Step by Step guide on how to build a shadow box

1. 
How to Create a Shadow Box

2. 
Tools & Supplies
• Shadow Box
• Scrapbook
paper
• Hot glue gun &
glue sticks
• Decorations such
as: Ribbon,
stickers, pictures
&
embellishments
• Push pins
• Picture tape
• Scissors
• Paper Trimmer
• Card Stock (to
make picture
mattes)

3. 
 Pick a memory or story you want your shadow
box to capture. This can be anything from your
child’s first haircut to your wedding day.
Pick a Theme

4. 
 You need to determine where your Shadow Box
will be displayed and what size it will be before
you pick the keepsakes you will place inside.
 Less is more-too many items will look cluttered.
Pick Size of Shadowbox

5. 
 Use pictures or items from the occasion you
want to remember.
 Pick one main focal point and build around it. In
the shadow box on the cover slide I used a 5x7
picture as the main picture and added smaller
pictures, souvenirs from the trip and
embellishment stickers around it.
 If you are documenting a baptism consider
getting a roll to hold the certificate. If it’s your
child’s first hair cut you can get a vile to hold the
locket of hair and so on.
Pick Your Keepsakes

6. 
Color Scheme & Accents

7. 
 Once you have picked out your Shadow Box,
paper and keepsakes you are ready to begin. Lay
the Shadow Box down and place the scrapbook
paper inside. Secure with pushpins. If you have a
larger shadowbox and need to overlap paper
you can use a ribbon down the overlapping part
to hide the crease. See cover slide shadowbox for
example of this.
 Gather pictures and cut out card stock mattings
to place behind them for a layered look. You can
use multi layers to make your picture look 3-D.
Layout

8. 
 Practice placing items in shadow box. Try several
options so you know what looks best. *Do not hot
glue anything until you are sure of your final
placement.
 Once you decide on the layout you can use the
picture tape to secure the pictures to the matting
and hot glue to secure matting to the scrapbook
paper.
 Secure embellishments and other decorations
Layout

9. 
 Walk through a Scrapbook Store and see the
example pages they have displayed for ideas.
 Most Scrapbook Stores have tables set up for you to
work at and let you use their trimmer and scissors for
free if you work on your item in the store.
 Working on your project at a Scrapbook Store also
gives you the advantage of trying different layouts
using different options of card stock, embellishments
and background papers.
 Call and ask your local Scrapbook Supply Store if
they have free classes to teach scrapbooking
techniques. This is a great way to get ideas from
others.
Helpful Hints

10. 
When my husband, Rob, was 13 years old he got to
go with his dad on his annual “men's fishing trip” for
the first time. One night towards the end of the
evening his dad told him to change his fishing line
but he was tired and cranky so he refused. A few
minutes later he caught a big fish but as he was
reeling it in the line broke and his fish got away. The
next day he changed his line like his dad had told
him to do the night before and they went fishing on
the opposite side of the lake.
My Shadowbox

11. 
Rob caught another fish and as he reeled it into the
boat his dad was amazed. The fish had the lure from
the day before in its mouth, he had caught the
exact fish again! Thirty years later my father-in-law
died suddenly and we found a box in his closet full
of keepsakes from that trip, including the lure from
the fishes mouth. I used all the keepsakes he had
saved and added a fish urn filled with his ashes to
create this shadowbox.
My Shadowbox