Christmas Wishes Shadow Box Book with Tutorial

In this piece, Santa’s just been down the chimney delivering toys to all the little girls and boys.  As soon as I saw the Tim Holtz Christmas Wishes Worn Book Cover I knew exactly what I was going to do.

I thought this book would make a great shadowbox book with a vintage fireplace scene surrounded by toys from Santa.

On the inside cover, I framed paper by braiding the mini pine and berry garland with the tiny red tree garland.  The “Night Before Christmas” poem on parchment is just something I cooked up for the project.  Please feel free to download the image below and use it in your artwork.

Making the Shadowbox

The shadow box is made out of pieces of chipboard.  Two of the pieces measure 6 ½” by ¾” and two pieces measure 4 ¾” x ¾”.  These measurements create a box that just fits on the inside back cover of the book.  With the depth of the pieces being ¾”, it gives you room on the other side of the cover (where the poem is) for bulkier embellishment and still allows for closing the book.  I painted the edges of the chipboard then covered it in paper from the St. Nicholas paper pad.

Next, I glued the pieces together and then backed the box with more paper from the paper pad.

The final step was to glue the box into the book.

The Chimney

The chimney is made from chipboard.  Two of the chipboard pieces measure 2” x 1 ¼” and two pieces measure ¾” x 1 ¼”.  I inked the edges of the chipboard then covered it with paper.

To create the look of snow on the chimney, I first used white paint.  The paint was almost dried out which made it easier to apply it thickly.

Once the paint was dry I used Glossy Accents to add an icy look.

The final step was to attach Santa to the chimney and to glue the chimney to the top of the shadow box.  I used color pencils to make his suit a darker red.

The Inside Details

At inside top of the box, I used a combination of borders that were in the paper pack and ribbon.  I added toys, stocking and the clock images that came from various collage sheets.  Hanging from the fireplace are mini stocking ornaments.  I also used various buttons and holly picks.

The logs are made from sticks and topped with orange and red Dazzlers (from Glitter Art Institute) to look like glowing embers.

 

The fireplace mantle is a chipboard die cut that I covered with paper.  I also cut an extra strip of chipboard to create a top for the fireplace.  This gave me room to put items on the top.  I used 3 layers of foam core tape to attach the fireplace to the back of the shadow box and to make it pop off the back.