Simple chandelier

Making things from a stash. I bought a bag containing some large sequins.

 Already had a 3 prong fish hook and wire, along with necklace chain.

Put them all together, make some air dry candles and voilà!

Little Red Painters

One of our neighbours had a birthday and the theme of the party was Alice in Wonderland. (The Shaw Festival is featuring the musical this year.)
This is a version of the playing card painters commanded by the Queen of Hearts to paint all the white roses red.The heads are styrofoam balls cut in half, hats and cloaks are red tissue paper, brushes are made from stir sticks carved to shape and painted. Hands and boots are made with Fimo, paint pots are from card. Isn't it amazing what a couple of coats of paint can do?
The idea was inspired by a Small Packages Tutorial.
The faces were downloaded from the Internet. Cards are actual playing cards.

The painters looked good installed in the bushes with garlands of white roses.

Also, the little guys were used in an Alice inspired hat worn to a garden party.

There was also a giant teacup planter. If you look VERY CLOSELY, you will see Alice and the caterpillar, as well as the Cheshire cat.

For the Birds

The stand for this little birdcage just doesn't have much presence, does it?

So, take a bamboo skewer , a scrap piece of 1/32 diameter dowel and a small cap. Add a scrap of cardboard.

Make a cradle out of Play dough or Fimo by rolling a piece to a 1/34 inch thickness, cutting a strip about 5/32 inch and ... long. The length will depend on the size of the cage.  Lay the cage on its side and see where you wish the cradle to be. Poke holes in either end and in the centre, and form the strip in a semi-circle around a generic paint bottle. Let dry or bake.
Soak the dowel in warm water and shape it around a paint bottle and so that the ends will fit into the holes you made in the cradle strip. Let dry.
Glue the dowel and the cradle to form an oval.
Drill a hole in the cap and insert the skewer. Cut the the other end to the desired height, and insert/glue into middle hole of the cradle.
Attach the birdcage to the top of the dowel oval with a piece of thin wire.
The assemblage should look like this.

You may need to add weight to or widen the base to prevent tipping.
Paint the stand and age by dry brushing.
Here is the finished product.

Escape to Gretna Green

For Regency Romance fans....

Take a Cinderella carriage wedding favour.

Coat it with Gesso inside and out.

Paint black. Do the same with 4 horses..
Dry brush with white.

The coachmen are sculpted from Playdough.
The snow is paper machè. The bushes are sisal rope.

Now for the fun part - who are the occupants inside? Are they in love, or is the lady being kidnapped by a dastardly fortune hunter? You decide.....

This scene is designed to fit inside one of those plastic containers which store fresh greens.

Cleaning up

Our group worked on a little cleaning caddy.
There is a tutorial from Joanne Swanson, with printies and a pattern for a dust pan. She suggests using a restaurant jelly container for the caddy.
http://joannswansondiyminiatures.blogspot.ca/2011/05/creative-minds-are-rarely-tidy.html

Trim the edging, then cut a strip of cardboard a little smaller than the length of the container.

Now, score a vertical line about 2 inches up the strip. Fold the strip over and trim the edges.

Measure how tall you wish the handle to be. (approximately 1/2 to 3/4 inches). Score this measurement on either side of the first fold

Fold along score lines.

 The strip should now look like this.

Glue the middle together.

Trim the tabs so they fit inside the jelly container.

Cut holes for the handle.

File the handle smooth and maybe file the corners.

Glue the cardboard to the jelly container. Gesso and paint. I used Patio paint.

Here is my finished caddy. 

The gloves are cut from paper, painted and podged.

All Fired Up!

The Cutting Edge

CAUTION: These knives are sharp and actually cut. Do not use in a child's dollhouse, and watch your fingers when you are making them.

If you need realistic knives for a kitchen or table setting, serrated knives are easy to make from the metal cutting strip from a box of aluminum foil or plastic wrap. Peel the strip from the box, then use old scissors or metal cutters to cut a piece about half the width of the strip and the length of the knife including the handle. Snip this strip at the point where you want the handle to end, cutting from the serrated edge to the middle of the strip. Trim off the serrated edge on this handle end, fold the handle in half lengthwise with pliers and squeeze to flatten. Trim the blade end to form either a pointed or slightly rounded end depending on what the knife will be used for, and round off the ends of the handle slightly. Finish by applying a few coats of paint or nail polish to the handle to thicken it and conceal the overlapped metal edge then seal with a clear sealer or clear nail polish. To vary the blade size, just make the starting strip wider or narrower.

Happy knife-making. :-D

Chris in Waterloo, ON

Playing in the Sand

Chris S. has another terrific idea to keep in mind:

Every winter, our city places bins of a very coarse sand mix, with an old shovel or tin scoop, anywhere there is a slope on the road that causes problems for motorists when there is ice on the road. I make a point of filling two dishpans with this stuff every year as soon as the bins are in place, as I have a sloping driveway. Over the years I have found this mixture to be a great winter source of small stones that are perfect for use on houses, fireplaces, stone walls in any scale, even 144th!

Among the sand and boring grey gravel, I have found lots of white and pink quartz, Fool's Gold, granite of every colour, black and dark green stones with sparkles of mica, and beautifully rounded and polished river stones. Once washed in dish detergent, rinsed and air-dried, all you need is some tacky glue (or CA glue for "larger" stones in 1:12 scale), the surface to attach them to, and your choice of "mortar" to fill empty spaces and make it look realistic. For 144th and 1:48 I use craft paint liberally applied to small sections, then wiped off the tops of the stones with a damp sponge or shop towel. For 1:24 and 1:12, I use a mixture of craft paint and a texturizing medium pushed down with a brush between the stones, or (my favourite) I mix up a small amount of real mortar in a Dixie cup. By using the 'real thing', I actually save quite a bit of time since I don't glue the stones down first. I just brush some glue on the surface, smear on some mortar over that and then place the stones. When the surface of the mortar starts to look dry, I wipe off the stones with a damp cloth or sponge. With the small amount of mortar used, it dries very quickly, so by the time I have completed the second area, the first is ready to be wiped off.

Magazine holders

 Posted by Chris Shibata:

If you buy salt in a box (round or rectangular) with a pull
 out metal spout, you have the makings of a magazine
 holder for 1:12 magazines, cookbooks or ???. Snip out
 the spout leaving about 1/4" of the surrounding
cardboard. Soak the piece in some warm water with a
 few drops of dish soap or shampoo for a few minutes
until the cardboard gets soggy, then remove the metal
part. Rinse the holder off and dry. On the side that will
be the back of the holder, there are either two or three
little triangles of metal sticking out (depending on the
container) and you can either bend them back and flatten
them into the holes they were cut from using a pair of
pliers, or snip them off to create a decorative open design
on the back of the holder. Cut a snippet of card stock to fit
across the bottom of the holder and glue in place with CA
glue, WeldBond (or any glue that will stick to metal). If you
have opted to flatten the triangles, now is a good time to
brush a good thick coat of glue over and around the edges
of the triangles to seal any teensy gaps. When the glues
have dried, paint the holder with a sealer (clear nail-polish
 works best) then paint with craft paint and seal with a
brush-on product like Delta Ceramcoat. For a kid's room,
these look nice painted in co-ordinated colours, with decals,
paper punch-outs or tiny stickers on both sides, and filled
with age-suitable books.

HINTS:
1) I prefer the Satin finish since it doesn't produce much
glare in photos, but the Matte also looks good, especially
on darker colours.
2) If you have nail polish in the colour you want, skip the
first clear sealer coat, but make sure to dull the shine with
a brush-on sealer at the end

Save that Paint!

From Chris Shibata:
Next time you open an old bottle of craft paint, or water-based or gel stain that appears to have turned into a solid-seeming mass or very thick goop, with or without visible liquid, don't throw it out. Find 1 or 2 small pebbles, glass beads (plastic or wood are too light), ball bearings or even hex nuts or screws. Drop them into the bottle and then push them down through the thick skin and into the goop inside, using a pencil end or similar tool to submerge them. Replace the cap tightly and give the sides of the bottle 5 or 6 hard whacks against the edge of a table or countertop, then shake, shake, shake ......... You should start to hear/feel the objects inside begin to move through the paint, remixing the contents, much like the cans of spray paint that tell you to shake until the metal balls inside move freely (which by the way, is where I came up with this idea a few years ago.) Continue shaking, checking the consistency of the paint as the sounds from the bottle change, until the contents are fully blended. If you find that the paint still is too thick, add 2-3 drops of water and shake again. You may have to add another few drops if it's still too thick, and possibly even more, but I wouldn't add more than 1/2 teaspoon total or it will become too runny. Of course, if after all this, the blob is still a blob, you can always soak off the label and use the bottle as a roller for polymer clay, or cut off the neck at the ring just below where the threads for the lid start, stick 4 beads on the bottom for feet, cut a card stock circle to fill the top and turn it into a hot water tank, water softener, or wood-fired room heating stove (add a card stock or heavy foil door for adding fuel), and appropriately sized bendy straws for any water pipes or the smoke pipe pushed into a hole in the card stock circle.

HINT: From now on, every time you open a bottle of paint, new or partially used, add the pebbles, beads or what's-its before you shake. Eventually, all your bottles will contain these mixing balls, and even that bottle of (name of oddball colour here) you bought in 2006, opened but never used, will be good to go in no time. If you are an SFM (aka "Super Frugal Minimaker" ), you can remove the items once the paint is all used up, wash them off, reuse in another bottle AND follow the hints above for using a bottle you can't revive. It's up to you to come up with a use for the flip-top lid and the part you cut from the neck. :-D

Rub a Dub Tub

Marjorie Wannamaker writes:
Recently I purchased some Philadelphia Indulgence, a milk chocolate form of cream cheese.  Delicious by the way.  Anyway, when I was emptying the "tub" today I realized that yes, it could very well be a bath"tub", an old one by just adding four feet, or a modern one by setting it on a platform.  Check it out the next time you go to the grocery store.

Fishy Business

Chris from Canada has another fantastic idea!
If you live with or know a fishing fanatic, you likely are the lucky (?) recipient of whole, freshly caught fish now and then. Next time you are given one that has to be cleaned, set some scales aside in warm water with a squirt of dish soap. After dinner, rinse a few off and take a good look. Some of them may have a tooth comb edge (i.e. lake perch), and can be trimmed to become a man's comb, some are smooth ovals or seashell shaped and after smoothing the edges with an emery board become 1:12 dipping dishes or bowls in smaller scales.
Depending on the species and where the scales grew on the body, they may have some markings or colours and a pearly lustre. The thinner, flatter scales closest to the belly area can be used to replicate seashell ceiling-light shades.

If you are making fish stock from the head and any trimmings, keep an eye out for the jaws when you strain the stock as when dried out, they make a very convincing toothy smile for mini monsters. Or, if one of your offspring lists "BlueTooth" for one of their gadgets on their Christmas Wish List, do as I did and dye a dried fish jaw blue with food colouring and embed it in a moulded resin pendant. I had bought her the real thing for her car (after I had figured out
what it was she wanted), but gave her the beautifully wrapped BlueTeeth first just to see her reaction.

Adrian's Trash to Treasure Challenge

Another participant in the Canada Minis T2T challenge issued by Barb K!
Take a look at this inventive gazebo.

Adrian Cooper runs a T2T competition at Camp Mini Ha Ha* each year and writes:
I collect weird little bits of tat through the year, and make up identical kits, which can be picked up on the opening evening of Camp, and worked on over the 5 days. I do include a piece of foam core, and several types of mini "lumber" with those kits, as the ladies are at Camp without access to their home stashes. I am always thrilled with the different finished vignettes, so many different approaches.

Components I used for the challenge:

• Feathers - bird
• Beads - ornament on gazebo inserts, glasses of wine
• Cotton balls - body of bird
• Wrapping paper - roses on table
• Stir sticks - anchor struts on outside of gazebo roof
• Small box - table
• Stickers sides of backdrop
• Cardstock - gazebo roof and inserts
• Bottle caps - tray fro sandwiches
• Greeting card - centre panel of backdrop
• Foam sheet - "bread" of sandwiches
• Felt - centre panelling of backdrop
• Toothpicks - support struts on under edge of roof panels
• Plain paper - backdrop panel, gazebo inserts, bird's beak
• Qtips - roses in vase
• Thumb tack - bird's head
• Ribbon filigre plush ribbon pattern was cut apart - filling of sandwiches
• Toiletry caps - cake, finial of gazebo roof
• Mirror - table derssing
• Green fabric - rest of vines
• Straight pins - rose stens in vase
• Napkin - tablecloth
• Extra chosen item - bead for vase on table

For more ideas, take a look at these blogs:
T5 Challenge - by Doreen Playter
T5 Challenge - Trash to Treasure 2012 (twenty-twelve!) by Maureen Heuchert
And of course, the trash minis pages of the Minitreasures Wiki!
"Camp Minihahha" in Nova Scotia. Maureen Heuchert has an album of pictures, also showing historic Louisburg, and Cape Breton in 2009 (see interview on Breakfast TV)

Gwen's Trash to Treasure Challenge Scene

Gwen Rice, of Gibbons, AB participated in the Trash to Treasure Challenge issued in the Canada Minis group by Barb K.

1. 4 feathers – Birds Tails (2)
2. 10 Beads – Bird heads (2) * Silver Gazing Ball (1) * Wooden “Barrel” flower pot (1)* Brick stand for Mail Box (1)* Flat stone (1) = 7
3. 3 cotton balls – Rolled in paint & glue to make Rocks
4. 10" sq wrapping paper – Quilt pattern, rolled up & strapped to rear bike carrier
5. Eraser – Stuffing for black Flower Pot
6. 5 stir sticks – Fence (5)
7. Small 3” box - Not used
8. 2 stickers – Shamrock on side of Mail Box (1)
9. 1 full sheet of any cardstock – Canadian Flag * Mail Box * Bird House * “Miniatures” Magazine * Leaves & Stems * Birds Wings

10. 4 bottle caps – Brick stand for Pond (1)
11. Greeting card – Daisies
12. 6" Foam sheet – Not used
13. 6" Felt square – Grass (used 9”x4”)
14. 6 Toothpicks – Bird Beaks (2 point ends only)
15. 2 sheets of Paper – Letters * Back & Side Walls * gravel path
16. 4 Q Tips – Bird bodies * Mail box & Bird House Poles * cotton ends made small rocks

17. 3 Thumb Tacks or Push Pins – Gazing Ball stand (1)
18. 6" length of ribbon – part as Strap to tie Quilt onto the Bike
19. 2 Toothpaste caps – Flower pot (1)
20. Small mirror - Pond
21. Tea Bag – Leaves for dirt in flower pots
22. 6" Sq Green fabric – Bush (in “barrel” flower pot w/Bird House)

23. 2 Paper Clips – Flag Pole (1)
24. 6 Straight Pins - Not used
25. A Napkin- 3D leaves on sides of walls (soaked with green paint & glue)

My one added item: Bicycle – latest mini gift from my dear sister

For more ideas, take a look at these blogs:

T5 Challenge - by Doreen Playter

T5 Challenge - Trash to Treasure 2012 (twenty-twelve!) by Maureen Heuchert

And of course, the trash minis pages of the Minitreasures Wiki!

Inky Business

Chris from Canada writes:
If you are thrifty (aka cheap) and refill your own ink jet cartridges, you will find there is either a complete medical syringe or else a blunt needle to screw onto each little bottle of ink. These squeeze bottles can be washed out and reused as can the syringe. They don't have the nice bent tip found on the ones craft stores sell ($4-$5 each) but the price is right and the straight needle makes them a lot more versatile. If you wash the syringe and/or needle out after each use (use a fine wire to make sure the needle is clean inside), you will find it is the perfect diameter for applying teensy amounts of glue or other liquids or semi-liquids to a project. Just wipe the tip clean and stick a straight pin into the end of the needle when you are finished to make sure it doesn't clog up.

These can be used as well with light artist's acrylic gel medium, ModPodge, old glue or acrylic paint that has thickened over time, to create relief designs or carvings on any surface. Grey and black paint mixed into any of the others and extruded onto clear acrylic or glass becomes leading for windows. Just tape the piece of material you are using over a diagram or picture of the design you want and trace over it with the leading. Create a freehand stained glass design on a small mirror and apply glass stain paint. Make a relief design on a 'plaster' wall or ceiling, add fancy mouldings to a plain chair or other 'boring' furniture, add 3-D lettering to a birthday cake, make raised designs on a jewel cask etc..... etc..... Use one to fill small items like glasses or teacups with liquid resin: faster than drop-by-drop and no air bubbles!

Pantyhose never die!

Chris from Canada wrote:
If you have a pair of pantyhose, knee highs or lightweight leotards that are about to be tossed, wash them and cut out any good sized bits that are undamaged. This fabric can be sewn into tubes and used for mini stockings, dance leotards, hats, scarves, swim suits, sleeveless tops, long undies etc......... or any mini clothing item that calls for a thin, stretchy, fine knit fabric that can be made with minimal shaping.
NOTE: Pieces of this stuff also come in handy for applying wood stains and acrylic finishes, applying and buffing mini-furniture wax and giving a soft sheen to items made from polymer clay.
Thin tights are good for straining off liquids such as paints. They can be used to hold house parts together until the glue dries. This is stretching things a bit, (heh, heh) but think about storage...lots of stuff fits in those legs! They can be tied to a hanger, hung on a rod, ....
Don't forget to wrap a leg over your vacuum nozzle when you are dusting your craft space, so your little bits are not sucked up into oblivion!

Handbag Heaven

Tanya shared this wonderful project:
The bags are made from plastic spools like the ones you get in a sewing kit from Dollar Tree or any other dollar store. The first ones I made, I covered with fabric, but the other two are covered with a designer paper that I printed off the internet. First I used Tacky Glue to glue the fabric and paper onto the spools. Next I cut two circles the size of both ends of the spool from cardstock or some other type of thin cardboard. I then glued the two circles to a piece of paper or fabric for the bag I am working on and cut around the circle. Once dry glue the circle pieces face up to each of the ends. Next glue on your straps. I used thin ribbon. Lastly add tiny jewelry findings, nail art or whatever you choose to embellish the bags.

Glassworks

Chris from Canada wrote:
Remember those glass serving plates and trays made from all different colours of glass put together that were so popular as wedding gifts in the 60's and 70's? Well, here's a way to duplicate that look using (what else) items most people trash.

Last spring I was looking at a photo album trying to get some ideas for something different and retro to make for swaps, when I noticed my 70's glass plates in use in a family photo from 1975. I was thinking about about attempting these in miniature using small chunks of plastic melted into a mold when I remembered as a small child having used torn squares of tissue paper glued to pickle jars to make vases. I also remembered how pretty they looked when the sun hit them, and so the plates came to be.

First I made a plate blank by brushing two thin, even layers of Sobo glue (used because it's clear, dries just a bit flexible and happened to be handy) onto a piece of plastic wrap. When that had dried, I sandwiched the plastic wrap between 2 layers of white paper, and used a large hole punch to make circles. Mine were 7/8" and 3/4" in diameter. (Scissors work too, but I'm lousy at cutting circles out by hand.) I then took the circles and placed them on a piece of craft foam with the plastic wrap side down and gave them another coat of glue. Then I pushed them down into the foam with the blunt end of a marker to make the plate shape and let them dry in the foam, as you do with mini rice paper flowers. (I let them dry overnight because by then it was nearly 11 pm, but I am sure they would have been dry in 10-20 minutes.)

The next day, I tore some scraps of 3 colours of tissue paper that had come wrapped around swap items into teensy pieces about 3/16" square. One piece at a time, I dipped them into a 50/50 water-glue solution then smoothed them (with the colours chosen randomly) onto the plate blanks, which were still in the foam, using a paintbrush and a wet pinkie finger to remove any wrinkles. The overlaps and odd shaped bits became part of the design. When they looked good, I let them dry for a few minutes, then removed each one in turn from the foam, trimmed off and smoother any ragged edges, and placed it back in the foam. Finally, I brushed on two (3?) coats of glue, and when everything was dry, removed them from the foam and peeled off the plastic wrap, revealing some really groovy retro glassware.

Needling Ya

Chris from Canada wrote:
As there are only days before Christmas this is a super- quickie, and surprise(!) even seasonal, for anyone who has even the smallest branch cut from a live evergreen inside, especially if you want fillers, smaller plants or work in the smaller scales.
Before you vacuum up the last of the needles from your Christmas tree, or toss the evergreen branch along with the rest of the stuff in the arrangement your Aunt Beatrice sent you, save a handful or two of the needles. When completely dry, they can be used in mini flower
arrangements as fillers or as stalks for spring flowers (a tiny touch of craft paint on the tip creates a flower bud). For the truly brave, bunches of 7 or more Scotch pine needles, trimmed to the desired lengths at the blunt end and arranged carefully, make a 1:12 non-
flowering yucca plant, or any other plant with straight, spiked leaves.