This upcycle was inspired by the fall decor section in Joann Fabrics. When I layed eyes on this shadow box I knew I had to have it.
I know you all have been there, you see something you absolutely love, but the price tag just isn’t matching up. What’s a girl to do?!

Do it yourself on a much smaller budget!
I knew I already had most of the materials, only things missing were the shadow box and acorns.
Next stop, Thrift Store!
I’m pretty sure most of you, just like me see a shadow box of some sort every time you walk walk into any Goodwill. I also knew they had acorns at the Dollar Tree. Perfect, now that I’ve got everything I need its time to get home and get crafty!

Let me show you all the supplies I used and how I put everything together.
Supplies:
- Shadow box frame (from goodwill for $2.99)
- Acorns (dollar tree)
- Scrapbook paper
- Mod Podge
- scissors
- Paint
- Hot glue gun and glue sticks
- Wooden “Happy Fall” plaque (multiple pack from Hobby Lobby)

1. Once you have all your supplies ready, remove the back of your shadow box and set the backer aside.
2. Now you can go ahead and start painting your frame. I chose a navy blue for mine. Make sure you also paint the inside trim that could be visible from the front of your shadow box.

3. Set your frame aside to dry. Now you can grab the backer again, you’ll want to arrange your scrapbook paper before you mod podge it down. If your using a patterned scrapbook paper like I did, just make sure your lines line up.

4. My wooden “Happy Fall” plaque was originally orange, but I decided to go with yellow for this project. So I painted right over it.

5. I used a very small amount of hot glue to apply my wooden plaque to the backer. Now it’s time to add our acorns and put everything back together.
6. I flipped the shadow box over, face down and added my bag of acorns. Then lay your backer on your frame and carefully stand it up so that your acorns fall to the bottom of your frame before you secure the backer in place.

7. Now you can secure your backer in place with your hot glue gun or E6000, whichever you prefer. I went around the trim of my frame with my high temp hot glue gun and it worked just fine.


That’s it! After a quick trip to the goodwill and dollar tree my grand total was just a fraction of the original cost. $5.00 was my total spent on everything. I feel like I saved myself $15. And I get the satisfaction of saying “I made that” and you can’t put a price on that!
I hope y’all enjoyed this! And I especially hope this gives you the confidence to know you can save money and create a beautiful home on a much smaller budget.
Make sure your following us on Facebook and Instagram so won’t miss out on all the pretty things we create.
With lots of love, Erin
I love watching you two ladies you make Woundrful stuff.
Hoping to find some loose nuts to make this cutie! THIS IS MY FAVORITE!
This is my favorite. I love everything about this shadow box
This is my favorite!!!
I love this idea! Love all your ideas ladies! 🙂
I was just saying today that i needed to make some shadow boxes but didnt know how to build them. This us a great alternative! Cant wait!
This is my favorite!
This is my favorite!