A Tiny Tub of Whimsy!

A few days ago I got my hands on some adorable ceramic beads and a wee metal tub from Alpha Stamps - just what I needed for a super quick project. My kids and I have spent the last week tie dyeing everything, so I squeaked this in while their masterpieces were washing. 

How fun is that? A tiny tub of whimsy would brighten anyone's day, maybe even a Monday! The metal tub happened to be the perfect size for the beads I wanted to use, and the rest was filled in with loads of flowers and a petite path. 

What's up, squirrel?

Can you believe the squirrel, birdhouse, falcon, and gnome are ceramic beads?! Adorable! I think I said that already, but they truly are. The holes in the beads were really convenient; I pushed trimmed toothpicks in the holes before sticking them in the grass. 

I gathered some stuff that worked with what I was going for, like mini leaf punches, Bright Flowers Polymer Clay slice mix, green turf grass, florist foam (which I cut to fit inside the tub), and a handful of those cute ceramic beads. You can see where I stuck a toothpick through the bottom and then out the top of the birdhouse bead before placing the falcon on the bit of toothpick sticking out the top. A tiny fence along the front of the tub would be cute. Or painting the tub red with white polka dots. Or maybe line the inside rim of the tub with the plastic grass that comes with your grocery store sushi before adding the foam. I have lots of sushi grass...

I didn't do any of those things. What I did do (after cutting out a disk of floral foam for the inside of the tub) was cut several stems of florist wire, bent over the very end, then glued the polymer clay flowers on the stems. Leaves from the Ash Leaf Mini Punch were added to the stem, too. The floral foam was covered in glue and grass turf was sprinkled over the top. When it was dry, I stuffed the grassy foam inside the tub before adding the birdhouse, squirrel, and gnome beads. Then the flowers were stuck in here and there. Finally, the teeny rock path was added. And done! 

The supply list for this tiny 2" tub is RIGHT HERE.

Hope you are finding time to create as well! Tie dyeing is super fun...