In the early 70's my mother-in-law found some ornate frames that looked like carved and gilded wood, but were actually made of some kind of styrofoam. She decided to use one as a shadowbox for a lighted figurine of an old-fashioned couple on a loveseat. My husband made the box for her, which she papered with flocked contact paper. She used white fake fur as carpet and velvet for curtains and a skirted table. She made a lamp from beads, using a clear straw as a chimney, and made a chandelier by bashing a plastic wedding goblet that she painted with amber glass paint and trimmed with jewelry chain and findings. She was way before her time!
In March of 2009, my daughter was adding old family photos to her blog and lo and behold, there was the original 1970s shadowbox on the wall over the heads of my husband, my mother and me. She apologized for the quality of the picture, saying she was just learning to take pictures when she made it. I don't care; I'm just happy that she found it.
Really pretty figurines that could serve as nightlights were quite popular in the 70s. Of course, I wanted a shadowbox, too, so Ruth made one for me, also, using a figurine I had purchased, a girl in pink curtsying as if she had just finished some kind of performance.
Ultimately, my mother-in-law bought more frames, my husband made more boxes, and she made shadowboxes for her daughter, her three sisters and a sister-in-law, and my mother.
In those days, there wasn't much available for the miniatures crafter, at least in El Paso. By the time she made the last one we had become expert at searching through old buttons and jewelry boxes and scouring the town for little doo-dads to use in the shadowboxes. (This was also about the time I was trying to make things for my daughter's dollhouse, too.)
Since they didn't have a cover, by the early 90's the shadowboxes were the worse for wear, damaged after almost 20 years of exposure to desert dryness and dust; lamps had come apart because the glue had dried out, etc. Because I had become quite active as a miniaturist in the years since she made them, Ruth asked me if I would redo hers, making her some new tables and plants, etc.
After I refurbished hers I did mine, as well as the one she had made for my mother. On a visit, I also redid the one belonging to her remaining one sister, for whom I made the 55th anniversary dome.
This shadowbox now hangs on the wall in our guest bedroom, and every time I look at it I think of Ruth, who passed on in 1993. My mother passed away in 2001, and although I did not redo her shadowbox, the figurine that sat inside it is now on a shelf of a display cabinet in our living room.
For all the shadowboxes I made ferns, flower arrangements and devised new hanging ribbons for mirrors and pictures. The oval picture over the piano is original to my shadowbox and came from Ruth's stash. I made lace curtains to replace the dusty and faded original velvet drapes, and since the frames are rather tall for scale, added a piece of dark molding to help bring the ceilings down somewhat.
The figurine is from the original shadowbox, although it is no longer used as a nightlight because it is too hard to reach where it now hangs on the wall.
The clock was some kind of jewelry finding; I muted its bright gold with a stain. I also made the wall sconces.
When Alice Zinn came through El Paso after
the CIMTA show in Las Vegas and saw the shadowbox
in the guest room, she got all excited and started
rummaging through all the little goodies she had
picked up in her shopping on the way to El Paso. "Here!" she said, "Look at this!" It
was a tiny plastic woman almost identical to my figurine.
Then I got excited, too. "Hey,
guess what! I've already done a miniature of one
of these shadowboxes, and I have another little wooden
shadow box made by Jack Chasteen. I've been intending
to duplicate mine. This little figure will be perfect
to go in it!"
Above is the miniature of the refurbished shadowbox that hangs in my husband's aunt's entryway. I made it to go in their 55th Anniversary dome scene (see 55th Anniverary Dome ). It measures about two inches square.
Well, unfortunately as often happens with me, after Alice left I got excited about something else and forgot all about the tiny woman and the tiny shadowbox I was going to duplicate for myself. Alice reminded me recently that I have to get that done.
The original piano in my shadowbox was a music box, a special gift from my mother-in-law. "It seems appropriate," she said, as she gave me the music box so long ago, "for
this piano to be in it, because the lady is taking
a bow. She must've just played this tune."
When you wind it up, it plays:
Beautiful Dreamer, wake unto me,
Starlight and dewdrops are waiting for thee;
Sounds of the rude world heard in the day,
Lulled by the moonlight have all passed away...
When my husband was a little
boy he saw a movie about a giant gorilla (not King
Kong) and never forgot it. Over the years, every
time he heard a certain song he would say, "That's
Mighty Joe Young's favorite song."
And that's what the music box in my shadowbox plays: Beautiful Dreamer, Mighty Joe Young's favorite song.
