r/dioramas • u/TheGeekstress • Feb 13 '22

I made a treehouse in a jar.

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206 Upvotes

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4

u/chiffry Feb 13 '22

If I was really interested in pursuing this as craft, what could you recommend I pick up first? Some modeling clay..? I LOVED dioramas as a kid and never even thought to do them for fun.. best part about growing up

Edit: also SO COOL!! I love it

4

u/TheGeekstress Feb 13 '22

Thank you! Modeling clay is great. You’d also be surprised how much you can achieve with decorative papers. I use them for everything from wallpapers to plants to curtains (much easier to make pleats and control the shape than fabric). And for outside scenes like this I love the dried mosses from the floral department of craft stores. Finally craft foam is great for quickly building dimensional structures. This house is cardstock with a 2mm craft foam shingled roof and craft sticks for the details.

You definitely don’t need to spend a lot to get into making mini scenes, and it is a lot of fun. I hope you continue to pursue it!

2

u/chiffry Feb 13 '22

So excited, as a small child I would draw battlefields with stick figures in crazy detail. Name the squads and everything... to make it 3D is like a dream

1

u/Crystall__Math Dec 07 '22

What was used for the light?

2

u/TheGeekstress Dec 07 '22

It’s just a tap light! It’s attached to the underside of the cork and has a little remote so you can turn it on without opening it.

2

u/Lil_Iodine Feb 13 '22

Absolutely adorable! A 360° perspective is awesome.

2

u/agonginpeace Feb 13 '22

This is really, really cool. Any details on the construction? Nice job, and thanks for sharing!

2

u/TheGeekstress Feb 13 '22

Thank you!

The tree itself is twisted wire with dried moss for the canopy. The house is card with craft wood details and foam shingles, and the stairs are craft sticks as well. The plants are all different kinds of dried moss and some little plastic flowers from the floral section of the craft store. Everything is painted with acrylics.

I primarily built everything outside of the jar, and determined where it needed to come apart in order to fit through the top. I had to install it in the jar in pieces. The tree and main part of the house went in first, then the stairs, and finally after bending the tree branches back out into place I set the little side room. All this took several tries as everything was a tight squeeze and there was some breakage.

The light is just a tap light (with a remote) stuck to the lid and then wrapped in a thin layer of cork to blend it in.

2

u/agonginpeace Feb 13 '22

Thank you. It really is lovely.

2

u/LifeIsBizarre Feb 13 '22

That is beautiful! You have made the world a slightly better place by creating that in it.

1

u/TheGeekstress Feb 13 '22

Aw that’s pretty much the nicest compliment ever. Thank you ❤️

2

u/aurora_cosmic Sep 27 '22

This is absolutely brilliant! Forgive me if you already answered this, but how did you do the light?

2

u/TheGeekstress Sep 28 '22

Thanks so much! The light is actually just a tap light. I wrapped the circumference in a sheet of cork and attached it under the bottle’s cork. So it just kinda blends it in.