Recreating Stranger Things For Toy Photography: DIY Gate to The Upside Down

Stranger Things Spoilers!

It’s been ten years since Stranger Things debut on NETFLIX back in 2016. As I write this article it’s been 11 days since the show ended. Or maybe not? The word is on the street is that there’s some secret episode that will drop a 9th episode, this theory is known as Conformity Gate. I don’t know anything about that but what I do know is that on 1/12/2026 Netflix is dropping a documentary called One Last Adventure: The Making of Stranger Things Season 5.

The official synopsis for the documentary reads, “A decade after rewiring pop culture, Stranger Things returns for its final chapter. One Last Adventure: The Making of Stranger Things Season 5 is a sweeping behind-the-scenes chronicle that follows the cast, creators, and crew as they bring the final season to life — and say goodbye to the show that changed them forever.”

One Last Adventure: The Making of Stranger Things Season 5 will begin streaming on Netflix on Monday at 3 a.m. ET/12 a.m. PT.

But, this isn’t about how they made Stranger Things, this article is about how you can recreate Stranger Things yourself. I might add that watching BTS and Documentaries of filmmaking is one of my favorite pastimes, and you can really learn a lot about making movies and tv and use it in your own photography. That’s probably another article though, let me know if you want me to write about it.

When I found out Stranger Things was dropping on Christmas I knew it had to be my Christmas card, so I created my own portal / gate to the Upside Down to do so. Here’s how you can do the same thing for your own DIY Stranger Things adventures.

When I found out Stranger Things was dropping on Christmas, I knew I needed a Stranger Things Christmas Card

Let’s Get Started: Supplies

There’s many ways to recreate and build your own “Gate” to the Upside Down. I am going to go through my process. That being said here’s all my supplies. Most of which I already had.

Foam – you can use any kind my recommendation is XPS foam, but a good old foam plate will do.
Cardboard
Hot Glue Gun and Glue
Acrylic Paint – black, grey, brown, red
ModPodge
Cardboard
Box Cutter, Knife, Scissors

DIY Gate Stranger Things — Hot Glue, Paint, and Foam is all you really need.

Step 1 : Making The Gate : Foam or Cardboard

When I decided to make my own portal to The Upside Down, I didn’t want to have to buy any supplies if I could help it. This led me me to grab a foam poster board and some extra XPS foam I have. As a note I use dollar store foam boards all the time in my toy photography. I use them as bounce cards, flat surface to build my sets on pretty much everything, so I have a good amount of foam board that laying around. That’s why I chose foam to make my portal. I’d like to mention that you can also use card board. I’ve also seen someone use a Coke can to make their own portal. The point is that you want something you can cut a hole out of and spread hot glue on it later.

Take your foam, and size it to how big you want your gate to be. Things to ask yourself when sizing your gate. How big do I want my gate to be compared to my toys. How big or small do I want it to look in my photographs. The gate I made is for close ups, I did not make my gate wide enough to use for wide shots. However, I do think that I can just extend the sides of my gate with more foam.

Once you have the size in mind. Cut a hole, to create your portal out of your foam.

Use another piece of foam or cardboard as your base and hot glue your gate onto the base.

Step 2. Glue – Hot Glue

The way I created the portal and the vines is hot glue. Take your hot glue gun and spread the hot glue across the whole you cut out, until you like the way it looks. I would also do this in layers. You want some of the glue to harden and dry and add more until you like depth. To test use your light to shine a red light through your portal to see if it looks the way you like it. Continue until satisfied.

Step 3: Painting

The next step is painting. When I paint foam, I always do a layer of Mod Podge and black paint mixed together to seal the paint into the foam. Once that’s done you can dry bush to add accent colors, for highlights like grey, red, or brown to make it look a little more realistic. This is when you put a tiny and I mean a tiny bit of paint on your brush and paint. For me I didn’t add much accent colors because for the photos I was looking to take it wasn’t important to me. But, it can create some really cool effects.

My red light, the portal and a Demogorgan mini.

Creating The portal

What makes this work is the lighting. So, get yourself a red light and shine it through the back of your portal. Using red wrapping paper, or a tissue paper and putting it on the back of your portal will also help to diffuse your light. When take photos I would try different things to get a look you like. Making your own portal makes your background and environment for your photography look more realistic.

Do You Think Snowmen last in The Upside Down?

theperryadventures whateleventhinkswe see — What Eleven Thinks We See

Is This The End?

For the most part, I take a lot of my photos on location. I don’t always spend time making sets for my toy photography. But, when I do I think to myself I should do this more often. Recreating Stranger Things reminded me of that idea. I don’t know if I will, but I choose to believe it. I chose to believe that you can make your own portal too. In fact I encourage you to make your own Gate, and make your own sets. And let us know if you do. I don’t know if the Duffer Brothers will drop a final final episode. But, what I do know is that I enjoyed the ride that is Stranger Things. I enjoyed recreating the Upside Down on my dining table, and I can’t wait to watch the making of Stranger Things documentary. I haven’t written an article in a long time. But, I hope to do more. And while this is the end of the article, this isn’t the end of DIY sets for me. I hope it’s another beginning. I hope you roll better than a 7 and the Demogorgan doesn’t get you. in your attempt to create your own Gate To The Upside Down. But if you do “And if I only could I’d make a deal with God And I’d get Him to swap our places”