Paper Flower Fairy House Shrines

You know what I love? Smashing every single thing I love all into one project. Houses, little things,  shrines, butterflies, fairies... check, check, check....

Start with some super cute Mini House Shadowboxes and off you go! There are four different sizes available, each adorably tiny.

To embellish I've used old music sheets inside, and scrapbook paper on the exterior. 

A snip of Gold Tiny Dot Dresden Borders trims each roof.

Inside a paper fairy made from this Matchbox Fairy Collage Sheet with Transparent Wings. Paper butterflies, a pinch of moss, and few sprinkles of "faux flowers" finish those pretty things off.

The most difficult part of this project is cutting out the fairies, but with a pair of sharp scissors and a bit of patience you'll do just fine. If you want to see the whole process of assembling these pretties I have a video walk-through available HERE .

Easy right? You got this! To recap, here are all the supplies you'll need to make these sweet little Paper Flower Fairy House Shrines:

A mini house shadowbox, choose from:

Mini House Shadowbox 1

Mini House Shadowbox 2

Mini House Shadowbox 3

Mini House Shadowbox 4

Old paper
Acrylic paint

Scrapbook paper of choice
Matchbox Fairy Collage Sheet
Transparent Wings

Wee Assorted Butterflies
Gold Tiny Dot Dresden Borders

Moss/Flocling

Small fake flowers or scatter

Glue
Adhesive foam squares
Other embellishments, baubles, washi tape, buttons etc.

Shabby Chic Christmas Brush Tree Shrines

Hey there all you Gypsy Soul Peeps! Well Christmas Day has come and gone and I have had so much fun creating holiday decor with my GSL chippies. Today I'm sharing a set of very shabby and very sweet Christmas tree shrines. I reallyyyyyy love brush trees so I feel like they deserve to be displayed in a nice shrine.

 I mean are these not the cutest things????

I've even given them a bit of a snowy background.

And rooftops that are so sparkly and have a ton of texture.

I need to make like elebenty hundred of these to line up on my mantle!!!!!

Here's how I created them.....

I assembled the shrines and painted them with flat white acrylic. Two coats please : ) I really like Tombow Mono-Multi to adhere the pieces.

I've splodged on a fair bit of faux snow and tamped the brush in it to add stiff peaks.

Then carefully sprinkled on 3D powder.

Next add some glitter...everything is better with glitter.

These metal feet were given a coat of Gesso and a top coat of the white paint. You will look at this and say....but Ginny there's no room for the back feet and the shrine will tip over.

So I added a super sturdy chipboard back support to hold up the back. See how you don't really even notice it looking from the front.

Now it's stable and can be filled with just about anything that will fit. I recommend tiny brush trees : )

I also recommend making a lot of them as they were super fun to create and will look fabby with your favorite seasonal decor.

Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts~ Mini House Shadowbox 4, Mini House Shadowbox 2, Keys Engraved ( coming soon) Faux Metal Number Plates.

Don't be a bird brain (and watch out for homicidal parrots) By Betsy Skagen

I didn't know parrots were bullies until I created this little altered art project. Hopefully not all parrots are such big meanies, and these guys are just a bad lot.

As you can see, they convinced this dim-witted lass that she can fly--that's why she is precariously on the edge of the house, readying to launch herself into the air.

I wonder, is that yellow bird whispering in her ear telling her to stop or egging her on? (you did see what I did there, didn't you? Birds > Eggs = Giggle Snort.)

Tutorial--How to make the altered art bird brain house

Now that you have recovered from being dazzled by that pun, you can find out how to make this little project. Begin by assembling and gluing the Mini House Shadowbox 4. Ignore the torn finish on the shadowbox in the picture below. I had it temporarily held together with some tape and wasn't careful enough when I removed it. It makes no difference for our project.

This shadowbox is so sweet. It is only four inches tall! It would be perfect for little fairies, elves or your kid's pet night crawler (ewww).

Next, give it a quick coat of aqua paint. Don't worry about making this perfect as you want a distressed look.

Emboss the entire house with Verdigris Sparkle. Before setting the embossing powder with heat, intentionally swipe with a small cotton swab to remove some of the embossing.

After the embossing has set, add extra dimension by rubbing the edges with a brown ink pad.

Cut out the images you are going to use from your collage sheets. Then use a hot glue gun to adhere plastic greenery to the inside of the house.

Next adhere the background parrots.

Layer the rest of the birds, the nest and the girl. You can't see it because of the message, but I actually sliced open the nest to slide one of the girl's feet inside it.

Print out your message, ink it with tea dye distress ink and adhere it to the bottom of the box. 

Have you ever encountered any strange parrots in your life? I met a parrot at a Jewish-based post-hospital care facility that wished everyone a Merry Christmas and made loud catcalls to the elderly ladies.

I hope everyone has a fantastic Saturday. Make sure you stay away from any homicidal parrots!
--Betsy

Great Stuff

Mini House Shadowbox 4
A Trip to the Zoo #1
All About Birds
Plastic ferns
Hot glue gun
Ink jet printer
Tea Dye Distress Ink Pad
Vintage Photo Distress Ink Pad
Ranger Aqua Acrylic dabber
Verdigras Sparkle embossing powder

Pumpkin House

Hello to all you amazing crafter's out there. Shanna here with a new little Halloween creation to share with you. I played with a new Mini House Shadowbox.  

Step one - Gather up all your goodies your want to alter and give them a coat of gesso. I went with black on everything and then white for the pumpkin.

I used some orange acrylic paint for a base on the pumpkin.

While waiting for this to dry, I sprayed some lace with some pumpkin colors and let that dry. 

Next I glued the lace down on the pumpkin. 

I painted the rest of the pieces I had with more acrylic paint. 

Then added some leftover chunks of scraps I had on my desk to build up dimension. 

I put everything together and then realized it needed to have some sort of feet on it. I also used a Tim Holtz rub on that says October 31. 

I so hope you enjoyed my little pumpkin house. Now go grab your goodies and create! 

Product Used:

Fall Shape Set

Stackable Labels Shape Set

Mini House Shadowbox 4

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Postal Shrine by Jessica

This week I'm bringing you a little bit of a how-to on making a tiny little shrine. Mine is postal themed because I love getting things in the mail, but you can make a shrine with anything.

I'm working with the mini house shadowbox 4 and the 4 panel windows.

I assembled the box using white, PVA glue.

I traced around the window I wanted to use on the outside...

And used a sharp box-cutter to cut out the right sized piece.

Sanded the edges of the cut-out with a nail file

Painted everything white

I used Graphic 45's Typography set for paper, and cut it to size.

All neat and tidy!

I used glue sticks to apply paper so that there's no lumps.

And then I filled it with postal goodies! I added some bobbins for the base.

Some Graphic 45 Typography stickers for window covering.

All pretty and wrapped up.

Don't forget to make the outside just as decorative!

Materials Used
4 Panel Windows
Mini House Shadowbox 4
Graphic 45 Typography set.