Christmas Advent Carousel hack - pt 2

So once the rooftops are out of the way and you've cleaned up all that glitter, we can move on to putting a house or two (or 25) together. First I cut out a container, drawer and back, then score them on the lines for folding.

You can ad masking tape to hold the tabs while they dry. I had to sand the edges of my first one with an emery board because it was such a tight fit. I don't use a glue gun for the houses because I don't like bumps on my houses but I will use a glue gun later to give the project extra support, just not on my houses because I want them as smooth as possible. I'm very sloppy with a glue gun.

You may have to do a little trimming and massaging things into place depending on how well your lines are scored. It's OK if it doesn't line up exactly because we're going to cover it with paper anyway and trim where necessary.

I painted the sides on my drawer and container that I wasn't going to cover with paper. No need to paint the bottom of the container as it will be glued to the platform.

The rest is just making it look pretty and gluing things into place. 

Two down and only 23 more to go. And that might take a couple of days but after I get at least nine houses made, I'll move on to part 3 and go over putting it together bottom layer first.

This is my pattern that you can use:

    

Next: Making the platforms and stacking layers - pt 3

Christmas Advent Carousel Hack - pt 1

I'm pretty busy from now until Christmas but I've only planned two Christmas projects for the end of this year so far. But they are doozies in as far as design, quality, detail and an enormous amount and variety of materials and time to make them. The first one is a Christmas book nook of Santa's Workshop. I've reached a stopping point on that one until I can find just the right bottle brush tree to use. And my plexiglass is scratchy so I'll have to try to buff it out or buy a new piece.

You can do this one right along with me and maybe we'll get it done before Christmas. Well, at least I will because I'm moving right along!

My biggest project is a Christmas Advent Carousel made with houses and inspired by the Hobby Lobby wooden advent project that many people cannot find because it sells out quick or is out of their reach budget wise. I've decided to make my own version. So I sat down and calculated the size I need to make based on two basic patterns I combined, redrew and enlarged for the little houses I wanted. 

FIVE LAYERS

For the rotating levels, I did the math so you don't have to. Getting each part done so it looks like I have a plan. This is a learn as you go and based on the size of my houses which are 2-3/8" wide at the bottom. Five levels! I lost my protractor so I had to print one out. Working on the bottom level with 9 houses, I made a 14" diameter circle and divided it in ninths and will put a house every 40 degrees close to the edge. I need to get some foam core board next shopping trip. Here's the dimension of all the levels:

Bottom level - 9 houses, 14" diameter circle, placement 40°

2nd level - 7 houses, 12" diameter, placement 51.4285714° (51 ½° is close enough)

3rd level - 5 houses, 9 ½" diameter, placement 72°

4th level - 3 houses, 7 ¾" diameter, placement 120°

Top level - 1 house, 5" in diameter, placement center

I cut my templates out of only two pieces of poster board but the levels are not cut out in the middle, unless you want to cut a small hole in the center for running the light strand through on the top four layers. Other than that they are complete circles. I think I am going to make cylinders to help support mine through the center because the houses are lightweight, I don't want to crush them. I made my templates to save paper. You could probably just cut your circles right on the foam core board though and mark the degrees on it.

HOUSE SUPPLIES

I cut out a pattern and made a prototype to get the fit. It fits tight. My drawers pull out from the side cutouts because the knobs are just for decoration, not very functional anyway. There are four parts to my houses. 1) Sides, bottom, roof container, 2) back of container, 3) drawer and 4) rooftop,

You're going to need a lot of cardboard. I had some saved up because I make a lot of stuff using it. I'm still going to need some more to finish this project. You could just use poster board if that's all you can get and just double it up or glue paper to the inside and outside. That will make it stronger but they don't have to be as sturdy as wood because the weight of the upper levels are not going to rest on them anyway. Still, you want them to last from year to year without getting crushed.

So using my templates, I am ready to cut out some more pieces.

When assembling the houses, I leave the plain side on the inside and paint or glue paper to the print side. I also glue my assembly tabs on the container to the outside of the box where necessary so the drawer can easily slide in and out. I cut out paper pieces to cover and decorate the outside on mine.

I make the house numbers from 4 ½ cm x 4 cm squares and glue half round 6mm plastic pearls on them. I use a Spectrum Noir alcohol ink marker #BG5 to hand draw my numbers on.

Measure the front and sides of your box to get a pattern for your paper pieces if you cover them with paper. I got these paper patterns from BlossomPaperArt on Etsy and printed mine out.

THE ROOFTOPS

You can start on these right away. You will need 25 of them at 2 ½" x 4" scored down the middle. I know I'm not consistent. I use both metric and American standard measurements. Sometimes you need to be more accurate so I switch to metric but everybody has a ruler with both, right?

Then I paint mine with acrylic paint and let them dry. You might want to use an undercoat of gesso or thick white paint to cover the printed material completely before you paint the off-white coat. Once they are dry you can mark the shingles with a marker and then add glitter.

I use buffalo snow and a clear crystal glitter but you can use what you like. Once you get them all done, you can set them aside for now.

Coming up in pt 2 - Making a house template and putting them together.

I Love Book Nooks

It's no secret that I love miniatures and miniature houses. I've built several dollhouses and miniatures from scratch. So I just love to put things together. My son bought me a lighted DIY book nook kit for my birthday this summer and it took me all of three days to put it together. I had a few leftover books from it but I used everything else to make it.

It comes with a tube of glue similar to E6000 but I didn't use it for most things. I used a simple white glue that dries clear and spread it with the end of a toothpick for the little tight places.

It's a Beyond Library Book Nook, part Night at the Museum and part Sherlock Holmes but I like it. I don't care how you slice it, it's just cool to look at. It's got a fancy touch light but you can get lights cheaper and easier to place for other projects.

I'm so proud of the way it came together. And I love those dinosaur bones. They were tricky to punch out without breaking but they give you an extra one in the kit just in case you do. I have an extra set of dinosaur bones now.

I really love the wooden laser cut DIY miniature greenhouses and the book nooks but they are a little beyond my budget these days so I wanted to make a book nook from scratch and see how that goes. I figured out the dimensions at about 5-1/2" x 3-1/2" would be a good size to start with and I could make it about 9" tall. So starting with those dimensions, I got busy.

This is my rough sketch. It has to be part book nook, part diorama and part conservatory but I'm going to enclose mine with thin clear acetate sheets to keep the dust out. And I want a little door or pack in the back for holding my light battery pack. I have several ideas with the holidays coming up.

I also want a front that opens in case I want to fix, add or change something inside the box. It can be cut out with poster board or heavy card stock. And you can always double up your paper or add an extra layer to an inside wall to make it more sturdy.

And I want windows in the top but it has to be solid enough to hold lights or a paper or beaded wire chandelier. I may not get all those things incorporated when I'm done but it's a starting plan. If all goes well, I should have a prototype soon and a working model not long after that. And then I'll post a pattern to Thistles and Twiggs so you can download and make one for free. 

Canon's Creative Park as a Graphic Resource

This is a fun little paper extravaganza for you to explore. I will start listing my resources for all things graphics this Fall since I don't have to worry about competitors. I won't be selling anything so I can afford to give them away free if you want to get great graphics at zero cost. It's been a hard year on everyone so get the free stuff anytime you can! 

THIS IS A REVIEW

I discovered Canon Creative Park a few years ago and it's not just for kids. If you have an ink tank printer (or even if you don't) this is a fun way to spend an afternoon making something pretty FOR FREE. Recently I've seen these on some Etsy sites for sale but why buy them when you can get them for free?

Years ago I printed several projects off and put them together. They are all well made and look great. 

They are listed according to difficulty level so you can start with the easy ones and then progress to the really hard ones as you want.

I particularly like the dragons although I haven't made one yet. Look at that rosy-faced lovebird!!!

There are many kits so if you've ever wanted to build a sailing ship or an airplane, you can find it here. There are masks, movable toys, dioramas and puzzles ALL FOR FREE!!!

I was amazed at the number of cute little shop kits you can print. You can put these on heavy card and make them really sturdy. 

I love the folding book houses and little shops. If you've ever done miniatures then you know how fun they can be.

Look at these cute movable toys! 

What Happened with Etsy UPDATE

Not much really. I do not think I want to work my arse off to make money for Etsy any longer. I did enjoy making and working with graphics again. I used to do that for a living but hey, I'm retired. I opened my Etsy shop in late April and it did not make any money for me. The trickle of revenue that came was all eaten up by Etsy fees.

So as it turned out, I made Etsy some money but I decided to let it go after four months of still being in the red. I'm not going to feed it any more so Etsy can reap all the profits in fees. Lesson learned. It was a hobby anyway and I can't afford to give money away to Etsy so I've decided to let the listings expire instead of renewing them, starting August 27th and then over a month or two they will all trickle out.

I will leave the files up for those that did purchase them so they can download them again when needed but NAH! I don't want to work for Etsy for free. I'll probably list some of the graphics for free on Thistles and Twiggs eventually for my friends to enjoy. 

I think at one time Etsy was probably a good venue with low fees and some people probably made a good bit of money with it but I don't think that's the case any more. There are fees for every little thing you put on there and you really have to sell a lot of volume to make any profit at all. Not for me and I won't do that again. Like I said, I didn't make any profit in four months and it actually cost me over all. I still have a negative balance on the balance sheet but I can eat that as a lesson learned.

Now back to doing what I really like and sharing it for free! I will leave Thistles and Twiggs up because I did have a few good tutorials on it that might be useful and who knows, I might want to dabble in the graphic arena again from time to time. 

Files will start to disappear on August 27, 2025 as the listings expire. 

Franken-squirrel & Other Pattern Hacks

I've been pretty obsessed lately with knitting. I know... it's hot. But I have A/C so it's not unbearable sitting at my desk and knitting. I have one of each of the animal patterns that Julie Williams has come out with for knitting these cute little creatures. I usually either buy the boy or the girl but sometimes I get both if I want to make the sweaters and the dresses. This is my third lamb/ram. But right now I'm obsessed with squirrels!

I once knitted and crocheted for two and a half years (in my spare time) without taking a break, one project after another and I was fine with that so I love to knit and crochet. I love to make things and I have to have an outlet from reality. I just can't wait to make the next newest animal pattern and about a week ago I learned there was another new pattern being published by Julie so I got busy making a franken-squirrel since I couldn't get the pattern yet.

The legs, bodies and arms for her boy and girl patterns are all basically the same so I used a leg, arm and body pattern from the boy bear. The body had a white belly, not hard for a seasoned knitter to figure out from the picture by counting stitches but the head was going to be different.

I used the bear head pattern and modified it for the last five rows making the muzzle white and then I just embroidered over the nose part. But I've since discovered that the dog pattern would have given me the exact muzzle I needed from the Doberman instructions and making the last five rows white on the muzzle. The nose and muzzle would have been perfect for the squirrel. Then the pattern became available so I got it.

I used the ears from the fox pattern for my frankensquirrel but I could have made them a little smaller. Then I just added little tufts of yarn to the ends which I will separate and comb out with a wire brush. Positioning them and sewing them on in the right spot makes them look more squirrely. For the eyes, I didn't knit in the white patches, instead I used white felt on my plastic eyes and cut out the circles around them.

I used a capped sleeve pattern from the seasonal dresses instructions and just roughly drew out the acorn and oak leaf pattern to do my color work.

I also wanted my squirrels to wear some Ugg type boots. I got the pattern from Crafty Braam and modified it for making the boy boots a little taller. My yarn for those was a little thicker so the boots turned out perfectly big for his big feet.

I bought the boy pattern because I wanted to make those gorgeous sweaters! I also decided to give my girl squirrel some boots too. I wanted to make her some pink ones but my first try looked like house slippers so I started over. Maybe a different shade of pink would work better. 

I also found a backpack pattern from Mary Jane's Tearoom that I really like and I wanted to fill it with acorns so I found a bunch of free patterns for acorns too. I also found some free knitted oak leaves. I really had fun with these.

New Site for Graphics

So my personal hobby blog was starting to grow into a graphic arts site and I was running out of space here for everything and it was getting hard to keep organized. Graphics were just starting to take over. I have too many hobbies. So I split my site into two (it's happened before) where all my graphic stuff is now on a new blog called Thistles & Twiggs. I moved a lot of free stuff over there including some Cricut cut files. But I turned a lot of it into an ETSY Shop too so I would have some inventory without giving away the farm. So if you got all the free stuff that was here before I converted it, consider yourself lucky! I will still be adding more free stuff too when I get time.

So I've been pretty quiet most of the last few weeks because I've been also working on the new blog live but nobody knew it was there kind of thing. So now it's linked to several places. If you're looking for some free graphics they are over there now. And while you're there, you are welcomed to look around but my ETSY shop probably won't be live for several more days. I'm still checking, double checking and tweaking files learning as I go. Let me know what you think.

I've also spent the last few weeks polishing up and packaging my graphics, designing file templates and building an ETSY shop. I was being urged to do it and honestly I have been really, really hesitant. I consider myself retired and don't want the hassle of handling all these details... BUT I decided to give it a try and see what happens. Grandma Moses didn't start painting until she was 80 so hopefully I still have plenty of time to try something new so Twiggs made me do it.

First time I saw him I thought, "Why is he dumping out good booze?" And then I noticed the bottle was cologne and he was making the flowers smell better. OK so I started to like him and so I named him Twiggs! 

It might look like all this was instant but I've been amassing an archive of graphics for a couple of decades and recoloring them in my spare time. And I used to do graphics design and web programming for a living. But I did have to learn a few new programs on the fly to pull it all together this quick... plus put in a few 14 hour days to boot. What else have I got to do besides chase dust bunnies...  (now you know how I came up with the name for this site)... Thank God I still have some skills that I can use at my age.

Well, that's my story and I'm sticking to it! Check back in a few days and my ETSY shop might be hooked up by then.