Making Dioramas or Habitats
I was quite concerned about making a diorama today but soon found that most of the images were taken from dioramas that used figurines, plastic furniture, or snap together materials. I wanted to make a diorama that used paper and other crafting materials. To me this was the perfect diorama, everything (except the shoe box) was hand made!
I searched everywhere for some templates I could use to create my own world in a shoe box. I did find some and for those who like a kit, you can try this one: Woodland Scenes.
For me, I shy away from those although they do give me some great ideas!
Finding the Right Template
Now for the hunt for the right templates to use. What I found was I needed to create my own templates of each item I wanted in my diorama. I put together some butterflies, toadstools, and grass blades as what I wanted in my diorama. You can download my templates in the resource library. The password is at the bottom of this article.
Here is a screenshot of a diorama appearance, although I did make this, I made the template with changes along the way with colors, this is the
Materials Needed
Shoe boxother container for your diorama.- Glue – something you know will stick!
- Template or guides – download my template here – the password to the resource library is at the bottom of this post.
Other Great Resources
Here is a list of books that I think will be of benefit when you are making dioramas. There is not a big surplus of printed ideas, but this project, when done with the family can be so much fun. It reminds me of making and decorating a gingerbread house during the holidays!
Example For Inspiration
Last Word
I spent a good part of my day cutting out all the pieces for my diorama. I then took even more time to put the pieces together into the shapes and sizes I wanted. The fun part was then assembling all the parts into my container. In my case, it is a shoebox!
Have you created dioramas as part of your schooling? I know I did but remembered very little about it except the tissue paper liner that was glued and painted in place. This time I did not use any tissue paper. That is the wonderful thing about a diorama – there is no right or wrong way to make them, you just need to have a lot of fun.
If you make a diorama, please share it in the comments below or on my Facebook page.
Until tomorrow…
Bette
PS the password for the resource library is love
