Honeydukes Reimagined

I originally planned on turning one of the GSL Corner Room Boxes into a Honeydukes candy shop but changed my mind when I saw the Rotating 4 Scene Room Box. (Alpha stamps) After making a candy themed clock and Honeydukes display I realized I had way too many fun candy shop ideas to fit into a single room. Here's what I came up with.

The room box has a base, two interlocking pieces that make up the walls of the rooms, an 'X' shaped piece that goes at the top and four rectangular pieces that fit on the wall edges. It also comes with a lazy susan turntable to spin it. I painted all of the surfaces that weren't going to be papered with a base coat of gesso then a cream colored acrylic paint.  The piece was assembled using tacky glue.

I chose the black and cream Checkers paper from Graphic 45's Mother Goose collection for all of the room's floors. 

The papers I used for the walls were Recollections Light Pink Stripes, Bo Bunny The Avenues, Imaginisce Hey Foxy and a pink and white Random Dot from Paper Studio. 

The baseboards were made from tongue depressors. I used cutters to get them to size. A sanding block took the rough edges off. They were then painted cream and glued into place. 

I used Super Glue to adhere the turntable to the bottom before I started the decorating process.

The Honeydukes display case was placed into the pink striped room. I made a small wall shelf from one of the Mini Shadowbox Set boxes. I painted it to match the display case and filled it with jars of poly clay cane slices and some giant peppermint lollipops made from glass beads and wire. 

The clock was given it's own space that I decorated with Ella & Viv candy heart papers from their Candy Land Tray set into resin frames. The pink pots are holding snippets of plastic flowers. 

I knew I wanted to have a quiet space for the students to do their homework. That's the GSL Table & 2 Chairs 1:12 with a scrap of felt as seat cushions. I glued a hook on the wall for a student's owl cage. The 'Shhh' sign is made from free clip art I found online. 

 The table has a tea pot, two cups, a jar of candy (of course) and two miniature books. 

The last room was inspired by many of the places I took my girls when they were little. Lots of places that kids hang out have birthday party celebration rooms so I added one at my version of Honeydukes. The presents are made from papered wooden blocks and tiny bows, the cake is made of polymer clay, the heart balloons are made from acrylic vase filler hearts glued onto floral wire. The banner was printed using a Harry Potter font and glued onto baker's twine, held in place by heart shaped buttons.

I hope you were transported along with me, thanks for stopping by!

Gypsy Soul Items Used

Rotating 4 Scene Room Box

Grandfather Clock 1:12

Round Table & 2 Chairs 1 to 12

Mini ShadowboxSet

Small Trinket Shelf  Stand (coming soon)

Other Items Used

Tacky glue

Super Glue

Gesso

Acrylic paint

Tongue depressors

Recollections Light Pink Stripes

Bo Bunny The Avenues

Imaginisce Hey Foxy 

Pink and white Random Dot from Paper Studio

Ella & Viv Candy Land Tray

Resin Frames

Wooden blocks

Miniature bows

Vase filler hearts

White floral wire

Miniature bottles

Polymer clay

Polymer clay canes

Printed labels

Miniatures

Darkly Delightful Bathing Machine for Grim Days at the Beach

The April showers might bring May flowers but right now they are making my landscape rather grim. Don't get me wrong, I am a fan of grim things and rainy days. Rather than fight against the current weather conditions, I'm going to embrace them and make something darkly delightful.

This little "Bathing Machine" is based on the 18th and 19th century change rooms wheeled into the sea by by-gone beachgoers. But what if the Adams' ancestors went to the beach? Or the Munsters? OR MARY SHELLEY OR EGAR ALLAN POE OR... well, you get the point. I'm sure they'd all visit the seaside on rainy days. I'd like to think they had a creepy little space for changing into their wading attire and doing a little fortune telling to see if the water was fine.

Gypsy Soul does have a proper Gypsy Wagon available if you're feeling more ambitious, but I like this little fella. It's a fun kit and there are LOADS of customization possibilities. Travelling snake oil salesman, a tiny portable library, a sideshow trailer... oooh, so many ideas!

Two tips I will mentions.

1. I am terrible at applying hinges so I glued my door in place and ajar. If you do the same, just be aware of the door placement so that you can still add the stairs.

2. I used the Chipboard Shingles - Half Scale Sampler for the shingles. One package is enough to do the entire roof. You might want to position the bottom row of shingles lower than I have. (Don't tell anyone but I think it would have looked a bit better with more of an overhang.)

If you'd like to see the process to create this particular piece, the walk through is available HERE.

And here are all of the supplies I used to create this version of this project: 

Bathing Machine

Chipboard Shingles - Half Scale Sampler

Round Table & 2 Chairs

Leafy Corners
Faux Metal Number Plates 1 to 25

Miniature terrain grass
Moss and faux flowers
Bead caps
Thin Looped Dresden Border
Black Zig Zag Dresden Borders 

Paper straw

1/8" doweling

Graphic45 - Rare Oddities
Acrylic paint

Glass marble

Madam Zorba's Gypsy Table

Hey crafters, welcome back - Jess here to show you another miniature project with GSLC products. This week I'm showing you how to make a platform and a tablecloth to put on the table and chairs set from GSLC.

To begin with, I cut off a piece of pink insulation foam (I get mine from Home Depot). I'm using 1 inch thick foam. Then I glue on 1 inch high balsa wood to cover up the foam. The balsa is super easy to sand down and cut to shape.

I've base painted my table and chairs set black here and fit them on the base to make sure everything will fit alright in the end - looks like we're good to go.

Using the top of the table as an idea - I found a lid and traced it onto a completely dried out baby wipe. You can see here about how much larger you'll need to make the circle compared to the table. Using scissors, cut the circle as neatly as possible.

This is a simple picture for a finicky part. I hot glued the top of the table cloth down - that's easy enough. Then comes a "pinch and fold" technique - I do 4 points first (like a crosshair), and then in between those. So, pinch, fold over and hot glue to hold it.

Then paint the whole top and undercoat black. It takes a while to dry because it sucks up the paint so well.

I added my own colour scheme to the table cloth - a shimmering green, and I dry brushed the chairs with a dark green as well. And I painted the base they sit on with shades of black and grey. Then you just have to add your own decorations to the scene. For mine, I added gypsy decorations, for Madam Zorba - check out the finished project below!

The entire view.

Other side.

Some occult books and a candle set.

A tarot card reading set up.

Ouija board set up and some money that's been made for seances.

Another stack of occult books

Of course more books!

GSLC Materials

Round Table & Chairs Set 1:12

The Crafty Goblin Materials

Miniature Witches Books

The Good Witch's Tea Party

It's October and I've been thoroughly enjoying myself, making all sorts of Halloween goodies. While so much of the focus of Halloween (especially retail) is on skeletons and coffins and monster mashes, for some it's much more about the magic that takes place this time of year. Halloween isn't all doom and gloom. For some of us it's a joy! And so, here is the 'Good Witch's Tea Party', a sweet, not-at-all-grim celebration!

I've used the Round Table and Chairs and very simply painted them white. Narrow Gold Fleur Dresden Borders* have been added as a simple accent and these Victorian Drop or Handle - Raw Brass pieces fit just so as a decorative element on the back of the chairs.

Then it's just a matter of adding tiny bits and pieces! I've added all sorts of things a good witch would like for her tea party. There's a little crystal ball, a cup with tea leaves, cakes and jam... all sorts! If witchery isn't your jive, create your own theme and add elements that complement or reflect that.

Work in layers and try to create some height to make your little scene visually interesting. Have fun with the details and let your imagination soar! Try making a list of all the things you'd like to include. I'm sure you'll fill that tiny table in no time at all.

Although it's very simple to assemble the Round Table and Chairs I do have a very quick video of it's construction.

If you're interested in going even tinier (crazy, I know!) Gypsy Soul has an itty bitty 1:24 scale version of the round table and chairs too.

But here's the supply round up for this particular version:
1:12 Scale Round Table and Chairs

Narrow Gold Fleur Dresden Borders* Victorian Drop or Handle - Raw Brass

Some of the miniature accessories include:
Pumpkin Pods
Pewter Dollhouse Dishes
Mini Resin Honey Jars
Mini Silicone Cake Mold Set
and loads of other miniature accessories available HERE