17 Thrilling Shadow Box Ideas: How to Make a Shadow Box With Style
Creating a shadow box display offers a brilliant, practical way of showing off some of the decorative items that you want visitors to your home to see. These are relatively easy to make and give tremendous end results when done well. We have gathered together some of the very best shadow box ideas to get you started. There are useful tips on how to make them, together with images to inspire you to get started. You will see how to make a tasteful, attractive shadow box that you love with absolutely no fuss. Take a look at these 17 ideas and you will soon be making your own fun, stylish shadow boxes.
Use Pine for the Shadow Box Frame
The starting point is with the material you use for the shadow box frame. Pine is a great choice. You then cut it into sections before putting it together as a box frame. Another option that we can see used by Hometalker Vernichel // created by v, is to use the frame of a clock as your box. Either way, you will want to get an attractive, strong frame before going any further. Get tutorial here
Or Use Cardboard
You might think that creating this item out of cardboard will give you a lower-quality finish. Yet, if you follow the right steps to glue and paint it, the end result will be durable and attractive, and visitors who view it won’t be able to tell that it is made from cardboard. This is a task you can carry out without too much time or expense, just like Sahana did in the project pictured here. Get tutorial here
Choose a Theme
What theme will you use to create a beautiful decoration that you love looking at day after day? Flowers are a common theme, as they add instant warmth, color, and a natural touch to any room. If you are going to use flowers, then be sure to dry them out fully first of all. You will also want to choose colors that go well with the color of the box, as well as the style of rest of the room. Get tutorial here
Design a Shadow Box for the Kitchen
You can find different types of shadow box ideas that work wonderfully in any room in your house. For example, if you want to design something creative for your kitchen, then you can add some tasty food-related items, just as Hometalker Sandra Allen did in the image shown above. This gives you a fun, versatile type of kitchen decoration that you can use to show what your favorite foods are. Get tutorial here
Make a Design for a Kid’s Room
You can have a lot of fun exploring ideas for adding this kind of decoration to a youngster’s room. This is a chance to use bold colors, include their favorite characters or just do something really cute. Amy @ Delineate Your Dwelling put in some baby clothing, as a cool reminder of how quickly they grow up. Get tutorial here
Make a Special Gift
Another neat idea is to make a personalized shadow box as a gift for someone special in your life. The image featured above is from L’albero di Sa’s explanation on how to make a box that doubles as a birthday card. By marking a sheet and then cutting it to size, you soon get a cute box that can be turned into a birthday card quite easily. It makes a memorable and useful gift to treasure. Get tutorial here
Use Keys as Features
You can use just about anything like the features you put in the center of the shadow boxes you make. The use of old keys is a clever move, as it gives the finished product an old-time, solid feel. This is the kind of thing that you can get hold of easily in a flea market or thrift store. The image above comes from Angie CountryChicCottage and shows how effective this can be when hung on the wall. Get tutorial here
Add Lights
If you want to draw more attention to your shadow box, you can add some lights to it fairly easily. The image above is from a project by Carrie MakingLemonade, a Hometalker who designed a festive box that looks fantastic. A few simple supplies from the local craft store was all she needed to make this delightful shadow box frame with a set of fairy lights adding a magical touch to it. Get tutorial here
Shadow Box Coffee Table
While most people put a shadow box on the wall or a shelf, you can use them in other ways too. In fact, one of the cleverest shadow box ideas it to make a table in this style. The starting point is with a big shadow box that you can fill with interesting objects. The box needs to be sanded, stained, and added to a table frame. Get tutorial here
Add Your Memories
A shadow box offers the perfect place to keep some special memories on display at all times. The image above shows the simple yet attractive box made by Ronja Lotte using a frame that she bought and adapted. Even a fairly basic box can become special when it contains priceless memories in it. Learn how to make a shadow box and you can fill it with the things that matter most to you. Get tutorial here
Dedicate It to a Beloved Pet
A tasteful shadow box can work well as a lovely tribute to a beloved pet who is now departed. The image shown is from the project completed by Dawn Shupick to remember her dog. Starting with a photo frame, she added some of her pet’s favorite items to make a very special thing to remember her by. This shows us that there are many worthwhile shadow box ideas to explore and try. Get tutorial here
Bring Your Instagram Pictures to Life
Deciding what to put in your shadow box may be a sticking point that causes delays to the project. Hometalker The Blissful Bee gave us the neat idea of using this as a way of bringing our favorite Instagram images to life. This is a simple type of decoration that is easy to make but that can bring a lot of joy. Why not see which of your best pictures would look good in this type of presentation? Get tutorial here
Use an Old Window Frame
You don’t need to buy a pre-made box or photo frame for this task provided that you are creative. This is a nice idea shown above from Hometalker Bonnie Shirley Coates. She had used an old window frame as the shadow box frame to produce a big display that pays tribute to her late grandparents. The addition of some special objects helps to make it stand out as an authentic, heartfelt project. Get tutorial here
Get Creative
This is a great opportunity to get creative and produce something wonderfully unique to look at. The project above is from The House house. It involved taking an image of a dolphin and carefully recreating it using a mixture of colored glass and seashells. This is an enjoyable, simple way of letting your imagination take over as you decide how to make the perfect decoration for your home. Get tutorial here
Use a Drawer Shelf
The ideal solution for your shadow box could be staring you in the face all the time. Hometalker DIY Passion used a couple of drawer shelves as the starting point for their impressive project. With some chalk paint and decorative paper to smarten them up, they were soon turned into handy display units. This can really be as simple or as complex a project as you want it to be. Get tutorial here
Use Fun Colors
If you want to add some fun and color to your home, then this is a fine way of doing so in style. The image above reveals how Margotpotter added life and color to some shadow boxes. Playing around with different color schemes in this way can be a neat way of brightening up a room. Just choose whatever colors most inspire you and soon you will have something bright and eye-catching to enjoy. Get tutorial here
Try Different Shapes
You don’t need to feel restricted to only using square or rectangular boxes for this project. This image is from Christina Pennywise, and it shows us how it is possible to play around with the shapes you use to get fascinating results. This is an egg-shaped design that works perfectly for Easter. You can also try out any other sort of shape that you think will work well in your home. Get tutorial here