Props A collection of diorama ideas and progress (Currently: Pukifee Toddler Bedroom)

I've had a couple of my big dream dioramas fall through and it's really disheartening-- a big fairy inhabited tree and my small cottage. The fairy tree fell apart because I just wasn't bonding with the dolls themselves. As for the cottage, the help I was getting with it disappeared as did my access to power tools. It also didn't help that I didn't have the dolls yet...

But despite that, here I am again with another idea, this time for dolls I have and for a project I'm truly passionate about-- Pokémon. My dream diorama for quite some time has been a 1/3 Scale Pokémon Center from the Galar region.


(link to image)

I've finally got the space for it and I think I can do this without power tools... Maybe. I'm open to any and all suggestions on how to go about this. I'm thinking some type of EVA foam or something similar to shape it.

I'm not concerned about building the props for it like the café cups, potions, etc. It's the base that I'm most worried about like the counters, shelves, and such. I know this is going to be a long term project, might even take over a year or two. But as I said, this has been a dream of mine for a while and one I keep coming back to thinking about doing.

So yes, this is my "intro post" for this project. We'll see how far I go. Wish me luck!

 

Thank you so much! I'd definitely give that a look into.

And that's brilliant! Seriously, thank you so much for your input, I never would've thought about using balsa or bass.

 

Oooh thank you! Good thing I have a ton of cardboard hahaha. And yes! Contact paper has been a savior in previous projects.

And thank you too! I like the idea for the Pokeball Sign. I've actually got a thought for the screens-- using digital picture frames.

 

I've lost the room I was going to use for my Pokémon diorama and, again, the help I was going to get fell through. Maybe one day when I have my own "real" place (life is complicated), I can do it... However, it was at this point it kept feeling like I'd never get another diorama put together. But low and behold, I've been given another chance at one. As mentioned in my signature, I'll be getting a TinyDelf, with centaur and human legs. It's a little tan elf and upon seeing them, I had a strike of inspiration.

At first, I was going to just do a simple children's room, yet it was the elf ears that stuck out to me the most. The doll almost became an OC from one of my original worlds, but something about them screamed Middle-earth. I had gone through a few different ideas-- Child of Rohan, Lothlorien, Rivendell, but eventually settled on something a little more self-indulgent. The doll's name is Elidi, Mirkwood's Child of Durin. If you're familiar with The Hobbit movies, you can easily guess the little one's parentage

Currently, the diorama is in process. I've painted the walls of a bookcase shelf and set up a floor made of scrapbook paper. The paper is going to be laminated, but that'll be done in the next few days. I used actual interior paint for the walls using two of those sample pots you can get at Home Depot. The left wall will actually have a vinyl cutout of Durin's Door (thank you Cricut) that will be made with a shimmery/holographic vinyl. I've bought the vinyl and have the design for Durin's Door uploaded, just need to get off my butt and have my Cricut cut it. The back wall I'm still debating if I want to do 3D plants to make a tree or just do another Cricut Vinyl cut tree. I'm open to ideas.

Spoiler: Bookcase shelf diorama

I also made a "skylight" of sorts. Used a wooden wreath, fake plants, and fairy lights to make it. This will be going on the ceiling of the diorama, I just need to figure out how to attach it at this point.

Spoiler: skylight

As for furniture, I have on order (and should be arriving in the next two days) Ikea Dollhouse furniture, the bedroom set Huset. With this, I'm going to paint it a few different brown shades to make it look more wood like. Possibly add fake moss to some parts, not sure yet.

Spoiler: Huset Furniture

I'll be putting up small maps, banners, etc. to make the place look more lived in. Might look into getting some of those Heroclix figures to display as statues.

While I've had a blast planning the room itself, I haven't neglected the most important part-- The doll itself. My mom has a TinyDelf of her own and was kind enough to let me borrow her little one to make some clothes. I've been getting into sewing more and more lately so I really wanted to try my hand at making something myself. This was the first pass at it. Basic ideas went down and it was more proof of concept.

Spoiler: First outfit attempt

The next step was to figure out what was missing. I ended up making pants, a new leather belt, and remade the overcoat with added embroidered embellishments.

Spoiler: Outfit Final Form

Finally, I made Elidi some tiny shoes. It's my first time ever making something like this and I'm actually pretty proud of it. I call them cheater's shoes since the top part is simply attached with glue, the rest is stitched.

Spoiler: Elidi's Shoes

So there we have it so far. This was all done over the course of a few days as I'm preparing for when the doll gets here (bought her secondhand so it's just a short wait). I hope you all don't mind this abrupt change again from my diorama switching. I'm still upset about my other ones falling through but this one is currently bringing me joy so I'm going to keep running with it.

 

I almost forgot one of the most important pieces of clothing! The hooded cloak! After a lot of trial and error, using different patterns, I found one that worked for me and made this cloak this morning. While the pattern itself is a no-sew, I opted to use a different kind of fabric and hemmed the edges. I think I might stick with the safety pin as the clasp since it's so small even though I'd love to have a nice decorative one.

 

The bookcase I'm building this diorama on actually has a few empty shelves so I got to thinking. What else could I build in there? Well, going along with my Middle-earth theme, I thought it only natural to plan for a hole in the ground where there lived a Hobbit. So I'm planning for a Hobbit doll and diorama now too.

Her name will be Poppy Took and she's going to be a TinyDelf Gretel Elf with flaming red hair and green eyes. She'll be ordered on July 8th through Lut's official site and so I'm hoping that she'll come in around Hobbit Day (September 22nd). I'm going to do a little modification to make her look more like a Hobbit than an Elf by shaving down her ears some and I'm planning on gluing down (with Elmer's glue) fuzz to her lil' feetsies to make proper Hobbit feet too.

I've got a Pinterest Board for both her, the Foolish Child of a Took, and Elidi already (as well as Spotify playlists for them to get my head in that mindset), and I'm starting to figure out what sort of diorama set up to make as well as planning out her outfit. Nothing concrete yet but I know it'll be another bedroom, but this time I'll design it to be closer to Bag End.

Additionally, I've come to realize with these projects is that I really like making small fantasy clothes. Nothing to the point of giving/selling them to others, but things that are good enough for me. It feels so good to have this kind of drive with my dolls and projects again.

 

The Huset furniture is coming today but in the meantime, I was looking at stuff that I already have in terms of diorama stuff and have come to realize that 1/12 scale actually works pretty well for what I'm going for. At least for a Hobbit. I'm starting to think that Poppy will actually be a full grown Hobbit.


For the Huset furniture, I'm starting to worry that it might be too big for Elidi. I still want her to be a child but at the same time I'm not sure. I don't want everything to be comically big for her. Maybe I should just make her into a Hobbit as well? But then again, I've already put in this much work into planning/sewing for a Dwarf/Elf baby... I'm not certain. I don't want to make her a full-blooded dwarf because I don't want to have to give her a beard I suppose I'll find out how everything looks when the furniture arrives. Maybe that'll finalize my decision.

 

I think I've decided to just make two Hobbits. I tried to use my Cricut to make Durin's Door but I kept stabbing myself with the weeding tool when I tried to clean it up. Plus, what's more fun that one Hobbit? TWO Hobbits! Elidi's name is now Peony (haven't decided if she's a Brandybuck to go along with Poppy Took or one of the Harfoot Hobbits) and I've just finished making a basic idea of her dress. I'd like to have some type of embroidery on it as well, but I'm not sure what. Might even look into a different color for the dress.

Spoiler: Hobbit Outfit

I'm in Chicago as well and I bought mine off eBay! Fortunately, the scale actually looks really good! So good that I think I actually will get that second set of Huset Furniture (the living room set) and work that into the study/entryway room instead of the 1/12 scale stuff I have now.

Spoiler: Huset Furniture with Tiny Delf

Now that I'm essentially making a Hobbit hole out of a bookcase, I need to redesign the bedroom a bit. Different wall colors at the very least. I have a pink bookcase that works with 1/12 scale books that'll work really nicely, I just have to repaint it for the bedroom. So it looks like my next step is a lot of painting and making another version of Peony's dress, see if I can improve it at all.

I'm trying not to get too ahead of myself at the moment because my mind is running a mile a minute with thoughts and ideas about expanding this Hobbit hole into a larger space. But I know that if I do that, it'll be too grand and I'll lose motivation because it's so daunting. That or I'll come up with something that requires power tools and I've come to learn that that just doesn't work out for me

However... there's always the option of finding more Ikea furniture and making the Hobbit hole longways instead of tall. And then I could have the dual dioramas in that and put my Tolkien collection on top of it The wheels are a'spinnin'. I'll make another post when I get more done and figure this out!

 

The wheels have spun too fast and so I'm taking a small step back. One Hobbit and one Elf/Dwarf (I took a poll from amongst my friends because I was wavering again lol). I'm going back to my original plan with Elidi and the first outfit I made. I still want to make a Hobbit Hole at some point with two Hobbits, but that will be Poppy and Peony, Peony being a different Tiny Delf that I haven't decided on yet.

I bought more fabric today to try and make a small wardrobe for Elidi, Poppy, and Peony. Lots of solid colored knits with a few small patterns mixed in for good measure. Tomorrow morning will probably be when I start to prep the furniture for painting. I'm also trying to figure out how to decorate the rest of Elidi's room. I've got the Huset furniture in there now and a small bookcase but my original plan was to do something a little more extravagant. However, I think with the right wall decor, it can look nice. I've got some maps and poster ideas saved that I can put on the walls but I think it'll really be the furniture that'll make it shine in the end.

Time to keep going!

 

I tried again and huzzah! Durin's Door has been completed!

Spoiler: Durin's Door

I had to do a few little paint retouches because I scratched it a bit while putting on the vinyl. It's a holographic vinyl and it looks so cool in person. I'm glad that I didn't completely give up on it. I also started painting the Huset furniture and repainting the bookcase I had.

Spoiler: Furniture painting

Also just wanted to show off the little bow and arrow set I forgot I had. I added an elastic string to it as it was a bow for a Tauriel figure I have. But I am continuing to paint, letting things dry and doing the next coat. I think after the painting, I should make the bedding and then figure out what kind of other wall décor I should make

 

I've fallen back in love with FFXIV and have decided that the doll I have coming in will be my Lalafell. HOWEVER! This doesn't mean that this project has been abandoned. As I previously mentioned, I'm going to get Poppy and Peony, and I'm probably going to get a doll for Elidi too. I love these tiny delfs and want to get more so it'll work out nicely.

Since I'm planning on just making the doll itself and not necessarily a diorama for my Lalafell, I'm going to make a new thread for him. See you there!

 

My tinydelf didn't work out for my Lalafell as the smile just isn't cutting it so Elidi is back! Though I may change her name, she doesn't really look like an Elidi to me now.

Spoiler: "Elidi"

I still need to paint the rest of the furniture but I'm thinking of getting some 1/12 scale books for her too to put in the bookcase. I think I'm at the point where I'm set to get knickknacks n' such. I also need to figure out how to attach the skylight still...

 

Next ideas/plans are up! We're making bedrooms! Just two for right now, but I've got one for my boy Oliver and the other for my little one, Briar Rose.

Spoiler: Oliver's Room

Spoiler: Details of Oliver's Room

Oliver's thing is that he's just a little kid who likes How to Train Your Dragon, Minecraft, Dinosaurs, and Adventure Time (granted, I don't have anything to represent Adventure Time yet).

As for Briar Rose, she likes fairies, specifically Disney Fairies. She also likes Tangled.

Spoiler: Briar Rose's Room

Spoiler: Briar Rose's Room Details

These are both still very much WIPs but I like how they look so far! I think I need to paint Briar Rose's room but I'm not sure what color. Maybe a pastel purple.

But either way, these are about as much as I can do at the moment when it comes to dioramas as I just don't have the room for my larger scale ones anymore and, honestly, it's really upsetting. The closest thing I can do with even a 1/4 scale one is maybe single flower market stand like this type of thing. Though even then, that might be pushing it. I'd love to try though! My real love for dioramas will probably always be bedrooms though, there's just so much personality you can put into one.

So yes! Wish me luck on these new endeavors!

EDIT: For some reason the photos don't want to show for some, here's the imgur link with the album

 

I didn't change much with the above two dioramas because I'm actually pretty happy with them! However, with the in-coming of a Nina's Dolls Blooming Line girl (Mature 1/6), I've been inspired to make a study room of sorts! I did a bunch of searching online for things that would work and I'll be ordering them here and there, but I'm really excited and so glad to have a creative spark like this again! The most expensive things will be all the books I plan on getting. I like having high quality books and so I'm getting them from Little Things of Interest. I'm really hoping i can make this room look cozy and lived in.


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Thank you! I figure the key to it is going to be the clutter and such. I've got some ideas, but I want to set up the main pieces of furniture first before going all in on the clutter.

 

Got paid a bit today and so I managed to order some furniture! All I'm missing now are the shelves, the end table lamp, and the coffee table. Also the 41 playscale books I put in my cart.

I've also decided that once this one room in my house gets organized better, I'm going to move some stuff around in my doll/work room and expand this with another challenge-- Making a sewing/crafting portion too. But that'll be a long ways away. In the meantime, I need to just wait as patiently as I can.

 

I was able to order the rest of my furniture today and hopefully I can order the books this weekend as my birthday is on Sunday and I'm pretty sure I'm at least going to get money for it. One of the things I'm most excited about, funny enough, is the coffee table. It's so pretty and I feel like it's pretty unique. However, I might be waiting until May to get it which is a bummer, but I'm sure it'll be worth it.

Either way, I'm thrilled to bits to be able to set up another diorama again. This might have to be the scale I continue working in since they're small enough to fit in spots in my room yet big enough for my dolls.

 

It's been a while and I realized I haven't posted the most recent update! It's mostly finished save for a few more books and some small things of decor on the wall shelves. Overall, I am VERY happy with it!



Also, here's a bonus picture of Jane in the study

Spoiler: Bonus picture

 

I know it's been quite some time, but it's time for another diorama update! Jane's study is basically done despite still wanting to get more books but that's on the backburner right now.

The current project is a Garden Faerie's room for an incoming doll, a MYOU Vieruodis. I built most of it in two days by repurposing things from old dioramas, stuff around the house, and sticks from the backyard. I'm still trying to decide what to put on the blank wall, but considering that I got this much done in such a short time is pretty good!

Here's the overall room:



A bit more of a close-up on the chair and flowers around it.



And a close-up of the clothes rack I made! I've got clothes coming in and I'm going to make the hangers today on a laser cutter.

 

Thank you! I'm really happy with it! It needs more clutter and somethings on the blank wall. I just need to think of something

Edit to add one more thing:

Teeny tiny hangers! I made them in my library's maker space today in preparation for the incoming clothes I have on order!

 

Sad news. The clothes don't fit the MYOU, but they do fit an OT doll, so that doll is taking the diorama and the MYOU will just be a super cool elf character that I previously had on the backburner.

I might work on Oliver's room again (the YoSD boy's room) as I've been spoiling him a bit lately. And because I've also decided that he likes Pokémon so it'll be easier to furnish a bit with all the merch I already have.

 

It's been a while and I ended up taking down the fairy diorama, cleaned up my room a bit, and set up a better room for Briar Rose, my pukifee Jude! I still need to paint some of the furniture, but the furniture was all made on a CO2 laser, including the wall frames! I designed the pictures myself using pre-made assets on Canva.

But yet again, I'm plagued by a basically blank wall. I'm not sure what else to put there. I was thinking fairy lights but that would be more of an accent than a main fixture.

Anyone have any suggestions?