Fun Time, a Framed Shadowbox

This month at Alpha Stamps, we were encouraged to do some art representing our passion, our craft room, or something we collected. I'm not much of a collector, but I do love toys, especially vintage toys. When I mentioned that to Leslie (Queen of Alpha Stamps), she said she would make a collage sheet with some of my favorite toys on it if I'd supply her with photos. Heck yeah! Bonus, she ended up making two collage sheets: one, some general toys, and two: circus themed toys. She even added a few fun toys that I now wish I owned, like the Happy Hooligan tin toy, which you can see in oval frame in the upper right corner of the photo below. Here's what I made with those collage sheets, plus some fun dollhouse sized frames and a wooden crate. I like to think the little boy below is visiting a toy museum, filled with toys I love. These toys are so fun, they are practically bursting out of their frames!

The small frame shadowbox is just deep enough host a few real toys in front of the wall of art.

Here's the back of the Fun Time museum. With the shadowbox alone, the frame will stand on its own, but it will lean a bit. I wanted this piece to sit flat, so I added a wooden block to prop it up. Works like a charm!

I liked the way the shadowbox fit exactly inside frame if you decide not to forego using the glass. Included in the kit is an extra piece of cardboard that the tabs on the sides of the box fit into. That's great to use if you want to use the glass on your work, but I chose to not use it in this piece. I used an exacto knife to cut off the tabs on the front of the box so it fit more snugly. It would have been better if I removed those tabs before I had partially glued the box, but hey, live and learn.

Here's a closeup of the inside of the shadowbox so you can see the toys better. The black plastic alien and the rubber duck are tiny, and just fit into the miniature fruit crate. The dog is an old Cracker Jack toy, and the train came from Alpha Stamps. The toy metal phone in the bottom frame is one of my favorite toys. It sits on the table next to my sofa, so I can make and receive important imaginary calls.

I hope you enjoyed the Fun Time museum. For a complete list of supplies, click here.