Make a Backyard Shadow Field With Miniature Keepsakes — Empress of Grime

Flip a backyard picture and keepsakes into a pleasant 3-D show with this shadow field tutorial. It’s a enjoyable option to protect backyard reminiscences and create one thing lovely to show indoors.

If you wish to make your individual miniatures, we now have a tutorial right here utilizing polymer clay.

Garden shadow box with garden photo and miniatures.

DIY Backyard Shadow Field

Completed garden-themed shadow box. — Empress of Grime backyard shadow field with assorted miniatures

Shadow bins, junk journals, and scrapbooks might take completely different shapes, however all of them spring from the identical inventive spark—gathering the bits and items we love and turning them into one thing lovely and significant.

Whether or not it begins with a favourite picture, a pressed flower, or a ticket stub from a backyard tour, these initiatives seize reminiscences in a method that’s significant and uniquely your individual.

For this shadow field venture, I’ve chosen a storybook model utilizing a big backyard picture because the backdrop and diverse backyard trinkets and miniatures to convey it to life.

I’ll stroll you thru the way it’s made and share some extra ideas and concepts alongside the way in which.

Two sizes of shadow boxes. — Shadow bins are available varied sizes and depths

What’s a Shadow Field?

A shadow field is a deep, framed show case used to showcase objects, photographs, and mementos in a visually fascinating method.

It’s half collage, half reminiscence field—good for turning significant bits and items into an ornamental souvenir you may dangle on the wall or prop on a shelf.

Provides & Supplies

Supplies for making shadow box including botanical stickers, moss, and miniatures. — Greenback shops are a superb supply for provides

My shadow field used the next:

Shadow field (8 x 10-inch)
(8 x 10-inch) backyard picture for background
Picture of hummingbird on white background
Reindeer moss
Wooden department slices
Miniatures: fox, toadstool, lemonade jug and glass, blue fowl, backyard hoe, clay pot with potted plant.
Sources for miniatures embrace greenback shops, craft retailers, dollhouse miniature retailers, or make your individual utilizing polymer clay.

Verify Sizes

Make sure that any miniatures or different souvenir objects you select will match contained in the shadow field between the background picture and the entrance glass. The shadow field I used allowed roughly 1-inch complete depth so I needed to lower a number of the wooden slices to suit.

Extra Memento Concepts

Empty seed packets.
Small dried, pressed flowers, seed pods, twigs, leaves, moss (keep away from something that may mould or rot).
Backyard tour tickets.
Handwritten quotes.
Miniatures: instruments, out of doors furnishings, indicators, backyard artwork, pond, wildlife.
Backyard journal notes: diagram of vegetable backyard structure, checklist of favourite flowering vegetation, significant or humorous ideas or expressions.

Theme Concept

Take photographs of your backyard from the identical location at completely different occasions of yr and create a shadow field for every season.

You can additionally add mini battery-operated string lights for additional sparkle.

Instruments

Craft knife and foam dots. — Craft knife and foam dots

Hot glue dispenser — Scorching glue dispenser

Craft knife (if slicing out photographs)
Adhesive foam dots (I used them to make the hummingbird picture stand out)
Scorching glue dispenser and glue
Scissors
Tweezers
Towel (to cowl desk in the event you’re frightened about breaking glass whilst you’re working)

Plan Your Design

Testing items in shadow box to ensure they fit. — Make sure that every thing will match the out there area

Do a costume rehearsal first to verify every thing will match. I took the glass out whereas I examined mine to keep away from getting marks on the glass.

Meeting

Close up detail of garden-themed shadow box. — Miniatures embrace a jug of lemonade

Close up of fox in shadow box — Little fox and toadstool within the backyard

Get all of your provides prepared and heat up the scorching glue dispenser.

Take away the again out of your shadow field (the place the background picture will go).
Hold the entrance glass and body items collectively whilst you work.
I stored the shadow field upright whereas I labored.
Keep in mind to test every thing from the ultimate viewpoint (the entrance of the shadow field) as you go.
Use scorching glue to safe objects in place. As a result of scorching glue is seen when dry, apply it strategically so it stays hidden.
Work from the “floor” up.
I began by including the mini wooden slices and reindeer moss alongside the within base of the shadow field.

I secured the lemonade jug and glass to a skinny wooden slice after which glued that to the wooden “desk.”

The fox, fowl, hoe, clay pot and potted plant had been additionally secured with dabs of glue.