House on the hill shadow box SVG
A cottage on the top of a hill with the evening sun behind it: the sun and two clouds, trees on the far hill, the cottage with a heart in its gable, smoke from the chimney and a flower at each side, a round tree beside it on the slope, an oak, a letter box and a picket fence lower down, and a garden bench, a cat, tulips and sunflowers at the front. 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.
5 sheets at 10 × 8 in, landscape, 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 “Sunset” set; cut them in any card you like. Cut sheet 4, “Oak and fence”, the slowest: at 1.1 mm it has the thinnest part in the scene, and sheet 5, “Garden”, fills the most of the view, 28% of it.
| Sheet | What is on it | Narrowest part | Seen from the front |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Sun and clouds | A whole sheet with holes for: Plain disc, Long flat cloud and Fluffy cloud | over 2 mm | 18% |
| 2. Far hills | Rolling ground, with: Three trees | over 2 mm | 7% |
| 3. House on the hill | A gentle slope, with: Cute house with a scalloped roof and Round tree silhouette | 1.7 mm | 15% |
| 4. Oak and fence | A gentle slope, with: Oak tree with a broad crown, Mailbox with the flag up and 2 × Picket fence with pointed tops | 1.1 mm | 21% |
| 5. Garden | A gentle slope, with: Garden bench with a lattice back, Sitting black cat, Tulip border and Three sunflowers on stems | 1.1 mm | 28% |
Measured from the files at 10 × 8 in, landscape. 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 10 × 8 in, landscape. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 × 8 in, landscape | 254 × 203.2 mm | 1.1 mm | 17 mm | Yes | Cuts easily |
Depth needed allows 3 mm of foam between sheets and 5 mm for the card itself and the backing.
Making this one
The house is cut from one sheet and the depth is built round it: the sun and the far hill stand behind it, and the slope with the oak and the garden stand in front. The heart in the gable is cut through with the sun behind it, and the panes of the two windows are cut through too. The cottage is about 8.5 cm tall at 10 by 8 inches, to the top of its smoke. It is about 1.7 mm at its finest; the letter box on the slope and the tulips in the garden are the fine cutting, at about 1.1 mm. With a craft knife, cut the heart and the window panes first and the outline of the house last. Nothing hangs on a thread. In the Sunset colours it runs from pale yellow at the back to plum at the front.
- 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
Is it a house to fold and glue?
No. It is a flat picture of a house in five layered sheets, for a deep frame. Nothing is folded: the house is one sheet, and the depth comes from the sheets standing one behind another, with the sun and the far hill behind the house and the oak, the fence and the garden in front of it.
Can I use a different house?
Yes. Select the house in the maker and choose Swap: a plain house with a chimney, a farmhouse, a log cabin and a schoolhouse are under Buildings, and each stands on the top of the same hill.
How is this different from the other house scenes?
Here a cottage stands alone on a hilltop against the sun, on a wide sheet. The House among the trees scene is upright, with a plain house seen straight on between trees, the Old house on the lane scene has an old house with a porch behind a fence and a gate, and the Christmas house scene has a house dressed with lights and a wreath.
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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