Fixing a Loose Or Broken Item in a Shadow Box or Deep Frame

I have a few blogs I started awhile back but never actually got to posting them with all the crazy things going on in my world. 


Princess Four found this really cute Disney shadowbox at a second hand store for $2. The "Y" Mickey ears had fallen off the sign but she figured I could fix it.


She was SO excited when she arrived home to show it to me and asked if I thought I could fix it. I told her I was sure that I could fix it.

If the back of the frame has something you want to keep on it, you need to peel off the back of the frame and keep it in good condition so you can reattach it later. Basically you can stick something flat under it to start prying it up. I find a flat paint scraper works well. 
 
You may need to take a few screws out to get the hanger off or, pry it up if it isn't screwed in.  This thing was glued in so I used a small screw driver to pry it loose around the edges. Once it was loose all the way around, I was able to pull it out. 
 
Hot glue guns work well to glue things on. It is thicker and stronger than other glues. Make sure before you glue it on, that you line it up right so there isn't a problem gluing it straight.  
 
When I lined up the "y" with the little tear from the previous glue it was a bit crooked. I could have either made the "y" straight, or I could put it back where it was a bit "off." I chose to put it back where it was as I don't think someone was going to look at it that closely. 
 
Once you have the item glued back into place or where you want it, put it back into the frame. You may want to take the opportunity to clean both sides of the frame glass as it often gets smokey or dirty over time. 
 
Once that is done, you can either glue the piece back in or sometimes, just clamping it in is enough but sometimes the weight of the items on the front will pull it forward so gluing it is a good option. I just put a bead of glue around the outer edge. 

If you want to put the back on, you can use double sided tape and stick it back on or you can glue it but then it would be difficult to remove if you did ever need to fix it again. 

Once the back is stuck back on, you can put the hangers back on using screws or tapping the non-screw kind back in using a hammer. 

While I was putting the item back together, Princess Five was looking it up on various sites. Even on eBay or Etsy, it was $75 or so. New, it was over $150. I just checked on eBay and they are even more than that $150 on there presently. Finding out how much they are made Princess Feel even better about her "score" that day. 

As always, any scratches on anything black, I refer to my favorite way of fixing those..... Black Sharpies are a staple at our house as I use them to fix just about everything. Once again, just color over the scratch and then use a finger to wipe it off so that it smears in not leaving a line.

Feel free to ask any questions about this if I haven't answered it in the video or on this post. For that night, our house was the "happiest place on earth." Seeing that picture at the top sure makes me miss Princess Four!