Pin shadowbox

Recently I started to collect Disney pins, and while it hasn’t turned into a full-on obsession (yet), I wanted to somehow display the ones I do have, which up to now have been in envelopes or small plastic bags. A display case with a door and everything would have been too much for now, so it occurred to me to try something more small-scale: a shadowbox.

I hesitate to call this a “project,” since it’s basically ready-made, but I will take any craftiness I can get. At Target today I got a shadowbox frame ($19.99) and a pack of cork tiles (four-pack $5.69, but you only need one tile), both 12 inches square. (To my surprise Target actually does carry a pin board, hinged to a photo frame. It’s a nice solution, and I might also get one at some point, but it would’ve been less area for the pins, so I didn’t go for it.)

I thought I’d have to adhere the cork tile to the backing board of the frame, but the shadowbox has an inner frame that nicely keeps everything against the back, so securing it wasn’t completely necessary.

Setting aside the pin backs that come with the pins, I arranged the pins on the cork tile. The tile is thinner than the prongs of the pins, but they seem to go in far enough to stay put. (For now.) Then the frame gets reassembled.

Granted it’s not as convenient as a hinged display case for accessing the pins, but I’m really happy with how it turned out! I could even paint the frame or cover the cork with felt or some other fabric to make it all schmancy and less … bulletin boardy.