Shadowbox Cross Art

Every year a group of my friends participates in the 3-Day 60-Mile Breast Cancer Walk. And every year they host a super-fun Bunko fundraising night with great raffle prizes.  This year, two pieces of shadowbox cross art will be in the auction and I wanted to show you how these pieces of art started as somewhat-ugly shadowboxes.  It’s a good lesson not to pass by items that can be given a new upcycled life.

My friend, Jenny, brought me some art from the Wisteria Outlet and asked if I could alter the frames into something to be used in the raffle.  Jenny bought two shadowbox-type art frames on clearance for $9 {marked down from the original and insane $300 price tag}. Neither of us liked the original art but the heavy, black, distressed wooden frames were fantastic and I was sure I could make something fun. I even stashed two more frames away for my own personal use and made a really cute shadowbox to save the rubber boots my son wore for years.

To make these pieces of shadowbox cross art, I took the original pictures …

… cut them open, and removed the shells and strange clay objects inside.

I covered some extra cardboard with fabric I found in my stash {toile for one frame and muslin and burlap for the other} and glued iron crosses {bought at a local craft store} onto the fabric.

Before gluing one of the crosses, I spray painted it with glossy red paint, let it dry completely, and distressed it just a little.

I really like the way these pieces turned out and I hope they’ll bring in lots of raffle money at the fundraiser.  Have you ever upcycled old art?

For another fun way to upcycle old art or thrift store art pieces, be sure to check out this upcycled vintage painting made from an old oil painting.