DIY: Mix & Match Diorama Walls

Jasmine is our girly girl and she’s loving her new floral wallpaper and cup of tea.

For a while now, I thought how could I create a room set up where I could swap out the “wallpaper?” I really needed to give it the head space it deserved because I knew it could be extremely useful for many in the doll community. What I’ve come up with is a way to create walls that you can interchange with different papers for endless different looks and also deconstruct and store flat.

The bits & pieces

Here’s what you will need:

• Foam board
• 12 X 12 Scrapbook paper
• Poster board
• Glue
• Coffee stirrers or thin cardboard
• Wood trim (we will actually use poster board in the tutorial)
• Metal ruler
• Pencil
• Utility or Exacto knife
• Scissors
• Presentation board or thicker cardboard
• Self-adhesive velcro

Disclaimer: If you are underage, please ask for adult assistance when using sharp objects.

The how-to

I’ve taken a lot of photos measuring out the paper frames and foam board, but the basic premise of this is that we will be creating frames around the 12 x 12 scrapbook paper sheets and creating slots for sliding them in and out of the wall panels.

Before we cut anything, I start by laying out a full sheet of foam board and placing a piece of the scrapbook paper up towards the upper edge leaving space to place a couple of trimmed stir sticks along the edge.

 

Glue the first two pieces in place and move to the opposite side of the paper edge.

Once you have glued the frame pieces onto the opposite side, you will want to draw a straight line around the bottom of the scrapbook paper to create a guide for the bottom layer of the frame.

Once you have glued in all three sides of the first panel, check to make sure your paper fits in perfectly.

As an alternative to the coffee stir sticks for framing out the scrapbook paper, you can also opt to use cardboard (thicker than paperboard and thinner than regular cardboard). I am showing the second panel of the longer wall using this method.

Measure out 1/4″ strips and cut them with scissors or a paper cutter like I have below.

 

Apply the same method we used with the coffee stir sticks.

Once you’d completed the number of panels desired trim down the side of the foam board.

The next step is to trim down the wall height. I’ve chosen to use a height of 18 inches.

Measure the entire “wall” from top down to 18″ for the height of the wall. Using the straight edge ruler, draw your trim line.

 

Trim down the foam core along the line you traced out at 18″ across. The last photo above shows me measuring some poster board to create the chair molding on the bottom of the wall.

You have many options for the base chair molding, a different color paper, or even use Popsicle sticks to create a bead board trim. Customize to suit your style.

I used Mod Podge and a large paint brush to evenly coat the foam board to apply the poster board. I find this dries flatter than regular glue with little bumps in the poster board.

Now you have a clean white base area to either further enhance with more molding or leave it plain. You can add baseboard molding as well. Whatever you’d like.

Repeat all of these steps for the second or third walls. In this example I just made two walls. Don’t mind that this photo is without the base molding (use your imagination!).

The next step is to create the slots that will allow us to slip the different papers into the upper portion of the walls.

I start by cutting several strips of the poster board into 5/8″ widths. You can also use wood molding from your project center for a more realistic look, but for this example I wanted to keep it simple and inexpensive.

I start with the molding on the bottom of the frames to create a molding trim. Be sure to glue the strips so that you cover any imperfections below the frame line but still have a lip on the top for the scrapbook paper to slip into.

Next, we move onto the sides. Add a thin line of glue along the stir sticks or cardboard strips.

Place the poster board strip along the edge so that there is a lip on the side facing the foam board wall.

Repeat this on the other end side of the foam board wall.

For the middle strip, be sure to glue on the strip so that there is a lip or space on either side of the stir stick or cardboard strip.

Now you have a finished panel. Repeat to create the second wall. Of course you can also make a third panel to create a full room box.

To connect the panels and form your room, we are going to use a cardboard presentation board to create a corner panel to attach to the back of each of the panels.

Using the prefolded section, trim the board to 3 inches on each side of the fold. Then trim it down lengthwise to the height of your room (18 inches).

 

We will be fastening this corner stabilizer to the wall panels using self-adhesive Velcro. I cut the Velcro strips I had available into 2 parts for each side of the cardboard corner and put the two sides back together. I then cut each into 3 pieces. You can definitely use more, but this was all I had on hand.

 

To line up everything on each side, it’s best to start by sticking both sides to one side first. Remove the tabs and carefully place the first wall panel so that it lines up. Once in place put pressure on the areas where you have applied the Velcro. Repeat for the second panel.

 

You should now be able to stand your walls up and they are ready for some designer wall accents!

Add your favorite flooring and 12 x 12 scrapbook paper and you are ready to decorate.  Just slip your paper of choice into the slots we’ve created. You can also add windows or other wall accents to your paper that can be interchanged between each panel.

Once you are done using your room you can detach the wall panels from the corner piece and store it away until next time!

I’ve decided this will be a part 1 of a series as this post ended up being really long to show all of the details for you. I also want to apologize for the photo quality, they aren’t as bright and light and clear as they could be. I often craft late at night and I am usually figuring things out as I go while trying to document it. I don’t always have time to set up my lighting kit. Anyhow, I hope you found this useful and will try it yourselves!

Thank you as always for stopping by! Be sure to click the Follow button if you would like to receive email notifications when we post! Until next time…

A la prochaine

Rie & Bruni