Bee Shadow Box Paper Art Project

Beautiful bee and flowers shadow box paper art - a really pretty craft project to make with your Cricut or similar cutting machine or if paper cutting by hand.

Full instructions on this page...

Bee shadow box paper art template for Cricut and other cutting machines

Bee shadow box paper wall art - craft project

Get the bee shadow box template from my store here...

Shadow box digital template with bee and flowers design

Ideal for Cricut and similar cutting machines or hand-cut papercutting projects

SVG, DXF, EPS and PNG file formats

For personal use & small-business commercial use

For physical/craft products only - no digital products, use, or sharing

Read the full T&Cs here

Bee Shadow Box Paper Art Project

Bee shadow box paper wall art craft project

Bee shadow box paper wall art project

I made this pretty bee and flowers shadow box paper art project for you to be able to make something really beautiful, summery, and colourful...

Sometimes, quite often, I just feel like I want to see, and make, something really beautiful and filled with joy - and I always think nature is one of the best sources of all the wonderful things we can see in the world - so I decided to take inspiration from a sunny day and create this bee design for you...

My bee shadow box template is easy to make - although there's several layers to make and some extra glueing to do - but I think that you'll really enjoy it and you'll love the finished shadow box, too!

Bee and flowers shadow box SVG, DXF, EPS, PNG file

What you'll need:

You will need:

Cardstock - in at least eight different colours. If you want to make the flower centres different colours, you will need more colours - (I changed the colours up a little in the alternative colour idea I'll show you - more on this just below). I've used a mix of Sizzix 'Surfacez' cardstock and Cricut cardstock for each of the two colour ideas I'll share on this page. The cut is a little intricate in places, so it's best to use a quality cardstock that you know cuts well. I used the 'Cardstock for intricate cuts' setting for my Cricut Maker. I also used Dovecraft crafting paper for the green background in my tutorial example (cut using 'Copy Paper' setting) as I thought that looked the best colour and being the background, it didn't really need to be too stiff. And I used Clairefontaine black cardstock (160 gsm) for the bee (cut with 'Light cardstock' setting). If you need tips for choosing and using cardstock with a Cricut, you can find those here...

Double-sided sticky pads - these stick the layers together and separate them a little to give a better shadow effect.

Paper glue, such as a stick glue - this is to stick down the flower layers and bee layers

Frame - a box frame that's a little deeper will give you the best results for your shadow box. I've used a frame that's around 8 x 8 inches (20 x 20cm)

A way to cut your card layers - I'm using my Cricut Maker cutting machine. You will be also able to use the template with other cutting machines or if you want to cut by hand

The bee shadow box template - available from my store here

Craft Tutorial for your Paper Art Shadow Box

You can print these instructions to help you if you wish - the print button is just below and you can also find print buttons on the top right on the webpage and towards the bottom of the page, below the instructions.

First resize the design to fit your chosen frame - the bee shadow box SVG is sized to fit a 20 x 20cm (8 x 8 inch) shadow box. Please use your chosen cutting machine program to resize it to fit your own frame (measure your own frame!). The SVG template should load to 20 x 20 cm (7.87 x 7.87 inches) in Cricut Design Space, but may not do so if you use another file format or a different type of cutting machine.

If you need the measurements for the different elements:

All square elements - 20 x 20 cm (7.87 x 7.87 inches)

Bee elements - 9.25 x 6.81 cm (3.64 x 2.68 inches)

Separate floral elements (dark pink & yellow on template - all elements together) - 13.29 x 9.53 cm (5.23 x 3.75 inches)

If you need help with accessing, downloading or opening your file, that's here... I also have some basic help for using your Cricut here!

Choosing Colours for Your Project

Pretty pinks and greens - bee shadow box craft project

A pretty garden look in pinks and greens - using the template colours

If you want to change up the colours of the design template a bit, feel free, that's what being creative is all about.

In most cases, I expect you'll want to keep the bee colours as they are.

I also think it's usually best to keep the layers with the leaves and stalks to a green or similar colour (you could try blues, tans, or browns).

Have some fun with the flowers - you'll see for the template (photo above) I've kept it simple with two similar tones of pink and peach/salmon pink, with all the flower centres yellow. For my alternative idea, though (photo below), I made one set of flowers pink, and the other yellow, and had the flower centres brown and orange. So you can see that you can create some slightly different looks for your project.

Change the background colour - this is the easiest way to create a different look for your own project - I've gone for quite a natural look for both my colour ideas using different shades of green - I think a blue would also look lovely, like the sky - or you might prefer a crisp, clean white, or a cheerful yellow, a fun orange, a pretty pink..? Try some colours together, keeping in mind the colours you've chosen for the rest of the project, and see what you can come up with!

Alternative colour look - pink, yellow, orange, green shadow box idea with bee design

Adding more colours to the bee and flowers design - alternative colour idea

Once you've chosen your colours and resized the design (if necessary), you can cut your layers (if you need help with that, click here)...

Then, with your layers all cut and ready we can start assembling your shadow box paper art project!

Assembling all the layers

Bee shadow box paper wall art project - layers all cut and ready

Layers all cut and ready to go!

Let's start with the layers all cut out and ready to go - I usually find it best to lay them out in some kind of order as it helps me move more quickly through the project without spending time searching for specific pieces.

For this project, I decided to start with all the loose pieces - so the bees and the flowers. And I started off with the bee - there's three main layers to the bee - white, yellow, and black...

Bee shape - yellow, white and black cardstock layers

So the white is the bottom layer of the bee - and we're going to glue the middle layer (the yellow one) on top of it. So add some glue to the reverse of the yellow layer like in the image below - I'm just using a solid glue stick like this as it's clean and easy to use. We want it stuck down securely, so do make sure you get around all the edges...

Add glue to the back of the yellow bee shape

Then stick the yellow layer down on top of the white layer, trying to get the outer edges of both lined up the best you can - see the image below...

Glue down the yellow bee layer onto the white layer

Line up the edges and glue down the yellow bee shape on top of the white one

Then we'll add glue to the reverse of the black bee shape - try to be careful to not get glue onto the front side of the black as the glue does tend to show up on these darker colours. I try and use an up-and-down dabbing motion to add the glue, rather than smearing it on. See the image below...

Add glue to the reverse of the black bee layer

Carefully dab glue onto the reverse of the black bee layer - try to avoid getting glue on the front of the bee!

Then stick him down, on top of the yellow and white layers, again trying to line up all the edges carefully - see the photo below...

Glue down the black bee layer carefully but firmly, trying to line up all the edges

Next, we can move on to the flowers - the yellow layer is going to be the background layer for the flower, with the flower centre showing through. There are four smaller flowers and one larger flower which will be a different colour if you're following my colour scheme - see the photo below...

Get your flower layers together, ready to glue

So now we just need to add glue to the reverse of all the pink/peach petal layers - see the image below...

Add glue to the reverse of the pink petal layers

Add glue to the reverse of the pink/peach petal layers

Then glue the petal layer down onto the yellow base layer - like in the image below - trying to get the edges all aligned and neat (you might be able to make a better job than I did!)...

Glue the pink layer down

Repeat this for all of the flowers - see the image below...

Glue all of the flower shapes - five in total, one large four small

Now let's move onto the main layers of the shadow box - I'm going to be starting from the back or bottom layer and working up, so that's the plain square at the back and the layer with both flowers and bee shape - see my photo below...

Let's build up the shadow box from the back

We'll start with these two back or bottom layers to build our shadow box up

I'll be separating the layers with double-sided sticky tabs - which will go on the BACK of the bee and flower layer. The sticky tabs allows a little separation or space between the layers and adds to the 3D 'shadow' look for the box. If you like, you can double-up on the sticky tabs (one on top of another) to make the gaps deeper. I'll just be using one deep, with three per side - you can use four or five per side if you want, or just two if you're short of tabs or time...

Do try and keep the positioning the same (or very similar - no need to measure) for each layer - this way, one tab sits on top of the other and the layers are built up evenly with no sagging - you can see how I've positioned mine around the edges in the photo below...

Add double-sided sticky tabs to the reverse of the layer

Position double-sided sticky tabs around the edges, on the reverse of the layer

Then, turn the layer over, line up the top edges carefully with the plain square underneath, and carefully lower the layer down, and when you're happy it's in position, press into place - see the image below...

Line up the bottom two layers and stick down

Line up the top edges of the two layers then carefully stick down

Next, it's the yellow layer - the one with just the three flower-head shapes at the top. Add your double-sided sticky tabs to the back of this layer, trying to get them in a similar position to your last layer (as best you can without needing to be precise) - see the image below...

Add double-sided sticky tabs to the layer in a similar position

Add double-sided sticky tabs to the back of the layer, trying to get them in a similar position to the previous layer

Then, turn it over, line up the top edges and lower it down carefully and stick in place - it should look something like my photo below...

slowly building up the layers of the bee shadow box

Slowly building up the layers - align the top edges and stick in place

The next layer is the peach colour - it's got the same three little flowers near the top but with little holes cut out for the flower centres. Again, add the double-sided sticky tabs to the back of the layer, trying to get them in the similar positions to the other two layers - see my photo below...

Peach flower layer - add sticky tabs to the back

Add your double-sided sticky tabs to the reverse of the pinky-peach layer, trying to get them in the same positions as previously

And again, it's just a matter of turning the layer over, lining it up along the top edges, and press it down onto the layers beneath - see the image below...

Add the pinky-peach layer to the stack of layers

Add the pinky-peach layer to your shadow box paper art project

Next, we'll add the little flower than goes with this layer - that's the larger of the separate flowers, that matches the pinky-peach colour of the layer. It'll go on the green flower shape beneath the bee - see my photo below...

Let's add this flower to the layer

Add a double-sided sticky tab to the back of the flower - I cut a sticky tab in half to fit the flower - you can see it in my photo below...

Add a double-sided sticky tab to the back of the flower

I cut a double-sided sticky tab in half and stuck it to the back of the flower

Then just stick it in place, trying to get the edges lined up as best you can - see the photo below...

Stick the flower in place

Now it's time for the final main layer - it's pale green with flower shapes at the bottom (and hopefully the only square layer you've got left!) - again, just add your double-sided sticky tabs around the edges on the back of the layer, in the same or similar positions as the previous layers, as much as possible - see the photo below...

Add your double-sided sticky tabs around the edge of the layer

Add double-sided sticky tabs around the reverse of the layer - try to get them in similar positions as the previous layers, again

Then turn this layer over, line up the top edges and lower the layer to stick it down - it should look something like mine in the photo below...

Stick down this final main layer, after aligning the edges carefully

So now we need to add the little flowers onto the layer - you should have four left - see my photo below...

It's time to add the little flowers

Again, I've added small pieces of double-sided sticky tabs to the back. I cut my sticky tabs into quarters to get the pieces small enough. You could also just use glue if you find it too fiddly. See my photo below...

Double-sided sticky tabs on the reverse of the flowers

Add small pieces of double-sided sticky tabs to the back of each flower

Then stick each in position on the pale green layer - see my photo below for how mine ended up - don't worry, we haven't forgotten our beautiful bee, we'll do him next!

Flowers stuck in place

Now, take your bee and add three double-sided sticky tabs to his body and both wings - see the image below...

Add three double-sided sticky tabs to the back of your bee

Then stick him down in place - you should be able to see the bee shape ready for him, and he'll go over the top of the pinky-peach flower, like you can see in my photo below...

Stick the bee in place, going over the top of the pinky-peach flower

Your bee shadow box paper art project is now done! Hurrah! Stand back and take a look - you can see mine just below...

Your shadow box project is now complete

I just made one final amendment to my shadow box - my petal near the bee seemed to be flapping about, so I added a little bit of glue just where my finger's pointing in the photo below. The alternative colour version I made didn't need this extra dab of glue, so just give a quick visual check to yours and feel free to add glue in any parts that aren't behaving as you'd like...

Adding an extra dab of glue

So now it's properly finished and we just need to add your beautiful shadow box paper art to a frame - see mine in the photo below...

Bee shadow box paper art finished and framed

Bee and flowers shadow box wall art craft project

Detailed look at the bee and flowers shadow box

You can also see my alternative colour version in the photos below - I made the two sets of flowers different colours, pink and yellow, with orange and brown flower centres, and changed up the greens a little to create a slightly different look...