Jolly Little Christmas Floats with Tutorial

My kid decided he was too old for trick-or-treating this year, but not too old for a Christmas parade. Before moving here I was never really into parades. Standing around in questionable weather? Nah, thanks. Discovering night parades swayed my grinchy mind. The lights! The magic! *swoon*

And while these wee things aren't all lit up (although you could absolutely add lights!) I'm smitten with the bright sparkly cheeriness of these wee floats.

To make these little floats I simply added Wheels 1 inch Fancy and Wheels 1.5 inch Straight to Chunky ATC Blanks.

Glittered Chipboard Shingles - Pointed added around the edges complete the base.

Then it's just a matter of filling up those floats! I've used bottlebrush trees, miniature packages and decorations and a vintage looking Santa. All of those bits were bought in the holiday aisle at the discount shop.

Cute. Easy. Inexpensive. Yes please!

I have a little video to show you exactly how to put these pretty things together right HERE.

I need to make a slew of these to create an entire holiday parade for my mantle!

Want to make your own too? Here are the supplies I used:

Wheels 1 inch Fancy 

Wheels 1.5 inch Straight 

Chunky ATC Blanks

Chipboard Shingles - Pointed

Ribbon

Glitter

Holiday paper

Buttons

Bottlebrush trees

Tiny gift and ornament baubles

Plastic vintage looking Santas

White glue

Hot glue

Acrylic paint

Thin dowling or bamboo sticks

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