How to Create a Home Museum

Last Updated: February 15, 2022

Sometimes you go to a museum and you get inspired and want to create an exhibit of your own...Or you might have some interesting artifacts you might want to display. No sweat.

Method 1

Method 1 of 6:

Acquiring and Preparing Artifacts

1
Try to acquire artifacts. Native American pottery or other relics from ancient cultures can be pretty hard to find and are very, very expensive to buy. Using taxidermy specimens, mineral, or fossil specimens is a good bet.
- Taxidermic specimens are insects in alcohol or stuffed animals. You can prepare these by hunting or finding dead animals. For birds, mammals, and sometimes reptiles, such as crocodiles, and maybe sharks, you can stuff the specimen. For mollusks, insects, spiders, fish, salamanders, frogs, toads and lizards, you can put them in special preservatives.
- Rocks and Minerals can be found very easily in mines, mine dumps, rock piles, caves, mountains and quarries. If you do not live near any of these you can wait for a trip, collect everyday use rocks such a coal and limestone, or go to a special rock shop or gem show. If you want to make your rock more shiny you can buy special equipment
- Fossils are the remains of ancient animals and plants which turned to stone millions of years ago. Fossils are commonly found in rocks such as limestone, sandstone, and shale. When you find your fossil, wrap it in newspaper and tape, to make sure it does not get broken. You can prepare you fossil with a toothbrush and dental tools. If there are no fossils in you area or you cannot collect them, you can also get them at rock shops and shows

Method 2

Method 2 of 6:

Cataloging and Labeling

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Be sure to label them. Sometimes you can lose track of your specimen's information, such as where and when it was found. It is good idea to keep track of your specimen in a catalog or database. Handwritten catalogs are usually messy and unprofessional. Use Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets to create one of these. Put in the object's discovery date and place, if a fossil or artifact: age, and some interesting facts.
2
If you are going to put your specimen on display, create labels. As with the catalog, it is not a good idea to have your labels handwritten. On your label include the object's catalog number, general keyword, and location of discovery.

Method 3

Method 3 of 6:

Displaying Your Items

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If you are building a museum, you will of course need a display of objects. For ancient artifacts, try to piece them together with crazy glue. Stuffed animals can be mounted on wooden poles or in dioramas. Rock specimens can be displayed together or individually. Small fossils such as shells or leaves can be placed in a display case or cabinet, while individual bones of larger animals can be mounted as a skeleton. If bones are missing (they probably will be) you can make plaster copies of other bones or sculpt replicas out of clay.

Method 4

Method 4 of 6:

Creating Your Exhibit

1
Once you have acquired, prepared, cataloged, labeled, and figured out how you are going to display your specimens, you can start designing you exhibit. Maybe try to have a large permanent exhibition, and have a couple small temporary ones, so guests have something new to see each time. Try too choose theme which interests you or is relevant to subject of you objects. For ancient artifacts maybe archaeology, For taxidermy maybe the diversity of life. For rocks and minerals, maybe the Earth. For fossils, maybe prehistoric life or geology.

Method 5

Method 5 of 6:

Creating a Diorama for Your Exhibit

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Once you know your theme for you exhibit you could create a diorama. Maybe even put some of the objects in the diorama.
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The first step of creating you diorama is the animals or people. For animals you can buy replica or even real skeletons to use. Then place a thick layer of clay all over the skeleton and texture it to resemble skin and muscle. You could use real animal hair for fur.
3
The second step is to create rocks and plants. For rocks, sculpt plasticine clay and paint it to look like the real thing. Doing this or using real plants, would be good for trees and vegetation.
4
The final step is to paint a background. If the diorama is at the center of you exhibit and there is not wall, you can skip this step. For the background use a large removable canvas and acrylic or spray paint. Paint mountains, more trees, rocks, and other animals in the background.

Method 6

Method 6 of 6:

Opening Your Museum

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The first step of this last section is to prepare your exhibit. Hang informative signs, set up you diorama, and put out your items for display.
2
The next step is to figure out how much admission will be. You will need to earn enough to run you museum and to make a profit, print tickets, and possibly pay your staff.
3
Hire staff. You may need catalogers, exhibit design and preparation helpers, and docents. You may need to pay them.
4
Invite your friends and family to your museum. Maybe give people special memberships. You could even go a step farther and open you museum to the public!

Community Q&A

Question

How big does a museum have to be?

CrazyGirl4

Community Answer

It can be any size! Your museum could even be an unused trash can. I used a garage, but you could use a cardboard box for a simple, one exhibit museum.
Question

Will I need to always be looking around my museum in case somebody tries to steal something?

Community Answer

If you're just opening a museum for friends and family, you shouldn't have to worry too much, because they're probably trustworthy. If you're opening your museum to the public, you will probably need to hire a security guard.
Question

What do I do if I only have one thing to display in my museum?

Candace Richards

Community Answer

Go outside and find some weird looking rocks or find mud or clay and make your own weird shaped rock. And you could make pottery and when it dries, smash it and take 1 or 2 pieces and act like it was found In the ground! (Put dirt on it to make it look real and designs with paint before you smash it). Another option is to visit a charity store to see what cheap collectibles you could find to add to your museum. Remember, the museum doesn't have to be ancient, it can from any era you wish to document.