Miniature Greenhouse Ornament

 Y'all!!!  First off, thank you for being here!  Thank you for watching this year-long journey of filling my Bird Themed Christmas Tree with only handmade ornaments!  Now that I said that... I will probably add real feathers to my tree.  Just sayin.  

This little greenhouse...  I LOVE!  It was tedious and really fun to make.  I pondered on how to do this one for about a month until I finally just made myself sit down and start.  I used wooden "skinny sticks", painted and crackled, for the frame and clear plastic packaging from my Swiffer floor wipes container for the glass.  But the inside decor... wow was it fun and soooo tiny.  Way smaller than what I am used to.  Let's get to it shall we??

I really don't know where to start.  I just measured and cut as I went.  The dimensions of the finished greenhouse are 5 1/2 inches tall by 4 inches long by 2 1/2 inches wide.  The greenhouse itself is actually 5 inches tall but at the end I had to add a gable (don't know if that's the right word or not) to the top in order to add the hanger.

I used a base coat, then school glue and then white paint on top to get the weathered look.

The tops of Swiffer floor wipes containers are the best.  Not flimsy like other packaging.  

They are my favorite to use for windows.

Here is where I began making garden benches and shelving for the inside.  I used skinny sticks and matches for the leg.

I wound up not using these wooden pots as they are too big.

So, I found a template for pots online and used some of them. 

The potting soil bags are my favorite!  I found a picture of a bag online and placed two side by side and printed them out.  I used the same method as my Feed Sacks found HERE.  I filled it with glue and decorative sand then added coffee to the top as my dirt.  I also made a couple that look unopened.

I wanted a brick walkway out front and down the middle.  I used egg carton bricks, painted and clear coated them, then used joint compound to fill in the gaps.

The garden hose is just painted, curled up wire with a cardstock tip.

The trowel is cardstock, wire and the tip from a fancy toothpick.

The watering can is made from cardstock and for the spout I used a straw from my WD-40 can.

I have a watering can tutorial that you can find HERE.  Although this one is much smaller.

I found a book cover just like a gardening book that I used to have.  I printed it and added some premade, aged pages.

When making these houses, everything has to be put inside before you can finish the outside.  

It's all fun!

I found and printed some seed packets and as you can see in the pic below, there is a basket with chicken eggs inside!  Which makes it A-Ok to be on my bird tree lol!

And apparently, I got so excited to finish putting it together that I didn't take pictures.  (eyeroll)

I took it to Easter at my sisters house to show them.  So this is me and you can tell the size of the greenhouse too.

I made so many tiny things for this project!  

What would you like to see next??  Any ideas for me?

Thanks for stopping by and going on the journey with me!  

XOXO ~Laurie

Miniature Barn Ornament

 Howdy Doo Friends!!  Let me just tell you, I have been having some fun around here.  I currently have three new ornaments to blog on!  YAY!  Also, I have decided, as all of these are for my Bird Themed Christmas Tree, that as long as they have bird eggs, birds on them or in them or just a bird itself, it's OK to be on my bird tree!  As long as that's settled, here is my precious little barn dance barn.

This little gem stands 3.75 inches tall by 2.5 inches wide by 3.5 inches long.  Going back to 1:12 scale after this is going to seem like making items for a giant!  

As usual, I made this one out of chipboard.  I cut the pieces out and didn't take any pictures of that part.  But I covered the insides using scrap book paper from my stash. For the "wooden" siding and flooring I had to do a few samples.  I wanted the weathered look but couldn't decide what basecoat color I wanted.  I chose my chocolate shimmer that I love so much and went with a mix of red and red shimmer acrylic paint on top.  I simply painted the brown and let that dry then went on top with school glue and painted on the red while the glue was still wet.  That is what gives the crackle effect.

The flooring has the same brown undercoat with mushroom and buttermilk paints on top.

I also went around the edges of the red planks with a paintbrush and the mushroom paint for dimension and used my brown ink pad to go around the edges of the flooring planks.  I cut each strip 1 centimeter wide.

I went in with the glue around the inside edges and sprinkled saw dust because that's what is on the floor of a barn dance!

I wanted a party banner for the inside so I found a tiny, thin piece of lace from my stash and draped it around the inside of the barn making sure that the front piece could be seen through the doorway.

I made the tiniest hay bales I've ever seen using cut blocks of balsa wood, glue and sawdust.

The rooster, hen and chick came from a yard sale years ago.  They are cast iron and have little wires for legs which is perfect to stick them down in something.  So... there are my birds on this piece!

I also thought that a tiny barn dance needed a couple of instruments.  At this point I believe I have lost my mind!  I don't own the tee-tiny paint brushed needed to make these look really real.  So, they turned out a little sloppily painted but the eye will never know at a distance.  I made a Bass and a Banjo!  I drew a Bass shape on a piece of cereal box and cut it out, then glued that to another piece, and then two more cutting each out along the way and painted it.

I also went to my computer and looked up county fair, circus and just old posters for the inside walls.  And, for the outside banner, I found a blank banner online then added Barn Dance, Saturday Night to it and glued it to the front.

Here you can see the finished instrument in the corner waiting to be played.

The plant in the corner and also to the right of the front doors is just twine that I cut and brushed.

Here's the banjo.  It is just four hole punches glued together, and cereal box cut and glued together for the stem or whatever it's called.

The roof is deconstructed cardboard that I pulled off both of the top and bottom layers because I wanted to stretch it out more while gluing it down.  I originally wanted to paint See Rock City on the roof.  I tried it and it did not look good.

I also made a disco ball from a bead with glued on glitter and a longhorn skull made from wire and air-dry clay.

I mixed black paint with gunmetal metallic paint for the roof and added a bit of rust using paint.

And there she is!  Ready for the Barn Dance!

If you like this one or have any questions, please comment!

These are so fun and really don't take that long to make.

Thank you for stopping by!

Got any more ideas for my Bird Themed Christmas Tree??  Let me know!

XOXO ~Laurie