Wondertime: 3-D Keepsake Display - and More Joys of Parenting Young Children

3-D Keepsake Display

by: Ann P. Lewis

Remember dioramas from elementary school? The solar system rendered in Styrofoam and dental floss? I welcomed an excuse to make them as a grown-up. So instead of squirreling away the artifacts that mark my children's many milestones, I decided to display them diorama-style, in shadow boxes.

Ideas for Display

A once-favorite toy

A progression of socks from smallest to largest

Baby's first hat

Shoes (a pair or just one)

Web Exclusive Display Ideas
Field Mice: Cut paper in strips to make blades of grass and attach them to the background with double-stick tape. Pin stuffed mice (or other animals) above the grass, as if they're leaping about.

Bear in the Forest: Cut drawing paper to size and create a forest with your child (draw, paint, or make a collage with natural materials that fit in the box). Or print-to-size a digital photo of trees. With T-pins, attach a stuffed bear to the background.

Fish & Co.: Fish, whales, starfish, mermaids — you get the drift. All the toy fish in the sea need, well, a sea. For a watery effect, use drawing or colored tissue paper as a base, then add layers of torn, colored tissue paper (use a generic craft brush to moisten the tissue with slightly diluted white glue). Remember, wet tissue paper will often bleed, so choose compatible colors. Pin or tape the toy creatures in place.

In the Jungle: Draw, paint, or collage an environment suited to your child's favorite toy lion, tiger, monkey, or snake. For fun, hide a photo of your baby's face in the leaf canopy or in a flower: Where's baby?

Draw, paint, or collage a background on paper and use tape to place it in the box, or use tape to place it in the box, or use the ready-made shadow box background as is.

Consider displaying items in relation to others with conversation bubbles, or with labels that provide details about the objects' significance.

Using T-pins or straight pins, mount the items on the background, hiding pins if you wish.

Scrap paper, tissue paper, or construction paper

Shadow box display case (we used an 11- by 14- by 2-inch box by Umbra; $25 at containerstore.com)

Objects of choice (see Ideas for Display, left)

Double-stick tape

Straight pins or 1-inch hobby T-pins, available at hobby and fabric stores or online at safetypins.com