I want to make a shadow box. What is the best way to get started?

I plan to make it western themed for my step dad with an old sheriff%26#039;s badage, jail keys, spurs, and whatever else i can think of.|||Hi:





1) select a theme, which you all ready done





2) Get a box or make a box. Hobby Lobby as a very good selection if you choose to get one, that will determine what you can put into it





3) choose and make a scene, this will determine what you will need. In this case a jail house





4) Find, buy or make the objects you want to go into it. Make sure it scaled to the size of the room you want to make.





5) Plan where you want all the object to go in the room. So to give a more natural look and is what you want it theme to be.





6) Glue and mount and put every thing in it; where you want it to be.





7) Add some small hobbie lights and conceal the wiring to light it up. make sure it and put some small hole in the top to vent the heat out.





8) Your done, give it to stepdad and he will remmber you for life.








Here are some books to help you:





Complete Guide to Shadowboxes and Framing Objects


by James Miller





Memory Art: Fresh Ideas for Shadowboxes and Other Keepsake Displays


by Mary Lynn Maloney





Complete Book of Making Miniatures


by Thelma Newman, Virginia H. Merrill





Making Miniature Food and Market Stalls


by Angie Scarr





Creations in Miniature


by Eleanor Levie





Miniature Worlds in 1/12 Scale


by Susan Penny, Martin Penny





The Art of the Miniature: Small Worlds and How to Make Them


by Jane Freeman, Roger Rosenblatt (Foreword by)





Building Masterpiece Miniatures


by Joseph W. Daniele





American Miniatures, 1730-1850: One Hundred and Seventy-Three Portraits Selected with a Descriptive Account





Miniature Antique Furniture,


by Herbert F. Schiffer, Peter B. Schiffer





Marvelous Miniatures


by Eleanor Levie (Editor)





How to Build Miniature Furniture and Room Settings


by Judy Beals





Historic Vehicles in Miniature: The Genius of Ivan Collins, Revised and Expanded Edition


by Michael Thoele, Ron Brentano





How to Paint Miniatures


by Elizabeth Johnson, Robert Hughes





Miniatures Catalog


by Michal Morse





Dolls%26#039; House Shops, Cafes %26amp; Restaurants


by Jean Nisbett











check this website out :





http://www.alibris.com/search/search.cfm...





all book are available at any library or bookstore





Hope this helps|||if you go to %26quot;Things Rememberd%26quot; They have the shadow boxes that say dad on it so it makes it pretty easy... so you just put th stuff inside and there u go.... i know its the easy way out but it works for me :)|||That sounds cute! I would go to a local craft store and decide how big of a shadow box you will need then you will need a background layout so what i did was i chose some scrapbook paper for the back did a few different ones to add uniqueness... then get all the items you want on the page together lay them all out on floor and arrange them how you like switching it up as you please then get some gorilla glue or some kind of heavy duty glue and glue your items to the paper then to the back of the shadow box frame maybe add a cowboy quote or something like that it will turn out cute!