Pretty envelope in any scale

 To make a pretty envelope in any scale from larger than life to a very tiny mini  is easier than you think.


To start with you need 4 circles of paper. They need to be the same size. Pic 1.

Fold each circle in half  . Pic 2

Check  photo 3  and 4 for how to place your folded circles for the next step.

You want to create a square ( photo5) with the upper flaps of the circles  pointing upwards.

Glue the 4 circles for the bottom square together. The top flaps will be the upper part of your envelope.

Fold them so they overlap  to close the envelope. You can add some glue or a sticker to keep it closed.

Pretty decoupaged boxes

I was clearing out some drawers and found a little folder with tons of mini printies leftover from when I did the decoupaged dress form.

I also had bought two very cheap metal pill boxes  at a dollar store  and  them being on my table together was the inspiration for doing this little project.

You can  use any size of box for this project so it will work in many different scales. The box can be metal like mine or wood or even cardboard.

You will need Mod Podge to glue down the paper printies  and for the final coat of varnish. I actually did two coats on my boxes.

Printies are very easy to find on Pinterest ; just try mini printables.  For the box on the left I used vintage perfume labels and the other one has pictures of Paris as a theme. I just printed them as small as my printer would allow me to print them. Ordinary printer paper will be fine.

I did cover both the outside and the inside of my boxes because I did not like the shiny metal. But that is totally up to you. If you want to open and close the boxes do not cover the hinges with your decoupage and make sure you also do not cover up the clasp.

I am going to use my boxes as storage boxes but they will also make great gift boxes or even suitcases with a handle hadded.

Have yourself a mini little christmas

To all the visitors of my blog :  Merry Christmas

Crochet pincushion doll , just like Gramma's

Here is the pattern for my little pincushion doll.  

The pattern is fiddly and not really suitable for beginners. Please note that the skirt is worked from the bottom upwards and should look like a little bag for the doll to fit into. After stuffing  it will begin to look like a proper skirt, believe me.

The size of the doll is shown by the real of yarn next to it. This is the normal DMC  fils dentelles real that is quite small. The finished doll is standing on a 12 th scale table  and this will also give some idea of her size.

For those who prefer a bigger doll, I suggest working the pattern with a ticker thread and bigger crochet hook. Note : I have not tested this but I am pretty confident that it will work.

Super fast and easy cookies

These cookies are very easy and quick to make. No kneading, no mixing, no rolling out and even no baking !

All you need are a few easy to get materials and a hole punch :  Craft foam  or  cork sheats  can be turned into these easy cookies.

Just punch out a lot of them over a small container.

To decorate them I place them on a piece of double sided sticky tape. Do not press them down or you will never get them off again just put them down gently so they stay in place while you decorate.

For the decorations you have many options : glass paint, puffy paint, snow paint, pearl paint all will look pretty awesome. Tip : brown glass paint makes your cookies look nice and shiney.

Sesame seeds make great nuts. Poppy seeds, semolina and mustard seeds will look nice too. Grated cork(, if you buy it from a shop it is called model railroad gravel but with a nutmeg grater you can easily make your own  )   will look like chopped nuts.  No hole beads are a lot of fun to use as well.

And if you happen to have some nail art stickers, do use them too.

If you have some paperpunches in different shapes you could try those as well .  But most of mine could not cope with the cork or the craft foam.

So in stead I used some card board. The  tree and heart shaped cookies are cardboard. I added some glass paint to make them look nice and shiny and then I decorated in the same way as the little cookies. If you want a thicker cookie you can glue several layers together.

Santa takes stock of his toys

Playing with stuff to make a center piece for Christmas today 

. I got out my collection of toys. Had no idea I had so many ( perhaps I should make a shop ?) . There are some I made and some I bought and some that were gifts.  I thought it would be fun to make a place where Santa was checking his stock of gifts.

. I had a set of shelves that a friend made for me and never had a chance to use it so I painted it white and filled it with the toys. Added some christmas stuff and Santa of course. He came from the dollar shop and I think he is more awesome then anything I could make.

Used photo glue to glue the ensemble to a disc so it all can be removed after christmas and then I think I must start thinking about this toyshop.

Paris in a watch case.

It all started with this little metal figurine. I had planned for her to go on a shelf  at  the Brocante shop but painting her was pretty hard and I felt she deserved a bit of special treatment after being so patient.

The more I worked on her the more she reminded me of a character from a book I like very much. This lady called Eline wore clothes just like the ones on the figurine  and she took great pride in her appearance.
 In the book Eline goes on a trip to Paris and I felt that would suit my little lady much better than being on a shelf in a shop.



I decided a vintage looking watch case would be a perfect place for this Paris in  spring  scene.

She goes to look at the then brandnew Eiffel Tower so I  used a picture of that as a starting point.
I printed it twice because the watch case has glass on  all  sides and I wanted to cover the back of the watch too. So I decoupaged the Eiffel tower once with the picture showing on the outside and once  on top of the back of this picture with the picture showing on the other side. Top photo shows the outside of the watch case,  the photo below the inside that will become the background for the scene. Hope this makes sense.

To add a bit more interest and depth. I printed the Notre Dame church  two times as well.
One whole image was decoupaged to the inside of the watch case, next to the Eiffel Tower and the second version was added to the top of it using double sided foam tape.

Foam tape at the back of the Cathedral

To add a spring atmosphere I used some tiny dried branches and covered them in Flower Foam. This is a mix of colors that I think looks very nice amd reminds me of spring time trees in Paris.

A tree added to the right side of the picter and a branch sticking out addedto the left. Remember to stay away from the rim or your watch case will not close.

 Here is the scene inside the watch case but without Eline so just showing the background.

There she is ......adding a lot more depth to the scene and making it come alive.

I am actually planning to have her take a few more trips in the future.

Greetings card holder

A super quick project today : a greetings card holder. This will be just brilliant for all those christmas cards  or you can use it in a shop or a little craftroom.

The picture shows  them on the wall filled with different types of mini cards  I made.

I kept mine simple but you can decorate the tops of the holders if you like.

Per cardholder you  will need :
 a popsicle stick and  some hook parts of hook and eye closures and some glue.  It does not matter what type  of hooks as long as they fit on your popsicle stick.


It is very practical to have your cards handy especially if they are different sizes for you can use them to mark where  the hooks need to go on the wood for every card to have enough room.

Glue the hooks in place. Leave to dry and add cards. That is all there is to it.


PS . You can also display some cards open if you like,  For a cards with a flap that comes down you can fold the hook down and have it support the card. But those cards will have to be glued down.

A little shop that sells Sea shells

I wanted a  place where I could show off some of the tiny sea shells from my collection but it had to be small  and take up now room whatshowever. That is how  She Sellls Sea Shells was born.

It is a wall hanging shop that is only about 3 inches deep.

I bought a cheap picture frame ( thrift shop)  with the glass  and a wooden back to get started with.

I had seen the idea ( I cannot remember where, sorry) of making a shopfront by gluying the wood parts to a piece of glass so I would not have to add glass behind the door and window  and I would not have to do any real building.

I took the frame apart so I could use the wood for my shop.  

This shows the idea of gluing the wood part to the glass. I used a ready made door frame and window frame and some odd  pieces of wood and strips from the picture frame for mine but this gives the idea.

While the glue was drying I made a frame to add behind the front to create a little bit of depth for the shop. This was going to be finished with  the wooden  back of the window frame later.

To give the idea of there really being a shop I added some glass shelves behind the window. I also put wallpaper on the wood for the back of the shop and I painted the inside of the wooden frame to make sure it would look nice when you looked through the windows.

I painted the outside of the shop in a soft colour that would match the shells. For the stone parts I started with gluing on crumpled tissue paper.  The woodwork was painted with a brush  while the brick was sponge painted with white and the pink color.

 You have to fill the shop before adding the back which feels a bit odd.  I learned that it is very important to glue everything down  very well and check a few times before you add the back !

For sale  are little shell pictures that I made myself. Some paintings made from printies I found on the net.  The two boats came from broken ships in bottles that I got for free at the thrift shop.  The lovely shell decorations outside and   behind the door where vintage brooches  that I found at a fleamarket.

 There are lose shells and the little mermaid was once a Barbie pencil topper.  Her tail is stiffened fabric  painted and decorated  and she also got a bit of a make over.

I left the whole thing for a few days to see if I liked it and then I took the final steps.

   I glued the shop front to the frame and the back behind the frame and I felt very pleased when it all fitted and looked good.

 When all the glue had dried , I added the pavement  as well just to make it feel like the shop was not floating but standing.

Make a lovely dress from vintage lace by adding a bit of crochet.

What you need :

 A doll for  or dress form to fit the dress on. You can make the dress to go on the doll but I wanted mine to go on a hanger. I used a girl doll but you can use a baby or even a lady doll you will just have to adjust the sizes.

A piece of lace that will be long enough to make the skirt and wide enough to fit around the waist of your doll twice.

Thin crochet thread in a color to match your lace. I used DMC fil dentelles and a 60 mm crochet hook for mne,

Sewing needles, pins, tacky glue .

Measure the waist of the doll and make a strip of crochet to fit round it.  Chain enough stitches to fit round the doll and work in single crochet till it is high enough for your doll.  Mine just reaches the arm pits but you can make it higher if you like . I cannot give exact stitches here for it all depends on your model.

Gather your lace using tiny stitches till it fits the bottom of your crochet bodice.

 Sew the lace skirt to the bottom of the bodice.

Close the back seam of the bodic and skirt. I did sew first and then finished the edges of the lace with some tacky glue.

 Ask your model to help you find where the sleeves are going to fit.  Mark the spots where  you want the sleeves. I used thread.

 Attach crochet thread to one of the stitches marked on the front of the bodice.
Chain enough stitches for the sleeve opening and attach the last chain to the corresponding marked stitch at the back of the bodice forming a loop that will fit found the top of the arms of your doll.

Chain 3 and turn work, work 2 double crochet in every stich to create the puff sleeves.
Work a few more rows working 1 dc in every stitch, from now on you can word in the round  till the sleeves are long enough . Leave a long tail  of thread so you can use that to gather and finish the sleeves later.

For the front panel you will have to cut a small piece of lace that will fit  between the sleeves. Look at the photo for reference. Glue in place  with tacky glue. It is a good idea to put a little piece of paper inside the dress so you do not glue front and back together.

 If you like you can do the same thing for the back of the dress as well.

Gather the sleeves and add little bows. Glue a little silk flower to the lace pannel at the front and decorate the skit with silk ribbon bows if you like.

Some more candle making. tips

A while ago  I shared my tips for making candles using erasers. Here is a link to that tutorial.

http://herminiverse.blogspot.nl/2014/12/the-easiest-way-to-make-mini-candles.html

When I bought some new pens today I noticed that the protective caps fit my little candles perfectly. So tons of  new ways to use my candles. I used a pink cap for this photo because it shows up better. But you can use any color you like, clear ones look brilliant too. I added a bow and some  ittle flowers to make it into a little arrangement to go on a table.

On the bottom shelf ( right) you will see a similar cap with a little picture decoupaged  on it . It looks a bit religious now. I added a similar picture to a candle as well.

Then I played with some candles and plates. Glued the candles to the plates and decorated around them with some sand and tiny shells.

I wanted to try and fill a shell with some wax as well and turn it into a candle. Instead of the wax I used tacky glue. Much easier and less risk of burns .

The cups ar done in the same way. Here is how it works :

Select a cup ( any kind you like )  or whatever other container you feel like using. You will also need a cotton thread for the wick.

Glue the wick to the bottom of your cup at the center. Leaving a long tail. Leave to dry for a while and then fill up the cup with Tacky glue

Leave to dry at least overnight. Glue will shrink quite a bit so you may have to top it up with glue  one more time. Check that the wick is upright !!

The dried glue will become clear so you will see the color of your cup. If you want to have colored wax just paint the top with some glass paint or nailpolish. Cut the wick to the right size.