Shadow box update!

Thanks to my sister's suggestion, I made an awesome change to the not-quite-done shadow box/silverware tray. I don't have a before picture of when I spray painted it black - too excited to get started on it! It was a plain old silverware tray with an ugly white back and birch colored edges.

Here it is after I painted it. 

I liked the paint, but felt like something was off when I put the trinkets on.  I wasn't in love.

When I posted about it before, my sister suggested I modge podge some paper on it.  I tried it, figuring if I didn't work, I was out the $3 I spent at Goodwill.

I dug out my scrapbook stash and found some paper that looked like it would work.  Unfortunately, I didn't have enough of either kind to do the whole thing with one pattern.  So being too impatient to go to the store creative, I decided to mix and match 2 different papers. And um, AWESOME! I am in love with how it turned out. 

I love looking at all the little trinkets that have special meaning for us - the box my wedding ring was hidden when the hubby proposed, a trombone commemerating my years in band, some things the hubby picked up during his 2 year church mission to Germany.  All things I like to display but get lost on a big shelf.

I am still looking for some ribbon to put on the edges like my mom suggested (yea, I know who reads my blog!) but haven't found anything I love yet. 

I'm linking up!

Thrifty Decor Chick's Before and After Party

Between Naps on the porch Metamorphois Monday

I'm no HGTV

When my daughter was a newborn and I was adjusting to being home all.day.long with nobody but a baby to talk to, I used to watch a LOT of HGTV. Like I had their schedule memorized. ANYwho, I always hoped to find great ideas that I could use to decorate my house. After a few months of watching, I came away with one great idea. They used a silverware tray to display a guy's collection of knick-nacks. We have some cute little trinkets that just get lost on a bookshelf.

After over a year of searching, I found this bad boy at Goodwill. I was so excited to get painting that I didn't take any before pictures. But it used to be maple colored wood with a white background.

When I painted it, I wondered if I had made a mistake.

- do I like the black?

-does it seem like something is missing?

-does the black make it hard to see the little figurines?

-does it need something else?

It's been sitting like this in my office for about 4 months because I have no idea what to do next. I would gladly appreciate any suggestions. I was hoping that posting about it would help me dig out of the rut, but it didn't. So for now I guess it'll go back to the project pile.