How to Make an Easy Shadow Box for Halloween

Halloween is a brilliant theme for a shadow box display with all its creepy imagery.

But however delightfully spooky our box looks I know I’ll only want to display it for a few weeks. Rather than consigning it to the back of a cupboard for the rest of the year we came up with a plan. We made our shadow box with removable contents so we can quickly change it up to suit the season.

 

Disclosure: I am delighted to be working with Bostik as a Bostik Blogger. Each month the Bostik Bloggers create a craft that our readers can easily re-create at home.

What we used for our Shadow Box Frame.

We used a simple wooden box for our shadow box frame. A sturdy shoe box would also work well.

We cut a piece of cardboard to fit inside snuggly and used Bostik Blu Stick to create a creepy collage.

We cut Balsa wood to size and covered it in dark paper ready to build our shelves.

And finally, we gathered together a selection of ghoulish embellishments to decorate our shadow box Halloween style.

Assembling our Halloween Shadow Box.

We wanted to be able to use our box again after Halloween, so chose to fix everything inside so that it could be easily removed.

The cardboard collage background sits snugly without needing to be stuck. Everything else is attached to the cardboard allowing it to be lifted out when we finish with it.

We used Bostik Micro Dots (Amazon affiliate link) to stick everything into our box.

These tiny sticky dots are super simple to use and stick almost anything. They are also acid and lignin free ensuring they won’t damage any of our creepy treasures.

To start we positioned our shelves using the micro dots to hold them in place. When the shadow box is standing with a little weight on the shelves, they are self-supporting.

Once the carcass of our shadow box was complete, it was time to get creative. Bostik Micro Dots are perfect for sticking embellishments into place. To use, place your object onto the sheet, rub the backing to transfer the dots and lift off. The micro dots essentially turn any object into a sticker.

Using the micro dots allowed us to hold all our curiosities in place without the mess and frustration of using regular glue in a confined space.

We used the micro dots to stick paper, foam, fabric, glass, plastic and porcelain into our box and found them really quick and easy to use. We also applied the glue dots to the edge of our frame before draping it in muslin to complete our creepy look.

And here is our finished Halloween shadow box complete with witches paraphernalia and a spooky graveyard scene. We had so much fun making our shadow box we are already planning one for Christmas.

If you are looking for more crafty Halloween inspiration check out our creepy concrete hands and our revolting edible fruit scabs.