DIY Cheap, Easy & Creepy Specimen Shadow Boxes
UPDATED Oct 2022
Tutorial with Free Labels Printable from Seeing Things here. *BLOG IS GONE.
Download printables ASAP when you see them.
THIS IS NOT MY TUTORIAL.
It is a snapshot of a tutorial that no longer exists from Seeing Things on the WayBack Machine. I feel I owe it to my thousands of readers who reblogged this and pinned this tutorial to publish this. The tutorial has been shortened.
Creepy Collections - Shadow Boxes
Creepy, little shadow boxes filled with bugs, bats and werewolf fangs will add the perfect touch to your macabre Halloween decorating. They are so fun and so cheap to make,
You are only limited by your imagination. Everything is real if you want it to be…even dead fairies.
Bag of Flies and Bag of Bugs - Just stick and pin them.
You are only limited by your imagination. Everything is real if you want it to be…even dead fairies.
Bag of Flies and Bag of Bugs - Just stick and pin them.
Small plastic eggs - Factorydirectcraft.com. Colored with felt markers. Shave a bit off one side of the egg, glue down.
Small skeletons, crumpled brown paper wings, wool bits for hair. I hear them rattlin’ around in the box at night!? I’ve had a few emails about this shadow box…seems people don’t like dead fairies. For those that believe, fairies can never die they are ethereal beings. This post was a fun nod at the
Dead fairy hoax
an April Fools’ Day prank in 2007. Dan Baines, a sculptor and illusion designer, managed to sell his creation, the fake corpse of a fairy, on an internet auction for nearly £300. Long live the fairies and our sense of humor!
Bag of Cockroaches and Bag of Insects - Spirit Halloween, just stick em’ and pin em’.
Bag of Bats - Spirit Halloween, just stick em’ and pin em’.
Fang Bracelet from Dollarama - break apart, paint a few white, glue and pin down. Start by picking up a few of these $2 wooden shadow boxes, I got mine at the Dollarama. If you are in the U.S. check out your local Dollar Stores for something similar. They measure 91/4" x 7" x 21/4". ( 25cm x 18cm x 3.5cm)
Raid your local Dollar Stores, Dollarama, Dollar Giants and Halloween supply stores for all the creepy critters you can find, bug, flies, little skeletons, bats, teeth…you get the idea!
How To:
1. Apply either black paint or wood stain to each shadow box covering all wood surfaces. If it makes the process easier and neater mask of the glass on both sides with painters tape.
2. Apply a coat of varnish (not necessary- your choice).
3. From black foam core board cut a piece that will fit snugly into your frame. This will be the backing on which all your creepy critters will be glued and pinned.
4. Trace around the foam core piece onto a piece of grunge-style scrapbook paper. Cut out and adhere to the foam core piece itself.
5. Apply glue to the inside of the frame and push the foam core/grunge paper stack into place. Let it dry for a few minutes.
6. Print and cut out the labels. Gather your creepy critters and lay everything out in the frame.
Don’t pin or glue anything down until you have spaced everything out.
Once your satisfied, shut the door and see that everything is visible and not hidden behind the door frame, glue and/or pin your critters into place.
NOTE: You may have to use a pair of pliers to nip a segment off of the pin so that it goes through the foam core but does not stick up so far that the door cannot close.
7. Apply a picture hook to the back and hang.