Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Holiday Sweets Hutch

Hellooooo December! Can you believe it? It is already time to decorate the tree, wrap presents, and bake delicious things. 

I cooked up a sweet little Christmas Hutch for Alpha Stamps and set it in a mini scene. It is sort of like a market stall, but using a smaller hutch instead. The cabinet is a Kitchen Cabinet kit that I assembled and painted, but this Mini Oak Hutch or Mini Walnut Hutch would save some construction time. 


Nothing says Christmas like a Samoyed

There's a lot to look at, isn't there? Haha! Every time I thought I was finished, I saw an empty spot that needed something... The shelves are crammed with glass bottles and jars filled with candies and jams. There is a bowl of lemon drops near a chicken dish, a cookie sheet of gingerbread men, heart shaped sugar cookies, chocolate sandwich cookies, and a classic Yule Log. The glass balls near the gingerbread sleigh are actually ornaments that are filled with microbeads. My intentions were to hang them on the garland but then I got the cutest cookie cutters on the planet! I fashioned little hooks from wire, glued a snippet of sewing thread in a loop on the back of the cookie cutter, then hung them from the hook. They are my favorite part of the entire project. 





My second most-liked things are those adorable (and so small) resin snowmen with their happy little faces. Next to those is a tiny pine tree topped by a star and adorned with candy ornaments. It has a painted brown bead cap as a stand. The trunk fit perfectly into the bead's hole and when things like that work out I feel like a winner. There are more glass jars of candy sticks and canes, a plate of creme puffs, Christmas pudding on a cake stand, lollipops, gingerbread hearts, a cup of cocoa, and some more confections shoved back in there. 

The drawer of the hutch opens to reveal, guess what? Yep, another place to put more tiny things! Inside the drawer are tags, stamps, and labels, buttons, star decorations, a tin soldier, a pewter dish, an old clock, and a pencil. Necessary stuff of course.




The hutch has a slide-y out-y bit (is it a prep area? A kneading board? I have no idea) that I used as a gift wrapping station. The flour bin holds all the gift wrap and ribbon, so it is all nice and tidy.







Two doors hide pre-wrapped gifts, for those in a real hurry, and two spools of ribbon on a holder.




The dainty pot is kind of a fave, too. It started out terra cotta colored but with a little paint and glitter, it fit nicely between the pudding and the lollies. There is a longer pot in that set also, and I painted it the same way and filled it with gingerbread hearts there to the left of the lollipops. Most of the cakes and candies I made from polymer clay, but the round suckers are made from hot glue and colored with Sharpies. 





Another of those fantastic cookie cutters! Also snowflake charms that have been painted with Enamel Accents and sprinkled with glitter and snowmen made from two pearl beads and a sequin base.





See those creme puffs? They are really painted wooden beads! I stuck one on a toothpick, painted it a nice golden brown color, then dabbed some Liquid Pearl paint on the top. While the Liquid Pearl was still wet, sprinkle on a bit of glitter, and you are done. I wish the real things were that easy to make.






Here's a wonderfully blurry pic of a gingerbread bread house that sits on the top of the hutch. The roofs of both houses are removable so an LED balloon light can be popped in there. 




The windows of the gingerbread house are stupid small. And very fragile. The best way to remove the windows from the frame, that I have found, is to use a stupid sharp thin cutter blade. I cut the frame away from the windows in sections and then removed any remnant pieces from the frames.



To add them to the house, slather a thin bit of glue on the inside of the window frame, and using tweezers, position the window. While the glue is still wet, you can adjust the window from the front. I cut pieces of orange vellum and glued it to the inside, over the windows, so you can't see the LED light inside. 



And finally, here are a few of the treats I made from polymer clay and hot glue.




For a comprehensive list of supplies, please check it out HERE. Happy Holidays!

Wednesday, November 2, 2016

Autumn Throne for a Fairy

Autumn is at long last here. The weather is cool and crisp, the wind blows gentle breezes, and the creatures scurry around, preparing for the upcoming winter. It is the perfect time to be exploring outdoors and collecting leaves, twigs, and acorns to place on a Nature table. I love this time of year!

I put together a tiny 1:12 scale Fancy Chair for Alpha Stamps and turned it into a wee Autumn Throne for a woodland fairy. The chair's seat has a comfy moss cushion and the top is decorated with twigs and a copper acorn. This must be the Queen's throne as I see a tiny scepter!


The fairies are getting ready for winter too, collecting berries and nuts in their acorn cap bowls. I sat quietly for some time, hoping to catch a glimpse of a fluttering sprite, but no such luck. 



The scepter can be made in about five minutes and this is how it's done:

Materials:
Rustic Miniature Broom
Pumpkin Pod
Copper Acorn Charm

Gently slide the handle out of the broom's bristles and set the tied bristles aside. (They form the twiggy back of the throne!) Using an xacto knife, carefully cut a small rectangular shape into the top of the pumpkin. Turn the pumpkin over and cut a small hole in the bottom. Add some glue to the inside of the pumpkin and push the ring of the acorn charm through the rectangular hole. Push the broom's handle into the hole in the bottom of your pumpkin and then you have a nature-y scepter fit for a Queen.

Here's the supplies I used to make my Autumn Throne, and if you'll excuse me I have a fairy to look out for.