This past week, I participated in an art challenge with my grown-up artist friends. We were challenged to create a diorama in a shoebox of any kind of interior. Being a well-educated set of friends, I knew that they would instantly recognize the interior scene that I decided to recreate. Yes, it’s indeed The Dessert: Harmony in Red by Henri Matisse.

I purposely didn’t purchase anything to create this scene. Yes, I used ONLY items from around my house. OK, to be fair, I do have A LOT of art supplies in my media room, which I keep for art camps. But still, I found unexpected items everywhere, like metal buttons that I glued to silver-painted wooden knobs to create the metal dishes, and I saved the cardboard tubes from doggie poop bags to create the tall bottles. I found pale yellow sewing pins that became the perfect flowers, along with pulled-apart red yarn that I threaded into wire jewelry-making notions. Here are some behind-the-scenes looks: