In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. ~ Proverbs 3:6

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Newborn Shadow Boxes for Twin Boys



I think most moms have certain keepsakes from their baby's birth.  Many moms may even find some way to display those keepsakes.  I'm one of those moms.  Last month, I decided to display some of my one year old twin boys' newborn memorabilia in shadow boxes!  Here are the items that I chose to display for this project:

Hospital Footprints:  Our hospital made birth announcements with the traditional stamped baby feet for all of the new babies.  The announcements were hung on a bulletin board in the hallway of the labor and delivery wing.  Each announcement was blue or pink, depending on the gender, and next to the baby feet one of the nurses wrote the baby’s name, weight, length, birth date and time of birth.  When the mother was discharged, she could take her announcement home with her.

Hospital Hats:  I think most moms keep these hospital hats as memorabilia.  Our little guys actually wore these a lot their first few months of life.  We had several baby caps, but the hospital caps fit the boys the best.  We would put the hats on most nights to help keep their heads warm while they slept.

Hospital Pacifiers:  For awhile, these hospital pacifiers were the preferred pacifier for both boys.  And for the longest time, it was the ONLY pacifier Ethan would take.  We actually had four of these orange pacifiers from the hospital. Ethan wore out the first two pacifiers to the point of me throwing them away.  The remaining two he also wore out, but I kept them for memory’s sake.  I don’t think he took a different pacifier until about 10 months.  The hospital pacifiers were just a little softer than the same kind of pacifier I could find in stores, so I guess that’s why he liked it.

Picture of the first time Mommy held Baby skin to skin:  I remember these moments very well!  Holding my little guys for the first time was definitely emotional.  Since I had to have a c-section, I didn’t get to hold the boys skin to skin right after birth.  After I was brought back to my room and Daddy helped the nurses bath the babies, Mommy and Daddy got to spend alone time with our new little bundles of joy.  It was during that time that I was able to have skin to skin time with each baby before letting them nurse on me.  It was such a sweet moment feeling them up against me on the outside of the womb!  It was definitely one my favorite moments ever!  We made sure to get a picture of this sweet moment and post it to Instagram.  I printed my Instagram picture and displayed it in the frame.

Picture of Baby’s 20 week ultrasound:  The twenty week ultrasound is usually known as the detailed ultrasound.  We actually had a scare right before we had this ultrasound. I woke up with light bleeding that morning.  I remember being so thankful when I was able to watch these two little guys wiggle on the screen that day.  Seeing their activity and hearing their heartbeats gave me great reassurance that everything was going to be ok.



The shadow box project is a project I have been wanting to do for awhile. To make sure I didn't put it off any longer, I decided I would make the boys their own shadow box full of their individual memories as a special first birthday gift to them from me.  Obviously, they are too little to appreciate this now, but some day they will be big enough to appreciate it.  And yes, Mommy and Daddy also got the boys a toy for their birthday, so they didn't just get a shadow box of precious memories on their special day;)

Supplies needed for this project:
Shadow Boxes
Scrapbook paper (12x12)
Stickers
Hot glue gun and glue
Scissors
Baby memorabilia 

A few tips about this project:
*  I ordered my 12x12 white scrapbook shadow box online from Walmart.  I don't see it available on their website at the moment, but I paid around $12 for each frame.  Shadow boxes can be really expensive, and these were the most affordable ones I could find for the size I was looking for. 
 *  I bought all of my craft supplies from Hobby Lobby when scrapbooking supplies were on sale for %40 off.  Check Hobby Lobby's weekly ad, because they go on sale often.  For this project, I purchased a total of 3 pieces of paper (2 light green chevron and 1 navy striped), one sheet of baby boy stickers and one sheet of letter stickers.  The monogram is a wooden monogram found in the wood section of Hobby Lobby. I painted the monograms navy blue with some craft paint I already had.
*  I used hot glue as my adhesive, because hot glue sticks really well but will also come off of fabric if I needed it to.  Before gluing, be sure to lay everything out on the frame exactly like you want it.  I chose to do each frame's layout a little different from the other one.  
*  Shadow box projects will never be cheap unless you can find a used shadow box somewhere.  I did this project the most affordable way I could, and still spent about $35 for both boxes.  I always love a good upcycled project, but when I couldn't find shadow boxes to repurpose at my local Goodwills, I decided that it was worth it to spend the money and buy new.





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