Minis In the Tree, part 1

It's sorta busy around here right now. FH and I are busy taking it easy and trying not to stress about the holiday.

I need to get back to it, but first I thought I'd share some of the decorations in our Yule tree.

The first is a bag I put together especially for this tree. I used the piece of bag that I cut away as part of the interior decorations. I bought the fireplace and fireplace tools, but everything else cam out of the stash.

The colors fit in well with the new ornaments this year.

I was having so much fun seeing minis out that I haven't seen for a while, I scrounged up another small bag and put this one together. I made the wreath, but th other pieces were stashed.

I also went and brought up "Joy!" which has been in hiding since Artie like to steal minis that aren't behind plexi-glass. It fills up the largest gap in the tree's branches quite well.

I haven't dug out the tree skirt, or wrapped packages yet. But here's the tree, complete with some of Mercedes' toys underneath.

I have two more mini scenes to finish up and add. I'll post about them next week. Until then, I hope everyone has a safe and wonderful holiday!

Serenity's Nursey- Finished

When I left off yesterday the remaining construction was cutting 1/2" strip wood to cover the top edges of the foam core (so when someone looks in from the top they see painted wood instead of foam core edges) and cutting plexi-glass to fit in the two openings.

While the paint on the wood strips dried I cut the plexi-glass and rounded the corners with wire cutters and a sanding block.  It's really a good idea to do this because the corners can tear the paper bags.

I opted to not use some of the things I had on the walls in favor of ordering a wallet size print of the baby just minutes after her birth.  The frame is made from mini chair rail that I had on hand.  The cradle and high chair were decorated with scraps of the wallpaper.  Oh and I painted the inside of the bottle white.

Now I just need to clean up from this project and head back to my Porch.

Interlude Project - Serenity's Nursery

A friend of ours had a baby last month and it's taken me this long to find the right gift bag to build a miniature in for her.  I started this yesterday with the intention of finishing it for the blog post, but said friend brought the baby over to play in the afternoon.  A surprise visit even.  Needless to say I was sidetracked.

For anyone unfamiliar with making a room inside a gift bag, there is a fantastic tutorial over on my friend, Fay's, website.  Please go there for the details if you're interested in trying one for yourself.  I learned this from her.  If you'd live to peek at her miniature work, follow this link over.  You know you want to!

The following picture-heavy post contains no measurements.  If you want to try this, please visit Fay's tutorial. (link above)  In fact having these pictures and her tutorial open together might be helpful if, like me, you relate to pictures better than text.

First I cut a hole in the bag.  (I found the bag at a Hallmark store.  They had blue ones too.  I think I'm going to go back and grab a few more of each for my stash.)

 

 Then I measured everything and cut a piece of foam core to fit.

 

 Note the foam core is all one piece with "hinges" cut to allow the sides to fold.

 

 Then I started papering the walls.  I used scrapbook paper that I sprayed ahead of time with a matte fixative spray and left to dry.  This helps protect the paper.  I used spray adhesive to glue the paper down.  A water-based glue like Yes", Alaine's, or Elmer's would warp the foam core.  The middle section was papered first, with some overlap on the sides.

 

 Then I papered the sides.

 

 The floor is just a piece of Styrofoam that I cut to fit inside the walls.  It's also covered with scrapbook paper that I sprayed beforehand.  However I just used tacky glue to glue in place.  Incidentally the two patterns of scrapbook paper were from the same "baby girl" themed collection, so they were already coordinated for me.

 Here is the walls and floor in place.  I used T-pins to hold them together while the glue (regular tacky glue again) dries.

 I painted the baseboard ahead of time (along with the intended furniture) and put it in place next.

 I still have some work to do today, but here is a shot of some of the things going inside the room.

 

 I'm off to finish this up and then get back to the Porch.  My order from miniature.com won't be here until Monday but I can at least finish the stonework and maybe ponder a new roof.

See you later!