craft
Halloween Shadow Box
Sarah is the author of craftinvaders.co.uk where she blogs about her original craft tutorials, recipes, foraging, and developing wellbeing through being By Sara h Whit ing creative, spending time outdoors and connecting with nature
HALLOWEEN IS A BRILLIANT THEME FOR A SHADOW BOX DISPLAY WITH ALL ITS CREEPY IMAGERY. YOU DON’T NEED TO HAVE CHILDREN AT HOME TO DO A PROJECT LIKE THIS (ALTHOUGH IF YOU DO, THEY WILL LOVE CREATING ONE OF THESE!)
H
owever delightfully spooky our box looks, I know I’ll only want to display it for a few weeks. Rather than consigning it to the back of a cupboard
− Wooden box, or shoe box − Sturdy cardboard for the collage backing to fit to the inside of the box (measure the correct size for box) −To create shelves, Balsa wood (modelling wood) works really well. It’s lightweight and is easy to cut/shape. − Craft or retractable knife − Dark paper (or paint) to cover the shelves
Steps 1. The first thing to do is measure and fit your sturdy cardboard backdrop, which will fit into the back of the main box. You should be able to fit it precisely so it sits in place, but you can add glue to fix it in place if you prefer (if you’re making it permanent). Now it’s time to decorate the backdrop! You can use different coloured fabrics and craft paper, muslin, go online and print out Halloween themed pictures. Stick everything securely in place on the backdrop cardboard and then fit (glue if needed) into place. 2. Next, measure and fit the shelves. Balsa wood is ideal for this project,
8 etcetera
for the rest of the year we came up with a plan. We made our shadow box with removable contents so we can quickly change it up to suit the season.
− I use Bostik products in my projects but other glues will work. A good strong glue for attaching the dark paper to the shelves plus another glue (I use Bostik Micro-dots) to keep all of your items in place. You can use a hot glue glue if your shadow box is to be permanent. − A good selection of ghoulish embellishments to decorate your box (use your imagination!).
but you could use a sturdy thick cardboard instead. Choose how many sections you would like in your box and cut and fit to measure. 3. Paint or cover the shelves in your chosen fabric or paper. Then glue/fix them into position. (I use Bostik micro-dots for securing the shelves.) 4. Now you have your basic form of the box, the backdrop (cardboard collage) is in place and the shelves have been secured in, it’s time to start decorating! Gather your spooky embellishments and arrange them on the shelves. We created a shelf with witches paraphernalia, a spooky graveyard scene - use your imagination! You can also add things on the backdrop now the main card
and shelves are secured in. Again, the micro-dots work well here but you can hot glue things into place or use another type of strong glue. Just be careful with the hot glue - if you are creating a small shadow box, it can get a bit fiddly and you don’t want lots of hot glue all over the place! 5. Once you are happy with the look of the shadow box on each of the shelves, you can add some additional fabric to frame the shadow box - we used muslin to complete our creepy look. 6. Dot fake blood over some of the items and the muslin that frames to box to finish off the super-spooky look! We love ours so much we’re already planning our Christmas themed one!
