shadow box

I finished putting together a shadow box with a bunch of mementos from Nolan's birth. I've been keeping everything in a pretty box but wanted a way to display some things too. I built a little shelf inside the frame since there were lots of items that I wanted to prop up without mounting them to the backing. The shelf is secured to the box with L-brackets... I could probably paint the brackets white to blend in better, but they're mostly hidden by the frame anyways.

In the top half I put Nolan's birth measuring tape (with a little mark showing his tiny size at just 6 inches), my favorite ultrasound photo showing his profile at 19 weeks, a glass ornament with his name and birthday from my cousin Erin and her husband Ryan, an angel figurine from my Aunt Ruthann and Uncle Tim, our hospital bands, and a blanket & cross pin from Holy Sews which provided micro-preemie clothing for Nolan.

The bottom half holds a stuffed bear from Nolan's funeral (I have a different one from the hospital that sits on my nightstand), an angel keychain with tiny baby feet from my Aunt Cindy and Uncle Roy, Nolan's footprints from the hospital, a granite cross from the cemetery (it was two pieces cut from the same stone, and Nolan is buried with the second cross), and our family photo. I love the quote on the card with his footprints: "There is no hand or foot so small that it cannot leave an imprint on the world."

Putting this together took a while; I worked on it every day for the last week. The process has been therapeutic as I've spent a lot of time thinking about all these little objects and how to arrange them. I have so many memories from such a short time, and I don't want to forget anything.