Shadow Box

mountainplayer · Mar 20, 2025

I'm getting ready to start on a shadow box of some of my detecting finds. It'll be ill be a mixed bag of items of all shapes/sizes.

I bought a pin cushion backed shadow box (it has a pad, and a backing made of that stiff cardboard/thin pressboard material, and am thinking of using black bead head pins and possibly black picture wire to mount the items.

I'm sure there are some veteran shadow box makers on this forum. What have you all done to mount your finds? Any tips or tricks you wish you would have known when you made your first?

Chilli · Mar 20, 2025

mountainplayer said:
I'm getting ready to start on a shadow box of some of my detecting finds. It'll be ill be a mixed bag of items of all shapes/sizes.

I bought a pin cushion backed shadow box (it has a pad, and a backing made of that stiff cardboard/thin pressboard material, and am thinking of using black bead head pins and possibly black picture wire to mount the items.

I'm sure there are some veteran shadow box makers on this forum. What have you all done to mount your finds? Any tips or tricks you wish you would have known when you made your first?

Its not exactly the same thing. And I actually gave it away as a prize elsewhere and its on someone's wall there in the USA.
It was a picture frame with wood backing that I sprayed black.
I mounted on it things found whilst gold detecting. There were old copper english coins, silver coins, some relic items and a gold nugget. I mounted them all with just a dab on the back of each with strong silicone. They just sat there beautifully on their own. I must admit it was a little historic masterpiece when finished and today would be worth about $700. If you want to mount anything on a standup board of any kind I think its the way to go. Wont damage an item.
But if you plan on taking the item off now n then well your going to want to use a different method.

Trezurehunter · Mar 23, 2025

I mostly use display cases with the foam in them, its just easier that way for me, and I have over 40 cases now. I do have a few shadow boxes, but the items are just setting in there and not attached.

mountainplayer · Mar 23, 2025

I finished my Shadowbox project. It's so good to get this stuff out of bags and coffee cans and out where I can show them off.

I got the boxes from Michael's. They had a buy one get one free special, so $39 for two boxes. Here's the one's I got:

It's a pin board type, with a pressed board backing. I wasn't sure if the material was going to be fuzzy enough for Velcro (it was).

I used a combo of Velcro and pins to secure the items. The Velcro had a sticky back; this is the "hook" side. The hooks were not like what I usually see with Velcro. They stuck really well and I wonder if the regular Velcro would stick this well.