Mid Century Modern Starburst Clock

 While looking through Etsy for mid century modern dollhouse items I found a couple of sellers that make amazing dollhouse miniatures from that era. Unfortunately, my budget does not allow me to spend that much on my hobby. I really liked a couple of the clocks I saw. I did a google image search for mcm wall clocks and started to get ideas for what I could make. Then I had a "eureka moment" and remembered the vintage broach I hung in the antique shop just because it looked like a starburst clock. So I retrieved the broach and printed out a clock face I liked in several sizes.

 The first attempt was mounting a small face on cardboard and then gluing it in place. I didn't like the way that looked.

 Next, I popped out the faux pearl in the center and glued a plain paper face that was a bit larger in place. Ah, now we're getting somewhere.

 A tiny piece of wire, bent and glued in place makes perfect clock hands.

Now I'm waiting for the Triple Thick "glass" to dry. I will update this post with a final picture of the finished clock. I am so excited about this little thing! Back later with the update!

I also purchased a chair and ottoman for the Westville while I was searching Etsy. It's a dangerous place, that Etsy, lol. The seller is a lovely lady who didn't mind taking extra measurements for me. Her shop is filled with vintage items of all kinds.

This is the seller's photo and here's a link to her shop - lrobinson

Terra Cotta Barrel Tiles Tutorial - the Trash to Treasure Way

I used two shades of orange, light buttermilk, burnt umber, and honey brown paints. I just mixed the colors on the brush and randomly painted the toilet paper tubes and the valleys of the corrugated cardboard. The valleys act as the upside down tiles on a real barrel tile roof. The tubes are cut into roughly half inch by one inch tiles. Each tile is glued over two of the cardboard ridges. In the third photo, I am using chopsticks to hold the edges of the tiles down until the glue sets. This is an experiment that's going to work! That always makes me smile. :-)

Edited: Here's today's work. I've decided that painting the corrugated cardboard is not necessary. You really can't see the valleys but they help so much with spacing and shaping the tiles. Just painting the tubes, cutting into tiles and gluing them on takes a lot of time. I spent several hours working today. I filled in the corrugated board on the angled left side and finished the three bottom rows, then added two more full ones. I also added a couple more colors of paint in the brown family. I like the variation - really makes it look like aged tile. This is going to take some time but I am very happy with the way it looks.

Tutorial for the Nativity figures - Part 5

The stable was made from scrap bits of wood with a cardboard back. I used moss to cover the roof. The star is a wooden cut out painted gold and dressed up with glitter dust. A store bought stable could be used...or display the figures without a stable. I hope the instructions make sense. As always leave a comment if you need clarification. Oh, I use Sculpey and Super Sculpey polymer clay but any polymer clay will do. Air drying clay would also work but you would have to paint the figures after they dry.

Tutorial for the Nativity figures - Part 4

Tutorial for the Nativity figures - Part 3

Tutorial for the Nativity figures - Part 2

Tutorial for the Nativity figures - Part 1

Lize requested a "how to" on the Nativity. This took some thought because I usually just grab the clay and smoosh it around until I get what I want, lol. These instructions are for an angel, a shepherd and a sheep. All of them are made basically the same way with variations to get the little person you want. This will take 5 posts so be patient. :-) The instructions are on the photos so poke them to make them larger.

Pipe Cleaner Tree Tutorial Part 3

Continue to work your way up the tree. As you near the top, make the branches smaller. These smaller branches will not need cross branches.
The finished tree. Once it dries you can position the branches the way you wish and decorate your tree. This is not an original idea. This is just the way I make them now based on some instructions I found years ago. I do not know who to credit with the original tutorial. I think this makes a very realistic scale tree. Please let me see photos if you make one, too. :-)

Pipe Cleaner Tree Tutorial Part 2

Spread glue on the trunk about 1/2 inch up from the bottom. Curl the ends of the branches and glue onto the trunk. Space the 5 branches evenly around the tree.
Cut 4 branches from the straight pipe cleaner. Cut 3 sizes of cross branches for each of the 4 branches.
Twist the cross branches onto the main branches.
Curl the ends of the branches and glue them onto the trunk spacing them evenly around the tree.
Continue to work your way up the tree, making the branches shorter as you go. Alternate straight pipe cleaner rows with bumpy rows. When you are only putting 4 branches in a row, you can use a longer section of the pipe cleaner and make a branch at each end. Bend the piece in half, glue into place on the tree and twist to hold into position.

Pipe Cleaner Tree Tutorial Part 1

Supplies needed: length of dowel (diameter isn't really important as it will be covered anyway); small container to "plant" the tree in; pipe cleaners/chenille stems in green - both regular and bumpy; scissors, tacky glue (I used Fast Grab); stain pen or paint in brown for the trunk
Paint the dowel. It doesn't have to be perfect as most of it will be covered.
Glue the dowel into the planter.
Trim a section of the bumpy chenille for the tree top and glue into place. Cut 5 bumps and cross branches of straight chenille in 3 lengths for each of the branches.
Twist the cross branches on to the main branches.

Cornucopia tutorial 1

I’ve been thinking about how to make a mini cornucopia for awhile and finally, today, I figured out how I could do it.

The supplies needed are a plastic milk or juice carton seal, 24 gauge wire, jewelry cord that looks like thin rope, tacky glue, scissors, needlenose pliers, and I found a set of small hemostats to be helpful for pulling the cord.

Start by cutting the ring off of the seal. Don’t throw away the other part as it makes a great plate. Then cut 7 or 9 four inch pieces of wire. Be sure to use an odd number. Bend over about a quarter of an inch, hook that over the ring and crimp down with the pliers. Once it is crimped into place, use the pliers to twist the end of wire around the longer tail. Space the wires evenly around the ring.

Cut an 18 inch or so piece of cord. Wind it round and round the plastic ring until the ring is covered, being careful to keep the wires spaced evenly. When you reach the end of the ring place a tiny amount of tacky glue on the last bit of exposed plastic and glue the cord in place. DO NOT cut the cord.

Pull it toward the horn part of the cornucopia frame and start weaving in and out of the wire frame.