Making a Harry Potter Inspired Musical Light Up Diorama

Hello everyone!

I haven't been active on Instructables for quite some time now but I am back with another exciting and fun project.

The Books&Bookshelves contest inspired me to make something whimsical and what better inspiration than the series that started everything magical for me - Harry Potter.I read those books for the first time when I was twelve years old and they truly changed me.

This project is for all of the Potterheads out there that want to make something straight out of the Gryffindor common room.

Let's get started!

• A plastic dome
• Hot glue gun
• Cardboard
• Acrylic paint
• Brushes
• Distress ink
• Distress Sponge
• Led Lights
• X-acto knife
• Double sided tape
• Dotting tool
• A ruler
• A Harry Potter music box - I got mine from Aliexpress
• A screwdriver
• Thick cardboard
• Scissors
• Printouts of the book covers and newspapers
• A bone folder
• Polymer clay
• String
• Dry branches and sticks

I had a very clear image of how I wanted this project to turn out - a light up,musical fireplace,straight out of Hogwarts!

Start out by tracing three identical circles onto a thick cardboard.Then make one of the circles slightly smaller so that it fits inside the dome.

Take one of the circles and poke the holes where the screws of the music box go.To make the holes larger use a dotting tool.Screw them in using a screwdriver.

Each music box has a metal handle that can be removed and put back.Remove it and poke the three holes of the handle onto the second cardboard circle.Put the screws in and attach the handle onto the box.You now should have the musical mechanism of the project.

Set the musical mechanism aside and move onto making the fireplace.Start out by tracing a larger rectangle onto a piece of cardboard.You can see the dimensions on the first photo.Using a dotting tool,score each line.Next,flatten each scored line with a bone folder.You now have the middle part of the fireplace.When cutting the large rectangle,leave a slight space - you will be putting the double sided tape there to attach this part to the base of the fireplace.

To make the base and top of the fireplace you will need the same thicker cardboard you cut the circles from.Cut four rectanles - I don't have the exact dimensions but they should be about 1 cm wider and longer than the base of the fireplace from the previous step.Stack them and glue them using double sided tape.Wrap them up in the same cardboard from the previous step.

To make the upper part of the fireplace use the same cardboard from step 3 - trace the trapezoid part first and move onto making the sides that are about 2 cm wide.Use double sided tape to attach everything together.

Assemble the fireplace by glueing each part using a hot glue gun.Glue the middle part of the fireplace onto the base.Next,glue the top of the fireplace.Finally,place the upper part of the fireplace onto the top of it.

Paint the whole fireplace in a darker shade of brown using acrylic paint and let it dry.

Once the paint is dry,take a thinner brush and paint the bricks using small strokes.Be patient,there are a lot of bricks.Start out by making the horizontal lines first and then move onto the vertical ones.Repeat until the whole fireplace is covered in bricks.

Use some free Harry Potter printables for this step.Take the Daily Prophet sheet of paper and make it slightly more brown - use a distress ink.You can also leave it as it is - it's up to you,but I like the vintage look of the ink.

Once distressed,cut a bunch of the newspapers and glue them right sides up so that when folded there aren't any blank pages showing.

To make the candles use some polymer clay - form a cylinder and place a ''wick'' from black string onto the center.

Make the books by cutting the covers from the free printable and simply place some folded cardboard inbetween the covers.Attach the cover using a double sided tape.

Use the rest of the Daily Prophet cut ups by rolling them and tieing them up with some black strings to make more props.

Finally,cut up some Hogwarts letters.

To make the fireplace as realistic as possible,put some dry branches and sticks onto it using hot glue.

Paint the third cardboard circle using the same distress ink and glue the fireplace onto it.

From there on it's up to you where you will place the props - put some candles on top of the fireplace,some of the Daily Prophet in front of it as well as some books and scripts.

Lumos!

This piece of magic needs some light.Use LED lights to make this diorama even more beautiful!

I found my LED lights at a thrift store so I have no idea where you can buy something similar.Mine needed a piece of metal to light up so I attached a piece of my used up X-acto blades.

Once they are lit up glue them next to the musical box with hot glue.

Poke a small hole in front of the fireplace and thread the led string light through it.

Glue the circle with the fireplace onto the music box - my music box came with a plastic protector so it was the perfect for that.

Wrap the LED lights around inside the diorama however you like.

Once the diorama is ready,apply some hot glue onto the edges of the brown circle and place the plastic dome.

To cover up the base where the lights and music box are hidden,make a cardboard ring.Keep in mind that the ring should be slightly larger than the circumference of the dome itself.This is so that when twisted the dome can move freely around.

Cover the ring with cardboard using double sided tape.

Attach the ring you made in the previous step onto the base - glue it onto the bottom circle.Since it's a circle it's a bit easier to cut a bunch of smaller square pieces and gluing them individually.

Keep in mind that your diorama will move only if you glue the ring onto that exact circle.It would be best to test it out before you glue it.

Lastly,cut a cardboard circle to cover up the bottom of the base.

Now all that's left to do is twist and turn and listen to Hedwig's theme! I had so much fun while creating this diorama. I am still wondering if I should paint the base cardboard a darker color but I left it as it is for now.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read or scroll through this Instructable!

I really hope you enjoy this project!