Free shadow box template

Bench under the willow shadow box SVG

An empty bench under a willow beside a lake at sunset, with one dove crossing the sun and another above it, trees on the far shore, and a candle and a lily in the grass 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.

Bench under the willow shadow box: 5 layered sheets seen from the front

Download the SVG files

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 5, “Candle and lily”, the slowest: at 0.9 mm it has the thinnest part in the scene, and sheet 4, “Bench under the willow”, fills the most of the view, 28% of it.

Sheet	What is on it	Narrowest part	Seen from the front
1. Setting sun	A whole sheet with holes for: Plain disc	over 2 mm	24%
2. Doves and far shore	Rolling ground, with: 2 × Dove silhouette, Three trees and Round tree silhouette	1.7 mm	7%
3. Lake	Waves	over 2 mm	10%
4. Bench under the willow	Rolling ground, with: Weeping willow tree and Park bench with a slatted back	1.5 mm	28%
5. Candle and lily	A gentle slope, with: Pillar candle with dripping wax, Lily silhouette and Grass with flowers	0.9 mm	25%

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	0.9 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

Made in memory of someone. It is a paper scene to cut and frame: there is no room in it for keepsakes, though a name and dates can be written on the bottom border. The two doves hang on threads from the top of the second sheet and are sturdy, at 1.7 mm or more at 10 by 8 inches. Nothing on the sheet with the willow and the bench is under 1.5 mm, and the small flowers at the front are the fine cutting, at about 0.9 mm. The sun is one hole in the back sheet.

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

Can I add a name and dates?

Not inside the maker yet. Write them on the bottom border, or cut the name from the lettering in the library and glue it there.

Can I put something on the bench?

Yes. Select the bench sheet in the maker and add a part beside or in front of the bench: a sitting cat or dog is under Animals, and a hat, a book or a photograph can be glued to the card by hand.

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.

More shadow box scenes

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