The Mini Quilter's Nook

For the past couple of months, I have been been assembling a miniature craft room inside an 8" x 6" x 5" deep room box. It is a pretty small space but there are so many things going on inside. It started with a Treadle Sewing Machine on Table, then a Sewing Room Thread Cabinet, along with a Library Table that worked out great as a place to store bolts of fabric, and finally half of a Chipboard Steamer Trunk for a bookcase, all from Alpha Stamps. 

Would you like to have a look around?

The sewing machine, like all of the pieces in here, got a thorough sanding and aging to make it resemble a well-loved room. I added a rectangle of heavy weight cardboard to the Library Table on the right, and the Thread Cabinet on the left appears to be the cat's favorite thing to scratch. After getting all the furniture painted an arranged, the fun began! Just how much stuff can fit in here? The answer is loads and loads; enough that my smallish people made a game of I-Spy from the things inside.

I Spy a teacup,
Orange slices, and a duck.
You might find two rabbits
If you have extra luck.

I Spy four golden scissors,
Specs without a case,
And a single smiling cookie
That seems out of place.

I Spy a phone number,
A shell from the beach,
A small home for a gnome, 
And a jar out of reach.

(thanks for the great rhyme, AJ!)

I built the corkboard from balsa wood and cardboard, but adding shutters from the Seaside Doors and Windows Set gave me more places to hold items and ephemera. The stick pins are super tiny Mixed Size Flat Back Pearls!

Did you see the spools of thread? They are made from a snippet of toothpick between two hole-punched disks of watercolor paper with thin ribbon glued around. Easy!

The hoop in the basket is another quick thing; cut a thin strip of watercolor paper, wrap it around a pencil, and glue the ends. When dry, sand the join until it is smooth, then paint. Glue a tiny eyeglasses screw (the kind you get in the eyeglass repair kits) to the top. To make the "embroidery", doodle an image onto printer paper and wrap it around a button that fits inside your hoop. Glue in place.The needle is a tiny piece of wire with a bend in one end. 

I left the top unglued to make it easier to get around in there, especially since none of the pieces are attached or adhered in any way and I inevitably knock something (usually lots of somethings) over. The lamp hadn't gotten its shade when the pic was taken. 

Here is the adorable Thread Cabinet that really opens:

And with a ruler for scale:

There is an excellent tutorial on Casey's Minis for a miniature sewing box, which is what that is on the right. The cigar box is a 1" Faux Book Box and it holds tiny spools of thread. The last thing I made for the Quilter's Nook was a floor lamp, in case the wee crafter wanted to get some sewing done at night. The tutorial for that was posted yesterday.

Finally comes the link to the oodles and oodles of supplies I used from Alpha Stamps.  Happy crafting to you!