Christmas Decor: Winter Wonderland Cigar Box Diorama

 

Welcome to my first Christmas creation of 2025! I had so much fun with this and I already have ideas for another. Or two. 

Supplies:

• Cigar Box (I get mine at Total Wine)
• Coordinating Acrylic Paints and Scrapbook Papers
• Misc. Embellishments
• Hot Glue and Tacky Glue

I've gotten cigar boxes at Total Wine since forever. At mine, the cardboard ones are $.99 and the wood ones $1.99. MUCH better than the prices I've seen at flea markets or thrift stores. 

I'd already decided on the papers I was going to use for this project so I selected a paint that coordinated. It wasn't as dark green as I wanted, so I mixed in a few drops of black to deepen it. 

I covered the insides and back with the green. 

I used Waverly white paint for the outside of the box, covering the front and the sides. I was fine with a bit of the green showing through around the edges. 

I measured and cut the papers I chose. I have so many papers from different packs over the years and these coordinated. 

To apply the papers, I grabbed some Mod Podge. I love these little bottles from Dollar Tree because here in the dry desert, I've found that once I open a bigger bottle, if not used quickly, they dry out QUICKLY. 

The white left a frost-like appearance around the inside of the box. Now for the fun! I went through my stash and pulled out some goodies, including something I'd made for a previous project but didn't use, and some ornaments and trees I picked up on an after-holiday shopping trip last year, and some Dollar Tree lights I picked up with Halloween supplies but hadn't used.

Half ornament snow-globe and snowmen ornaments. 

I had this metal frame in my stash, so I painted it with the Waverly white and dry brushed it with a bright gold. I picked up the tree ornament at Dollar Tree this year. 

I love this quirky little tree! They come in sets of two, so the other one will be used in another project.

 

I hot-glued the frame to the inside left of the box and the ornament to the frame. Oops. I'm going to add a button or rhinestone atop the tree to cover the hole. 

After putting batteries in the lights, I glued the casing to the back of the box, then threaded the lights through the side. 

I glued the lights around the inside of the right side of the box with a combination of Aleene's clear tacky glue and hot glue. Once that was done, I glued the snowmen and trees as shown, along with the "Merry Christmas" ornament. 

To finish, I grabbed a bottle brush wreath from my stash, ironed one of the ribbons I saved from last year's wrapping with my Cricut mini heat press, made a bow, and done!

"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas..."