Nursery Shadow Boxes

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If you have been following along for any time now, it’s no secret that I love classic baby clothes. And at the very top of my list of classic baby clothes is Feltman Brothers. Brother and I both left the hospital in Feltman Brothers outfits 30 years ago and Mother still has them today. Continuing the family tradition, both of my babies left the hospital in Feltman Brothers gowns when they were born. Not only are these heirloom pieces so special to me, but they are just too pretty to tuck away in a closet somewhere.

Boys Dot Take Me Home Gown | Boys Dot Embroidered Take Me Home Gown

Earlier this summer I made a few updates to the nursery in order to get ready for baby Fletcher. On the top of my priority list was to figure out a way to keep these gorgeous heirloom gowns out on display long after my babies had worn them home.

I looked and looked but I could not find the shadowboxes I envisioned in my head. After getting a little creative I decided to customize store-bought shadowboxes to make them exactly what I wanted.

What You Need:

Shadowboxes – I used these from Michaels. I bought them on sale for 50% off making them $30 each
Paint – I used Annie Sloan chalk paint that I already had at home leftover from the nursery furniture
Glass Scraper
Spray Adhesive
Fabric of your choice – I used linen from Joann’s
Picture Hanging Wire
Straight Pins

Shadowbox Step by Step Tutorial

Start with your store-bought shadowboxes.

Remove the back pieces and set them both aside.

Paint the wood frames in the paint and color of your choosing. Much to Hubby’s dislike you can see that my choice in painting location is our dining room floor. I wouldn’t recommend that ; ) I propped the shadowboxes on cardboard boxes in order to easily reach the sides.

Paint two coats of paint, allowing each coat to fully dry. Once it is completely dry, use a glass scraper to scrape the excess paint from the glass.

Gather your fabric and your spray adhesive.

Cut two pieces of fabric for the shadowbox backing. Cut them sightly larger than the existing back piece (you will trim the excess later). Iron each piece to ensure there are no wrinkles in your fabric.

Take your two back pieces outside (you don’t want to use spray adhesive inside) and set them up on a cardboard box.

Lightly coat each piece with adhesive spray.

Lay your piece of fabric over the back while the adhesive spray is still tacky. Smooth out any wrinkles or creases with your hands.

Once the adhesive spray has dried trim the excess fabric from around the edges.

Use straight pins to attach your garment to the back piece of the shadowbox (the back has a foam layer). Reattach the back piece to the wood frame using the existing prongs and use picture hanging wire to hang the shadowbox on the wall.

And viola! Easy semi-custom shadowboxes to showcase the sweetest little gowns I’ve ever seen.

Im so glad we get to enjoy these gorgeous gowns as part of the nursery decor instead of hiding them in a closet somewhere.

These special heirloom pieces are worth showing off until they are handed down to the next generation one day.

I couldn’t resist reminiscing on my babies the day they came home from the hospital wearing their Feltman Brothers gowns. The picture above is John Davis in March 2016, and the picture below is Fletcher in June 2018.