The challenge for this project was that we had to come up with about 25 photo rememberance boxes in less than 1 week. It was 116 degrees in the Imperial Valley and there weren't too many stores that were available for us to purchase supplies from. The only thing that we had to go off of is that the color should be green, they wanted to incorporate a poem called "Broken Chain", her picture on each piece, and they wanted a candle for it. So with that in mind we headed out to Walmart. We had several different ideas and brought back a handful of ideas to use for this project. The frame that was used in this design is actually a 3 piece wooden picture frame. I showed the materials to my cousin's oldest son and he came up with a bunch of different ideas. He actually placed the frame in a triangular pattern and I came up with the idea of putting it on a lazy susan. With the basic idea sketched out, I brought it back to my cousin and he approved the idea. They didn't have any more of the frames at the stores in the Imperial Valley, so I went back home to San Diego and went to every Walmart I could find to gather up all of the supplies.
Originally, my cousin wanted to leave is unfinished and just on the tray. Before I found that out, I had already went out and bought the green paper and I sent him this sample picture and he changed his mind. We added a chain to it, her picture, a picture of the family, and the broken chain poem. My cousin really liked the way it turned out. We found a flameless candle and added the ban of color to the top. Although it can't bring back his wife, I think it will help him and his family through this difficult time.
For her siblings we bought an unfinished photo cube that spins. We added her picture, the broken chain poem, Psalm 23, and a left a space open for them to add in a picture. I painted it green, but it looked to plain. After it dried, I took some black ink and a roller stamp and rolled a design over the paint. We added some black trim, some black paint around the edge of the lid, and a knob to the lid. It turned out really nice and everyone liked them. It actually worked out well adding the stamp to the photo cubes because it matched the sign in book that was used at the memorial service.
It was personally difficult to put this together. It can't bring Lilia back, but I hope it brings a little bit of peace to her family during this difficult transition.