Miniature Spring Easter Dioramas: Easy to make spring diorama in a mini tuna tin, Altoids tin, and sardine tin tutorial.
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Why is everything so much cuter when it's miniature? These spring Easter dioramas are the sweetest. I had so much fun creating these miniature scenes and they're such a fun craft idea. They look adorable as part of your Easter decor.
I think miniature doll houses are on the rise, and have to admit I’m kind of into it. Maybe it’s fulfilling childhood fantasies, or maybe it’s just that anything tiny is just so very, very cute. I love these little dioramas since they're fairy size. They make me think of little fairies getting ready for spring, but they’re not too precious since they’re made of old tins. And you know, fairies really are master up-cyclers, ;). Once you start making these, you'll be looking at every little tin you see with a whole host of new opportunities for it to become the latest version of your diorama base.
So here is how I made them, they’re pretty simple to put together, just a bit of gathering up supplies…which was pretty fun in itself.
Altoids Garden Diorama
The gardening diorama is made out of an Altoids tin, which I found at Shoppers Drug Mart, good news if you’re Canadian and wondering where to get one.
I found the little garden tools at Michaels, and they inspired the gardening theme of this first little diorama. You could also find them at a miniature doll house shop, it's a great place to look for craft supplies for dioramas.
The background for this one is a free printable of an antique seed package…I chose carrots because of Easter. You can play with sizing on your printer. I think I printed this one at 60% for the perfect fit in the back of the diorama.
I’m loving moss right now. It's so spring-y and perfect here behind the little hand tools.
On the other side, I printed out a Bible page for the background. Spring makes me think about seasons, and “a time to plant…” Ecclesiastes Chapter 3 is where it’s found. I resized it, printed it, and then antiqued it with just a little brown paint rubbed in to make it look like it was a part of some vintage treasures.
The adorable fairy sized seed packages were found at a miniature store, and are really cute. When I came home from that little shopping trip I realized I could have probably used a free printable like this one, so here's the link for you. You can just print them, cut them out, and glue them together. There's so many free digital designs like this available now for free personal use. One of the best parts of making dioramas is making them full of little details like this.
I added in a little toy bunny, and his tiny carrot, these were a dollar store find in the toy section. I think the fairies would approve.
Mini Tuna Can Spring Nest Diorama
The little nest diorama was inspired by some tiny Easter nests at the dollar store. The nests had little yellow Easter chicks in them, I removed them and added some foam eggs I had, and a feather.
The nest is resting in a tuna tin. Not a regular size one, a mini one. Be sure to wash it in some warm soapy water to remove any lingering tuna scent. I used white glue thinned with a little warm water to glue in a background of torn old book pages as layers of paper mache. The spring banner is made with rubber stamps. It's fun to make little handmade pieces like this to include.
I found the perfect twig to hold my little nest and added it and the nest to the tin with my glue gun and some hot glue. Lastly I added a little glue to the bottom of the egg and added them one by one into the nest. This was such a fun project.
Sardine Tin Easter Egg Diorama
Lastly, and probably my favourite is the little Easter egg dying scene diorama. I was inspired by something similar I spied at the miniature store. Here is my DIY version.
I picked up the tiny cups, one plate, and the sweet little Easter basket there.
The eggs are made out of white polymer clay. I used paint on the front of the egg for some to make them to look dyed. Also, I added some paint to the cups for the dye.
A little mod podge added to the paint in the cups helps to make it a little more shiny. The penny will give you an idea of the scale. The Easter grass is regular Easter grass that I just cut to a smaller width and length. I filled the basket with the Easter grass and each finished egg. And the other eggs are waiting on the little plate for their turn in the dye. I attached them to the plate with a little hot glue on the edge of the egg.
The newspapers are a free printable from here. Look for digital items like this online and print at home, resizing with your printer to get the perfect fit. I added just a dab of the paint on some paper towel and added to the newspaper. I thought it made the scene look more real, like the Easter egg dye had spilled on the newspaper a little.
This scene all takes place in an old sardine tin. I have to confess I threw out the sardines, I just wanted the cute little tin. I used extraordinary care to leave the lid attached and curled back for a cute effect.
Displaying Your Dioramas
These are definitely my favourite little project of late. I love how tiny they are, how sweet, how detailed, and how spring like these dioramas turned out. I found such special goods at the miniature shop for creating these special little scenes.
These are so little I would place them somewhere where they’ll catch your eye. I thought they looked great as a little grouping on the wall, or perhaps placed on a little shelf together, or even on the mantel. For creative entrepreneurs they might make a great item to sell at spring craft fairs or as an etsy offer for creative small businesses as made-to-order items. I hope the full details of the tutorial help you create your own Easter dioramas this spring.
With Miniature Fairy Garden Spring Dioramas, life really is a party!
More Inspiration
You might also like our Fairy Gardens in a Jar tutorial here.
Also check out our Mini Hearts in a Bottle here.
You might also enjoy our Felt Mushrooms tutorial here.
Kathy A says
As a confirmed dollhouse-aholic, I just loved these! I made 2 Christmas arrangements today (Yeah, I know it's mid January) with 1/2 off after Christmas treasures for this Nov. church bazaar using cardinals and faux nests! I love all minis and use them in my houses, dioramas, and roomboxes. Several years ago I made a treehouse for my fairies in my front door rosebush--to save my arthritic knees from bending to get to them at ground level!
dnr says
Kathy, I so glad you like them. All things mini are so popular these days, I love the dollhouse trend so much too!
All the best,
Dannyelle