Big Top Circus Tent - Diorama

This circus tent diorama is the last of the pieces I designed for Alpha Stamps and it is double sided.  You’ll need to click on each picture to see the details.

FRONT VIEW

One of the products Alpha Stamps sent me was strings of Mardi Gras beads.  In the process of trying to figure out what to do with them I thought of a tent.  I had already made the Circus Caravan out of chipboard pendants and had several left over so I thought they would make great walls.  That’s how it all started.

Basic Structure

The base is a 12 x 12 piece of heavy chipboard.  I added additional chipboard to the center pendant so it would be higher than the others.  I connected the pendants with gaffers tape (bookbinding or fabric tape) before covering the pendants with paper. 

Center Beam and Tent

The center beam of the tent is a wooden dowel mounted in a piece of wood.  I painted the beam and added beaded and belled fringe.  At the top of the post I inserted part of a wooden skewer in the dowel.  I attached a jump ring to each end of each string of the Mardi Gras beads.  I used the jump rings to attach the Mardi Gras beads to the walls and to the beam.

FRONT RIGHT VIEW

The circus sign is made of metal letters that I glittered and glued together.  Since the piece is double sided I added images to the backs of the letters.  The sign is attached to the walls in the back of the tent with wooden skewers.

FRONT LEFT VIEW

The gold metal circle posters at the tops of each chipboard pendant wall section are made from bracelets. The yellow circles are vellum and are meant to give the impression of spotlights on the acts.

DETAIL VIEWS

It’s hard to see in the photos but there are all kinds of circus acts going on in the background on the walls.  The camera only wants to focus of the acts on the floor of the circus.  I wish I had taken pictures before adding the floor acts.  The floor act images are mounted on heavy cardstock to give them support.  I glued square wooden beads to the back of each piece and glued them to the floor. 

The circle of fire the lions are jumping through is made with a bracelet.  I cutout flame shaped pieces of vellum and glued them around the bracelet to create the fire.  The bracelet is attached to a metal alligator clip which is glued to a wooden skewer.

BACK VIEW

To give the piece a tent feel I added jump rings to the back walls then use bakers twine to ancor the walls to the base.  I used a diamond shape paper punch to create the pendant flags hanging on the bakers twine and also hanging on the walls on the front side of the piece.

I was going to add figures to the back and a high wire act to the front but I just ran out of time….oh well.

Here is a list of the Alpha Stamp supplies I used for this project:

·         Arched Pennant Chipboard

·         Glitz Design Paper – Rhapsody Rays Paper

·         Glitz Design Paper – Dozer Rays

·         Collage Sheet – Clowns #1

·         Collage Sheet – Clowns #2

·         Collage Sheet – Clowns #3

·         Collage Sheet – Piffle’s Circus

·         Collage Sheet – Circus Equestrienne

·         Collage Sheet – Circus Performers # 1

·         Collage Sheet – Elephants #2

·         Collage Sheet - Tiny Circus

·         Graphics 45 Paper – Le Cirque Collection – Circus Parade

·         Graphics 45 Paper– Le Cirque Collection – Greatest Show on Earth

·         Graphics 45 Paper– Le Cirque Collection – Tags

·         Graphics 45 Paper– Le Cirque Collection – Wizards of Wonder

·         Bakers Twine

·         Mardi Gras Beads

·         Fashion Fancy Sequins – Stars

If you missed the posts on the other circus themed pieces I created for Alpha Stamps click here.

Circus Caravan

Altered Altoids Tin – High Flyers

Altered Altoids Tin – The World’s Smallest Elephants

Art Doll King Clown