Yucandu Art Studio

Halloween Coffin Diorama Project

A fun-to-make fall project for ages 8 thru adult. You can make it as whimsical or as spooky as you like!
Supplies included:
Paper Mache Coffin, 2 6×12” two-sided papers (bright & fun or dark & spooky), Matt Mod Podge, dark gray paint, Ultimate glue pot, skeleton(not shown here—oops), three miniature pumpkins, fuzzy spider, 2 bottles and labels, two wood discs, string, wire, pewter word band, owl charm, key charm, owl cameo, assorted moss and netting. Some slight variations may apply.

You will need scissors, ½”-3/4’ flat paint brush, wet wipes, paper plate, pen or pencil.

Set up your work space with plastic, rather than paper. Painted projects tend to stick to paper. Set all goodies and papers aside so they don’t accidentally get paint on them.

Paint the inside of coffin first. This way you have a dry place to hold it while you are painting the inside. (A paper plate makes a good paint palette.) Then, finish the outside and backside too (This is a 3-dimensional project, so all sides will be seen.) No need to be super perfect because a little distressed look just makes it look even better. Set aside painted lid and base to dry.

Choose which paper you want to see on the inside of coffin base and lid. Once your painted pieces are thoroughly dry, trace with a pen onto the paper, around the outside of both coffin pieces. Be sure to lay out your cuts before tracing or cutting, making the best use of the papers. I like to “shadow cut” my paper, which means cutting about 1/8 to 1/4” inside my pen line. Try 1/8” inside first, because you can always cut more as needed. Shadow-cutting simply gives you wiggle room to not have to be perfect. It also leaves a little painted border around your papers, which makes them POP!

Tip: For the paper for the outside coffin edges, I cut mine so I could have the option of fitting the lid back on. The extra paper and glue under where the lid snugly fits would make it too tight to close. Whichever you choose, to leave open or have option to close the lid, cut your paper accordingly. Before gluing, check that all paper pieces fit easily, without buckling or hanging over. Now, lay out all your papers just to double check that you have them all ready to go.

To glue paper on, you will need the MMP (Matt Mod Podge) and a flat paint brush. It’s a matt finish, but it has a low luster. Because you can see the low luster of the glue a after it’s dry, I brush it over the entire surface, even where the paper will not be. Start with the cut paper piece that will go inside the coffin box. (I chose the dark bat paper for the inside so that my skeleton would POP.) Spread an even, thin layer of MMP on the inside bottom of the coffin box. Place your cut paper onto the glue and smooth down so the edges are firmly attached. (An old credit card is a helpful tool to smooth paper.) Gently, remove any excess glue with a wet wipe. Do not add glue on top of the paper. Repeat steps for the outside papers. See how the shadow-cut leaves a little painted border around each piece of paper?

Allow glue on paper to dry thoroughly. Then arrange your fun diorama pieces, trying different ways until you’re satisfied.

Tip: I used the two small wood discs to raise the skeleton up—it creates a floating effect. I painted the side of the disc that would show thru the skeleton. Since my paper was dark gray, the gray paint made them virtually disappear! I glued the discs, painted side toward the skeleton,with the Ultimate glue (ULT) using the matchstick to add just a dollop in the center of the discs.

Tip: Take a photo on your phone to use as a reference before you disassemble anything for easy gluing. Now you can glue down all the other fun items! I used the MMP to glue the labels to the bottles, and the ULT to attach everything else—just using a small dollop on the touch points of the items. The glue dries clear, however, if there is a globshowing, remove the excess or cover it with a bit of moss.

The string is great for attaching the owl charm to the word band. It also can be wrapped around the neck of a bottle to attach the key charm. Fray the ends on the string, leave them long or any other fun idea.

To attach the lid to the base, I poked hole in the base and in the lid, with an awl –If a child is making this project, this would be a step an adult should do! Be sure to gently push the awl from the inside out, carefully bracing the outside edge with your fingers. Connect them with the black wire by twisting the wire. Tuck the extra behind the lid.

This was so fun to make—I hope you enjoy making yours too!!!

Order your kit today! (There are slight variations with each kit.)

Halloween Lantern DIY Kit by Yucandu

What a fun Halloween project made from a kit by Yucandu Art Studio! These kits are available to purchase online or in store

Supplies included: A metal lantern (14.5″ h x 6 x6″, Styrofoam base, 2 skeletons, a black glittered twig branch, 2 mini pumpkins, 3 marble tombstones, a witch’s broom, owl, 2 bottles and labels, wooden sign, garland of black roses, ribbon, rocks, pipe cleaners, paint, Ultra-thick glue, craft stick and 2 matchsticks, moss and netting.
You will need: paint brush, wet wipe, sharpie, disposable cup of water

First, set aside all supplies except for the paint pot and the Styrofoam square that fits into the bottom of lantern. Paint the edges of the Styrofoam square and the top side. Allow to dry thoroughly.

See in the picture below how the painted Styrofoam square will fit just under the black “fence” in the lantern! However, you will need to leave the painted Styrofoam out of the lantern for the next several steps.

While the paint dries, find the metal tabs inside the lantern. You can use those tabs to help hang the gauzy net. Lay the lantern on it’s side and play around with the netting until you’re happy with how it looks. Using the craft matchstick, add a small dab of the Ultra thick glue (ULT) to the tabs and pinch them closed. This glue is awesome–it’s acid free, dries clear and works great attaching just about anything to wood or metal.

Cut the sheet moss to your liking. Attach with a few small dollops of ULT underneath to secure it. I left a large area for the rocks to make a miniature “cemetery” area for the three marble tombstones.

Using a sharpie, write something funny or spooky onto the marble tombstones. Then spread an even amount of ULT across the area without moss and place the tombstones. Sprinkle the small rocks on the remaining glue around the tombstones. Add more glue and more rocks as desired.

Break or tear the other types of moss into small pieces and glue into place. The smaller the pieces, the more natural it will look. Again, the glue dries clear, but not invisible, so use sparingly–you don’t want to see dried clear glue on top of your moss.

Cut the circular tabs off the top of the plastic skeletons. Cut up one of the skeletons so you will have pieces to “poke” into the the Styrofoam. I used the tip of the scissors to cut through the moss and help make the holes into the Styrofoam. Dip the plastic skeleton pieces into the ULT and poke them into the moss or rocks and Styrofoam.

Pour a few of the little rocks into a bottle and glue on the cork with the smallest amount of ULT. Even the though the labels are stickers, I added a little bit of ULT under the sticker to made it more permanent. I glued one bottle inside the lantern and saved the other for the outside of the lantern.

While the Styrofoam base of the diorama is drying, you can become working on the outside of the lantern. First, in a disposable dish, mix about 1/2 cup of water with about 1/2 teaspoon of black paint. Brush this mixture onto the wood sign to “stain” it. Wipe off excess stain with a wet wipe. Allow it to dry before writing on it with a sharpie.

The Styrofoam base that you decorated should be dry enough to place inside the lantern. Gently, tilt it just enough to fit inside, trying to not let anything fall off.

Now, it’s time to start decorating the outside of the lantern. Do you want it displayed with the door open or closed? Or do you want the door to be able to open and close? There are still plenty of items in the kit to decorate the outside edges, the door and the top of the lantern. Use the ULT glue to attach items to the roof of the lantern and the outside edges. The tree and garland attaches best with the black pipe cleaners, rather than glue.

To attach the tree, I twisted one black pipe cleaner through the metal corner of the lantern, toward the top, and one toward the bottom. The pipe cleaners are also perfect for twisting on the black rose garland.

Using the remaining goodies, moss, ribbon, finish your lantern any way you like or save the materials for another day:) Have fun!