Christmas Ideas
Christmas in Miniature
Working with miniatures is one of my favourite things to do. When I moved to a smaller place, I had to give up the large Christmas village buildings I’d collected over time, but I kept all the trees and miniature people. Every year, I look for new pieces to add to my collection.
This year, I was inspired to create Christmas in miniature, using the pieces I had in my stash, along with a couple of new ones. I think the last project I did is my favourite. Let me know what you think.
Gathering Around the Tree
Supplies Used
- small cloche (Dollar Tree)
- small bottlebrush tree (on hand)
- four mini Christmas figurines
- hot glue
- spray paint (optional)
- fabric ribbon (optional)
I got the cloches I’m using here at Dollar Tree. Last summer, in a rare moment of foresight, I used spray paint on the bases. (It’s too cold for spray painting in December!) This one got a couple of coats of red.
This is optional, but I had bought a couple of new rolls of fabric Christmas ribbon at Dollarama and thought this red snowflake ribbon was the perfect accent hot glued around the base of the cloche. I then glued the tree in the middle of the base.
Then all I did was to sit each of the four figurines at intervals around the tree. I didn’t even find it necessary to glue them down, although you may choose to do so.
Christmas Tree Farm
Supplies Used
- small cloche
- two small bottlebrush trees
- miniature fence with bird and wreath (Dollarama)
- hot glue
- twig
- piece of popsicle stick
- pen or fine-tipped marker
- scissors
(I’m sure I took a picture of all the supplies, but I must have accidentally deleted it. Doh!) I should have also taken a picture of how I placed the trees on the cloche base, but you can see how they were placed in the last photo.
I wanted a sign for my tree farm so I cut about a 1-1/2 inch piece of a medium sized craft stick and stained it using watered down brown paint. Then I cut some notches out of either end of the sign to make it look more like an old board.
I ended up not liking this version of the sign (my printing leaves a lot to be desired), so I turned it over and printed “Christmas Trees, Cut Your Own,” on it.
Then I glued the sign to a piece of found twig measuring about 2-1/2 inches long and hot glued the twig to the fence.
This picture shows how everything came together with the two trees sitting behind the fence.
I ended up using a piece of fabric ribbon around the base of this cloche, as well.
A Forest Scene
Supplies Used
- wood slice (about 8 inches long) (Dollar Tree)
- three assorted trees (on hand)
- two mini forest animals (on hand)
- a round wood birch piece (Dollar Tree)
- two mini pinecones
- hot glue
- faux snow
When I saw this wood slice in the Crafter’s Square aisle at Dollar Tree, I immediately knew what I wanted to do with it. It’s meant to be a sign, but I cut the twine hanger off, as I wanted this to be an ornament for a shelf.
This was very easy to do. I simply arranged all of my pieces on the wood slice until I was happy with the placement and hot glued them down.
For this step, I recommend placing the piece on a large piece of newspaper or other scrap paper to contain the mess.
I used hot glue on one section at a time and covered it with faux snow, repeating until I was satisfied that there was enough coverage. I added a bit of hot glue to the bare tree branches and sprinkled some faux snow on them as well.
The two little pinecones at the front help to balance out the arrangement. This quiet forest scene is my absolute favourite of these projects.
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