I Love to Create: Terrarium Picture Frames

You’ve seen terrariums in jars, bowls, domes and more – but have you seen one in a picture frame? Today on I Love to Create I am going to show you how to create your own extra kitschy terrarium style shadow box picture frame, no water or dirt necessary.



Terrarium week continues with a craft project! Grab your gnomes, glitter and favorite photograph and follow along.



SUPPLIES
Tulip Fashion Glitter (silver)
Krylon Silver Foil Metal Spray Paint
Aleene’s Tacky Glue
Shadow Box
Moss
Aleene’s Crystal Clear Tacky Spray
Red Polka Dot Paper
Postcard
Paint Brush
Collage Pauge
Sponge Brush
Scissors
Liquid Fusion Glue
Favorite Photograph
Naughty Secretary Club Terrarium Kit (gnome, deer, tree & mushroom)



SPRAY PAINT
Shadow boxes are available in all shapes and sizes at your craft store. Take yours apart and take just the frame outside. Lay the frame on newspaper and spay several coats of shiny silver spray paint allowing to dry completely between coats.



GLITTERAFY
Once your shadow box has dried completely take inside for further adornment. Using a paint brush apply a thin coat of Aleene’s Tacky Glue on the front side of the frame. Sprinkle silver Tulip Fashion Glitter into wet glue.



POSTCARD
To give my photograph a fun backdrop I decided to decoupage my picture to a vintage postcard of the Ozark Highway using a sponge brush and Collage Pauge. I cut out my family from the picture removing the orginal background.



ADDING DIMENSION
As if the postcard was not enough, I decided to use some red and white polka dotted scrap booking paper in the background as well. I trimmed the paper to the size of the frame, coated the back of my postcard with Aleene’s Crystal Clear Tacky Spray and adhered the postcard to the paper. Once this dried completely I applied another coat of Aleene's Tacky Spray to the back of the polka dotted paper to attach it to the back wall of my shadow box.



GLUE
Once your glitter had dried it is time to add the fun stuff. Decide where to place your kitschy critters inside the shadow box. Small toy animals, cupcake toppers, trees from the model train department and dried moss are all good suggestions. Use Liquid Fusion Glue to adhere everything in place.



DISPLAY AND BASK IN THE GLORY
Your work here is done and now you have an adorable picture frame with an organic feel that even the blackest of thumbs could not hurt.



This may possibly be one of my favorite craft projects of all time. Let's face it not everything we make gets displayed in the house, some things are banished to the studio forever. This frame however sits proudly in my dining room right next to a much larger gnome. Know any other fun terarrium style crafts out there? I keep thinking I am going to embroider a big terrarium on something using Sublime Stitching's Gnomes & Fairies pattern.

Suggested Reading:
A Journey Through Terrarium Time
Wedding Themed Terrarium
Homes for Gnomes: The Top 10 Terrarium Tutorials of the Web