Harry Potter Bookshelf Diorama

I woke up this morning with the strangest mission: to make a Harry Potter-themed bookshelf diorama. I had never done such a thing, much less thought about making one, in my entire life. But here I am, having watched three Harry Potter movies later, with one of my very own. I made the diorama of the exterior of Ollivander's Wand Shop in Diagon Alley out of cardboard and other recycled odds and ends I had around the house. I also used some fairy/twinkly lights, a couple of coats of paint, and some small steampunk bits I've had on hand for years. It turned out a lot better than I could have ever imagined.

I didn't have a plan when I started making this. But I knew I wanted to start with a box that was about the same height as my Harry Potter books. So with that in mind, I found a box. I also grabbed a couple of Pringles cans, a toilet paper roll, mod podge, acrylic paint, tape, and some hot glue. I also needed scissors, an X-acto knife, and paintbrushes.

I opened one of the sides of the box so I could get to work. I left the flaps open because at the time I didn't know if I would need them or not. Turns out I did, so I'm glad I left them intact. At this point, I also painted the inside of the box with black acrylic paint.

Cut a toilet paper roll in half. Then cut six squares (window panes) out of each window very carefully using an X-acto knife or some scissors. I also used masking tape to secure the windows a bit more.

Paint the windows with black acrylic paint. To make a door, first cut out a rectangle of cardboard. Then cut a rectangle out of that rectangle using an X-acto knife. Find some thin cardboard (like from a cereal box) and make a similar rectangle shape. Cut four window panes out in the top half using an X-acto knife. Hot glue the thin cardboard door to the thicker cardboard. Then hot glue the doors and the windows to the inside of the box.

The sides and the bottom of inside the diorama box should be painted black. I painted the top a lighter gray, but black would have done fine too. Dip your index finger in a lighter gray paint and fingerpaint the cobblestones. You can also paint a few stairs leading up to the door and a yellow door handle. I painted these words in gold/yellow paint on the top of the door: "MAKERS OF FINE WANDS SINCE 382 B.C."

Alright, so I don't know what these things are called, but they add a lot to the whole look of the diorama. Cut up a Pringle can so you have two pieces that are slightly wider than the toilet paper roll halves and about an inch tall. Paint them black, and then use some gold/yellow paint to paint "OLLIVANDERS" in all caps. Top it off with some mod podge, since paint doesn't like to stick permanently on pringles cans.

Before I glued on the window toppers from the previous step, I decided to add another layer of windows on top of the existing ones. I did the same thing from step three, except I decided to paint the window panes instead of cut them out. After I glued them into the box, I glued on the window toppers from the last step. You can see I've also painted a window in between them. However, I do end up cutting those windowpanes out later on.

I wanted to create the illusion of the brick wall opening up. First, I cut the flaps on both sides to about 3 inches wide and painted them gray. Then I used a square paintbrush, dipped it in dark red paint, and painted some bricks. After the paint dried, I cut out some of the bricks to create the illusion of the bricks opening themselves up. At this point, I also hot glued the left side. I had left it open until this point because it made it easier to place, glue, and paint all of the pieces inside.

Originally, I wanted to use a bottle cap, like from a beer bottle, for the hanging Ollivander's sign. Alas, I did not have one. I did, however, find this old steampunk accessory in my sewing box and I thought it would do the trick. I hung it on some white/gold string, strung it through a hole in the very center of the top of the box, tied a knot, and hot glued the knot in place at the top.

I had these fairy/string lights leftover from another project and they worked perfectly for this diorama. I merely poked some holes in the back of the diorama and poked the lights through. I taped the string lights to the back of the box and hot glued the battery pack/switch to the top.

I really love the way it turned out. I used mostly recycled cardboard for the diorama -- I love upcycling! This was a great rainy day project to do while watching the films. It took me the first three movies -- Sorcerer's Stone, Chamber of Secrets, and Prisoner of Azkaban -- to complete the diorama. I consider it a day well spent!