It's no secret that I have a huge soft spot for everything antique & curio. Sometimes I worry that our house will turn into a museum of antiques overflowing with vintage photographs of kittens carrying baskets full of flowers, a vast selection of antlers found in the forest and everything brass & copper that magpies couldn't carry away into their nests. Having this passion for objects that tell stories AND also DIY can sometimes be a little tricky - there's not that much story entwined in coloured sheets of paper, a Pritt stick and a hot glue gun. So every time I'm thinking up a DIY project to soothe my anxious mind on (the best kind of therapy, I'm telling ya) I try to come up with something vintage or curio inspired. These butterfly domes are the ultimate curio DIY - they are so damn easy to make yet have this majestic veil of faux taxidermy to them. Aren't they just beautiful?
What will you need to make a DIY butterfly dome?
🦋🦋🐞 glass dome of choice (mine are from IKEA & HEMA - IKEA's Harliga glass domes, the smaller one is £5.50 - which I have - and the larger one is £10 - buy them here; the large one is from HEMA and was £12.50 here - it is bloody huge though!)🐞 bamboo skewers
🐞 wood dye to match your glass dome base (mine is from Blackfriar in Dark Oak - buy here)
🐞 hot glue gun
🐞 butterflies of choice (mine are from eBay for just £2.25 for a pack - buy them here)
🐞 a little nail & hammer
And how to make one?
First of all paint your bamboo skewers with wood dye and wait until dry to touch (I put the whole skewers inside of the dye tub and then stuck them into a plant pot - the soil holds them quite well). Measure your skewers and cut them so they fit into the dome well (keep the pointy end of the skewer because you'll be using it to attach it to the dome base) - I suggest having different heights to make the dome look less cramped. Use your hot glue gun to attach butterflies to the skewers. In my domes I have 2-3 butterflies per skewer, each tilted a slightly different direction. Finally once you're happy with your butterfly skewers, take a little nail & start hammering it into the base of your dome in the place where you want your skewer to be standing, making a deep enough hole for the skewer to sink into (this is where the point end comes into play). Arrange your butterflies & put the lid back on. Boosh! Your butterfly dome is ready to charm the pants off your dinner guests!
Butterflies aren't your thing? Here's more faux taxidermy glass dome inspiration for you!
These domes are so effective and so so easy to make! If you're not too keen on butterflies then you can use insect (what about using toy insect figures & spray painting them gold?) or shells, or even resin replicas of bones and skulls (you can find these on eBay). Or perhaps just add a little nest made out of twigs, some clay eggs and birds and you have a decoration that turns every room into a fancy 1900s study!
What do you think about these curio domes?
Are they your thing or just a little too freakish-scientist for you?
