Me again, with another Christmas gift idea!! I have a dear friend that loves all things Jane Austen and Regency — the books, the movies, the clothing, the dancing…and I’m right there with her. We joke that we were born in the wrong era. We would have been so good at wearing the beautiful gowns, dancing the night away at balls, dodging unwanted marriage proposals…

In fact, here’s a picture of me and Ryan all dressed up in our costumes for a Regency Ball.

Ok, sorry, back on topic. So here’s a fun gift idea for the Jane Austen/Regency fan in your life. I made my friend a Jane Austen quote shadow box, it was very simple and she LOVED it!!

Materials:
Shadow box – I found mine at Michael’s
Scrapbook paper – I used parchment paper and a handwriting print
Photo corners – Again from Michael’s
Embellishments – I used an antique key, ribbon, a brooch (from Michael’s not a true antique), and antique button

How-to:
1. Choose a favorite Jane Austen quote, here are some good ones:

There is no charm equal to tenderness of heart.
–Emma

To be fond of dancing was a certain step towards falling in love.
—Pride and Prejudice

Friendship is certainly the finest balm for the pangs of disappointed love.
–Northanger Abbey

It isn’t what we say or think that defines us, but what we do.
–-Sense & Sensibility

I must learn to be content with being happier than I deserve.
–Pride & Prejudice

I may have lost my heart, but not my self-control.
–Emma
(I can totally hear Gwenyth Paltrow saying this in Emma)

A girl likes to be crossed a little in love now and then. It is something to think of.
–-Pride & Prejudice

Every moment has its pleasures and its hope.
–Mansfield Park

There could have been no two hearts so open, no tastes so similar, no feelings so in unison.
–Persuasion

Ok, there are a TON of great quotes you could use depending on the person you are giving the gift to. Just google it! 😉

2. Type up your quote using a cool script font. I actually found a font called Jane Austen, can you believe it? You can download it for free here: http://www.dafont.com/search.php?q=jane+austen

3. Depending on the size of your shadow box, cut out the scrapbook paper you used for your background, then cut out the quote to layer on top of it. You want to be able to see a good amount of the background paper, so size your quote accordingly. I used double sided tape to put the two pieces of paper together.

4. Now is the fun part, embellishments! This is where your creativity can really soar. I just put together vintage or antique looking knick-knacks that I thought would look good together. I used a brooch (not actually an antique) from Michael’s, tied some ribbon to an antique key, and found a cool old button I thought would look good too. I played around with the arrangement until I found one I liked, then I carefully hot glued everything together and added the cool photo corners.

WARNING: Be careful wielding that hot glue gun, those things are brutal. We are talking permanent scars, physical and emotional.

5. Stand back and admire your creativity!

And just like that, you checked someone off your Christmas list with something unique and special.

–h