Free shadow box template

Garden birds shadow box SVG

Songbirds in a garden: three on a branch that reaches in from the side, one on a picket fence and one on the roof of the birdhouse beside it, one on the ground and one more on a twig overhead. 5 sheets of card, cut and stacked with a gap between each, make the picture. The files are free, and every part of the scene can be moved, swapped or resized below before you download.

Garden birds shadow box: 5 layered sheets seen from the front

Download the SVG files

5 sheets at 8 × 8 in, zipped, with a note on putting them together.

Free for personal and commercial use, no sign-up. What you can do with it.

The 5 sheets

Sheet 1 is the back and sheet 5 is the front. Each one is a single piece with the same frame round its edge, so they line up when stacked. The colours shown are the “Forest green” set; cut them in any card you like. Cut sheet 5, “Twig and flowers”, the slowest: at 0.8 mm it has the thinnest part in the scene, and sheet 5, “Twig and flowers”, fills the most of the view, 28% of it.

Sheet	What is on it	Narrowest part	Seen from the front
1. Sun	A whole sheet with holes for: Plain disc	over 2 mm	33%
2. Far trees	Rolling ground, with: Round tree silhouette, Oak tree with a broad crown and Round tree with leaf cut-outs	1.5 mm	13%
3. Birds on a branch	Rolling ground, with: Three birds on a branch	1.5 mm	8%
4. Birdhouse	Rolling ground, with: Picket fence with a birdhouse and Cardinal bird	1.1 mm	14%
5. Twig and flowers	A gentle slope, with: Bird on a branch, Three wildflowers on stems, Grass with flowers and Three spring tulips	0.8 mm	28%

Measured from the files at 8 × 8 in. The narrowest part is the thinnest neck of card that holds anything on; sharp tips are not counted. “Seen from the front” is the share of the picture that sheet fills once the sheets in front of it are in place.

Will it cut at your size?

The download is 8 × 8 in. The scene maker above makes the same scene at any of these sizes; the thinnest part scales with it.

Frame opening	Each sheet	Narrowest part	Depth needed	Fits a 12 × 12 in mat	Rule of thumb
6 × 6 in	152.4 × 152.4 mm	0.6 mm	17 mm	Yes	Fine detail: sharp blade, slow speed
20 × 20 cm	200 × 200 mm	0.8 mm	17 mm	Yes	Fine detail: sharp blade, slow speed
8 × 8 in	203.2 × 203.2 mm	0.8 mm	17 mm	Yes	Fine detail: sharp blade, slow speed
23 × 23 cm	230 × 230 mm	0.9 mm	17 mm	Yes	Fine detail: sharp blade, slow speed
25 × 25 cm	250 × 250 mm	1 mm	17 mm	Yes	Fine detail: sharp blade, slow speed

Depth needed allows 3 mm of foam between sheets and 5 mm for the card itself and the backing.

Making this one

The two branches grow in from the frame, so the birds on them are one piece with their sheets and nothing hangs loose. The fence and birdhouse sheet has the most cutting in it: weed the gaps between the pickets before you lift it.

Cut all 5 sheets from 160 to 220 gsm card at the same size.
Lay them out in order, sheet 1 at the back.
Put strips of 3 mm foam tape round the border of sheet 1 and press sheet 2 onto it with the edges level. Carry on to sheet 5.
Fit the stack into a deep frame with the front sheet against the glass. For a light box, run a strip of warm white LEDs round the inside of the frame behind the stack.

The zip includes these steps as a text file, each sheet as its own SVG and all 5 side by side in one SVG. More on paper, frames and lights is on the shadow box page.

The parts, on their own

Everything in the scene comes from the free SVG library, where each has its own page and file:

Questions

Which birds are they?

Plain songbird shapes, so they can be whatever visits your garden; the one on the ground has the crest of a cardinal. Swap the one on the ground in the maker for a dove, an owl or a hummingbird.

Can I sell boxes I make with it?

Yes. Finished pieces are yours to sell. The files themselves may not be sold or shared; send people to this page. See the licence.

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