DIY Pumpkin Diorama

30 October

Well, we've already started with the Christmas festivities here on LVC but I still have one more Halloween project to share!! I hope you won't mind 😊

Remember the Vintage Thanksgiving Vignette that I made with my grandma's antique clock and my vintage Thanksgiving Gurley candles? (No? 😲 Be sure to take a peek, I think you'll love it!) 

I also have a few Halloween Gurley candles so I decided to make another little display with them!

DIY Pumpkin Diorama

DIY Pumpkin Diorama

I had this faux pumpkin already, I think I found it at Goodwill (if you want to make one of these for next year, now is a good time to check out your local thrift stores, I see these pumpkins often and they will be cheap right now!)

DIY Pumpkin Diorama

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Supplies needed to make your own:

When choosing the pumpkin you will use, make sure it is hollow and not made of super-hard plastic, these carvable craft pumpkins are more like foam covered with plastic.

To begin, draw out the shape you will cut-out. I wanted mine to look like a jack-o-lantern so I drew a really large mouth and two little triangle eyes. You want the opening to be large enough to allow you to place your miniatures inside easily and be able to see them easily.

Use a utility knife to carefully cut out the opening.

DIY Pumpkin Diorama

DIY Pumpkin Diorama

Paint it orange if you wish.

DIY Pumpkin Diorama

To cover the bottom I used a moss sheet I found at the dollar store.

DIY Pumpkin Diorama

Cut the moss sheet into a circle to fit the bottom of the pumpkin.

DIY Pumpkin Diorama

Use hot-glue to adhere it inside the pumpkin.

DIY Pumpkin Diorama

Now that you have your pumpkin diorama base done you can move on to the miniatures you'll use inside! You can purchase miniatures already made or if you prefer you can make a few things like trees, pumpkins, and tombstones, I'll show you how!

I had some bleached bottle brush trees that I wanted to use but I wanted them to be colored for Halloween. If you're starting with green trees, there are lots of tutorials for bleaching them on Pinterest 😉

DIY Pumpkin Diorama

I used regular food coloring to dye mine.

DIY Pumpkin Diorama

I mixed the red and yellow colors to get orange and made a little dye bath in an old cup.

DIY Pumpkin Diorama

Then I dipped my trees in it.

DIY Pumpkin Diorama

I left them sitting upright for several hours and then turned them upside down and left them overnight. I was trying to get an ombre effect but it didn't really work out, they just look orange to me.

DIY Pumpkin Diorama

While my trees were marinating I worked on some little polymer clay pumpkins.

Roll a ball of orange clay in the size you want your pumpkin and then score some lines down the sides with a knife or toothpick.

DIY Pumpkin Diorama

Press it down on the table so it's flat on the bottom and top and will stand upright.

DIY Pumpkin Diorama

Then use a flat object (a butter knife will work) and make the sides of the lines rounded for a more natural look.

DIY Pumpkin Diorama

Now it should look like this.

DIY Pumpkin Diorama

To make leaves for your pumpkins, roll a little ball of green clay, press it flat, and pinch it with your fingers to form a leaf shape. Make a line down the center.

DIY Pumpkin Diorama

Make curly tendrils by rolling a skinny rope of clay and wrapping it around a toothpick. Slide it right off the toothpick and onto the pumpkin top. Just press the end down onto the pumpkin so it will stick when you bake it.

DIY Pumpkin Diorama

Finally, make a pumpkin stem by rolling a ball of brown clay and then rolling it into a log. Stand the log upright and smash it down to the size you want. Add that and the leaves to the pumpkins and bake according to the package directions.

DIY Pumpkin Diorama

Now let's make some mini tombstones! You'll need some wooden ice cream spoons (or large popsicle sticks would work).

DIY Pumpkin Diorama

Use a utility knife to cut them. You'll need a square base for each tombstone.

DIY Pumpkin Diorama

Paint them with grey paint and then dry brush them with black paint. To dry brush, dip a dry paintbrush just barely into the paint. You only want to get the very ends, then wipe it a couple times on a paper towel. Lightly brush it over your piece.

DIY Pumpkin Diorama

Glue the headstone to the base and they will look like this.

DIY Pumpkin Diorama

I painted the letters on mine but you can use a paint marker too. I also added some moss.

DIY Pumpkin Diorama

My trees didn't have bases so I used a cork to make bases for them. I just cut a slice of cork and painted it black then stuck the wire tree base into the cork!

DIY Pumpkin Diorama

So here are all my miniatures I'm going to use with my Halloween Gurley candles in this diorama.

DIY Pumpkin Diorama

I added firefly lights to my pumpkin.

DIY Pumpkin Diorama

Drill a small hole in the back near the base of your pumpkin and thread the lights through.

DIY Pumpkin Diorama

DIY Pumpkin Diorama

Then arrange your items inside! You could glue your items down if you want it to be permanent.

DIY Pumpkin Diorama

Add a leaf and tendrils to the top of the pumpkin.

DIY Pumpkin Diorama

I had an old lamp base that I used to elevate my diorama. The battery pack for the lights slides underneath.

DIY Pumpkin Diorama

DIY Pumpkin Diorama

DIY Pumpkin Diorama

DIY Pumpkin Diorama

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DIY Pumpkin Diorama
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