Making a Matchbox Shrine (Tammy Faye shrine and more)

Art should always be fun, and perhaps a little flippant. Here’s one way to make an art shrine using a small, empty matchbox… the kind you’ll find at a dollar (or £) store.

Shrine to the goddess of mascara,
Tammy Faye Bakker Messner

Tammy Faye Bakker Messner (March 7, 1942 – July 20, 2007) remains an icon today as she was during her brief time with us.

Her continuing optimism was a beacon for all of us. Her sincerity was almost as remarkable as her mascara — or were those false eyelashes…or both?

When I began working with art shrines, I had to make at least one shrine to her.

When I had reason to create sample “pocket shrines,” it was clear that one had to be to Tammy Faye. Few women have achieved such distinction in modern society. She was a legend in her own time, and success never spoiled her.

Inside the shrine, I’ve posted one of my favorite quotes from Tammy: “I’m just a small-town girl at heart.”  (How could anyone not fall in love with someone that sweet and naive?)

The Supplies

The box is a plain matchbox, bought at a scrapbooking store in Massachusetts.

You can buy blank matchboxes at Amazon.com, usually in bulk. Also, discount stores and smoke shops often carry inexpensive (full) matchboxes. Empty them and cover them with art. (I suggest trying one or two of these art projects before buying 50-or-so blank matchboxes.)

I lined the matchbox with a glitzy, iridescent pink fabric that I bought at the local JoAnn Fabrics.

The beads that spell dear Tammy’s name can be found at Amazon.com, and the little star bead was from a bead shop in Harvard Square (Cambridge, MA).

The photos of Tammy are from several websites. Use any search engine to find “photos of Tammy Faye Bakker.” If any are too small, you can use a service like MidJourney’s Upscaler, to produce a crisp, clear, larger photo.

The outside of the matchbox is covered with a thin foil, which I got from Gayle Page-Robak.

My Art Shrine Process

To start, I cut out a photo of Tammy to feature her remarkable blue eyes.

The eyelashes are false, bought for $2.74 at WalMart. They’re the closest that I could find, to the “official” false eyelashes given to lucky members of the audience at the premiere of “The Eyes of Tammy Faye.”

(I have since acquired two sets of the official false eyelashes from the movie premiere. However, you can probably find similar eyelashes at any dollar store.)

I glued the eyelashes, beads and fabric in place with Perfect Paper Adhesive. Everything else was glued with Rollataq, but any paper adhesive could work fine.

(Now, I use Yes! Paste, the far better adhesive I prefer for all of my collage art. It’s pricey, but lasts forever, is repositionable for a while, and nothing puckers or buckles. Big thanks to Nancy and Milan for recommending it!)

 

Here’s another matchbox shrine, simply called “Create!” It was inspired by a visit to an antiquities museum in London (England).

 

If you have any questions about making these kinds of art shrines, leave a comment. I’ll answer as helpfully as I can!

[P.S.  I’ve been enormously flattered by the many requests for the Tammy shrine, but it’s not for sale.]