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.
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| 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...
Alpha Stamps new Secret Garden kit for May couldn't have come at a better time. Starting a garden this spring was simply out of the question for most people, so having the opportunity to make a teeny tiny one was a nice substitute. Another plus: no pollen.
I knew I wanted to use the Ivy Corner Insert and Mini Green Leaves from the kit, and after gathering a handful of other greenery, it reminded me of vines that grow over walls and up the sides of houses. So, I built a tiny brick wall for the inside of the blank tin which happened to be the perfect spot for Humpty Dumpty.
Humpty is spending his afternoon perched with his book in a quiet, shady spot, enjoying the fresh air.
Making the wall for the inside was a cinch. I traced around the bottom of the Ivy Corner Insert onto cardboard and cut it out,
trimmed a piece of balsa wood the same length as the top of the wall,
then painted the balsa wood and papered the cardboard with an image from the China Cabinet House Wallpapers Collage Sheet. After lining the inside of the tin, I added a bit of foam to the back of the new wall and glued it inside, followed by the painted balsa wood. This mimicked the wall Humpty originally sat upon in the image found on the Humpty Dumpty #2 collage sheet. You can also see that once the Ivy Corner Insert was painted, I inked some ivy leaves that were snipped from Mini Trailing Ivy Borders, then glued them over some of the leaves on the insert.
Pretty certain I used all of the laser-cut leaves in the stash on this project! A couple of tissue paper roses made from Heart and Star Mini Punches were glued on randomly, mostly to add a bit of something to break up all of that green. I added the Ivy Corner Insert to the outside of the tin (vs under the lip on the inside) and covered the seam with brownish embroidery floss. Oh, and if you are wondering, the curly brown "sticks" are just several lengths of covered florist wire coiled around the spool base, then wrapped up the side of the tin.
Hope you enjoyed this silly little tin! I'm going to put down my tacky glue and head outside for some sunshine.
You can find the list of supplies used RIGHT HERE.
