the box.
• Sand the edges heavily to give the shadow box a distressed look.
• Once done with sanding, dust box off with a piece of the cheese cloth.
• Sand the old frame as well.
• Paint the shadow box and the old frame all over with black craft paint.
• After the paint dries, sand the edges again, especially in the areas where you distressed it the first time.
• Paint a 2nd coat of black paint on the shadow box only. [One coat of paint and sanding for the frame.]
• After the paint dries, sand the distressed areas again once again.
• Taking the light shade of stain marker, go over the exposed wood areas to 'age' the new wood.
• With a piece of cheese cloth, rub the stain dry.
• Take another piece of cheese cloth and get a 'glob' or a bit of the finishing wax paste out of the can.
• Apply a thin coat of the wax to the shadow box and old frame.
• After 15 minutes the wax should be set. Use a clean piece of cheese cloth to buff the wax into the wood making it shine.
• If you are using a printout of a photo like I am, you'll need to seal the ink by spraying it with heavy duty hair spray.
• After 15 minutes, it should be dry.
  
• Because my heirloom is a medal, I purchased a dollar-sized coin collector case. To make the medal fit into the foam insert, I cut a small notch out of the foam at the top.
• Brush Mod Podge on the back of the the copy of your ancestor's photo and affix to the inside of the shadow box. Then apply more Mod Podge to the inside of the back of the shadow box covering the photo and the back.
• Apply craft glue to the back of the old frame and place it on top of the photo.
• Apply craft glue to the back of the plastic coin collector case and affix to the design.
• Let everything dry thoroughly.
  

Done! If you'd like to see the photos of each step, please head on over to my YouTube Channel to see the corresponding Heritage Craft Video: Big Paw Paw's Shadow Box.

~Caroline

Here's another heritage gift idea for the holidays. It's easy & inexpensive to make. And the results were fantastic, I think. Some of them kinda look like painted portraits. This one is gonna be hard for me to give away. Seriously.

~Caroline

Help me! I'm stuck in craft world, and I'm totally blaming it all on Pinterest.com. It's like crack. I'm totally addicted. But? My addiction has led me to this next heritage project video. The project is:

[drumroll please]

Heritage Ornaments! These were fun, and the results were out of this world. At least, I think so. So here's the how-to:

Here's another heritage craft project idea:

The pics were done using my iPhone and for whatever reason they didn't come out very well. Oh well. I used Photoshop Elements 7 and Adobe Premiere Elements 7 to make the slideshow. And the Caribbean music has nothing to do with the project. It's just that I'd like to be in the Caribbean right now on my own island listening to this music. *snort*

~Caroline