Working on the Front of Santa's Work Shop

Hello everyone,

Hope you are all well. Christmas is getting closer and closer. I just hope that this project will be finished just in time for Christmas. I am very sure that my kids Matthias and Raquel will love it. I also wanted to welcome a new follower to my blog. Welcome Ozden Ceyhan! 

Today I will be sharing with you what I have done in this past week. I have worked mostly on the front panel of Santa's Work Shop which is one of the most important parts of the whole project. The front indicates if it is really a Christmas project or not and so far I think I have succeeded.

The front of Santa's Work Shop

So first I started working on the round window on the top floor. Originally this window came with a cross section which I have removed then I found a nice Christmas stained glass pattern to fit this window perfectly. I have traced it with a special painting material then painted it with glass paints. I love how it turned out as it came out very realistic.

Working on the stained glass

The Stained Glass

The finished window

Then I added some red fret wood decoration to make it look a bit more festive. Obviously I choose a warm red to paint them.

The fret wood decoration

After that I started working on the porch. Now this was a tricky one. The original kit had a very wide open porch which took a lot of space. So I decided to cut half the flooring and use the other half to do the ceiling of the porch. I got myself 4 long posts and some more decorative fret wood. Painted them in the same warm red. I also used pop sticks to do the flooring.

The Porch

 So this is how it is looking so far. I still have to add the snow effect and obviously the Christmas decorations. I am very pleased with the outcome so far. I hope you like it. Please keep tuned as I have more to share.

Wishing you all a very happy weekend.

Take Care and See you soon.

Rebecca xxx

Santa's Work Shop - Building the Top floor!

Hello my dear Friends,

I hope that you are all well. Christmas is in the air even if it is still November. Most of the shops are already decorated with hollies and lights. People are already buying their Christmas presents. I should start thinking about that too. I want to welcome two new followers of my blog Green Eyed Monster and jmckinnon100. Welcome and Thank You for Joining!

Today I am going to share with you the building of the top floor of Santa's Work Shop. This room is going to be transformed into Santa's quarters and office. I have done the parquet flooring with lolly pop sticks and stained them with a walnut varnish. I  like how it turned out. You can also see the change in the stair case.

The parquet flooring with lolly pop sticks.

Unlike the ground floor this room is very small due to the slanting roof on both the sides so I have altered one side of the roof to gain more space. I  have opened one of the sides of the roof and extended it with a large dormer window. This helped a lot even to add some more pieces of furniture. While building, Santa decided to come and visit to see how things where progressing. He seemed happy with the outcome. 

The extension of the dormer window.

Then I built a small roof and added it to the rest of the roof. I plastered the gaps and will be giving an overall coat of plaster to the whole roof before adding the scenic snow. I also added a chimney as the original kit came without it. The dormer window has been painted in the same green matching the facade. The roof still needs to be covered in snow and the dormer window walls have to be covered with lolly pop sticks just like the facade. 

Then I started working inside the top floor. I choose a green and red stripped wall paper for it and have added the beams.

The new improved Top Floor

I hope you like what I did so far. Will be sharing with you more of my progress very soon so please keep tuned.

Take care and see you soon. 

Rebecca xxx

Dressing Up Mrs. Claus!

Hello Everyone,

I hope you all had a great weekend. I just had 5 minutes to spare for my blog. I really don't know what's happening but at the moment I am being really busy. I have been so busy that this past week I didn't do much on my miniatures or on my new project. It is very frustrating when this happens. 

I also wanted to welcome two new followers of my blog Ellarina and my dearest friend Patty who is a great miniaturist herself. WELCOME! It is very encouraging to have 45 followers in the past year. Thank you everyone! 

Today I wanted to share with you my Mrs. Claus doll. I have realized that you find all sorts of Santa Claus dolls in 12th Scale for Christmas projects but it is very rare to find Mrs. Claus unless you go to a doll maker and ask for her.

The Lovely Couple Santa and Mrs. Claus

 So I went to my big chest where I have all my unused miniatures stashed away for a rainy day and I found an old woman doll which I never had used. This doll was given to me as a freebie not something that I really cared for but she was perfect for this particular project.

The old lady doll

Removing her clothes 

So I decided to transform this old lady doll into Mrs. Claus. I removed he clothing and made her a new outfit. First I did her petty coat so the skirt will look fuller. I also made more padding on her chest as the doll was quite flat. and started sewing her dress and apron. The dress has been hand stitched by me.  I loved her hair and bun and it was a shame to cover it with a mob hat so I did something a bit different. I also added a pair of spectacles. And here is how she looks.

The New Mrs. Claus

 I hope you all like her. I am really pleased with her. Well Santa is really happy to have her too. 

Keep tuned as I have more to share very soon.

Take Care.

Rebecca xxx