Favorite Fall Memory Diorama

This was a project I made for an Instructable contest for Merrell to depict your favorite fall memory in diorama form. There were a lot of great entries and I did not win, but I was still happy with how it turned out. Everything inside the diorama was handmade except for the bear sitting on the bed (that was an eraser.)

The memory I depicted was looking out the window at night when I was younger and seeing a giant pile of leaves to jump in. I don't know if there are many kids who do not like jumping into piles of leaves!

Materials:

Tree: Aluminum foil armature, Polymer clay, brown acrylic paint, hot glue
Leaves: Maple leaf craft punch on fall colored papers
Grass: Foam sheets in Green and Yellow
Floor: Skinny wood craft sticks, brown acrylic paint wash
Baseboards: Skinny wood craft sticks, white acrylic paint
Radiator: Toothpicks, Polymer clay, Silver acrylic paint
Figure: Aluminum foil and tooth pick armature, Polymer clay, red acrylic paint for lips and checks, beige acrylic paint for skin tone, craft doll hair.
Scarf, Bedspread, Pillow, Window curtains: Felt (I used one of the fancier stitches on my sewing machine to add the pattern to the felt for the bedspread and the scarf. Stores do sell patterned felt now though if you don't have a sewing machine.)
Window: Thick plastic sheet for window pane, white heavyweight paper, skinny wood craft sticks, white acrylic paint, hot glue

The diorama is split about 1/4 outside scene, 3/4 inside bedroom. It's open in the front so you can look down from the top or into it from the front. 

I used a flash light to get some moon light to go through the window. There are a pair of gloves and a hat sitting on the radiator warming up. 

I had never made a figure entirely out of polymer clay before so that was probably the hardest part of this project. I didn't entirely get the facial expression I wanted. I didn't want it to look entirely realistic, but the lip area was too flat. The proportions worked out well, and I really liked the way the pants came out. The shirt is supposed to look like a knit wool sweater. 

This is the outdoor part of the diorama. The big pile of leaves is on the right. I glued leaves onto an aluminum foil ball to get the form. The grass was made by cutting long strips of foam sheets 3 cm tall. I then cut blades of grass into the foam strips and arranged and glued them together. I added some yellow grass for more of a fall feeling and to add some color variety. The black window accents are masking tape colored with a Sharpie.