COMPENDIUM OF CURIOSITIES III CHALLENGE 17 ~ WOODLANDS AND TINSEL TWINE

Ho Ho Ho Everyone!  It's the first weekend in DECEMBER 

and time for the latest Compendium of Curiosities III Challenge.  

The lovely Linda Ledbetter of Studio L3 is hosting these challenges and we're all having so much fun sharing Tim Holtz' amazing techniques and products from his series of Compendium of Curiosities books with all of you.  There are two fabulous prizes given away with every challenge; one awarded by the Curiosity Crew (NOT an easy task) and the other a random winner.  If you're not already joining us, I hope you will!  It's a great way to meet new friends, learn all sorts of fun new things, share your art with others and maybe win some cool prizes! 

Turn to page 60 in your Compendium of Curiosities III book and check out Woodlands and Tinsel Twine.  It's so close to Christmas now and THE PERFECT time to use these products from Tim's Ideaology line. Since this is a product challenge and not a technique challenge, I can share all of my steps in creating my project this week!

I love this time of year and these particular products so much that I decided to make TWO pieces to share with you.  Since I'll be sharing all of the steps to create these, this post has lots of pictures.  So grab a cuppa hot cocoa and enjoy!

I totally LOVE making little vintage Christmas ornaments. The two ornaments I am sharing with you today remind me of ornaments that hung on my childhood Christmas trees. Ah...what sweet memories! My globe ornament had an angel in it and it was given to me by my paternal grandparents. Oh what I would give to have that ornament now! The house is also similar to little village houses and ornaments we used to have.

Both the house ornament and the glass dome ornament are from Melissa Frances. The house measures approximately 4" x 2" (just the house) the base measures 5" x 3".  They are just plain chipboard that you can paint, stain or cover with paper.  For this newest addition to the neighborhood, I decided to use papers from Tim's Merriment Christmas paper pad.

The glass dome ornament measures approximately 3" square.  I decided to use these two Melissa Frances items to show you that you can use Tim's products to give a real vintage charm to almost anything!  His Woodland Trees and Tinsel Twine really perk up any Christmas home decor piece you are making.

Let's start with the glass dome instructions.

I began by painting the plain chipboard base (front and back) with Ranger's White Gesso and heat setting it. Once that was dry, I lightly distressed it with Vintage Photo Distress Ink to age that stark white finish. Then I painted some Matte Multi Medium in a circle on the base top and laid down a piece of "snow blanket" (you can find this at any craft store this time of year) that I cut into a circle to lay on the base. I also lightly sprayed it with some honey spray to age it. This snow blanket has little silver specks already in it for an even more vintage look. 

 **Important note:  Use the glue on the chipboard piece rather than the backside of the "snow" before pressing into place.  If you are using a white glue, even though it is supposed to dry clear, if you dab the glue on the back side of the "snow" and then press it into place, you will still see where you have dabbed the glue.  It is much better if you smoothly smear the glue out onto the chipboard surface and then press it into place. No gobs of glue visible!

 I had a little Santa candle that I found at Home Goods recently while I was in California.  I cut off the tea light style base and that made Santa the perfect height to fit under my glass dome. Next I used one of Tim's smaller Woodlands Trees from the Mini Tree Lot Collection to stand proudly next to Santa under my glass dome.  

To give this tree a different look, I masked the middle and top of the tree.  

Next I sprayed the bottom with Peeled Paint Distress Spray and removed the masking tape. 

 When the green section was dry, I masked the middle and bottom (green part) of the tree and sprayed the top with Fired Brick Distress Spray. 

 I love the candy cane effect! Then I added some Glossy Accents (using my finger) to the tree by tapping it onto the branch tips and I sprinkled Ranger's Diamond Fine Glitter over the Glossy Accents.  Man oh man!  TALK ABOUT SPARKLE!!!  It's amazing how much PAZAZZ you get out of just a tiny bit of that glitter! 

I wanted to add a little string of beading to the Christmas tree but I didn't have any silver chain.  No worries!  I simply changed the color of an antiqued bronze ball chain to silver by dabbing it with my Distress Antique Pewter Paint Dabber.  Easy peasy!  

Once dry, I hot glued the chain at the back of the tree top, circled it around the tree and hot glued it at the bottom of the tree. I had hot glued a silver star to the top of the tree but later had to remove it because it was too tall to fit under the dome. (I also had to cut off the wooden bottom of the Woodlands Tree for it to fit under the dome.) 

I hot glued the tree in place to the base and then hot glued Santa in his place next to the fancy tree. I added "Merry Christmas" in front with dabs of hot glue 

and a small present to the backside of Santa and the tree. The present is just two little stacked pieces of plain chipboard wrapped in a scrap of Tim's Merriment paper and tied with a red bow. 

Next I glued the globe to the base with Glossy Accents and held it in place for a minute or so to be sure it was holding.  I used a piece of holly garland that I've had for a long time (also found at a large craft store) and wrapped some of Tim's Silver Tinsel Twine around it. That Silver Tinsel Twine really livened up the holly garland!  I then started at the back of the dome and spot glued the garland all the way around the base using hot glue.  

 Finally, I added a piece of Tim's red Winter Tinsel Twine at the top of my dome as a tree hanger and a "Christmas Wishes" Tidings Token dangling from the hanger with a Jump Ring (seen in the photo at the top of this post).

On to the miniature house instructions.

This little house can be used as a Christmas tree ornament, under a glass dome as part of a little Christmas scene, or in a little neighborhood. 

I began by laying the house pieces face up on top of my paper selections and tracing around them.  Then I cut them out and using some matte medium, I glued the papers in place. 

Once dry, I used Tim's Kraft Knife and a cutting pad to trim away the excess paper.

Next I added my embellishments to the house while it was still flat. I love these little metal pieces! They were sent to me by Gaby; a dear friend in Germany who does some amazing art! We actually became friends through blogging so that is what I mean when I say that you're missing out if you're not getting involved with the Compendium Challenges! Anyway ... back to my little Christmas house ...

I chose these sweet little antique bronze metal pieces that Gaby sent to me and I painted them with Tim's Antique Linen Distress Paint.  Once dry, I gave them a quick spritz of Biscotti Perfect Pearls Mist to give them a sparkly sheen. I glued them in place on my house with Glossy Accents.

I added some Platinum Stickles accents to the metal pieces and also to the corrugated fence and the paper window and door frames (painted with Antique Linen) that would later be glued into place. The Platinum Stickles can take on lots of different colors, primarily gold or an antique silver and it compliments anything. I love how just a small touch of the stickles can add such a festive yet vintage feeling to so many things. When the Stickles were dry, I glued the windows and door in place using 1/8" double sided Scor Tape.

Once I was happy with the embellishments on my house, I glued it together at the back corner using hot glue to firmly hold it in place. Next I hot glued the roof in place. 

The roof of my house would normally be pretty plain but with Tim's Winter Tinsel Twine collection, adding some green Tinsel Twine along the roof life really sets it off and adds that holiday sparkle! I added the Tinsel Twine with a bead of hot glue and worked in little sections at a time. 

I used Tim's new Pine Twine to create a tiny wreath to place above the door of my house and I also created a garland to hang along the picket fence. 

 I fashioned some little bows out of red and green Christmas ribbon and hot glued them in place on my Pine Twine. I added sparkles of Platinum Stickles right onto the Pine Twine. Amazing how much just a touch of Stickles here and there adds to the Pine Twine!

Next I added the "snow" base onto the piece of plain chipboard that was included in the set.  I started by painting all sides of the base with Picket Fence Distress Paint and letting it dry.  Once dry, I added a piece of "snow blanket" just as I had done earlier on my glass dome ornament. This time, I cut a piece of the "snow blanket" a little bigger than the base. Once it was glued in place, I cut around the base to get rid of the excess snow blanket.  

Time to add snow to the roof!  I cut a piece from the snow blanket about the size of the roof and laid it on top of the roof.  Then I began snipping away at the snow blanket so that I had some snow on the roof but it was not completely covered.  I also cut a hole in the center for the ornament hanger to push through. I glued the snow on the roof in place just as I had done on the base, pressing until it was firmly in place. I hot glued the little wreath in place above the door. 

I decided to add a bit more of a vintage feeling to my ornament so I added some more of Tim's green Tinsel Twine from the Winter Collection completely around the outside edge of the base. I glued the twine in place with a bead of hot glue, working in sections just as I had done with the roof line.

My house was "built" and it was time to put the little ornament kit all together.  I hot glued the picket fence to the right side of the base.  Then I hot glued the house in place on top of the snow base. Time to add Tim's Woodlands tree to the left of the house!

 

I used another of the smaller trees from Tim's Woodlands Mini Tree Lot.  They are cream colored so you can make them any color you want.  I love that!  I cut off the base of the tree so that it would not be quite so tall. This time I sprayed the tree first with Shabby Shutters Distress Stain followed by spritzes of Peeled Paint Distress Stain.  Once dry, I added some Glossy Accents (using my finger) to the tips of the tree and sprinkled it with Ranger's Diamond Fine Glitter. Next I added little touches of White Embossing Paste and sprinkled a tag more glitter over it while wet. Once dry, I hot glued the tree into place on the snow base. Next I added little "ornaments" to the tree using Candy Cane Stickles that I simply squeezed onto the tree in a little round ball shape.  

While the "ornaments" on the tree were drying, I found a tiny reindeer that I had in my stash of Christmas stuff and added a little snow to her back using White Embossing Paste and the Diamond Glitter.  Then I hot glued her into place next to the tree in the front yard. 

I stuck the ornament hanger (included with the ornament kit) in place. To the back of the roof I hot glued another of my Christmas stash stuff; a plastic red script "Merry Christmas". I love the vintage look it adds!

Finally, to give an even more vintage look, I lightly sprayed areas of my ornament with spray adhesive and gently sprinkled them Mica Flakes "snow". I love that finished look that the Mica Flakes give and when I look at these little ornaments, I am taken back to when I was a little girl.  I remember those Mica Flakes sprinkled on Christmas ornaments and some decorations to give that look of vintage snow.  I'm so glad that that snow is still available.  I usually buy a box or two when I run across it this time of year.

I just keep adding to my Christmas collection of new handmade "goodies" this year!  These little ornaments are so much fun to make and display and they have so much more character than I can capture with the camera!

Now it's YOUR turn to create something using Tim's Woodlands trees and Tinsel Twine. Then link up to our challenge and join the fun!  This challenge's sponsor are the wonderful people of Inspiration Emporium who are offering a $50.00 gift certificate to one of our lucky winner. Thank you Inspiration Emporium for your generous prize!

 And as always, there is a wonderful selection of Tim's products awaiting our other lucky winner. This generous prize package was donated by Tim and Mario and all of us at  The Compendium of Curiosities Challenge THANK THEM for their support!

Good luck everybody!!