Tuesday, October 9, 2018

DIY Entomology Cloche with Dollar Store Bugs



Ever since I can remember, I've been fascinated with curiosities like bugs and other things displayed behind glass. There's something eerily beautiful and mysterious about these oddities and seeing them displayed in a beautiful way is really enchanting to me.

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On a recent trip to IKEA I noticed that they carried a variety of cloches (or glass domes) and at very affordable prices. I decided to pick up a few and create a fun project for Halloween.



glass dome, about $12 at IKEA


I wanted to display creepy bugs inside my cloches so I visited my nearest Dollar store and picked up a few rubber bugs and some butterflies.  After spending just a few bucks at my nearest Dollar Tree, I was on my way home eager to start on this simple project!




Can't go wrong for a dollar!

The size of the bugs are pretty big!



Here is what you need to make a bug cloche:


-Cloche or Bell Jar
-Rubber Bugs
-Fake Butterflies
-Styrofoam
-Wooden Skewers
-Moss
-White Spray Paint
-Hot Glue


The process for making these bug cloches is pretty simple. I mean, based on my pictures alone I'm pretty sure you can figure it out but I'll go ahead and explain it to you anyway in case you're not a visual learner ;)



  • Determine how high your bug should be standing inside the cloche and cut your wooden skewer according to that height. Attach the skewer to the underside of the bug using hot glue. 


This pic grosses me out

  • Take all your bugs outside and spray paint them with white spray paint



  • While you wait for the bugs to dry, cut some Styrofoam to fit on the base of your cloche and attach it with a little bit of hot glue and cover the Styrofoam with moss. Us a bit of hot glue to attach the moss too.



  • After a few hours your bugs should be dry. Stick the skewer right in the middle of the Styrofoam, put the glass dome over it and you're done!





*Note: The butterflies already come with wire attached to them so all you have to do is stick the wire into the Styrofoam. No skewer needed!







These beauties are currently adorning the desk in my living room. I'm going to add some webs and other creepy things to really make this vignette come alive for Halloween! Can't wait! I really love the way these bugs came out! I know they aren't realistic-looking because they are white, but I still love how stricking they are. Because the bugs are white, they almost look sculptural -like little works of art. I can totally envision a bunch of these bug cloches filling a mantel...OMG that would look AMAZING!

All that's left is to put up the webs! Actually, I already did put up the webs but I'm getting that post ready for you!  Stay tuned for some tips on getting your Halloween webs to look more realistic cuz nothing annoys me more than webs that look like SNOW!

***EDIT!***
 WEBBING POST IS DONE! CLICK ON THE PIC BELOW TO READ IT!



Till' next time!
-Oscar

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