Aw… My little lady is growing up. We arrived to Kuwait, enrolled in a parent and tot ballet program, and arrived to the first class only to discover that the ballet slippers I was sure would last her until next summer were already too small. Sad day. Those little slippers – her very first pair – have been a part of many lovely memories and a ridiculous amount of cuteness {like this and this and this} and I couldn’t bear to get rid of them. After a couple moment’s thought, I remembered seeing a ballet-themed shadow box on a marthastewart.com long ago and immediately knew what I wanted to do. The slippers full of happy memories were too adorable to be tucked away anyways.
I picked up an inexpensive shadow box at Ikea, chose a piece of scrapbook paper from my collection, and grabbed a couple of cotton balls along with 4 non-permanent mounting squares.
First off, I prepared the slippers by tying the bows neatly and placing a cotton ball in each toe just to give them a little bit of depth.
Then I place 2 mounting squares on the sole of each slipper, pressing them down firmly to ensure they were stuck well.
After trimming my paper down to size, I simply stuck the slippers on how I wanted them.
I reassembled the frame, and that was it – project complete! Miss G showed her approval by squealing, giggling, and asking a gazillion questions the moment I showed her new keepsake to her, which made my mama heart happy.
Though we used ballet slippers for this project, I think it would be adorable with a first pair of actual shoes, or any ‘first’ item for that matter… Baby’s first hat, a coming home from the hospital sleeper, a first karate belt, or a first medal.
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Awwwe!!! So Adorable! I have Maggie’s first ballet shoes (white ones)… but she grew out of them so fast, so they’re not as lovely and well-worn as Gracen’s are! I love the keepsake box!