Christmas Memories Photo Cube on Pedestal
A decorative way to display your Christmas family photos.
I love to decorate my house for Christmas. It is something that brings me great joy to see my home come alive for the season, especially alive with happy memories of Christmases past.
When I was a child my mom always had the house decorated from top to bottom with all things Christmas. The house was always warm and cozy, but at Christmas it would take on a magical feel.
That feeling is what I have tried to create for myself and my daughters as they were growing up. Christmas magic is all about traditions and displaying favorite decorations each year, most homemade. These are what makes that magical Christmas feel come to life for me.
I am thankful that my mom and dad took a lot of photos when these early Christmas memories began forming when my siblings and I were growing up. These photos were safely kept in photo albums for 50 years and every time I browse through the family albums they make me smile every time I see them.
Instead of keeping them hidden in a Christmas photo album that only gets looked at once in awhile, I decided to take a few of my favorite photos of my siblings and I on Christmas morning and place them into a decorative photo cube that can be placed on a table or mantel for all to see. Seeing this makes me smile and adds the nostalgic touch that makes Christmas magical for me. Just like the song in the movie, Home Alone…. “Somewhere in my memory, Christmas joys all around me living in my memory, all the music… all the magic… all the family home here with me.”
To make the photo cube pedestal I headed to Target to get a new bottle of Brush-On Krazy Glue. If you haven’t used the brush-on style of Krazy Glue yet, you are going to love it! It will become your go-to glue. No more fingers sticking together or glue drying in the tube. The screw-off top with the brush makes application easy and keeps the glue sealed tight when not in use.
How to Make a Christmas Family Photo Cube on a Pedestal
Once the photo cube is attached to the pedestal, you will still be able to open it up to change the photos.
supplies needed:
- 4 photos and 1 piece of holiday gift wrap trimmed to 3. 5″ x 3.5″
- Wooden pedestal
- 3.5″ x 3.5″ acrylic photo cube
- Wood star – no larger than 3″ in diameter
- Cabinet knob
- Brush-On All Purpose or Craft Krazy Glue
- Double-sided tape runner
- Paper cutter
- Craft or chalk based paint – Crimson Red Chalk Paint
- Clear paste wax
- Optional: Black shoe polish
How to Paint Wood Pedestal and Star
- Lightly sand pedestal with 100 grit sandpaper. Clean off sanding grit.
2. Brush on two coats of chalk paint, letting the first coat dry before applying the second. Paint the star in the same way.
3. When paint is dry, sand edges on pedestal to distress paint to allow some of the bare wood to show through the paint.
4. Rub black shoe polish over paint and areas you distressed with sandpaper. Wipe off and reapply to build layers of dark areas.
5. Apply a thin layer of clear paste wax over the pedestal, but DO NOT APPLY WAX to top of pedestal or underside of wood star. You want to keep these clean and free of wax so you can attach the photo cube securely. Buff wax to a sheen with a soft lint-free cloth. An old-shirt works well. The more you buff, the higher the sheen will get on the finish.
How to Add Photos to Cube
1. Open cube by pulling the two sides of the cube apart.
2. The cube measures 3.5″ x 3.5″. You need to cut your photos and decorative paper or gift wrap for top of cube to this size.
3. Use a paper cutter to trim paper…
… and photos to fit.
4. Use a scrapbooking tape runner to add tape to the back of each photos. Make sure to get the tape right along the edges of the photos.
5. Attach a photo on each side of block and the gift wrap to the top.
How to Attach Photo Cube to Pedestal
- Sand top of pedestal and bottom on photo cube with 60 grit sandpaper to rough up the surface. Clean off grit.
2. Use Brush-On Krazy Glue to attach the photo cube to the pedestal.
Simply brush it on to the sanded areas on the pedestal and cube.
TIP: As you attach the cube and pedestal, make sure you center the pedestal on the cube. A simple way to make this easy, is to place cube upside down on work surface and then place pedestal over it. You will be able to see better exactly how to center the pedestal on the cube.
3. Let sit upside down for a minute for Krazy Glue to dry and the bond made.
4. After a minute, flip cube and pedestal over and attach wood star and cabinet knob on top of cube with Krazy Glue.
NOTE: You will still be able to open the photo cube to change photos after you attach it to the pedestal.
Happy Christmas memories from my childhood are now on display. We didn’t have a fireplace in the house I grew up in, so my dad, wired our stockings on a wooden dowel.
He opened the window sash and placed the dowel outside the sash, closed the window and our stockings hung by the window with care every Christmas. :-)
What favorite Christmas memories will you put in your photo cube? Why don’t you check out my Christmas ideas project gallery while you contemplate the answer?
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