Pet Lover's Diorama

Create a diorama featuring your favorite pet animals using a shoebox, paper, and recycled materials.	Safety Tips Kids 8 years and younger should use child-safe scissors. Keep the glue gun and craft knife out of young children's reach. Watch out for this sign . It means an adult's help is needed for the particular step.
Materials Shoebox or similar-sized box Acrylic paint Paint brush Crayons Scissors White glue Craft sticks Small box Glue gun Craft knife Bottle caps Cork Cotton

Steps

	1.	Prepare the box The more common practice in making box dioramas is to use the bottom part of a shoebox. In this tutorial, we used a one-type piece shoebox (lid is attached to the box) and included the box lid as part of our diorama design. To keep the lid permanently open, use glue gun to attach craft sticks or any rigid material along the box's hinge.
	2.	Paint the box exterior Since pets live in people's houses, this diorama will basically be a box house. Paint the outside of the box with acrylic paint.
	3.	Draw or print out the animals Keeping the size of your box diorama in mind, draw your favorite animals on construction paper. You may also search for online animal clipart like I did and print them out on card stock. Before cutting out the animals, draw bottom tabs on each one. This will allow you to position and attach the animals to the box. Cut out the animals, including the tabs.
	4.	Walls, windows and doors Cover the inside of the box with colored paper. Take note that the colors you use define the walls and floors of your box house. If you want working doors and windows that looks through the inside of the house, use two layers of paper for the walls. The first layer (yellow) is the house interior. Draw or glue on furniture and animals on this layer, placing them strategically where they can be seen through doors or windows. Cut out a door and glue its left edge onto this first layer of paper. Glue the first layer of paper onto the box. The second layer of paper (purple) defines the outside walls. Cut out the areas where the door and windows should be. Glue this paper on top of the first layer.

		Draw the window frames or glue strips of paper or craft foam.
	5.	Porch If you want to create a porch railing, measure the box height and draw a rectangular porch frame on construction paper. Include top, bottom, and side tabs. Click here for larger photo. Make a pair of these to make a right and left porch railing. Cut them out and fold the tabs.
		Position the paper railing on your box diorama and glue the top tab on the box ceiling, the bottom tab onto the box bottom, and the side tabs onto the side walls of the box.
	6.	Flooring Glue paper or craft foam for the flooring. You may use sand to make a path for the front yard.
	7.	Roof To make a roof, draw a large triangle with a bottom tab and glue it on top of the box. For extra support, you may prop it up with a paper tab with one end folded in and the other folded out.
		Line the sloped edges of the roof with paper strips. You may also cut out and glue on an attic window.
	8.	Landscaping and other details Add other objects to your diorama using paper and recycled materials. Some examples include: a.) Bushes- Make some green colored cotton to create fluffy bushes. Another option is to draw bushes or other plants on construction paper and include bottom tabs. Glue the bushes onto the box and decorate with flower sequins or flower cut-outs.
		b.) Bird bath- Use glue gun to attach a bottle cap or an egg carton section to a wine cork.
		c.) Door mat- Cut out a door mat from paper or fabric.
		d.) Bench- Cut out a bench from a small box and paint it with acrylic paint. Glue on paper, fabric, or craft sticks on top of the bench.
	9.	Glue the animals and furniture Glue the objects and the animals onto the box diorama. You may even add paper doll people if you like. Go to main Habitat Diorama page for more diorama ideas.