Merry Christmas to you all

Christmas Greetings from my house to yours

In my travels in Germany this year I visited a couple of Christmas (open all year round) shops and found this tiny miniature nativity scene. You'll realise just how small it is when I point out that it is housed in a walnut shell!

  Wishing you all a very happy and safe     Christmas and a year full of mini         making in 2014.

                           See you then!
                                              
                                               Wendy

The Christmas Box is Finished

The Christmas Break Front Box

Remember a few blog posts ago when I showed you the photo of pieces of wood, ready to be made into a 'break front' box? Well, here it is, finished at last!
  So, take off the lid....

The box lid is covered in fabric and tied with ribbon

Then let down the front and there you have it - a Christmas market stall selling Santas!

A good way to display my collection of little Santas

The side that folds down gives extra display space

Showing the layout of the box interior

A close-up view of some of the miniatures

I am pleased with the way this has turned out. I think it will have pride of place under our Christmas tree this year!

Decorating the Christmas Box

Starting to paper the box interior

The first step in decorating the basic 'break front' box was to cover the interior with wood panel paper, specially made in 1:12 scale for dolls houses. 
  I did that at Minis Club day this month, although I seemed to do a lot more talking than gluing!
  

Adding the display boxes and counter

This week at home I made the counter to fit the width of the box & covered that in the wood paper too, and stuck in the two smaller display units.

Assembling the box lid

I had already glued the lid of the box together and painted it white, inside and out. Now I glued the wood paper inside the lid and stuck the red and white fabric to the top of the lid. It is easier to use the fabric larger than the lid and then cut it with a craft knife to size, after the glue has well and truly dried.

Adding fabric to the box exterior

  I left the fabric in one long piece so I could wrap it round the three sides of the box without having to cut pieces and match up corners. To make a neat edge at the top of the sides I folded under the fabric and carefully glued it on. I used a tacky glue suitable for material. Then I folded the bottom edges to the underside of the box so all looked trim and smooth. So far, so good.

  I'll soon be ready for the fun part - filling the 'market stall' with Santas!

The 'Break Front Christmas Box - Preparing the Materials

Preparing to decorate the Christmas box

This week I've been gathering my supplies to make the 'break front' box I'll decorate as a Christmas market stall. I read that in Nuremberg, Germany, the famous Christmas market stalls have traditional red and white striped canopies, so I was off to the material shop to buy some fabric like that. I found in my 'stash' the wood panel paper and the cobblestone card, the strands of lycopodium to make wreaths, the two tiny Christmas trees and of course, my tin of mini Santas. Off to the shops again and I tracked down the strings of little Christmas lights that are actually scrapbooking decorations, and the Christmas stickers which have greetings in German, perfect for my theme.
  At minis club this weekend I hope to attach the side of the box that will break away, and decorate the inside with the wood paper and the outside with the red and white fabric.
  More photos and an update to come!

How to Make a 'Break Front' Box for Christmas

The start of the project

These bits of wood don't look very exciting, do they? Over the next few weeks I'll be transforming them into a 'break front' box with a Christmas theme. The finished box with lid will look like a wrapped Christmas present tied with ribbon. But when you lift off the lid, the front will 'break' away and fold down so you can see the scene inside. (That's the theory!)
  We started this project at Minis club this month. The pieces to make the 8 inch square boxes  had been cut out for us and we glued them together with wood glue to make the box with three sides, the arched insert and the lid. One side (the break away side) was left to be dealt with at our next meeting.
  Once the glue had dried and the joints were stable, we painted the box and lid with undercoat.

The box and lid are made, glued and painted

  I decided not to use an archway like this. I want to make my box look like a German Christmas market stall, so cut the insert piece up to make the counter and display area.
   From my 'stash' I took a piece of wallpaper that looks like wood panelling and will use that to paper the interior. I also found a couple of little boxes I covered in the wood effect paper to make display stands.

Using paper that looks like wooden boards

  My Christmas market stall will sell Santa Claus ornaments. I've been collecting them on my travels for several years so it will be great to have a place to display them.

Some of the Santa ornaments for the Christmas market stall

I'm looking forward to doing more work on the box at our next Minis club meeting. I'll keep you posted on how it's progressing.

A Dream Cottage in Miniature

Pearl Cottage by Deb's Dream Cottages

Have a close look at this beautiful miniature scene. It's like something out of a fairy tale, isn't it? An historic weatherboard house surrounded by a cottage garden in full bloom. There's even a dovecot.
  I'm sure you'll be as surprised as I was to learn that everything you see is made of fabric, ribbons and threads!
  I'm always on the lookout for unusual miniatures that I can share with you. So when I saw an advertisement in an Australian home decorating magazine for Deb's dream cottages, I was intrigued. I contacted Debbie and asked her if I could write about them here.
  On her website, Deb has a range of cottages to make, all set in pretty landscaped grounds. She sells the patterns which give sketches and measurements with detailed instructions for the techniques and skills you'll use in making the houses and gardens.
   They are such lovely miniatures, certainly that bit different! 

An Unusual Miniature from USA

An American First Lady miniature 

I was at a charity shop yesterday having a snoop around and came across this cardboard box that looked like a house. It intrigued me, even more so when I opened it.

Inside was this doll depicting Martha Washington, the wife of America's first president. The house portrayed on the box has characteristics of their home, Mount Vernon in Virginia.
  Hallmark Cards in USA produced this little commemorative doll for the Bicentennial celebrations held in 1976, 200 years after the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. Her body, 6 1/2 inches tall, is made of fabric with printed features and her dress is made of cotton and lace.
 I wonder where 'Martha' has been for the last 37 years! She is in perfect condition. I doubt if she has been played with by children. In fact, I doubt if she has been out of her box!