DIY Moth Specimen Shadow Box
Hi! It’s Emily again with a Halloween project for you guys!
I’ve been looking for a project to use Karen’s moth printables for quite some time now. We’re decorating the house for Halloween and I came across an old display box and thought I could make my own moth-friendly natural history specimen. Here goes!
First off, I checked around here and picked three of my favorite moth printables {here, here and here}. Although the cream & brown moth variations were my favorites, I found that the more unusual & colorful moths showed up better and didn’t get lost as much when grouped together.
I selected moths I liked then removed the backgrounds in Photoshop, and regrouped them. You could just as easily print all three printables as-is and move on to the next step.
I printed my moth collage out on a cream colored card stock, which I convinced myself adds some depth to the lighter moths. I gathered my shadowbox and my trusty blue scissors {pretend you don’t see the dog-chewed handles, they’re my favorite scissors and I couldn’t throw them away after “the incident”}.
If you don’t have a display box on hand, you can easily duplicate the shadow box look with a simple black frame and a thin layer of batting.
Cut the moths out of the card stock. I also folded the wings in using a bone folder to add a little depth and so the moths would appear more life-like.
Thanks for letting me share this project with you. I hope you enjoyed it!
Emily
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Deborah Gibson says
October 3, 2013 at 10:34 amThis is so beautiful. Thank you for sharing.
Maureen says
October 3, 2013 at 1:27 pmThat is just wonderful Emily! I doubt I have the cutting patience you do but it’s a great project.
Emily says
October 3, 2013 at 1:54 pmThese were pretty simple shapes to cut out but don’t look too closely…..I really don’t have THAT much patience. I just cut the antennae right off if they were too fine to cut around : )
Amanda says
October 3, 2013 at 1:30 pmBrilliant, that looks amazing, and much kinder to moths too! Thank you for sharing with us 🙂
via says
October 3, 2013 at 2:34 pmscan those images from the fortune telling book! sounds awesome! 🙂
Rhissanna says
October 3, 2013 at 4:05 pmYes please!
Teddee Grace says
October 3, 2013 at 3:35 pmReally a wonderful use for these lovely images. I havea small shadow box that has just been waiting around and think this would be fun for a Halloween/Steam Punk tablescape. Thanks for the idea!
Betty of The Gossamer Tearoom says
October 3, 2013 at 7:18 pmWhat a super-cool idea this is, Karen! Thank you for the inspiration for something I’m doing with butterflies on a much smaller scale!!
Betty
spencer says
October 4, 2013 at 12:53 amI’m re-reading a childhood favorite book The Girl of the Limberlost right now… It’s such a sweet old tale about a girl who collects moths and sells them for a lot of money.
Laura Strack says
October 4, 2013 at 1:27 amGreat idea, Emily! Spooky enough for Halloween decor, because they are insects, but pretty enough not to gross anyone out! I love it!!
Mary Blackhurst Hill says
October 4, 2013 at 1:57 pmThis is such a lovely project. I always love those Victorian stuffed birds and butterfly displays, but grieve for the poor little animals that died for art. Here nothing has to die so RESULT!
Love your comment about your favorite scissors, Emily.
Lizbeth says
October 6, 2013 at 1:22 pmI absolutely love moths! What a great moth friendly project…Now this is a silly question; don’t the folded wings loose dimensionality once you put the glass from the frame in? I’m curious as to how this problem was solved.
Emily says
October 6, 2013 at 8:42 pmHi Lizbeth – I just checked it my box out again (I did this project last year). Yes, if you use very thick batting where it hits right up against the glass, your moths will flatten out. If you use thinner batting, you can really get the wings to partially close (I would probably use a dab of hot glue to keep them on the batting so they wouldn’t fall down). I guess I was lucky — my batting was sort of in between — where some of the dimensionality stayed and they didn’t slide down when displayed.