Unsolved Mysteries Display Cabinet

Happy Saturday, everyone. I way had too much fun pulling together all of the elements that an investigator of unsolved mysteries would collect using one of my absolute favorite GSL pieces - a Millinery Cabinet 1:12.

This gorgeous intricate little cabinet comes with a lot of pieces. Assembly is a breeze if you take the time to lay them out beforehand. The largest piece is the back wall of the cabinet. In this photo I have laid out the lower section.

 

And here is the upper section.

 

The only pieces remaining make up the dual cubby sections that go on each side of the cabinet.

 

I chose a rich brown acrylic paint for the cabinet. This photo shows where the cubby sections are to be glued in place on each side.

 

Looking fancy!

 

The large back wall space was perfectly suited for a bulletin board to hold all sorts of information; mothman, UFOs, the Bermuda triangle, the Black Dahlia. I later added an image of DB Cooper. It was assembled from a rectangle of Paper Studio cork adhesive paper framed with sections of coffee stir sticks. Several pin heads were glued on as tacks.

 

I added a relic made from a GSL Gothic Cross Miniature embellished with a few Swarovski crystals. 

 

It was placed in front of the bulletin board along with a passport and a book on haunted houses. That giant orange feather on the wall is from a friend's parrot.

 

One of the mystery elements I included was a tiny astronaut guy from my stash (it was one of my now-grown daughter's toys) with an Alien facehugger from a toy pack I found at Walmart a few years ago. I think the brand might be Mini Mates but no longer have the packaging. This little guy was placed in under a glass dome.

It was placed onto the top of the cabinet along with a Bigfoot sculpture (a bead), a mysterious glowing worm (fishing lure) under a glass dome, an alien head (another bead) and a small glass jar filled with hummingbird feathers.

 

The left hand side has a skull sitting on top of a field notebook, a jar full of moss, a mysterious shiny rock (a hematite specimen) and a Terminator hand under glass (a dollar store skeleton arm painted silver). In the background you will see a copy of a letter attributed to Jack the Ripper.

 

Here's a wider view. I included a few Bigfoot images and tucked into the left side cubbies are correspondence, a rolled up copy of the Zodiac Ciphers, a photo of Lizzie Borden's house and more UFO photos. 

 

Our investigator is truly a world traveler so I included a compass, globe and binoculars. That mysterious glowing rock is a chunk of glow in the dark vase filler set onto a bead base. A 1952 UFO photo is seen in the background.

 

The right hand cubbies include fairy wings, a feather from our hens, photos of Oumuamua, the Nazca lines and a few pages of the Voynich manuscript. Never heard of some of these? Google them for an interesting afternoon of reading. 

 

Down below we have some interesting maps and tomb inscription rubbings.

 

Along with a grail, map and package on the right side, our intrepid explorer has also obtained a lovely painting tucked away in an inconspicuous spot. It's actually The Concert by Johannes Vermeer which was stolen in 1990 and is considered the world's most valuable unrecovered painting. Could our adventurer be collecting more than unsolved mystery clues?

 

Thanks so much for stopping by!

GSL Products Used

Millinery Cabinet 1:12

Gothic Cross Miniatures

Other Products Used

Tacky glue

Acrylic paint

Printed images

Paper Studio cork adhesive paper

Coffee stir sticks

Swarovski crystals

Feathers

Assorted bits & bobs

Cabinet of Curiosities

I like tiny things, I always have. I still have Barbie accessories from when I was a kid. So I guess I also hoard tiny things. I've had a stash of tiny favorites I've been staring at for years thinking 'some day' I would find the very best use for them which is how they ended up in one of these gorgeous GSL Millinery Cabinets. 

For instance, I bought this little ceramic beaver at Disney World the first year it was open. The skull was an expensive impulse buy at a mineral show and glued onto a flat bead. The zombie specimen is a HO scale train person with some red paint added just because. The mineral is a chunk of glow in the dark vase filler. The duck is a glass charm and the Enterprise is a miniature Hallmark Christmas ornament. 

The main section of the cabinet is papered with Graphic 45 Artisan Style Craftsmanship paper which is perfect for this project. The specimen art posters are found in a cabinet of curiosities collage sheet from Alpha Stamps. The shark's teeth are some I picked up at the beach when I was a kid. They are showcased on a painted scrap of wood. I somehow have collected a lot of lapel pins over the years and chose one I got at a Prince concert in the 80's. The glass eye is a gift from a friend (don't I have awesome friends?). I found the mini display domes at Michaels. 

  

This shelf holds jars of shells and pearls, a charm I got at Hershey as a child and a Dungeons and Dragons miniature figure. I love that the charm has come out of the bottom of my jewelry box into something I look at every day. 

More shells, charms and specimen art. The skeleton foot is from one of those dollar store Halloween garlands. I found a ouija board digital download at Etsy. The coffee inside the miniature cup is made from mixing a small amount of Glossy Accents and some brown food color.

These jars contain black coarse salt and some ladybug polymer clay cane slices. I included an HO scale sheep, miniature tombstone and a Tim Holtz skull.

 

The scrolls are made from paper aged with an ink pad. The feathers are from our chickens and a friend's guinea fowl. 

 A miniature brass diving helmet I've had forever. The crystal ball is made from a marble and bead.  The animal skull was a gift.

A jaw bone, a scarab and metal pitcher I picked up on my travels and a mineral specimen I studied in college. 

The millinery cabinet works perfectly as a curiosity cabinet. Surely, you have some tiny treasures, too!  Supplement them with feathers, shells, shark's teeth, polymer clay canes, scrolls and specimen art and you will have a place to display them. Dig out that charm bracelet and have some fun! 

Gypsy Soul Items Used

Millinery Cabinet 1:12

Other Items Used

Acrylic paint

Tacky glue

Alpha Stamps Cabinet of Curiosities collage sheet

Miniature jars

Shells

Feathers

Treasures