Happy Halloween! I’m celebrating the spooky season with a Jacko-o-Lantern mushroom diorama made largely of trash. I’ve been putting off doing this project because the skills were completely new to me. However, now that it’s done I’m happy I did it! This marks my first foray into diorama making. This is going to be a quick post, and the first in a series about creative activities to do in the greater Pittsburgh area.
Mushrooming
I’ve always been interested in mushrooms. You can read about my previous mushroom crafting adventure here. However, I decided it was finally time to pull the trigger and officially learn more about them. I joined the Western Pennsylvania Mushroom Club and went on a beginner’s mushroom walk hosted by the Allegheny Land Trust. It was a blast! A group of us went into the woods and collected specimens, and then came back together to ID them. We did find a few edible species (chicken of the woods etc.) but as it wasn’t a foraging trip we left the majority of those specimens in place.
The group found one specific species that really caught my attention: the Jack-o-Lantern mushroom (omphalotus olearius). It is a beautiful pumpkin-orange color, and, most impressively, bioluminescent! It quite literally glows in the dark 🙂 I had no idea Western PA had a mushroom like it. I went home and was determined to make a diorama of this fascinating mushroom species.
Materials/Method
I have accumulated quite a bit of trash over the last few months. I have been inspired by a lot of model-making Youtubers, such as Studson Studio, Mechanical Fiend, and Bill Making Stuff. They utilize a lot of trash and scrap in their builds and so I thought this was a perfect trash reuse project. I used various cardboard packaging, including a Quaker’s oatmeal container. I also used basic crafting supplies, such as PVA glue, acrylic paint, Mod Podge, modeling paste, and Sculpey clay. I also utilized some natural materials such as rocks found outside, sticks scavenged from my dying Fiddle Leaf Fig, and some purchased preserved lichens/mosses.
Construction
Step 1: The Frame
First, I made the diorama frame. I cut out a 2″ deep section from the oatmeal container, and used some dense cardboard packaging to make the back and scroll detail for the base. I then painted the entire thing in a matte Mod Podge/black paint mixture to seal the cardboard for further painting.
I then attempted to paint some dark wood texture onto frame. The last step was the background. I chose a night sky, and painted a moon and stars in the upper right corner/back of the frame.
Step 2: The Landscape
I then prepped the main tree piece by sawing a section of my Fiddle Leaf Fig trunk (RIP) and sealing it in matte Mod Podge. Once glued in place, I used textured cardboard scraps to form the terrain. Next, I used modeling paste and paper towel scraps to smooth out the terrain, and added some fine gravel with PVA glue.
In a similar way to the diorama frame, I covered the ground with a dark brown paint/Mod Podge mixture. I then dry-brushed lighter browns on top until it looked more realistic. I glued rocks down, and then moved onto the best part: flocking. I applied green flock onto the tree trunk and the ground with PVA glue. I also glued down some preserved moss and lichen for some greenery on the ground.
Step 3: The Mushrooms
This was the most nerve-racking part for me. I’m not very experienced in sculpting, but eventually just dove in. I created basic shapes using aluminum foil. I then covered the foil in a layer of Sculpey clay and formed the mushroom. The last step was the detail, which in this case involved carving the gills into the undersides of the fungi.
Once the mushrooms were baked, I moved onto painting. I worked in increasing lighter paint colors until the black color of the clay was completely covered. I encountered two major things about the painting I would have done differently, but more on that later.
Step 4: The Assembly
Finally, I glued the mushrooms onto the tree with hot glue, flocked around the join, and voila! A finished diorama.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I’m very proud of this and look forward to doing more modeling/diorama making. There were, however, a few things that didn’t go to plan:
- The paint colors faded quite a bit while drying. When I first applied the paint to the mushrooms, the color was much more vibrant. This may be a combination of the black color of the clay and the quality of the paint.
- I tried to make this glow in the dark, but failed. I mixed in glow in the dark paint into my lighter paint colors but it didn’t come through. I may attempt to coat a thicker layer on top and see what happens.
- The diorama itself is quite dark. I may try adding lights into my next build.
- I wanted to add some water effects but ran out of time. I think I will try adding some glossy Mod Podge water droplets onto the terrain and mushrooms.
