Skelly House

 

Happy Saturday, everyone! We've all started decorating for Halloween, right? Today I have a quick project to share that adds to my collection of decorations for the holiday. This cute little assembly came together in a jiffy and used a lot of Halloween paper scraps from my stash.

I started with a GSL Tiny Little Shadowbox House 1. I cut the rear wall paper to size before assembling it with tacky glue. I painted the front edges with black acrylic paint and papered the interior walls and ceiling.  The shadowbox house fits this miniature skeleton perfectly.

I added a moon sticker to the inside of the house and glued that on top of a GSL Bagatelle Box 1.5 x 3 inch that was also decorated with paper scraps.

To foot the project I grabbed some wooden beads and painted them black. They fit perfectly onto a Q-Tip which made them easy to paint as well as supported them while the paint dried.

Miniature glass bottles were filled with different kinds of dried moss. I used straight pins to hold crystal beads in place on top of the bottle corks.

The bottles got tiny labels and were glued in place next to the skeleton house. I grabbed some green Flower Soft to embellish the surface of the piece with a coating of moss.

 

A bit of white glue sets it in place.

Thanks for stopping by!

GSL Products Used

Tiny Little Shadowbox Houses 1

Bagatelle Box 1.5 x 3 inch

Other Supplies Used

Tacky glue

Acrylic paint

Miniature skeleton

Miniature glass bottles

Decorative moss

Crystal beads

Flower Soft

A Secret

Hello crafty friends!  It's Susan, here on the Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts blog.  I'm fascinated by the secrets people keep, from big whoppers to little things that can cause big misunderstandings.  I'm all for honesty and communication, even when it's hard.

Allow me to reveal all...

This "secret" key had been hanging around my stash for at least 5 or 6 years (if not more).  I had the chance recently to work with Stamperia's 'Time is an Illusion' paper, and set aside a small image of a woman's face.  I figured it could be a big element of a small project... then I found the key.  Bingo.

I started with the GSLC Tiny Little Shadowbox Houses #1.  This comes as a set of two houses.

I gave it a coat of white gesso first.  I thought at first I'd do a light base color, hence the white gesso.  I quickly decided to go dark, and repainted the seams with black.  (I took the photo after the shingles were added, so ignore them for a minute.)

And a minute's up!  It's shingle time.  I used Tiny Shingles - Standard, alternating the seams.  (At this point, I thought I would hang something from the roof, but ended up skipping it and covering the hole.)

Once one side was fully shingled, I added shingles to the other side but left the last one off to give the scissors room to trim.  Before cutting, it's best to allow the glue to dry completely overnight.  Trim the shingles on both sides, then add the final layer.  I held that final piece in place until the glue set up, in order to ensure there wasn't a gap at the top.  Once dried, I trimmed that one, too.

The keyhole got a coat of Lumiere brown metallic paint, then I lightly swooshed my finger across the high details with a little copper metallic paint.  It took a few swooshes to get the coverage I wanted.

By this time in my project, the papers are adhered with modge podge, except the inside bottom.  The night before, I used E-6000 to attach the painted black base to the shadowbox, with the intention of adding the final paper once the E-6000 dried.  The next day I realized the weight of the key would have made this top-heavy with such a small base, so I added a metal washer and wider wood.  Once that cured overnight, I painted with black gesso then acrylic.

I'll share a secret with you:  I use the washer trick a lot.  I really makes a difference for the stability of shadow boxes, altered Altoids tins, and the like.  Plus, layering wood bits in this way helps give projects their own uniqueness.

Now, back to the face image... I love that she's right behind the key.  Does she have secrets, or is she the secret?

Thanks for your visit today!

Cheers
Susan

Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts Used
Tiny Little Shadowbox Houses 1 - #C20A
Tiny Shingles Standard BB57A
Keys Engraved D12Q - coming soon

Other Supplies Used
Stamperia Time Is An Illusion
black gesso
black acrylic paint
wood bits
E-6000
TH "secret" metal key
Tiny eye screw
White glue
Black twine
Metallic paints
Pilot gold marker
Tiny gold balls