Old fashioned Easter eggs ( poly clay free ofcourse)

I love those  old fashioned chocolate  eggs decorated with flowers, swirls and little chicks. So I figured out how to make some miniature ones and I am sharing the recipe with you.


What you will need :
Eggs :  Mine are about 1 inch tall but you can use any size you like.  For the egg with the hole in it plastic is a good choice for the others you can use whatever you like : wood, plastic etc.
Paint : a chocolate color
Pins
Piece of foam
Punched out paper flowers. Pink is a great color
A ball-shaped tool
Flower soft or Sprinkles . Pink and green work best
Narrow pink silk ribbon
Unraveled pink bunca
Tacky glue
3 D paste or 3 D paint
Tiny plastic bag for piping
Happy Easter sign
Small jump rings
Tiny yellow pompom
Tiny black no-hole beads
Tiny scrap of red paper or fabric
Clear spray varnish
Moist sponge.

Step 1 for all eggs  : Paint your eggs a nice chocolate color.  I like to stick a pin into the eggs and dip them into the paint , just like they do with the real ones. Stick the pins into a piece of foam and leave them to drip and dry.  Check them to make sure there is no bubble forming at the bottom of the eggs. If  there is just wipe it off before it dries.  I sprayed my eggs with clear varnish before decorating them but that is optional.

Step 2. This is for the egg with the chick inside.  If you cannot find an egg with a hole in it you can cut a hole yourself if the egg is a hollow plastic one.  Draw a swirl around the hole  using tacky glue.  Sprinkle with the Flower soft or Sprinkles and leave to dry. In the mean time you can make your flowers. You can use ready made paper flowers or make them out of punched out paper shapes. Use the ball-shaped tool to shape them . Add a black  no hole bead for the center if you like.  Add them to the bottom of the swirl on the egg.
. The yellow pompom will need two eyes and a beak  to become a chick. Glue on two no hole beads and a tiny beak cut out of fabric or paper.
Dip the back of the pompom into some glue , wriggle the whole thing into the egg and  gently push till it sticks.  Tie  the pink ribbon round the egg and tie a nice bow.  I used a jump ring for a stand.

Step 2 : Now we will make the egg with the roses. Once again we will start with a swirl of glue  that will be sprinkled with Flower Soft or Sprinkles  The roses are made using the same punched out shapes as before but I glued three flowers on top of each other to create roses.  The rose buds are made out of unraveled bunca , bunched together and glued in place at the top and bottom of the swirl.  I printed the little Happy Easter sign on my computer.

Step 3. The egg with the white swirl. For the white swirl I wanted to created the idea of sugar paste. I used a tiny plastic bag with a corner snipped off for a piping bag that I filled with white 3 D paste.  The swirl does not have to be perfect but if things go wrong you can wipe the paint off easily when it is still wet.  I added two roses made in the same way as before and  a very light spinkle of Flower Foam . A silk ribbom bow is the finishing touch.

I hope you will have fun making some Easter Eggs !

Having fun with chenille stem bears.

Over the years I made  hundreds of little teddy bears  and other critters  . I call them my Furry Friends.

Quite a few have been adopted  and are now living  all over the world from the Netherlands to the USA, Canada, France , the UK and Sri Lanka.

People often do not believe I just use chenille stems and pipe cleaners for making my bears. When they try making one they often tell me that theirs does not look like mine. I guess that is because my first bears did not look   as good either.

I did start making them many years ago when I was in Rehab . There was very little time or space for crafting so I needed something easy and quick. Over the years  I have perfected the technique so my bears have changed  quite a bit.

 People often ask how I give them a certain expression and to that I can only say  this : once the basic bear has been made, the bears take over and they tell me who and what they want to be.   I never know what they will look like till the bear tells me and  he or she is finished.

And sometimes a bear wants to be a bunny LOL  like the one I made today. He is 1 inch tall from the top of his ears till his little paws. 

 He said he wanted a trip to my favourite city but for now he is very happy having his very own Eiffel Tower.

Feel like making your own Furry Friend ?  Try the tutorial on this blog.

http://herminiverse.blogspot.nl/2015/05/making-chenille-stem-bears.html

A swaddled mini baby.

Swaddling means wrapping a baby up in fabric so they cannot move.  It sounds a bit like something from the Middle Ages but actually it is back in fashion
 for  it makes some babies feel more comfortable and they cry a lot less.


I think a swaddled baby looks really cute, so   I tried to figure out how it was done. The baby in this picture is not really historically correct with his arms visable but I think he looks really cute anyway.

I used a rubber baby wearing a diaper and a little hat.

It would be more authentic to use a nekkid baby and wrap her in fabric first.

Place baby on fabric . Note that one point of the fabric square is pointing upwards.

Fold left half  of fabric to the right over the baby.

Tuck the fabric under your baby.

Bring bottom up  till the tip of the fabric reaches the right shoulder .

Wrap right  half  of fabric around the baby as tightly  as possible

For a real baby your would use a safety pin  here

but for a mini doll you can just sew or glue  the fabric in place at the back.

The little boy had bare shoulders
so I wrapped a little piece of white fabric round his neck to cover him up. Just glue in place.

Decorated him with some little crochet hearts and he is all done.

Here is his little sister wearing a knitted  bonnet with a bow to match the fabric. I decorated with a crochet  bunny applique.

 

Make a miniature cradle purse for your doll.

  For those who have never heard about a cradle purse, it is a  little purse that holds a doll when closed, and when it is open, it is a little cradle for the doll. They are usually made for full scale girls but  this is the pattern I did for my doll.

When I was much younger my mother and I used to make these little purses  for the annual charity crafts fair in our village. I have no idea where the pattern came from but I seem to remember they were a big hit.


 A while ago I was talking to an elderly lady who told me how much fun she had with hers when she was a little girl . She was very surprised that I knew about them for she had never met any person who knew what she meant by a cradle purse


. She asked if I did have a pattern for her so I tried good old Google and found several patterns. I translated one into Dutch for her and while I was at it I decided to try and make one in 12 the scale just for fun and because of the nice memories. I had to redesign most  of the pattern  but I think  the result  is a really nice gift  to make for a little girl in 12 th scale. The baby inside the purse is about 1 inch tall.

 This picture shows the purses open and closed.



When  I was trying Google I found that another name for the purse is Church Purse because they were given to little girls to keep them quiet in Church. Gosh that would have been so much better than just trying to stay awake ! Another name I found was Bassinet Purse. But I am sticking to cradle purse because that is the name that comes closest to the Dutch name : wiegtasje.

What you will need :
0,60 crochet hook
I used DMC tatting thread in two shades of pink  for one purse and for the other two shades of blue.  The purse looks best when done in two colors.
For making up : a needle and some Fray Check or Tacky Glue.
A little doll to fit into the finished purse.

You start at the bottom of the cradle.  You will work in rounds, some rounds are closed , some are not  so read the instructions carefully.

Chain 21 in your main color.
Round 1 : dc in the 3 rd chain from the hook, 1 dc in each chain till you reach the last chain : 4 dc in this chain, work on other side of the chain working 1 dc in each chain and 3 dc in the last chain. Close the round with a slip st.
Round 2 : Chain 1  , sc in every st around. Do not close this round.

Round 3 -6  :  Repeat round 2.

Round 7 : Repeat round  2  but close this round.

Round  8 :  Chain 1 . work 1 sc in each st around but use only the back loop( at the top of your crochet there are two loops, only use the one furthest away from you) .Close the round and finish off, cut thread.


For the Hood :
Change to your other color.

Fold the cradle in ½ , count 10 sts to the left and put a marker.( you can use a piece of thread or a safety pin) . From the middle again also count 10 sts  to the right and mark also. The hood is worked in rows.

Row 1  : Attach thread and work a  slip st. into the first mark, work 1sc in each of the next 3 sts, work 1 dc in each of the next 12 sts, work 1 sc in each of the next 3 sts  and a slip st. in the next st . and you should now have arrived at the other marker.

Row 2 : Chain 1 , turn. Skip slip st. , work  1 s c in next 3 sts, work 1 dc in next 10 sts, work 3 sc in next 3 sts and work 1 slip st.

Row 3. Chain 1, turn. Skip slip st., work 1 sc in next 3 sts,  work 1 sc in next 8 sts, work 1 sc in next 3 sts and finish row with a slip st.

Row 4 : chain 1, turn. Skip slip st. and work 1 sc across the row end with a slip st. Finish off and cut thread.

 The cradle skirt :

Change to main color again . Hold the cradle with the hood downward and attach the thread to round 8 of the cradle. Work in the unused back loops of round 8.
Round 1 : Chain 4, dc in the same loop, ( 1 dc, chain 1, 1 dc) in each loop till end of round , close round.

Round 2 : Slip st. into next 1 chain space, chain 4 , dc in the same space , ( 1 dc, chain 1, 1 dc) in each chain 1 space till end of round and close round. Finish off and cut thread.

Round 3: Change to other color and repeat round 2.

Finish off and cut thread.  Weave in all lose threads.

For the two draw strings : chain 40 – 60 for each draw string depending  on the size of the doll  who will  be playing with the purse and weather you want a long shoulder strap or not. Weave through round 3 of the skirt and tie ends together.  For extra security apply a little Tacky glue or Fray check to the knots and cut off excess thread.

Hope you will love your little cradle purse.

Easiest cake stands ever.

So easy and fun to make .

Making cake stands  is very popular these days. You can use cups and saucers and plates and even glasses to create your own  to show off your cakes, cookies and pastries.




I tried making some mini versions using  stuff from my stash.
Here is what I did.

Two crysnbon saucers and one cup make a lovely little cake stand for  cookies.  I glued mine together with tacky glue.

Instad of a cup you can also use a mug to create a little bit more space  between the saucers.

You can  use the cup or mug upside down as well as the right way up. You can use plates to create a bigger etagere  or a combination of cups, mugs , plates and saucers to create a  taller and bigger version.

This one is a vintage linnen button with a jewelry finding glued on top. Very simple and effective.

With some cakes on top no one will  know

 how simple this was to make. 

Cookies, cake and pastries are from my no clay food collection.

Two plates and a goblet or glass glued together make a very nice cake stand.

The same construction but with a saucer and a plate to create a difference in size.

Fake fruit

Fake fruit can be very decorative around the house. It looks great in bowls and baskets but you can also use it in center pieces and wreaths or whatever you like. Ofcourse they will be great for kitchens and shops too. 

Remember this is fake fruit like the stuff you buy at the dollar store so you do not have to be too fussy about it looking realistic.  

I

Ingredients are very simple : tiny styrofoam balls  and  oil pastels or chalks.


The styrofoam balls can be found in many sizes. I used 1 cm for the big fruits and even smaller ones for the apricot look a likes.

I like using the oil pastels best because when you rub the colors into the balls they stick better than chalks.  But it is totally up to you. You can even try water colors, a friend of mine loves using those and she gets nice results too.

I prefer the somewhat fuzzy look you get with the pastels and chalks.

Start with the lighter colour , add some color, and rub into the foam with your fingers.
Add the darker color and try to  blend the colors just a little.


If you want to shape your fruits a little bit, you can press your nails into them to create that sort of crease that peaches have. You can also gently push a tooth pick into the top to create the spot for a stem etc.

If you are worried about the color rubbing off you can  set the color by lightly spraying the fruit with hair spray.

Mini scene in baby bottle

Here is a  little mini scene I  made as a gift for a new baby.
The scene inside is inspired by the Brambly Hedge books .

The bottle I found at dollar store. . It is actually two half bottles so perfect for  a little project to go inside.

Sadly most of the furniture I had was way too big for the bottle and ofocurse  I wanted to finish it there and then and not hunt for furniture first. So  I did cheat again.

I painted one half of the bottle white because I wanted to use decoupage for the background of the scene and the glue would  be showing on the outside and look ugly. I  painted the bottle on the inside.

I scanned the picture of  mamma and the babies  from the book and printed three copies . One was glued to the white  inside of the bottle. The other two were used to cut out the mice  2x to create a  3 D effect.

You cut out the bits you want to stand out and glue them to the full picture with foam tape. This creates an amazing sense of depth.

 The mice in the bad tub is another picture from the book. I made a  3D picture first and then I glued the whole ensemble to the floor  in front of  mother and the babies.

To create more depth I added a few minis like a towel, a bar of soap and some clothes.

The other half of the bottle got a painted floor and I added some miniature furniture : a chair and a little table and I added a furry toy. When the bottle is closed this adds even more depth to the scene.

In the chair is a little baby mouse I cut from another picture . She is also done in 3 D .
Despite most of it being paper  the scene turned out nicer that I thought it would.

I glued another picture from the book on the  outside of the white part of the bottle so it would look nice from all angles. A bit of ribbon was the finishing touch.