Happy Day!

I will say "Happy Easter!" to those that celebrate the day and "Happy Sunday!" to those that don't.

Being a witch, Tessie isn't much into Easter. She's more about Halloween, but she loves candy and decorated eggs. Any holiday will do.

She and Spike have been dying eggs since early this morning. Spike keeps hoping that she will peel him an egg.....She's now filling the baskets.

Please notice Spike's new collar. Tessie said that the old one was something that Zar would put on the poor dog. Poor dog? A pit bull with a turquoise collar? Poor dog!

When the baby dragon saw what was happening, he rolled his egg up to Tessie. He wants his egg decorated.

While I am here, I will do a quick tutorial on the baby chick in Tessie's hand and the blue bunny on the table. They are simply made of small pompoms that can be had at just about any craft store. You only need two sizes for the chick and three for the bunny. I think that these were about1/2, 1/4" and 1/8".

For the chick, you need two yellow ones, two small black beads for eyes, and a scrap of yellow paper for beak and feet. I used quilling paper for this. All you do is glue the smaller pompom to the larger one. Then stick on the beads for eyes. Cut out a small diamond shape and bend it in half for the beak. Glue that on. The feet were just cut in three little points and look more like duck feet. The feet are what make him stand up. They are about 1/4" long.

For the bunny, you need 4 small ones, one medium, and one large. Stick the medium to the top of the large one. Then stick two smaller ones in the indentation between the body and head(paws). Stick one above those and between. That will be his nose. Again, two beads for eyes. I guess you could use pink ones if it were a white bunny. A pink bead goes on the nose. The last tiny pompom goes on the back for his tail. Again the feet are simply paddle shaped and glued in a V shape to the bottom. For his ears, You simply cut two pieces of paper to match the body. They are a strip that is curved to a point at both ends. Stick a little glue on the tip and push them down into the head. If you really want a fancy bunny, you can paint the inside of his ears pink.

BTW, You can do teddy bears the same way. Small pompoms for ears, nose and tail, a little larger for legs. The next size up is the head and the largest is the body. Black beads for eyes and nose. Put a ribbon under his chin and you are done.

Have a happy day whatever you are celebrating!

See you tomorrow.

So There's No Light. So what?

I always wondered why it is that people either electrify their mini houses or they don't. There is no in between. I have decided that the Clockwork Cottage is going to be the in between kind. That is, there is going to be electricity, but there are also going to be some lights that aren't electrified, just for show. After all, nobody lights every light in the house at the same time.

Remember the candelabra from yesterday's pile of junque? That's what I tackled today. It took a little longer than I thought it would. I used #14 beads. They are about half the size of seed beads(#11). I also used #32 gage wire. Sometimes that can get irritating. It wants to zig when I want to zag.

This method can be used on any chandelier or candelabra, be they electrified or not. It can fancy up a plain old brass chandelier into a crystal creation in a couple of hours.

I started out with a length of wire that was about 3 times as long as the circumference of the arms. I know that sounds like a lot, but you need something to hang on to when you are working and you need extra length to thread the beads. Wire is cheap!

The first thing I did was straighten the wire(It was on a paddle.) I used the handy dandy jeweler's pliers that are made specifically for that purpose. You can get them at any good bead shop. They are also handy when you need a good grip on the thin wire. You just run the wire through the jaws of the pliers and you have instant straight wire. It is much easier to work with a straight piece of wire than it is to work with one that is curling this way and that.

I wrapped the wire a couple of times around one of the arms. I cut off the tail. Again, that is easier than trying to wrap the very end around the arm.

I bent the end of the wire slightly so that it would be easier to pick up the beads. Using a scooping motion, I picked up as many beads as I needed to make a graceful drape between the arms. In this case, I settled for 25 beads. Each lamp will be different. Just put them on the wire and try out the look.

I bent the wire sideways to keep the beads from sliding back down the wire. Then I turned a loop right next to the beads. Depending on the lamp you are using and the location of the drape, you will have to either work with the lamp in your hand or not. The first row that I did on this lamp was done right on the lamp. The outer row was done by slipping the loops over the arms later. I tried the outer loops on and decided on 45 beads for that one.

I decided that it still needed something. I made drops for each arm by making a loop with 5 beads and then threading 15 beads and making a loop to go over the end of the arm. Those went on last and were glued to keep everything from slipping off.

To make it a little more glitzy, I glued beads in a circle around the base of each outer candle and two circles around the middle one. I also glued a circle of beads around the base. I still need to give the candles another coat of paint and blacken the tip or put a piece of white thread on them.

After putting on all of the beads, I went away to let the glue dry. Oops! Mistake........ Remember yesterday when Tessie was eyeing the candle tree? It disappeared off of the paper plate.

I took a very poor photo of Tessie high tailing it into her cottage from the motorcycle. Yup. She has custody of the candelabra. For the time being, I will let her have it. No matches though. I don't trust her. She can look at the sparkly light for now. She will be on to something else in a day or two and I will snatch it back and install it in Balthazar's bedroom where it belongs.

I had better leave now and make sure that she doesn't pilfer anything else.

See you tomorrow.

New Glasses Are For the Birds.....

These are going to take some getting used to. Right now I am having to move my head a lot. I got a different shape and that makes it more difficult. They are more square than the old ones and have more distance viewing on the sides. I feel like I have to move my head and look straight at something up close. For a few days this is going to be the pits!

Anyway, I promised Katie that, if she was a good girl, I would show her how I did the dog collar for Spike. I don't have any way of telling if she was good or bad, but I will do it anyway. Here goes.

The pile of junk that you see here is what you need.

Tools: Needle nosed pliers(two if you have them), Side cutters (they don't necessarialy have to have a half beaded handle), Scissors(sharp).

Supplies: thin leather, 3 links of old chain from jewelry, a finding to make the tag if you want one and some metallic, dimensional fabric paint.

1. Detach 3 lengths of chain from the necklace and close two of them back to round. Leave the third one open to receive the tag.

2. Cut a piece of leather about 1/8 to 1/16" inch wide and about 3" long.

Yes, I know it's more than you need. I do the collar and then trim the excess when the dog is wearing it. It is much easier to handle that way.

3. With the side cutters, snip out the piece of the jewelry finding to make the tag. In the photo you will see the piece that I cut out. It was the top of a "frame" shaped finding. You could possibly get another one from the opposite end if you needed two.

4. Slip the tag on the open chain link and close it.

5. Slip that and the other two chain links onto the strip of leather. It is easier to do this if you cut a diagonal point on one end of the leather strip. You can poke the end through and grab it with the needle nosed pliers or a pair of tweezers to finish the job.

6. Center the end nearest to the end with the tag on the back of the dog's neck and glue it with a small spot of white glue. Then pull the tag down so that it is positioned center front of the neck. Keep going around with the rest of the collar and where it overlaps the other end, position the other two links with the top side outward from each other. That forms the buckle. Put a dot of glue on the underside and put the links directly over the starting point. Let this dry a bit and cut the end to the length that you want. Make a point by cutting both sides towards the center.

7. Use the dimensional fabric paint to put little dots around the collar for spikes. You can do it a number of times to build up the end of the spikes. I usually squeeze the bottle just enough so that I can see a tiny drop of paint coming out. Then I place it against the leather and pull up to get the spike. You might want to practice on a scrap before you do it on the dog.

P.S. I just put on my old glasses. The new ones are making my eyes hurt!

See you tomorrow.

P. P. S......Tessie approves.

Before Bow Dazzlers

I meant to write these directions before Christmas. I never quite got around to it. Oh well......You can make Easter ribbons or Birthday ribbons. I was out running hither and yon with April this morning, so I decided that this was a good time to throw this tutorial in. No. I didn't work on the Clockwork cottage.

Back in the early 80s, when I was much newer at making minis, there was a fad for a while. Everyone was making mini Christmas trees. Some made them from natural materials. Some were loops of beads. Some were made with chenille stems. It didn't matter the materials. They all had to have tiny packages with tiny bows. Someone came up with the idea of making a bow maker. There were variations on the theme. I still have the first one that I made and it is still pressed into service whenever I need fluffy bows for a project. All you need to make one is a small piece of wood and some 5/8" brads.

The instrument of torture that you see at the bottom left is the one that I made. That one is about 3" long and made of bass wood. Don't try to use balsa or foam core. They won't hold the nails. I drew a 1/2" circle on one end and divided it into 10 equal spaces. Then, from the other side, I pounded in the brads. I then spread a bit of glue around the heads on the backside and let it dry.

Back then we were using either Hallmark or Tie Tie brand "sticks to itself" ribbon. It was easily split into thin(1/16" to 1/8") strips by tearing. I don't think that anyone makes this anymore. Sometimes you can get lucky and find old rolls in thrift shops or at yard sales. The reason for using it was that it worked with white glue. Some of the newer ribbons don't. If you use new ribbon, you may have to try some different glues until you find one that works. You can always make your bows with silk ribbon if you can't get the regular ribbon to work.

Anyway, here goes. It may help to number the brads on the outer edge of the wood with 1 to 10. First lightly glue a tiny piece of notebook paper in the center of the circle. This forms a base for the bow. Stick one end of the ribbon strip to this and let it dry a bit.

Second you start wrapping the ribbon around one brad and going to the pin directly opposite(6) for the next wrap. Put a tiny bit of glue between each layer of ribbon and hold it down with a toothpick. If you use the fancy Japanese toothpicks, you can use the pointy end for the glue and the blunt end to hold down the center. Coming back across you wrap around #2, then to 7, 3, 8,4, 9 and so on.... You keep doing this until you have 3 loops on each of the brads. Let it dry on the brads. Then gently lift it off of the pins with an exacto knife or tweezers slid under the center. You may have to go around and lift some of the loops one at a time.

When you get it off, start bringing the loops up towards the center top. I do this by gently pulling with my fingertips. Here you see the finished bow. These are another thing that takes practice, but if you do a few you will get the hang of it quickly. After that, it will be like Lay's pototo chips. Bet you can't make just one!

See you tomorrow

Happy Valentine's Day, Again....

It's a beautiful day and I don't expect to get a lot of mini making finished after all. April and Seth are taking my husband out for lunch and a movie to celebrate his belated birthday and guess what? I get to go along! That means Tessie is just going to have to wait for her door!

Meanwhile, I thought that I would wish you a good day by showing you an oldie but goodie. I made this bag for my husband for Valentine's day about 20 years ago. Everything has held up pretty good but the bag. I see some wear and tear going on around the top. I guess I am going to need a new bag.

You have seen the table again and again in different fabrics. The hat on the wall is one that I used to get by the dozens from Mexico in the raw. It is woven of wheat straw and when I got them they were dyed in various colors. I painted them with Ceramcoat and decorated with silk ribbon and bunka. I haven't seen any of the little hats lately. I don't know if they still make them or not. I wish I could find some again. They were much easier than weaving my own.

The walnut shelf is one of those laser cut kits. I didn't sand it very well between coats of varnish way back then and it shows.

The point of the whole thing is to get to the fan. I thought that you might like a mini gift for your Valentine. All you need is a fancy Japanese toothpick, a piece of index card, a couple of small pictures, some silk ribbon and bunka.

I cut the toothpick down on the fancy end to about 3/4". Sand the end and cut an 1/8" slit in the center of the end with my razor saw. Stain or paint the toothpick and let it dry. While it is drying, cut a fancy shape out of the index card.

If you have a fancy punch about 1" across, so much the better. I just sketched a shape on a piece of paper and cut it out for a pattern. It can be a plain circle, heart or just scalloped around the edges. Just keep in mind that you are going to cover the edges with unraveled bunka, so don't get too complicated. After you have the shape that you want, glue a picture to one side and trim it to match the edges of the index card. Turn it over and do the same to the other side.

Put some glue in the slit on the toothpick and slide the fan into the handle. Glue bunka around the edges. Put a rose and/or a bow at the spot where the fan and handle meet. There you have it! I'll bet you can't make just one.

If you look closely, you will see that I cut a picture out of a catalog that was the old "Dogs playing poker" painting. What can I say? At the time I thought it was funny.......

Incidentally, I get on the net every once in a while and subscribe to catalogs that I think might be useful for minis. Please don't tell the catalog people that!

Now I am going to go get ready for a day out. You can go make fans while I am gone.

See you tomorrow.

What's Up Cupcake?

I have been admiring the mini cupcakes on several sites lately. As you well know, if I can figure out how to make something myself I will do it. I kept trying to remember where I had seen the shape of the cupcake bottom in "real life". I kept thinking pen cap. I remembered when the kid's cheapo colored pen sets had something like that. It took me a few weeks of looking, but I finally found a passable cupcake shape.

The answer was the connector caps for electrical wiring. I got this package at Home Depot. They had some at Wal Mart, but they were larger.

I used Sculpey Moldmaker to make the mold. It's pretty cool. I made several molds while I was at it. You have to chill the clay before you make the mold. It is very soft and won't take an image properly unless you do. I shaped the clay into slabs and put it in the fridge for a couple of hours.

I marked one of the connectors at the height that I wanted to make the cupcake flutes. Then I used cornstarch on the end before pushing them into the cool clay. That keeps them from sticking.

Here are the finished molds. Just for fun, I pushed some of the larger ones in each mold. I think that you could make a plum pudding or jello mold from them.

Interestingly enough, I really didn't need to make more than one hole. I did them one at a time. You have to smoosh(mad scientist term) down into the hole quite firmly and then push the tops of the clay towards the center to form the domed top. You pop them out of the mold before baking. I was advised by Debbie that if I couldn't get them out, I could pop them out with the end of a pin. I didn't seem to have that problem at all. In fact, the first few kept falling out because I didn't push hard enough.

I used straight burnt sienna Primo clay. About a quarter inch diameter ball was needed for each. The cupcakes were baked on a tile at 275° for about 10 minutes.

Then I mixed some white fimo and some liquid Sculpey to make the frosting. The hardest part was getting those tiny tops frosted. It was hard to hold on to them and to get them back on the tile after I frosted. I tried tweezers and needle nosed pliers. Neither would hold onto the cupcakes. Then I put them back in the oven to bake for about 8 minutes.

Anyway, I finished 9 cupcakes in all. Tessie immediately wanted to celebrate. Yes, she found the Reutters. No. She is not keeping the Reutters. Since it was a celebration, I let her use them.

The cupcakes almost look good enough to eat.....Almost.....I am not going into the mini cupcake business any time soon. You can now make your own. You have all of the directions above. Good luck. I am on to muffins. I won't have to frost them. Somebody pass the raisins.

See you tomorrow.

I Want Tile!

Tessie doesn't like the tin sheet that goes under the wood stove. She kept witching it out and I kept putting it back in. I explained that she would burn the cottage down if she didn't have something fireproof under there. Thus the title.

It seems that she has been through my whole workroom and knows what's there better than I do. She dug out some turn of the century tile that I had scanned from one of my Dover books. I had forgotten that I did it. She didn't. I used some in her glass cage. Evidently she liked that part of the case a lot.

She then suggested that I show you how to make the paper look like tile. OK. Here goes. It is really simple to do. I used a print out, but you can do it with any kind of geometric pattern for a floor and I did it for the panel on the fountain in my birdcage.

I cut the tile to the size that I wanted under the the stove. In the case of the one that I did, I had to cut and patch one edge of the border. I simply took a strip of the border and put it down the third side and cut a 45°angle. Then I put another strip of the border and slid it along until the corner matched. I glued both pieces to a piece of Crescent illustration board and cut that out to the size of the tile.

Next, I took a stylus and a metal ruler and pressed in lines where the grout lines are. Press hard but don't tear the paper!

I then painted the edges all around with the trail tan paint that you see in the photo. It is pretty close to the color of real tile. After that dried I took one of the big fat emery boards. You know they're the ones that come in bright colors for about a dollar just about anywhere. They are much finer than regular emery boards and work well on the softer materials. When you sand off the top edges it makes the piece look more like tile. Usually there is a lighter edge where the glaze meets the tile itself.

The last step was to take a pencil and mark the grout lines on the edges. I will glaze the tile with the same acrylic varnish that I use on the floor. If you want thinner tile you can use poster board in place of the illustration board. I prefer the illustration board for floors because It is not apt to warp like the poster board will.

Now then........The only problem that I have left for the day is Tessie herself. She worked on me until I agreed to give her the stove. I am still not letting her eat the cake and cookies that Val sent me. They are too pretty to be eaten. She kept the chocolate chip cookies. Friskie loves it when Tessie cooks. She is very messy and he gets a lot of the stuff that she drops. Good Eats!

I am a little worried. She wants the stove hooked up for cooking "Right Now!". She found my favorite wok pan and Japanese cleaver..... I'm afraid to ask what she is going to cook with that. She might just tell me.......I don't think that I want to know!

See you tomorrow.

Guess Who Won?

Do you even have to guess? Tessie is happily ensconced in the bedroom with piles of fabric and a Simplicity Pattern Book. She can manage turning the pages if I lay it on it's back and turn it to a specific section. She is immersed in the costume section in the back of the book. No. It's not for Halloween. It's for sensible clothes, according to her.

She has picked out way more fabric than she will ever need or use. She says it's good to have a selection to choose from. She also raided my lace bin and she found the box where I keep mini hangers. She reasons that every empty hanger she can find should be filled with clothes for her. And she still wants the trunk filled too! The fabric at the front right is her favorite. I tried to tell her that it will make her look like a circus clown......She thinks that would be good for a gypsy skirt. We shall see.........

You can enlarge this pattern to get an idea of what I am doing. I made it to fit Tessie. It is just a basic dress pattern and can be adjusted to fit whatever doll you are dressing by doing a few adjustments. The measurements in the upper left corner are Tessie's. Strangely, she is a bit of a Mini Me. She is about 5" tall and I am about 5' tall. She has red hair. I have red hair(don't ask how often it has to be dyed to stay that way. It's not polite!) She is very opinionated. There we part ways. I am sweet and easy going.....Yes. I am! I think I will quit this line of thinking while I am ahead.

Anyway, I just made the pattern this morning and it is what I used to make the green and white dress that I am going to show you now. These are essentially for clothes on hangers. You could adapt them to go on a doll, but you would have to add seam allowances and do more hand sewing.

There is also a pattern for a mob cap. Tessie says she needs a couple of these to hold her hair out of the potions when she is concocting them.

The nice thing about this pattern is it's mostly glued. The only sewing I did was the gathering on the waist and top of the sleeves. For the rest of the seams I used Fast Grab Aileen's glue.

The first thing that I did was run a line of glue down one of the back edges of the skirt and the hem and turn them under. Then I overlapped the hemmed edge of the back over the raw edge so that it looks like there is a seam down the back of the skirt. Next I gathered up the waist by needle and thread to the size of her waist.

I cut out the bodice and turned under the front side edges and glued them the same way as the center back of the skirt. I cut a waistband and glued it in place. I glued the lace trim onto the bodice and the skirt.

Incidentally, the lace was all cut from one wide band. Most modern machine made lace can be cut anywhere and not ravel at all. The little cross/flower pieces that hang from the bottom of the lace on the skirt were holding the triangular part to the rest of the lace. They will stay just as they are.

OK. Back to the dressmaking part. I gathered up the top curve of the sleeve as tight as I could and then did the glue seam down the length. Then I scrunched up the bottom of the sleeve and glued down the lace cuff, overlapping in the back. Then I tucked in the raw edges of the gathering and glued the top of the sleeve around the sleeve hole That's basically it. You can add other embellishments and change the width and length of the sleeves and skirt.

I finished the red skirt that you see a little differently. It is an A-line shape that is gathered in at the waist and has a pointed waistband.

The nightgown is of course trimmed in puce. It was made from a handkerchief with a lace edge. I used the lace as the hem and gathered the bodice by pulling threads in the fabric. Then I just glued it down the center back and trimmed it with silk ribbon.

I pinned the garments to my pin board and sprayed them with hairspray so that they will hang well on the hangers.

Now I have to go make more clothes and figure out where Tessie is going to hang them. When I left Tessie was pulling pins out of the board and throwing them every which way. I will be picking pins out of the carpet for a week. Usually the way I find them is with my bare feet! TESSIE!!! CUT THAT OUT RIGHT NOW!!!

See you tomorrow.

Running Away From Home

If I am running away from home, I have to pack my bags. Right? Well, first I have to make them. OK. Just in case you feel like running away too, here's how you do it. No. I can't instruct you on the running away part, but I can show you how to make the bags.

There are ways to make open bags too, but I am just going to show you the closed ones today. We are going to run away in style. No nap sacks for us. Good old fashioned hard sided suitcases. Nothing will get broken.

Start with some half inch thick balsa wood, thin leather(I used suede) or fabric, gold cord(you can get this at fabric stores in the trim dept.), small jewelry findings( I cut up old jewelry with wire cutters for this) and dimensional fabric paint.

1. Cut three blocks from the balsa. One is 2 1/4" x1 1/2". The second is 2" x 1 1/4". The third is 1" x 3/4". Round the corners with an emery board as you see in the first photo.

Next put a smooth, thin layer of glue on one side of the suitcase and lay it out on the leather, leaving about a quarter of an inch all around. Do this on both sides of each piece. Clip the corners as shown in the second photo. Put glue on the inside edges and glue them down. They should look like the top suitcase when you are finished.

Now cut a 1/2" strip of leather long enough to fit around the suitcase. Starting at the center back, glue it around the edge. Trim if necessary.

If you use fabric, the instructions are the same for the sides. When you get to the strip you have to cover a piece of card stock, 1/2"wide and long enough to go around the suitcase, with the fabric. Smooth the outside of the strip and trim so that you can wrap it around to the back neatly. Then apply the strip to the suitcase.

Next starting in the same spot on the back, glue two strips of thin metallic cord around the suitcase about 1/8" from the top. This will represent the opening. Put a couple of small jewelry findings on the front of the two larger cases and one on the smaller one.

Now cut a little strip of leather for each handle. I usually just eyeball this. They are about 5/8" long and 1/8" wide. Then cut the ends to a point. Put a small amount in the center back of each handle and squeeze it together with your fingers or a pair of needle nosed pliers. Put a little glue on the ends of each handle and apply to suitcase. Put a "rivet" in the end of each handle with a dot of gold dimensional textile paint.

You are now ready to pack and run away! Or by now you will have given up on the fantasy and decided to go back to work. I know I have. I'm going back to sorting books. See you tomorrow.

Here's Your Hat.....

I am back to the dreaded room cleaning. I was looking for the straw braid to make hats. I am still looking for the straw braid to make hats. I will probably still be looking next month at this rate. It is nowhere to be found.

So.....I decided to quit looking and show you how to make a hat out of needlework fabric instead. This is what we are aiming for. It's a picture hat with either a rounded crown or a flat crown. They are fairly easy to make once you get the hang of it. I will show you how to make the basic hat today and tomorrow I will show you some trim tricks.

BTW, the hatstand is really easy to make. The one shown is made from a wheel bead, a fancy spindle and a 5/8" wooden bead from the craft store. It was assembled and then all of it was stained.

Now about the hats.

This gadget is the hat form. The round end is what they call a round knob or sometimes a doll's head at the craft stores. It is flat on one side and sometimes has a hole on the flat side. I simply glued that to a 5/8" diameter dowel. The round end is for the rounded crown and the flat end is for the flat crown. I am sure that you figured that out for yourself. At least I hope that you did....

You can work on two hats at once this way. The rubber band is to hold the fabric in place until it dries. This particular fabric is some #24 congress cloth. You don't need more than what you see in the photo to make a couple of hats. This can be painted after it is finished to make whatever color of hat you would like.

Here you can see that I have stretched squares of the fabric over the ends of the tool. I first sprayed the fabric with extra hold, scentless hairspray to make it damp and pliable. With this, it will dry nice and stiff. I smoothed out as many wrinkles as I could manage. After I put the rubber bands in place I worked even more of the wrinkles out of it. After it is in place, it must dry thoroughly. Walk away and go play with the cat, or knit, or take a walk. Just don't be anxious to play with it.

Actually, I use the time to cut out the brim. I cut one of card stock. Then I glue that to a piece of the fabric. I trim it close to the card stock. Then I turn it over and do the same thing to the other side. If your fabric is stiff enough, you can leave the card stock out. If it is really stiff you can use just one thickness of the fabric. It just depends on the fabric that you are using.

In the photo above, I used the card stock in all three. I wanted a heavy brim. If you are doing a summer hat I would suggest that you use a heavy fabric and spray it a lot.

After you get the brim covered with the fabric, put glue on the inside of the brim and along the back seam. Take the rubber band off of the crown but leave the crown on the form. Then overlap the back of the brim and place it over the crown. Pin in place and wait again......Go have lunch. Play Guitar Hero or Rock Band.

When it is dry take the hat off of the stand. Trim all of the ragged edges that are hanging down from the crown. Trim it right up to the inside edge of the brim. You now have a hat that is ready to trim.

You can either go for it and decorate it or you can come back tomorrow and I will show you how to do the bows and other stuff.

See you then.

I Can't See the Forest....

That's because I am making the trees now. Then I may be able to see the forest, or at least a small part of it.

I am back to the poly clay today. I'm making small table trees for Christmas. Here's how I did it. I gathered up dark green, gold and red poly. You could use other colors, but I wanted to make it simple. You will also need a small pair of scissors with sharp points, toothpicks and your hands. That's about it.

I started with the green and made small cones by rolling the clay into a ball and then, putting more pressure on one side, I formed the cones. If the bottom is not flat, you can cut it off with a clay blade. Starting at the bottom of the cone, I snipped in little V shapes with the pointy scissors. Go in at an upward angle and cut. The photo shows approximately the angle used.

I clipped little cuts in the edges of all of the leaves. As you can see, it is easier to do if you stick the tree on the end of a toothpick so that you will have something to hold onto. After that, I brushed the branches lightly with metalic powder. This step is optional. Then I made tiny balls of red and put them at the upwards Vs.

The second tree has a leaf cane sliced and placed at random to cover the tree. Then I cut the gold in tiny balls and filled in the corners. I rolled it around a bit to make sure that all of the gold balls stayed in place. If you want to find out how to make the canes go to Polymer Clay Central. Their website has all kinds of tutorials for canes and other useful information on the use of poly clay.

The third one really needs no explanation. I just formed the cone, rolled out thin strips of gold and red and twined them around the tree. You could add balls between or use a different pattern of strips to do this kind.
I couldn't find a star cutter so I improvised and used a heart cutter for the tree topper. I will probably have to go back and re do that part when I find the star.

This just goes to show you how simple it is to make decorations for your house. These are all under an inch tall. You can make them whatever size you want.

I am done for the day. I need to tend to my knitting now. See you tomorrow.

Santa Claus is Coming!

Come along with me and make a mini Santa from poly clay for your house or Christmas room box. This is one of those things that I do on the spur of the moment to entertain myself. I was in the mood to play and this is how I played.

These are the tools that I used. The rolling pin at the top of the photo is one that I have shown before. The pink bands on the ends allow the rolling pin to make an even slab of clay. It is a fondant roller made by Wilton. I use it when I am too lazy to drag out the pasta machine.

I am sure that you know about the ball pointed stylus. That is like my right hand in all kinds of crafts. The outside of that is covered with canes of poly clay to fancy it up. The clay blade is self explanatory. The wicked looking tool in the center is a Wilton cake decorating tool. I got it at Wal Mart for about 3.oo. It is meant to make "stitches in fondant frosting. The other two wheels stored in the handle are for a kind of zigzag edge and one is a plain cutter. I use all three for various poly clay projects. No. They do not belong near food!

I used red, 1/2white and 1/2transparent, and black poly for the snowman. The green cane is a leaf cane that I made some time ago. It will be used for holly on Santa's hat. If I didn't already have that made I would have used plain Christmas green.

As you can see, I rolled one cone about 1/2" across the bottom and 3/4" to the flat top part. I rolled another that is about 1/4" across and 1/2" high. This is the hat. I then did two pieces about 1/2" long, rolled out to about 1/8" inch. There is a small scrap of black that I cut the end from and made the eyes. Santa has a piece of one of the head pins pushed down into him so that everything will stay together.

The transparent white was a scrap rolled out thin and then I ran the tool of torture over it in parallel rows and cut it in strips for the cuffs of the garment and hat. I made one small white ball for the end of the hat, a wider strip for his hair and a triangle for his beard. His nose is a small ball with a bit of red added.

He now has the trim around the bottom of the hat, his hair and his beard. I kind of turned up the front edges of the hair and poked a hole in the beard so that he would look like he had a mouth.

The two black balls will be flattened slightly and stuck half way under his coat. Then the piece of fur trim will be put around the bottom.

I forgot to mention a small strip of black for his belt and a tiny gold square with two holes in it for the buckle.

The arms get rounded and slightly flattened on one end for his hands. A piece of the white trim gets put on about 1/8" from the end. The other end gets really flattened so that they can be smooshed(technical term) against his back and his hands pulled around to the front.

When he is all put together, this is what he looks like. I put a couple of leaves on his hat and a couple of tiny round pieces for berries.

I used some of the red and white scraps to make a cane by making two snakes and twisting them together. I then cut off the ends and then put a crook in one end. This will go in his outstretched hand when he is finished cooking.

The little guy is cooking now. He will be on the front porch of the basket shop when you next see him. I have to go now. I wouldn't want Santa to get over baked!

See you tomorrow. Ho! Ho! Ho!

Have a Holly Jolly Christmas

This morning I got a bee in my bonnet about making a Christmas wreath for the front door of the basket shop. You get to play along while I make it.

The last time I bought some of those scrap booking scissors with the shaped blades I started experimenting with them for miniatures. I found that two of them make excellent holly leaves in miniature. One is the Fiskars "seagull" blade and the other is some off brand. You can see the shape of the cut from this first photo. The Fiskars "seagull" is the same blade that I used for the trim on the roof of the basket shop. That is the one with the large scallop between the little points. If you cut on one edge you will get the holly. If you cut the other way you will get something like a bay or magnolia leaf. The other one is the one with the small scallop and then a point between. What you do to get the leaves is cut the length of the blade into the paper. Then flip them over(or the paper)and cut again right next to the first cut. After a couple of tries you should figure out which side goes where. Experiment with the scissors you have.

I used the green Strathmore drawing paper for these. After I got a bunch cut out, I cupped them by running the small stylus down the center of each one lengthwise.

I then took a piece of chenille stem and formed it into a circle about the diameter that I wanted the wreath. I started at the top of the wreath(where I joined it) and went down either side gluing the leaves on by the top end only. I let the bottom point curve up or down unglued. I kept tucking the point of the new leaves under the loose end of the leaf above it.

Then I decided on trim. You can use whatever you want. I have made candy canes from Fimo a few times to trim. This time I took the easy way out. I used these. They are "fruit" from cheapo fake flower bunches that I purchased at Wal Mart. I pulled them off and threw away the flowers. They make great miniature fruit. They are actually tiny foam balls and depending on the season, they come in lots of great colors. I just snip them off with my fingernails and glue them in a bowl or on a wreath. In this case I used shades of the red ones. I also used a few flower stamens that you can get at Michael's and other craft shops in the flower department.

When I finished gluing those to the wreath it was essentially done. You could put a bow on it or other decoration of your choice. I chose to leave it simple. Here it is.

Stay tuned. I am in a Christmas decorating mood. You may get stuck with that kind of thing for at least until the six year old's mind wanders again.

See you tomorrow.

The Devil is in the Details

I finished the topiary trees. I am very pleased with the way that they dress up the front step of the basket shop. It took me longer than I thought it would to put the individual leaves on the balls. It is painstaking work. I did have some help though.

I thought that you might like a couple of tips to help with doing them. Here's a photo of the leaves being cupped. I use the finest tip on my ball stylus and press down very hard on a mat made of two layers of thick leather, rough side up. The leather is the best cupping mat that I have found. The leaves stay put and don't jump around like they do on the rubber or plastic mats. Personally, I don't like chasing little tiny leaves and picking them out of the carpets. Not fun!

Here are a couple of my other helpers. It's hard to see in the photo but each flower has a center. The Pigma Micron Pens in the photo are the secret of doing anything small. These are the smallest diameter points that I have found and they are a very perminent ink. You can find them at Michael's and most art supply stores. The .005 is the size. They come in various colors and are very handy for detail work in miniature. They are so perminent that a lot of quilters use them to sign and write on quilts. They are completely washable.

The other secret helper is that tiny point on the Elmer's glue. I got a set of three caps and the metal points at Wal Mart a few years ago. I don't think that they have them any more, but I think that they can be found at craft and art stores now too. The reason for using the point on this project is to get the leaves and flowers on top of the railroad greenery. It is very difficult to get glue to stick on top of the fuzzies. With this point you can do it and right in the exact place you want it to be. I use the point to put a bunch of dots on the tree and then use tweezers to put the leaves on one at a time. That way the fuzzy part doesn't get all glued down. I use the same point a lot in making dolls costumes. It is great for putting on braids and trims, and for turning hems. You can lay down a very fine line of glue with it.

Some of you probably already know about these. This is for the people that have never done this before. I am just trying to make it easier. It can be very discouraging without the proper tools.

Now I am going to go put the final touches on the Christmas decorations(real ones). Tomorrow the house should be back to normal(with the exception of the workroom.....) I will be back to mini-ing. See you then.

I'm Leafing.....

Today is Wednesday. Wednesday is for mini witches. You know the drill. I have to find something to keep me busy while at the meeting.

I decided that the topiary trees for the front of the basket shop would be good. I have started them. I thought that you might like to work along.

This is really a simple project if you want it to be. I am making it a bit more complicated by adding leaves. All you need is Styrofoam in the shape and size that you want the finished topiary to be. Or if you want an animal topiary or something more fanciful, just find yourself a plastic toy or bauble in the shape that you like. I have seen people use the plastic animals that you get by the bag full at the dollar store.

Anyway, in this case, I am using a small Styrofoam ball, some cloth covered wire(probably 28 or 26 gage) and something to use for a pot. In this case I used some teak wood beads that I have and stacked two together. You will also need model railroad greenery, dirt, and if you want to get complicated, a small flower punch or beads and a leaf punch.

I will give you the measurements that I am using for this project. You can change any of them to suit your particular project. You may want larger or smaller.I usually cut 4 pieces of wire about 5" long for each tree. I twist two together at a time. Stick the ends of the doubled wires in the ball about 1/2" apart with fast grab or other thick bodied glue. Then twist the wires together to form a trunk. There will be a V of branches at the top. Paint the trunk brown. Let it dry.

Meanwhile, prepare your base. In my case I just glued two beads together, smeared glue on top where I wanted the ballast and then dipped the bead into that. You can use any dirt that you want. Next, with glue on the end of the wire, stick the trunk into your container. I guess I should have said that you can use a regular pot and fill it with dry floral foam if you wish.

Let this dry until it is easy to handle without the trunk falling out of the container. This is the voice of the impatient 6 year old speaking. Yes, sometimes I rush things and get into trouble. It is much easier to do the rest if you can grab hold of the container to hold while you work.

Paint the Styrofoam ball with Elmer' or other thin bodied glue and roll the ball in your model railroad greenery. I used smooth this time because that was all that I could find. If you are not going to put on leaves it really looks better with rougher greenery. This worked fine because I was going to do leaves on it anyway. I prefer doing this to painting the Styrofoam ball because if you miss a spot with the leaves it still looks good. With paint, if there is a bare spot, you can see it right away and you pretty much have to cover the whole thing with leaves and flowers.

Now you can either put cupped small flowers on it with dots or glue or beads to represent fruit. The one on the left is plain RR greenery. The one on the right is what it looks like about half covered with leaves and flowers. I used my smallest 5 petal punch for the flowers and a small ivy punch for the leaves.

I am taking them with me to the mini meeting to finish covering with leaves. As I said before, I'm leafing now. (sorry about the bad pun)

See you tomorrow with the finished topiary.