Achievements & milestones can be a funny thing.  They can mean different things to different age brackets.  My boys tried their hand at organized sports for the first time this year by joining soccer teams.  They were each given a medal at the end of their summer season.  To an adult, the medal was cheap, not very well made and essentially valueless.  To my kids, it was the world!  They won a medal & couldn’t wait to tell anyone with ears.  To make that moment last as long as possible, I wanted to make a keepsake they could not only cherish now, but could also stir up memories many years into the future.  A shadow box was the best thing I could think of to memorialize their achievement.  I didn’t want the project to break the bank so I bought some dollar store picture frames for the glass and went with standard pine boards for under a buck as well.  Armed with those supplies, some leftover fabric and paint I was ready to build.

1x4-price 1x4-selection

If you know ahead of time you are going to paint a project, less expensive lumber can be used.  Do a bit of digging & you can find some decent pieces to use.

 

shadow box 01

 

shadow box 02

I began by ripping a tiny amount off the factory edge to give it more uniformity.

 

shadow box 04

I flipped the board so the “new” edge was against the rip fence & cut the pieces to a final width of 1 1/2″.
shadow box 05

The remaining piece was cut to the same width as well.  One 4′ board was enough to make 2 frames.

 

shadow box 06

To make the rabbet, I cut a 1/4″ deep groove along the entire length of the wood.

 

shadow box 07

Finishing the rabbet, I made a 1 1/4″ deep cut to meet the first cut.

 

shadow box 08

Using a miter sled, I cut 45° angles on all of the pieces.

 

shadow box 09 shadow box 10

Make sure the miter cuts are oriented so the rabbet side of the piece ends up being the shorter side.

 

shadow box 11 shadow box 12

After a test fit, I applied glue to both ends of each piece.  Using a strap clamp tighten everything so all the miters line up nicely.

 

shadow box 13

Using 1/4″ MDF I cut the back boards to 8 1/2″ x 11″.

 

shadow box 14

Laying out my sons medal and 3″ x 5″ scrap piece, I traced the scrap to indicate where I was to cut out the photo holder.

 

shadow box 15

My bandsaw made quick work of cutting out where a photo was going to be attached later.

 

shadow box 16

Some 2P-10 CA glue made bridging the gap left behind by the bandsaw super easy.

 

shadow box 17

After some quick sanding you can see the CA glue did a great job.

 

shadow box 18 shadow box 19

After some finish sanding I noticed one miter had some killer grain continuity.  If more corners were like this, I would have reconsidered painting the frame.  Unfortunately the grain only matched up like this on one joint.

 

shadow box 20

Cut several strips of 1/4″ MDF for the parts to make up the spacer frame.

 

shadow box 21

Cut the ends of these to 45° as well.  Make the final lengths of these pieces so they fit inside the rabbet in the frame.

 

shadow box 22

To make quick work of the inner frames, I resorted back to some CA glue to hold them together.

 

shadow box 23

Once completed, the inner frames should fit just inside the rabbets we made earlier in the outer pine frame.

 

shadow box 24

Go ahead and choose you finish of choice.  I opted for flat black spray paint as I sometimes feel the muted color of black highlights the contents of the frame more.  That and I’m a sucker for black.

 

shadow box 25

To give the frames a bit more protection and a more elegant look, I finished up with 1-2 coats os satin spray lacquer.

 

shadow box 26

You will notice the corners of the cutouts in the back piece have been painted black as well.  This is to eliminate any brown MDF showing through when the fabric cut & applied in the next step.

 

shadow box 27 shadow box 28

Spray the fabric and/or backer board with some spray adhesive and apply the fabric making sure it is smooth & wrinkle free.  You really only have one shot at this as this stuff sticks permanently on contact.  So take you time.

 

shadow box 29 shadow box 30

Cut away any excess fabric and roll the edges over to the back.  Cut an “X” pattern in the windowed cutouts and fold those flaps back as well.

 

shadow box 31 shadow box 32 shadow box 33

Snag the glass from the $1 picture frame setting it in place.  Insert the inner frame, sandwiching the glass in between.

 

shadow box 34

It is a good idea to clean the inside of the glass at this point as it won’t be accessible from here on out.

 

shadow box 35 shadow box 36

I placed the medal and the backer board in place and adjusted the medal so it was straight.
shadow box 37

Secure the medal in place on the back using a few dabs of glue.

 

shadow box 38

Using a framing point setter, I secured the backer board in place.  Framing points come in 2 variations, solid and flexible.  The solid ones are used for permanent applications while the flexible ones can be bent out of the way if you want to change the contents of the frame at a later date.  I almost always use the solid ones as I rarely change things out on custom frames like these.  If it were going to be an annual portrait frame, flexible would be a good choice.

 

shadow box 39

Go ahead at this point and tape your picture into the window.

 

shadow box 40

I like to apply a dust shield to most of what I frame.  Use a double-sided tape applicator to apply tape to the entire perimeter.

 

shadow box 41

Some inexpensive kraft paper then gets applied to the double-sided tape.

 

shadow box 42

Crease the paper to indicate the frames edge, and use a sharp knife to cut away excess paper.

 

shadow box 43

Measure and find center for a sawtooth hanger.  Geometric center is good if your frame is symmetrical.  If it’s not, you may need to offset the hanger slightly to the heavier side of the frame.

 

 

shadow box 44

The use of needle nose pliers makes hammering in the small brad nails a lot easier.  Even if you don’t have big fat fingers like me, this tip still proves useful.

 

A B

And done!  So for less than $3 a frame I made one for each of my two boys.  My wife and I had differing opinions on the final layout so I made one of each.  Which one do you prefer?  Let me know in the comments your preferred layout!

6 Responses

  1. Anthony Hall

    Excellent project Nick. Thanks for detailed explanation with links to the tools. BTW, I appreciate the quality of your videos, the image quality, sound quality, lighting & framing of the shots are exceptional.

    Reply
    • Nick

      thank you so much Anthony – I put a lot of effort into making my videos & articles the best that I can get them and I’m glad it doesn’t go unnoticed

      Reply
  2. Chuck

    Thanks for all the valuable information they really look nice both frames but I think I like the bottom one more. GREAT JOB

    Reply
    • Nick

      no problem Chuck – thank you so much for checking it out – it was a nice fun little project

      Reply

Let me know your thoughts