How to make a pocket shrine

Here is how to make a pocket shrine! These are beautiful little assemblage art pieces where you can pay a tribute to a loved one who passed away. If that’s a little heavy, you can also use them as a mini portable picture frames.

As far as the “pocket” part? It simply means it is portable and compact!

About assemblage art

Have you ever worked in assemblage art? It’s the process of using found objects, ephemera, and other embellishments to tell a story on a substrate. A box, a frame, a base of some sort, even jewelry pieces. Think of it as a dimensional collage. My first book, Making Shadow Boxes & Shrines was all about assemblage art and I never ran out of ideas!

how to make a pocket shrine — Photo by Eva Bronzini

This pocket shrine method is one of my favorites.

Starting with a mint tin, you’d think there is limited room to build a dimensional collage. Clear that thought because your creativity will prove you wrong! I think the reason I love assemblage art so much is because I finally put to use all the knick-knacks I refuse to throw away.

I made this mint tin shrine in honor of my husband’s grandpa.

Every single one of the items in there has a specific meaning to him and his personality.

For example: the cough drops. He always had them in his pocket and when he greeted you, he would shake your hand. He’d walk away, you look at your palm, and there was a cough drop.

The sexy dancer is inspired by the Saturday night variety shows on the Spanish language networks. He loved the flirty dancers in the sequined outfits!

Get the idea? It’s amazing to think how many “little” treasures you can find if you look hard enough.