Fields Of Heather: Layered Paper Shadow Boxes (The Dollar Tree Version)

Cut paper designs, layered with pop dots in between, and a strand of lights at the back, form a lighted layered shadow box.

Supplies:

3D Adhesive Dots (glue dots) For Dimension
White Cardstock - try heavier cardstock, with some texture, for a more finished look
Shadow Box - watch for these to appear at the Dollar Tree, or go on sale at Michaels. You can also find them on Amazon here. Also watch for cookie tins at Christmas time, with clear tops. Or, you can make a shadow box from paper.
LED Lights - I used the battery strand from the Dollar Tree, but many prefer the much more expensive LED tape lights
SVGs for this design

The Frame

I started with this dollar tree frame. I attempted to take the design off with nail polish remover, but what I had here is not 100% acetone, and although it was working, it was a VERY slow process. I pulled out the VLR (used to remove htv mistakes) and that took the design off really quickly!

The Layered Paper Design

You can download these pages as svgs here.

Tips For Making Your Own Design

Create a square that fits your frame
Make another square an inch smaller, slice it from the original, to create a "frame".
Add your designs so they "attach" to the frame - each paper needs to be one piece. Select all and weld to make it one.
At least 4 pages seems to work best
Use thicker, textured, paper for a more finished look - but plain white card stock from the Dollar tree (or the Michaels packs) does work!

When making the design, I made each layer a different color, so I could see how they would "fit" when stacked. I changed all of the layers back to white before cutting.

My first attempt was a fail - I forgot to make sure the truck was completely attached. I ended up adding rectangles to the design and welding them, so that it cut as one piece.

The pages all cut

Any pop dots will work. These are 2mm thick. I cut them in half, and stacked them, making it 4mm between pages

The pages all in the frame.

The Lights:

I used a simple pack of Dollar Tree lights - these are sometimes with the candles, and often with the seasonal items - especially at Christmas time. LED tape lights are another popular option, but they are a lot more expensive. I attached the Dollar Tree lights with scotch tape. Then because this frame did not have a back, I cut a piece of cardstock to cover the lights. This is important - the lights reflect better if there is something behind them.