Shadow box ideas: what to put in one, and how to lay it out
Shadow box ideas for babies, weddings, travel, sport, service and pets, with paper scenes to cut yourself. What goes in each, how deep, and how to arrange it.
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A shadow box works when it holds one story: a day, a person, a place or a season. Start from the story, pick five to nine things that tell it, and leave the rest in the drawer. The ideas below are grouped by story, with what usually goes in, the depth to allow, and one thing to get right for each. For building the box itself and fixing things in, see how to make a shadow box.
For a new baby
- Coming home. The hospital wristband, the hat, the first babygrow folded small, a photograph and the birth card. Depth 40 mm. Fold the clothes round a piece of card so they keep their shape.
- First shoes. The shoes side by side on a small shelf, with the date on a tag. Depth 75 mm. Stuff the toes with tissue so they do not collapse.
- First year. Twelve small photographs round a pair of socks or a rattle. Depth 60 mm.
For a wedding
- The day in small things. The invitation, a place card, a ribbon from the bouquet, a champagne cork and a photograph. Depth 40 mm.
- The bouquet. Flowers must be fully dried or pressed first, or they will rot behind the glass. A dried bouquet needs 100 mm or more; pressed flowers need 20 mm. Keep the box out of direct sun, which fades petals quickly.
- Something from each side. A grandmother’s brooch, a father’s cufflinks, a piece of lace. Depth 25 mm, on dark velvet.
For travel
- One trip. A folded map with the route marked, tickets, a few coins, a shell or a stone, and one photograph. Depth 30 mm. Use the map as the backing.
- The beach. Sand glued thinly along the bottom of the backing, shells and sea glass above it, a small photograph in a corner. Depth 40 mm.
- A collection that grows. A box with a slot cut in the top for ticket stubs or corks, added to after each trip. Depth 50 mm; leave the backing plain.
For sport and achievements
- A season. A medal, the race number, a photograph at the finish and the route or the score. Depth 25 mm. Hang the medal by its ribbon from a pin at the top so that it falls straight.
- A shirt. Fold the shirt round a sheet of card cut to the visible width, sleeves behind, and pin through the seams. Depth 40 mm. A box of about 60 × 80 cm shows the whole front of an adult shirt.
- A ball or a glove. One object, centred, with a small plate or a ticket below. Depth 90 mm or more. Hold a ball with a ring of clear tube or a small shelf with a hollow in it.
For service
- Medals and insignia. Medals in a row at the top in the order your service sets out, with badges, patches and a name plate below. Depth 25 mm, on dark felt or velvet. If you are unsure of the order, ask the unit or a veterans’ association before you fix anything.
- A retirement. A photograph in uniform, the last rank or badge, a unit coin and a patch from each posting. Depth 30 mm.
- A folded flag. A flag folded into a triangle wants a triangular case or a box with a triangular space of its own. Measure the folded flag before buying or building anything.
For a pet
- In memory. The collar and tag, a favourite small toy, a paw print in clay or ink and a photograph. Depth 50 mm.
- A first year. The puppy collar beside the grown one, a first tooth in a tiny jar, and photographs at eight weeks and at a year. Depth 40 mm.
For a person or a home
- A grandparent’s things. Glasses, a watch, a handwritten recipe or letter, a thimble or a pipe. Depth 40 mm. Handwriting is the thing people look at longest: put it where it can be read.
- A first home. The old key, a paint chart, the first post that arrived, and a photograph of the front door. Depth 25 mm.
- A hobby. Fishing flies in rows, cotton reels and buttons, guitar picks and a set list, seed packets and a trowel. Depth 25 to 50 mm.
Paper scenes to cut yourself
A layered paper scene is a shadow box in which the picture itself has depth. Each of these is ready to download, or to change in the shadow box maker first: swap the parts, choose the frame size, and cut one sheet of card per layer.
| Season or theme | Scenes |
|---|---|
| Autumn and winter | Forest deer, winter cabin, wolf and moon |
| Christmas | Christmas village, nativity, village church |
| Halloween | Haunted house |
| Spring and summer | Butterfly garden, cherry blossom bridge, flower shop, mountain lake |
| The sea | Under the sea, lighthouse beach |
| For children | Unicorn castle, fairy garden, dinosaur valley, safari sunset |
| For a city flat | City at night |
Paper scenes also mix with keepsakes. A cut paper forest behind a pair of baby shoes, or a paper skyline behind tickets from a trip, gives the box a background that belongs to the story.
Laying out any of them
- Odd numbers. Three, five or seven things arrange more easily than four or six.
- One thing leads. Choose the most important object, make it the largest or put it nearest the glass, and let the rest support it.
- A line to follow. Arrange things along a diagonal, a curve or a rough triangle, not in a grid, unless the box is a collection of like things, which does suit a grid.
- Something to read. A date, a name or a place on a small tag tells a visitor what they are looking at. One label is enough.
- Try it flat first. Lay everything out on paper the size of the backing, photograph it, and only then fix it down.