Graduation is such an amazing accomplishment that I’m sure you want to hold dear to your heart. Whether it be from high school, trade school, or college, graduation is something that you want to celebrate and remember for decades to come. In today’s post, I’m going to share with how to make an easy DIY graduation shadowbox. These are a perfect way to showcase your accomplishment while displaying all of your graduation gear, including a decked out graduation cap.
DIY GRADUATION SHADOWBOX
Let me first off by saying that I am super late on writing this blog post for you all. Both Titi and I had our undergraduate graduation caps decorated and one of the things that I really wanted to do was create a DIY graduation shadowbox for the both of us. About a year ago, I experimented and created my shadowbox first. I ended up giving it to my parents to keep, and now I’m going to show you how I created Titi’s shadowbox. Hopefully we’ll also be able to give it to his parents back in South Africa for them to keep one day.
Supplies:
- Shadowbox (I used the 16 in x 20 in)
- Sewing pins (as many as you need to pin all of your items down)
- Graduation gear (cap, sash, tassel, diploma, pamphlet)
- Polaroid style pictures (I got mine from FoxPrint)
- Tape
Directions
- Open up your shadowbox and arrange your items as you like. Have fun with this step and arrange your items exactly how you like.
- Pin all of your items down to the base of the shadowbox. The one that I used had a fabric backing so this part was easy. Try to pin as much as you can to keep everything in place.
- Tape your photos down
- Place the glass top over the fabric base and close it shut. Ta-da! You’re done!
Tips & Advice
- The shadowbox comes with a few push pins but you’re going to need more than that. I wish I would’ve thought about this when I made my first shadowbox. I only used the ones that it came with and it was difficult to get everything to lay down flat.
- It’s easier to fit your graduation gown into the shadowbox if you fold it up first to fit the fabric base. Then you can pin it down, so it doesn’t move out of place.
- I taped the photos down to the graduation gown. They weren’t super sturdy or anything but once you put the glass top on, then the photos don’t move around.
For our shadowboxes, I included our caps, tassels, photos that I printed from FoxPrints, and our graduation pamphlets. These came out so much better than I could’ve imagined! I think a shadowbox is a great way to encapsulate your memories from graduation while also giving you some great wall décor to hang up in your home. Graduation is just one of those times in your life that you want to remember and cherish.
Have you ever thought about making a DIY graduation shadowbox before? If so, what did you include in yours?
