Glory Days Shadowboxes

I married into a sports family...athletes, coaches, referees, fans...you name it, it's been done to some degree or other. And who doesn't love a little walk down memory lane, back to the glory days of youth? Now, I don't have so much as one athletic bone in my body. I couldn't engage in a sport if my life depended on it! But one thing I can do is create a piece of art (or three.)

For my hubby's home office I selected a few pieces of memorabilia and put together some very special shadow boxes. "Our" sport is basketball (although my guys might argue that these days they're all about Husker football.) But back in the day, hoops were king in this family! My father-in-law played, my hubby played, and our son followed in their footsteps.

To begin this project, I purchased black shadow boxes at the craft store. Then I set to work deciding what should go into each one (which truly was the hardest part...picking and choosing from the photos, awards, newspaper clippings, etc.) I wanted to have a good representation for each of them which displayed who they were as players.

Here is my father-in-law, the family patriarch of basketball. (He passed away a number of years ago, so these mementos are especially meaningful to my husband.)

And then we have my hubby in his prime. (He's #10...with the cute legs.) This is a nice little reminder of when he was named "Mr. Hustle" for his quickness and work ethic on the court. (These days his "hustle" is more of a saunter on the golf course, haha.)

And here is my "baby" during his hoops days (the one with the ball in this photo.) You can see that his greatest aptitude was actually toward academics, but we were thrilled that he played ball for most of high school as well.

With a little time and creativity, it's easy and fun to design personal pieces of art that reflect our families' interests and memories. I'll bet you can imagine all sorts of great ideas for shadow box art...vacations, kids' activities, holidays, reunions, special events...

Wouldn't a shadow box be a perfect jumping-off point for a collage wall? The possibilities are endless!

Sharing with: Rustic and Refined, Share Your Cup, Common Ground, http://www.adelightsomelife.com/, Canary Street Crafts, Dwell Beautiful, French Country Cottage, Shabby Art Boutique, The Charm of Home, Pieced Pastimes, Vintage Paint and More, Interior Frugalista, http://www.natashainoz.com, Between Naps on the Porch, The Dedicated House, Cozy Little House, City of Creative Dreams