Monday, January 6, 2014

How to make a diorama ornament DIY

  
Last month I saw a cute idea that someone had posted to their vlog on making personalized diorama Christmas ornaments. 

 I wanted to try it so bad BUT did I want to pay $19.99 for the kit they wanted to sell me?? Noooooo. But none of our craft stores had the right type of "open" glass ornaments.

So I hit the thrift stores and found this:

And at 1/2 price it was even better.



I started by taking out the base and removing the figures from it. 
(It was attached with a little glue and a tiny screw.)


 Then I found some pictures on my computer of the family I wanted to gift this to.


I printed tiny copies that would fit inside the globe. I also printed a flipped image to glue the images back to back so they'd be two-sided.


I dug around in my Christmas stash and found some mini stuff. I cut out the tiny images, glued them back to back and embellished the house with glitter-glue (for lights), pipe-cleaner (for wreath) and cotton (for snowman.)

But before I glued the house together I sandwiched a bent paperclip in the middle. This is how I attached the house to the base.



This is the back of the house. I did not embellish it.


This is the front. I also covered the edges of the roofline, the grass and the edges of the car with white craft paint to look like snow. I sprinkled glitter on it while the paint was still wet.


I found a scrap of syrofoam and cut it to size with a steak knife.



I glued it to the base with tacky glue and smeared some glue on top for the glitter to stick to.



While I was digging around in my Christmas stash I found some nice embossed dresden foil. I decided to use this as the back side of the ornament.


I put the dresden inside and tried to glue the edges of it to the globe but it was impossible! And it made a mess of glue on the glass. :(  I couldn't think of any other way to secure it, so I just left it kinda loose and inserted the house (back side toward it) up against it as best as I could. You can see the paperclip ends sticking out. 


I pressed the trees and family into the styrofoam where I wanted them and then removed them, put a dab of glue in each hole and replaced the trees and family. Let it dry a bit.


I then carefully squeezed the base back into the globe. I removed the gold hanger loop and used a tweezers through the hole on top to press the "legs" of the paperclip into the styrofoam. This is harder than it looks!



I put the hanger back on and it was ready to hang on the tree! (actually I wrapped it in tissue and put it back in the box for my sister-in-law.)



It was a really fun project but it took about 4 hrs! So if you try it, block out a chunk of time! 
Happy New Year! 
love
rosie






4 comments:

GARAGE SALE GAL said...

HAPPY
NEW
YEAR, Rosie!!
It's just a wonderful gift you made! I'm sure she LOVED it!
I'm working on Valentine's today since it's too COLD to go out!
Warmly,
deb

Lynn said...

This is absolutely darling! I just bought two of the ornaments on Ebay so I can make these for my daughters. Now I have a whole year to get pictures! Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

Pete Lange said...

huh ... beautiful AND talented...
;-)

The Polka Dot Closet said...

I bet your sister in law flipped when she saw this. This is truly an heirloom treasure!! I love it, so creative!

Carol