Paw Print Photos Memory Frame

Both of our big dogs are gone now, and I hated seeing their collars sitting around empty. I wanted to make some type of shadow box that would make me smile, not tear up when I think about them. When I told Danny my plan, he suggested pictures in the shape of a paw print at the top. What a perfect idea.

My shadow box started out as a pretty ugly $5 picture and frame from the thrift shop. (I'm sorry if you love it - it's just not me.)

I removed all the parts, keeping the cardboard backing. This meant folding out all the staples and breaking the glass to remove it. I do not recommend this, but my glass was wedged in too tightly to get it out otherwise.

Yes, those are plates from the kitchen. I put the girls' collars in the bottom two corners and found dishes that would create circles to fit in the space left over. This is often easier for me than measuring and using the circle cutter. Numbers and I don't get along very well...

I printed out five of my favorite pictures - two of each puppy by herself and one of the two of them for the largest circle. I used the plates as my template and just cut them out by hand. They are tacked down with a mile and a half of double stick tape, more or less.

The collars are adhered with hot glue, mostly on the plastic parts. This will work well with smaller, lighter collars, while you may want to tack them down with thread through the backing or some kind of clip that you don't mind showing. Hot glue worked the best for these particular collars.

Once they were dry, I tacked down the tags so the girls' names were on the front. I love the way this looks.

 And the final step was printing out the label: Bailey Sue and Sadie Mae, footprints on our hearts. Now I'm off to find the perfect place to hang it. Please let me know if you try this yourself - I'd love to see the results!