Need a unique Valentine’s Day gift? Try your hand at making a boho altered art shadowbox.

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My boho altered art project began when I found this great little shadowbox at my favorite thrift shop. Even better, I picked it up for only 99 cents. Altered art printer trays have always attracted my attention, so I decided to play with some mixed media myself.

My boho personality also loves any excuse to collect some of this and that to eventually use in my artwork. So I dug around my art studio for embellishments, rubber stamps, paints and other supplies and found objects that would give texture to my shadowbox. I hope my boho altered art shadowbox inspires you!

Supplies:
Printer Tray or Shadow Box (from a thrift shop, garage sale or the craft store)
Sandpaper
Copper, Gold and Silver Metallic Acrylic Paint
Scrapbooking Paper Scraps
Paper Punches and/or Sizzix Machine and Dies
Rubber Stamps and Ink
Black Embossing Powder and Heat Gun
Scissors
Paint Brushes
Craft Glue
Misc Found Objects (such as Old Buttons and Vintage Costume Jewelry)
Misc Craft Store Finds (such as Microbeads, Scrapbooking Stickers, Stick-on Jewels, Mini Bead Garlands, Felt Designs and Gift Basket Fillers)

Steps:
1. Start by painting your shadow box or printers tray. You may need to lightly sand your tray and wipe with a damp cloth first. This will help the paint adhere better to the wood.

I painted my box with gold and copper metallic acrylic paint and then used silver metallic paint for the interior of each of the boxes. I also added a touch of silver to the front edge here and there.

2. Next play with your papers, found objects and craft store finds to give you ideas on what to place where.
I chose to start by creating the LOVE banners. Once I decided to place the letters diagonally as the focal point of the piece, the rest of the boxes were easier to design.

3. Create your art elements and then assemble your shadow box. Think about colors, dimension and personality. There are no wrong choices! Run with that bohemian spirit!

Here’s a tour of my shadowbox (All openings are 1 inch by 1 inch):

Top Row:

Box 1: Square filled with silver gift basket filler. “L” rubber stamped in black on floral scrapbook paper, then heat embossed in black. L then layered on burgundy paper cut from Sizzix die.

Box 2: Red metallic mini bead garland with vintage-looking metal stick-on.

Box 3: Banner cut in black glitter paper with Sizzix die. Fleur de lis metal jewelry finding.

Box 4: Hot pink mixed microbeads with felt puffed heart.

Second Row:

Box 1: Square cut from scrapbooking punch in burgundy metallic. Tiny birds and hearts cut from Sizzix machine and dies.

Box 2: Square filled with gold gift basket filler. “O” rubber stamped in black on floral scrapbook paper, then heat embossed in black. L then layered on burgundy paper cut from Sizzix die.

Box 3: Assorted frosted glass stick-on jewels.

Box 4: Vintage antique gold shoe clip.

Third Row:

Box 1: Vintage antique gold shoe clip.

Box 2: Square cut from scrapbooking punch in burgundy floral paper. Vintage Christmas gold wire with berries shaped into heart.

Box 3: Square filled with silver gift basket filler. “V” rubber stamped in black on floral scrapbook paper, then heat embossed in black. L then layered on burgundy paper cut from Sizzix die.

Box 4: Banner cut in black glitter paper with Sizzix die. Mini vintage heart jewelry finding attached to vintage gold button.

Fourth Row:

Box 1: Hot pink mixed microbeads with felt puffed heart.

Box 2: Vintage button.

Box 3: Square cut from scrapbooking punch in black glitter paper. Mini heart and key vintage charms.

Box 4: Square filled with gold gift basket filler. “E” rubber stamped in black on floral scrapbook paper, then heat embossed in black. L then layered on burgundy paper cut from Sizzix die.

Front Edge:

Decorated with 5 frosted glass stick on jewels and 2 large black glitter paper birds cut with dies and Sizzix machine. The LOVE pennants are also glued to the front edge of the shadowbox.

Happy Valentine’s Day crafting! To see more Valentine’s day boho altered art, click here.

Here’s a quick and fun do-it-yourself project for Valentine’s Day using some of those neat laser cut wood products that are flooding craft stores like Michaels these days.

You Will Need:
Large Laser Cut Wood Plaque
Large Wooden Heart
2 Laser Cut Words (I chose “Love” and “Adore”)
Small Laser Cut Wood Heart (I chose one with a flower and leaf motif)
3 small Wooden Hearts
Red, White, and Pink Acrylic Paint
Paint Brushes
Glue Gun
Twine
(I found all of my supplies at Michaels.com. Look for the Artminds brand).

Directions:
1. Start by painting the wood hearts and words. I painted the small laser cut heart and the words white. I painted the 3 small wood hearts red.

2. Next paint the large wood heart. My example has 2 layers. The outer heart is painted white and the inner heart is painted hot pink.

3. Then paint the large laser cut plaque. I chose to paint the middle section white with the outer part blending into pale pink. I then used hot pink paint to casually shade the outer edge of the plaque.

4. Once dry, arrange your wood hearts and words on the large laser cut wood plaque as desired.

5. Use a hot glue gun to glue all the pieces together.

6. Cut and knot twine to the top of the plaque. Your project is ready to hang!

Enjoy your new Valentine’s Day laser cut wood decor! Happy Crafting!

To find more great DIY Valentine’s Day projects and other fun boho craft ideas, click here.

Sometimes you have to breathe deep, be brave and jump into trying new things. This post is about my very first Valentine’s Day mixed media project.

I am just going to say it—I LOVE ART! I have next to no formal art training (one drawing class in college), so I sometimes have to get really brave to express myself through art. Thank goodness for YouTube!

This is the year I’ve decided to begin messing with 2 new forms of art- watercolor painting (I painted the Bravely Bohemian logo!) and mixed media. I am already an avid rubber stamper, so Tim Holtz and Graphic 45 products, in particular, have definitely sparked my interest.

Now I am starting to play with gesso, modeling paste, and canvas, plus collage and painting techniques. It is making my boho spirit VERY happy!

Here are instructions on how to create the Victorian-themed Valentine’s Day mixed media pieces I created:

Supplies:

2 White Medium Canvases
Liquitex Clear Gesso and/or Modge Podge
Misc Scrapbook Papers
Victorian Themed Valentine’s Day Printouts
Liquitex Modeling Paste
Paint Brush
Modeling paste tools
Glass Stones
Glue
Red and White Acrylic Paint
Scrapbook Bling or Stick-On Rhinestones

Most of these supplies can be found at Michaels.com or at Amazon.com.

Directions:
1. Coat the canvases with clear Gesso. This allows paints and other mediums to adhere better to the canvas.

2. Cutout and arrange the Victorian themed images and scrapbook papers into a desired collage on each canvas. Use the clear Gesso or Modge Podge to collage your papers into place. Let dry.

3. Next, use the modeling paste and tools to create a 3-dimensional heart in the middle of each canvas. Use additional modeling paste to create a dimensional border on each canvas edge. (My examples have almost a cake icing look to them).

4. Carefully set the glass stones into the corners of the canvas while the modeling paste is still wet. You may need to put a touch of glue on the back of the glass stones to get them to stick.

5. After the canvases dry, you can apply the paints. I used red, white and pink acrylic paints mixed with Liquitex Clear Gesso. The more gesso you use, the more opacity the paint will have. (Clear gesso gives it a see-through look great for collage). I painted my canvases so that you can still see parts of the collage and scrapbook papers, then painted part of the modeling paste hearts to show off the dimension.

6. Lastly, add in the stick-on rhinestones. Of note, I had trouble getting some of the rhinestone swirl stickers to stay on the piece, so it might be best to use individual rhinestone stick-ons and arrange them into your own patterns.

I hope you are as inspired by creating Valentine’s Day mixed media as I am. For more Valentine’s Day project ideas, click here.

Happy boho crafting!