How to make a mason jar lid shadow box ornament.

You can take an old mason jar lid and turn it into a shadow box ornament.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Mason jar lid (the ring and the inside part)
• Paint
• Twinklets Diamond Dust
• Small and tiny sea shells
• Small peices of sea glas
• Hot Glue
• Fine white iridescent glitter
• (optional) Left over green leaves from silk flowers

1. The first thing you want to do is drill a small hole in the ring to put a wire hook or ribbon through.
   Now paint both parts of the jar lid. I painted the ring gold because I wanted it to look like a frame and the flat piece I painted topaz. Depending on what kind of paint you used you might want to paint on a second coat. I used acrylic paint and had to paint on two coats. You can paint both sides so your ornament so it can be double sided.

2. 
   Inside of mason jar lid.

   While your lid is drying you can paint the sea shells. I painted the small shells on the front gold and light blue and the two small ones on the back are white and purple. While the paint is still wet sprinkle some fine white iridescent glitter on them. Don't worry about painting the inside of the shells because no one will see it.
   
   For the tiny shells and sea glass I just coated them with regular white glue and sprinkled them with glitter

3. To make the seaweed I cut them from a long leaf I had form a silk flower. I just cut it out in a zig zag pattern and made them just long enough to stick out a little from under the sea shells.
   
   After the paint has dried on the lid parts hot glue them together the way they're supposed to fit together. For texture and sparkle I added Twinkles Diamond Dust with white glue. Use a clear varnish on the lid and shells to prevent glitter from flaking off.

4. Now to assemble the rest of the ornament use the hot glue gun to glue down the seaweed first then arrange the small shells, tiny shells and sea glass the way you would like it to look and then hot glue them down.
   If you want to fill in the space around the shells you can use green dimensional glitter paint so it looks like grass.
   
   Now turn it over and decorate the other side too. Put a wire hook or a ribbon though the hole and hang.

Tips & Warnings

• Twinkles Diamond Dust can be found at Hobby Lobby or Michaels
• If you don't like all that glitter try using colored sand instead.
• Try using other small objects to make differnt shadow boxes.

[Christine25]

on 11/19/2008 Great ideas!

[Sophoula]

on 10/23/2008 what a great idea for children, as well! this sounds like something wonderful to do with kids.