The pumpkin that'll induce fear year after year. Turning a Funkin (fake foam pumpkin) into a genuinely creepy Halloween decoration. Allow me to introduce you to the Pumpkin diorama. Or as I like to say ...
A decade ago when I was first starting out as a blogger, a magazine emailed me to ask what I would do with a "Funkin" (fake foam pumpkin). They were getting ready for their next year's Halloween issue and wanted to feature bloggers' ideas. This was it. This was my shot at being featured in a magazine and getting great exposure for my new blog.
I can't remember what magazine it was, just that THIS WAS MY BIG BREAK.
I immediately emailed them back saying if it was hollow, I would cut it open and make a creepy Diorama inside. I clicked send and waited for the response. And then just like in the movies ... I never heard from them again.
I guess the magazine didn't like the idea. I liked my idea so much that I made one just for myself. And you of course.
The pumpkin diorama is one of the most shared and copied posts I've ever done. Because it's GREAT. 10 years later and I STILL can't be humble about it.
I love it with all of my heart and the first knuckle of my baby toe.
The absolute BEST part about it is you can do ANYTHING. Scary, cute, childlike, eerie. I go for creep, but you could also turn one into a cute woodland scene, or turn it into Cinderella's carriage.
Whatever you want.
You can be as detailed as you want as well. I went so far as to fray the rope on the noose, put dirt on the ground and use battery operated mini lights to light up the skulls. But I didn't go so far as to clean up blobs of hot glue. 😂
I also cut a little hole in the astroturf so I could pop a mini light up from there. I then stuck the skull on top and BOOM you've got a glowing skull.
To create your own Pumpkin diorama there are only a few tips you need ... make sure you have a foam pumpkin that's hollow inside and ... actually it's just the one tip.
I got my pumpkin at Michaels and I was shocked to see they still carry the exact same ones. At the moment (mid-October 2021), it looks as though they're sold out in Canada but do have them in stock in the US.
A few more tips to make things easier for you ...
Decorating a Pumpkin Diorama
The creepy crafty pumpkin that will instil fear year after year!
Materials
- Foam Pumpkin (hollow)
- Halloween props/items
- Mini lights* (like copper string lights)
Tools
- Hot glue gun
- Drill or hole punch (if you use mini lights you need a hole at the back of the pumpkin to feed the lights through)
- Drywall knife, or serrated knife for cutting the hole in the funkin.
Instructions
- Cut a piece of cardboard and cover it with fake grass (purchased from Dollarama in craft section) and put it in the base of the pumpkin. This makes a flat, level surface to stand things on. You could also use scrap fabric, carpet or dirt instead of grass.
- Put everything where you want it, and then hot glue it in place. Fiddle with things, move them, adjust them.
- Make a creepy tree by hot gluing sticks together.
- When looking for stuff to put inside be creative. The cat sitting on the skull is from inside a glass Halloween snowglobe from Dollarama. I bought it, took it home, smashed the glass and took the cat out.
- If you're going for realism, be careful about your proportions. You don't want a cat that's bigger than your skeleton. Or maybe you do.
- Let your props guide you. I discovered the tiny skulls I had (bought from Dollarama) had holes in the back of them that were just big enough to fit a mini light in. So I abandoned my original idea (to use the mini lights as stars), and used them in the skulls and around the inside of the pumpkin instead.
Notes
* If you use mini lights try to find ones that are on a timer so the Die-O-Rama will come on at the same time every night, and go off at the same time. It just makes life easier and batteries last longer.
Recommended Products
I'm an Amazon affiliate some I get a few cents when you buy something I've linked to.
Total Cost - $30
A lot of the things I used to build the Die-o-rama I already owned so it didn't actually cost me $30. I already had the bat, the lights, the grass and a few other things. But if you were to duplicate mine exactly and owned none of the materials it would cost you around $30 provided you have string, cardboard and twigs.
This post has 70,000 shares and counting. One of the people who shared it was Elvira: Mistress of the Dark. She Tweeted it. To have your little Halloween craft approved and tweeted by Elvira is like being a yoga instructor in a strip mall and having the Dalai Lama retweet your daily affirmation.
Take that magazine I can't remember.
I have something better than a magazine feature - I have Tweet cred.
If you make a Die-o-rama send me a pic. & I'll feature it on my Instagram Page.
Wanna see a Behind the Scenes shot? It's fairly pedestrian. Just a shot of me while I was working on my Die-Orama years ago at the dining room table in the middle of the night. I look like a celebrity in it.
Deb J.
That is awesome! I have NEVER had any success with dioramas. ALWAYS get the proportions wrong. I think I am too impatient to wait for the right stuff. However I may need a fake pumpkin this year. I bought pumpkins to use for my Thanksgiving front step, figuring I would just keep them until Hallowe'en. NOT. Something - probably a squirrel - is having a REALLY good time eating the biggest one. Started with a few chews around the stem, then a small hole, then the whole top caved in. The critter must have been going right down inside the pumpkin to get the seeds 'cos the inside is almost clean. It's pretty funny if a bit messy. Curious to see if it eats the whole thing:)
Janet
Squirrel with a noose around it's neck...now there's an idea for your diorama...Just don't tell the Humane to Animals people. "Oh but,I'm sure the poor little guy must have fallen through the hole it knawed in the pumpkin and just happened to slip right into that nasty 'just for decorations' noose."
Deb J.
Love your idea! Not sure just how to make it work but will give it some thought:)
Janet
Awesome!
Mary
Love it!
celia
Cool idea!!! Heading to Dollarama today!
Agnes
I would definitely make a mini pumpkin patch inside the fun-kin. Have you seen these hilarious fanged pumpkins from Martha? http://www.marthastewart.com/852771/fanged-pumpkins
SuzyMcQ
Those magazine people made a BIG mistake not calling you back!
This is wonderful and far more creative than the plethora of painted, carved and stacked pumpkins everywhere! Fantastic!
Michelle
This is really DIEnomite! Great job!
Gina
You're Awesome.
Sherry (BTLover2)
Brilliant! Is there anything you can't do?
ev
Well done Karen! Very nice indeed. Where did you get the fence? If you made it--a tutorial please! I will be traveling to my daughter's place tonight to do some grandparenting. Hers and mine favorite holiday is guess what? Halloween, and yes, we like thunderstorms too. We are an incarnation of the Addams Family! Can't wait to show her this. Thanks Karen!
Melissa
This is such a great idea! Once my coffee hits me, I think my brain will be firing off design ideas for inside the pumpkin.
Karen
This is freakin awesome! One of the best ideas I've seen so far! Cheers.
Laura Bee
Freakin' awesome! Who the heck does dioramas still? I loved dioramas when I was a kid...might try my hand at it again.
my honest answer
Great tip on keeping everything in proportion. I think that's where I go wrong when I try anything like this.
Sam
Nice! I usually snub my nose at those fake" pumpkins (I can't stand the "mold line that's a dead fake give-away)... But you worked a morbid miracle with a big fake pumpkin! Awesome job, eyeliner or not, and good to know you find sleep optional when you have cool *#;# to build :)... You can sleep when you're dead... Woooo haaaa haaaa!
Spokangela
This is awesome :) Is that the cat's shadow in the background? Did you do that on purpose? HOW did you do that? I am making one of these for sure. Nice work lady!
Elle
Definitely a to-Die-for-Orama!
I would through a coin or two at your porch if I was passing by and seeing this!
carey
i love this better than the first AND second knuckles of your baby toe! damn, girl! and how i wish for a dollarama in my neighborhood too. yup, very jelly of your skelly!
Raymonde
I'm soooo going to make one! I think I'll add a tombstone or two, everything's better with tombstones!!!
Karen
Raymonde - They're hard to see but I made tiny gravemarkers (crosses) by tying small twigs together w/ string. Real tombstones w/ be good too. WEll ... not real ones but ... you know ... ~ k
Jo-Anna
Awesome! Totally Halloweeny awesome! Take that unknown magazine! ;)
Jo-Anna