Sunday evening, all is quiet around the house, and today I’ve managed to finish another 52. Even better, I’ve got time to write about it, and another one that’s also done and dusted.
Completed
Make a shadow box
For years I’ve seen people make cool shadow boxes of all different themes: Christmas, Valentine’s Day, etc. I’d always wanted to make them, and knew it wouldn’t be too difficult. It was just about prioritising the time for it.
This one was left towards the back half of the year for the very same reason – prioritising the time.
After my last post mentioned which 52s I still had left to go, I decided to bite the bullet. I jumped online and searched for some shadow box templates. I saw this recommendation for a gorgeous design from MySVGPlanet on Etsy:
It ticked the boxes for a few reasons:
- I’m a sucker for purple with a neutral palette
- Halloween is coming up
- It looked fun
Of course, me being me, it meant that I immediately dived into the deep end. No simple three-layer shadow boxes here.
There are 15 layers.
Whoops.
It also wouldn’t be a Kelly project if I didn’t screw it up here and there. For example, some of the layers are backwards. Some of the layers, my machine didn’t cut the whole way through, so I used my craft knife to cut the pieces out. Some layers, I gave up and used it as an opportunity to play with the depth and cut settings on my machine. I nailed it and got the right settings, but not before I was too lazy to stick the cardstock down with masking tape, so the paper got caught in the machine.
New sticky mats have been ordered. These ones have been going for years and finally reached the point where they can’t be saved.
Anyway, it got done over a few nights. It would have been much faster if I’d had the right settings from the start. I’ve saved them now, which means the next time I decide to make a shadow box it will be much easier.
Here’s how the finished product turned out.
It’s hanging up on the wall behind me for now. Part of me thinks this should become my “theme” shadow box, which gets replaced based on the next upcoming events.
Which means Christmas next – yikes! Don’t blink or it will be here!
Finish the Big Life Journal with my son
Towards the end of last year, my son was really struggling with resilience. In an attempt to help work on it, I decided to buy the Big Life Journal. I had read some reviews and thought it would be a great bonding experience for us. Not to mention remind him that his dad and I are there to help when he’s having big feelings.
Honestly, it was pretty fun. It’s filled with stories of people who have done amazing things. It also asks the child questions that really make them think. For example, L had to answer some questions about his positive traits. It came at a perfect time when he was doubting himself over some things, so it was a great exercise.
Right now we’re struggling with the fact that he doesn’t enjoy writing. The journal does say that their “journal buddy” can help by writing things down for the child if they don’t want to. We alternated writing, and my husband even got in on the act as well.
He had really been dragging his feet to get this finished. I’m not ashamed to say that I did offer him a reward if he could finish it, as an acknowledgement of all the hard work he put in. And I’m very proud of him for pushing through. I’ve given him several pop quizzes since, and he’s passed each one, so it does seem like the information did actually sink in.
So was it worth it? Absolutely. Would I say this is single-handedly the reason why he seems to be handling his emotions better this year? Probably not. It’s definitely helped, and it taught him some things, but we’ve been doing a lot of work with him in this space overall.
I would still recommend it for parent and child bonding time. It was fun to set aside some time on Sunday nights and work through this together. I’m sure more crafty kids might have more fun decorating it; L wasn’t all that keen. But ultimately the message got through, and that’s all that really counts.
There are only 13 weeks left in the year, and 17 items left on the list. Think I can make it? Is there anything you still want to achieve this year?
Journaling for kids is an amazing outlet and I think prompts really help!
And that shadowbox is INCREDIBLE! So cute and I love the colour combos 🙂
Thank you! Once I got the machine cutting the pieces out properly, it made it so much easier and more enjoyable. I’m already scouting ones for Christmas haha.
I really love journalling, and I’m hoping it helps him too. It certainly taught him a lot about gratitude!
That shadow box is so cute and what a wonderful timely seasonal decor 🙂
Thank you! It’s strange how in Australia celebrating Halloween is actually pretty controversial. People are either for or against…I’m for – why not just have fun being spooky for a bit?