Having fun with things from my stash

I am sure everyone has a stash of mini treasures. Things you recieved as gifts , bought or made yourself but that never really got used in any of your projects.  I love to go over my stash every now and then collect items that fit into  a theme and do a little project with them.



This time I used a hutch that a friend painted for me years ago and it  I put all kinds of things that said kitchen to me.  I am pretty pleased with the result.



I did glue all the items into the hutch because I want to be able to take it with me and show it to some friends. But I used photo glue so I can remove everyhting if I should ever want to do so.


Friends suggested I should offer the hutch for sale. So I am going to give it a try. If you are interested please contact me.

My granddaughter made a dollshouse

I just have to share this with all of you .

Using just a box and some very basic tools , paper and paint my granddaughter Vanessa made this lovely dollshouse with a tiny bit of help from Nana.

It is her very first dollshouse and Nana is very proud of her.  Is it  not it just lovely ?
Now of course we need to get her a real dollshouse   so she can show off more of her talents.

Mini mason jars

I love decorated mason jars ! So I  just had to make some in 12 th scale as wll.

Here are some pictures of the ones I made.

 For those who like to make some too  here are a few tips.

Mini bottles can be expensive but at the dollar store I found 12 of them in a pack. Each was filled with seed beads that I am sure I can use for something some time. If you want smaller bottles look for the ones that hold tiny items for nail art.

The ones I am showing here are the bead bottles .

If you add some paint to the bottle and give it a good swirl it is very easy to get inside painted. Leave to dry upside down so the excess paint comes out. It looks pretty awesome when dry.

A frosted effect on the outside  can be easily done with Mod Podge :  just dab it on with a sponge. For extra effect you can add some white micro glitter.

You can paint the outside of the bottles too. I used a sponge and some gesso to get a nice effect.

For the decoration the sky is the limit. Decoupage works very well as do rub off picture and , nail art stickers . You can find many suitable printables on Pinterest. And if  you can paint you can paint a nice picture on them as well.

Ribbons, yarns silk flowers and small jewelry bits can really add a nice effect/

On some of my jars I replaced the corks with glass buttons for a different look.

The easiest way to make mini candles.

It is a very cold and dark day here in Holland so what better time than today for making some  easy mini candles.  Just follow the steps and have fun.

Erasers often have that nice waxy look that candles also have . So find some erarers in the color and shape you like. Remember you can cut shapes and sizes with a craft knife so you can have  any shape you like.

Now on to the wick.  You will need a pointed needle and a piece of cotton trhead. I used tatting thread. Thread through the eraser, leaving a tail at each end.

Cut thread , leaving a tail for the wick at the top. Tip: secure with tacky glue,

Finished candle glued to a mini suction cup . They make great candle holders.

 Decorate with some plastic berries

Add some clusters of tiny leaves. I use plastic ones but paper would work just as well.

 Add little bits of so called  stretchy vine ( www.,minkitz.com selll this brilliant stuff) for greenery.

   I used some coriander seess because they look like mini walnuts.

All done . I think it looks pretty festive. Hope you will be inspired to create your own version. Would love to see a photo if you make one.

Getting ready for the 5 th of december.

Here is Saint Nicolaas at work in his office. For hundreds of years he has celebrated his birthday december 5th by giving presents to all children big and small who have been good all year.

Presents are delivered into shoes that children put near the chimney at night. They  put carrots and hay in the shoes for Saint Nic's horse.

In his little office here you see him writing in his famous red book which holds all the names  and if they have been good or not and what presents they would like to get.

He is surrounded by gifts ready to be wrapped and traditional treats like chocolate letters, chocolate images of himself, different kinds of cookies and toys.

The paintings on  the wall show him and his helper Peter at work.

The scene is inside a little red book to match Saint Nic's book . The furniture is 48th scale . Saint Nic is a plastic doll but I just  had to use him because he has such a sweet face and really looks like  a Saint, does not he ?


I hope he will like it too and bring me some extra chocolates .

I

 I am adding some hints and tips on how to make this scene  and the items s in it.
The pictures on the  walls are pictures of Saint Nic at work.

I made this pictures a little more interesting by doing them in a 3 D technique.
For this  you will  need 3 prints of the picture  you are going to use.

If you use  pictures you download and print from the net, it is a good idea to paint them with Mod Podge or varnish so the colors will not disappear or smudge when you work with them.

One picture is going to be the background of your picture.

 Now you will have to take a good look at the picture and decide which parts you would like to stand out more. In this picture you will notice that Saint Nick and his helper  are  in  front of the  shop as  well as  the kids on the right. They are the parts we want to stand out more.

  So cut out the Saint Nic  part of the picture like I did , shown at the top left. Then cut out the same part of the picture like the one  at the top on the right. You will notice the background and the pavement have now gone.  The part with the kids gets the same treatment. First you cut out the Shop window and
all the kids in one piece. From the next picture you only cut out the boy in the yellow coat. You will see those pics on the right.

Now you will need some double sided foam tape. Cut some very small pieces of foam tape and glue them to the backs of the  cut outs.

Remove the backing paper and first stick the ones that have the background on them to the picture at the matching spot in the background picture.  Make sure there is no foam showing ! Then glue the second set of cut outs ( those with no background) on top of the ones you did before.
You will be amazed by  the amount of depth this adds to your picture.

If you want to add extra effect you can varnish the whole picture or paint it with Mod Podge Dimensional magic.

Of Course you can use any picture you like to try this treatment  and create a 3D picture in miniature.

The chocolate letters ( you get your initial as a gift) are made using alphabet pasta and brown paint. The chocolate Saint Nic figures were made in the  3 D technique using  2 photos  of the real thing sandwiched together with foam tape.

The wrapping paper I found on the internet.

My Furry Friends

Over the years I have made tons  of little furry friends.  They have found homes allover the world and some are still living with me.

They are made in my special technique. I start with a chenille stem frame and then I add the rest of the fur by hand to create  their shapes, faces and expressions.

I love finding little things for the bears to play with and I do knit and crochet for them when they feel like wearing something.

Every bear is unique and I like picking names for them . I never know what a bear will want to be when the basic bear has been made. I may think I am making something but very soon the bear takes over and I am often suprised  by how they turn out.

My little bears have been like little friends  over the years. They made me laugh and they sometimes frustrated me.  But they have always been great company.

So today I want to share some pics of my dear little friends

Have not made bears for a while now, but perhaps I should try again...........



Or mice , right Miyaa ?

Christmas scene in a mason jar

It seemed like a brilliant idea when I started this project : a little christmas scene in a mason jar. I must say the project itself worked out quite well and it is really cute. The not brilliant part turned out to be that is almost impossible to get a good photo of the scene inside the jar.

Am sharing it anyway because  I think it is a fun project to make and to use to decorate your house with and as long as you do not want fantastic photos of it, you will be happy with it.

Mine will be a gift to a lady who does live in a senior appartment  and who does not have much room for things like a christmas tree.  I think she will like it.

Look for a nice picture that is tall enough to fit inside the mason yar. The width does not really matter . I did not want a really big one because I wanted to create a sort small window at the front of the yar where you can see the picture.

I used Mod Podge to stick the picture to the inside of the jar. Painted the bottom of the jar with snow paint.

Used a sponge to create a paint effect on the outside with gesso  which sticks to the glass really well.

I needed two coats and I added a little bit of fine glitter to the last coat.

A lampost , a mini tree and a snow man add some extra depth and interest to the little scene.

BTW the picture is by Anthn Pieck who did such lovely winter scenes.

I added a little led light with battery on top of the lid. Drilled a hole in the lid so the light would shine inside and light up the shop window.

I hated the sight of the light on top so I added a lid from a tin to hide the light. You can lift it up to swtich on the light or change the battery.

 Day time shot of the mason jar without the light on.

See how hard it is to take a clear picture of something insdie a jar ?

Update :

Just for fun I made three other versions using the same technique  but small, smaller and really tiny bottles.

I used a smaller print of the picture, a smaller tree but the rest  was done in the exact same way as the big one.

You will notice that it is even harder to take pics of the smaller ones but they like very cute.

This is the biggest one of the three.