3 -D Matchbox Valentine Diorama's

I've said it before, I love to make things with little matchboxes, so it should be no surprise I am still coming up with things to do with them!

I was just sort of making this little diorama for myself for fun, when my son saw it. He really surprised me how much he loved it! So I thought, I could hide it away and give it to him for Valentines Day.

 I had to make a second one for my daughter too!

My daughter is quite the little writer these days, so she got a little wolf typing away! 

Typing on a Robin's Egg Blue vintage typewriter of course! 

Here is how easy this was to make;

I just used a regular old small matchbox.  Instead of elaborate decorating I simply covered everything with a black sharpie marker in one coat. Very smelly, but provided quick and easy results!

I traced the background for size, and did a simple illustration in pencil, added color with watercolors,and went back over the pencils lines with black pen so they stood out. 

I used regular white glue to attach to the back.

To create a 3-D effect, I made 2 more layers, same technique, paper-pencil-watercolor-pen. I cut the image out, but left a tab to attach to the inside of the box, and colored over the tab with black sharpie so it does not show.

The top layer needs it's tab to be the thickness of the inside of the box, so that it stands on top. The tab of the layer below should be half the thickness, so it rests in the middle.

Fold all the layers inside the box, and your little diorama is ready for someone to love!

I kept it simple for the covers (as you can see above) and just glued another drawn image to the front.

'Little Red' Matchbox Paper Dolls

 So lately it seems I am a bit obsessed with re-purposing matchboxes into little worlds.

I have also always bit a bit obsessed with fairy tales, so what a perfect match this little project has made!

 Outside, the tiny box displays a deep forest and title, "Little Red", giving a clue 

to what is inside.

 Another forest scene with a path and tiny Little Red Riding Hood and one Big Bad Wolf paper dolls

to play with.

This was very simple to make.
Materials

• one small matchbox
• decorative tape
• paper (or photos)
• drawing items of choice if you choose to draw your own. Pen, marker,colored pencil, water color, etc.
• glue
• scissors
• ruler

Steps

1.  Just measure the cover and inside dimensions of matchbox to create the inside image and cover in these same dimensions. Use printed images, magazine cut outs, photos, or draw by hand as I did on paper.

 

2. I used decorative tape to cover the edges, inside and out.
3. The characters measure about 2" tall and were drawn on heavy card-stock.
4. You could glue your printed images or photos to card-stock to give the paper dolls more stability.
5. For the scalloped edge I just used scalloped edge scissors, and cut a thin trim.  Glue it to the top edges of the matchbox, finishing it off nicely.

This makes such a sweet gift, and fun, portable little toy for someone special.

Day 22 - Matchbox Diorama

For day 22 of our tiny Christmas crafts, we have a wintery diorama you can use as a very special Christmas card. You can start at the beginning of our 25 days, here, and see everything we have made so far!

 Using an old matchbox, and decorating it with decorative paper, you can make it look really special.

Add a note to make it personal.

 But the real fun is inside!