When it comes to personalizing PhotoWeights, there's no rule book that limits you to displaying items from within your paperweight.  There's a lot of real estate on the exterior of our flat paperweights, enough space for small charm, a metal finding, or a few rhinestones.

Items you glue to the surface of the glass should be as flat as possible on the back so they're easy to apply.  Metal scrapbook embellishments work beautifully because most of these are designed to place on album pages.


I started by making some guide marks on the top surface of the paperweight using a Sharpie marker.  These marks will allow me to easily and quickly position the key after I've applied glue to it.

The key was part of a K&Company collection that's been in my arsenal of scrapbooking supplies for a few years.  These keys have perfectly flat backs that make them ideal for this project.  They can also be bent, so I was able to put a slight curve in the metal to conform to the shape of the glass. This set of keys is still available from a few online sources:  K&Company's "Life's Journey Keys Metal Art" (565227).


The glue I used to bond the metal key to the glass is Scotch Create Permanent Super Glue Gel.  This is the first time I used this glue.  Let me tell you, I was extremely impressed.  Because it's a gel, it stays in place after it's applied. (Super glues are typically a runny mess.)  I also like the way the bottle is designed to control how much glue is dispensed, allowing you to apply it more precisely.  The glue dried quickly and provided an impressive, tight bond.


The photo above shows the key after it was applied to the glass.  As you can see, there's some excess glue along the outside of the key.  Most of this was removed with some rubbing alcohol on a Q-tip.  The alcohol also took care of the marker scribbles.  Any excess glue that remained was carefully removed with an X-acto knife after the glue dried completely.


I used scrapbook paper for the background, in a pattern that looks like hearts drawn on a chalkboard.  A display area template allowed me to trace a cut line exactly where I wanted it.


After the paper was cut along the trace line, it was placed on the adhesive side of the mounting board (included with each paperweight kit).  Now the board is ready to display from beneath the paperweight.


I experimented with a few different backgrounds before I decided on the heart pattern.  Just changing the color or design of the background can create a completely different look, so try several variations and pick the one you love the most.