Today is the grand finale of DIY projects for Fall 2020 because from here on in it's about jingle bells and holly. Why? Because the Festive Ideas Tour starts today and I'll be jumping on board the holiday train on Wednesday.

I decided to go out with a Spooktacular Halloween Diorama Box from an upcycled display shelf. Because who doesn't love a spooky Halloween miniature, especially one that lights up!

Spooktacular Halloween Diorama Box Upcycle

I'm also ending with a Halloween craft because today is our monthly Int'l Bloggers Club Challenge and the theme is Halloween. Last year for our Halloween challenge I made this Recycled Halloween Garden Lantern.

The idea for the Halloween diorama came from a $3 Goodwill wall shelf that had seen it's better days. It's been sitting in the workshop collecting dust for several years. The plan was to turn it into dollhouse furniture for the repurposed dollhouse bookcase that I'm making for my granddaughter. And that's probably what will happen with it after Halloween.

What I didn't realize until flipping it over, AFTER I started painting, is that it is a Willow Tree The Roses In My Garden Reliquary Figurine Display Shelf to be exact. Used to display Willow Tree...ahem...Angels! 😇

To make matters worse, when I Googled the word "reliquary" it means a container for holy relics. 😱 Am I going to get struck by lightning! 🌩

Perhaps I should have done my homework BEFORE I defaced the holy relic holder and turned it into a dark black container for unholy skeletons! 🦴 💀

If you haven't heard of our Int'l Bloggers Club, we are a group of blogging friends from around the globe who come together on the third Monday of every month to share a themed DIY project. We have members from Spain, South Africa, Australia, the USA, and Canada.

Last month our challenge was local love where I narrowed my focus on our provincial flower and made a Wild Rose Wooden Coaster. I'll be sharing our talented member's interpretations of this month's Halloween challenge further down in the post.

Before we get into the nitty-gritty of how to make the Halloween Shadow Box, all the projects here at Interior Frugalista have step-by-step tutorials so why not get your budget DIY on and subscribe. You can also follow us on Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

So enough of my blabbering, here's how I made the Halloween shadow box starting with the upcycled wall shelf.

How To Make A Halloween Diorama With Thrift Store and Dollar Store Finds

This post contains affiliate links so you can see what products I used or recommend for this project. As an Amazon Associate, I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.

All the spooky miniatures for the diorama were either handmade or purchased at the dollar store so it cost very little money to put together.

Supplies

• Wall Display Shelf (thrift store)
• Mini Skeletons
• Mini Pumpkins (recycled Fall picks)
• Straw (recycled straw wreath form)
• Orange LED Micro Dot Lights
• Halloween Peel and Stick Decals (backdrop)
• Halloween Erasers (not shown)
• Stacked Pumpkin Glow Stick Necklace
• Small Wooden Dowel
• 3 Small Wood Blocks
• Black Craft Wire
• Pumpkin With Mask Printable
• Toothpicks
• Hot Glue Gun

Upcycled Figurine Display Shelf

You'll notice in the photo below that the display cabinet is missing shelves.

No worries though because they are easy to replace with balsa wood cut to size with a straight edge and retractable knife. But before I set them in place I gave the cabinet a good scrub from the years of dust.

Both the interior and exterior are painted with three coats of Raven black chalk-style paint. Once that dries normally you would protect the paint with a clear coat or black wax. I chose to skip this step because like I mentioned earlier, I'll be repurposing it again for my granddaughter's dollhouse.

Skeletons

I found the miniature skeletons in a bag of three at Walmart. I wanted one of them to be sitting on a shelf but those gals were stiff as bones (sorry, couldn't resist). Poor thing, in order to make it sit down I had to break her bones.

And then reassemble her again in the sitting position with hot glue.

Miniature Hay Bales

For the hay bales, I recycled an old straw wreath form and cut a 1 x 2 furring strip with a hand saw. Then I simply wrapped the straw around the woodblocks with a dab of hot glue here and there.

For baling wire, I used black craft wire wrapped around the mini hay bales a couple of times. You can see them below.

Witches Broom

For the witches' broom, I painted a small wooden dowel orange. Then I gathered a clump of hay from the wreath form and stuck the dowel in the center. To hold it together I wrapped a piece of hay and secured it with hot glue. Next, I trimmed the straw and the wooden dowel. Easy peasy!

Masked Pumpkin Wall Art

I went to PicMonkey in search of a cute photo to use for wall art. After printing it to size I used toothpicks to make a haunted-looking frame. I couldn't resist the covid reference with the masked pumpkin.

Dollar Store Diorama Embellishments

The miniature faux pumpkins are recycled from dollar store fall picks that I had in my stash. Some of them I painted with chalk-style or acrylic craft paint and others I left orange.

The flower planter filled with gourds and pumpkins is a recycled coffee K-cup that I spray painted black.

The skeleton's witch hat, pumpkin she's holding, skull on the top shelf, crossbones on the door, and the bat sitting on the hay bale is dollar store erasers.

The lighted stacked pumpkins on the top shelf is a dollar store glow stick necklace along with the creepy black flies (I couldn't find spiders).

I recycled the black netting that the skeletons came in to drape over one door to add to the spook factor.

Halloween Backdrop

I found the peel and stick Halloween decals at Walmart - a perfect backdrop for my spooky diorama. I used a sheet of white foam core as a backdrop and stuck them on either side of the haunted house...um...closet?

Here is the Halloween diorama by day...

...and at night lit with orange LED micro dot lights, also purchased at the dollar store.

If you have any questions about this Spooktacular Halloween Diorama, please leave them in the comment section below or the Contact Me tab at the top. I love hearing from you!

If you enjoyed this Halloween Miniature Idea, I'd be so thankful if you shared it with a friend and pinned it to your Halloween Decorations board on Pinterest.

Now let's see what my talented friend's made for our Halloween challenge by clicking the links below.

1. A Crafty Mix - Easy Realistic Eyeballs
2. Unique Creations By Anita - Halloween Flower Arrangement
3. Birdz Of A Feather - DIY Pumpkin Pin Cushion
4. Interior Frugalista (that's me) - Halloween Diorama Box

I share my projects at these inspiring link parties.