In our chaotic world I have found that I need to craft. In some shape or form crafting relaxes me and helps me feel grounded. For two weeks each February our high school stops all regular classes to teach mini courses. This year one of my coworkers suggested a mini course of designing book nooks. Now I have built dollhouses from kits and made miniatures, but I hadn't explored book nooks yet. I wanted to coteach the course! I bought a kit as well as a blank book nook to play around before the course. I didn't have much time for either of course. But the class got me hooked on book nooks!
The idea of our class was each student (and teacher) would get a blank book nook to create in any way each person wanted. We would create our own things to put in it as well as take a field trip to Michael's to buy any supplies or miniatures we wanted with our own money. We taught the kids about planning out their spaces as well as figuring out scales and creating the furniture mostly out of cardboard. I started the first week knowing I wanted to create a backyard scene with bird feeders. I even made some bird feeders out of straws, buttons, and beads before the class. I filled some with poppy seeds, everything but the bagel seeds and made hummingbird ones where I painted the straws red.
I found miniature birds at Michael's. I ordered some fake miniature grass from Amazon and had so much fun planning and then replanning and decorating this book nook. This is the book nook that all the kids got. It came with the lights. I used a suction cup and clay to make the bird bath. I found some blue plastic I had in my dollhouse supplies to use for water and one of the students gave me some of her blue glitter to add sparkle to the water. I used some moss to make trees and glued paper flowers to it. I also used fake flowers and plants for the gardens at the back of the yard. I used popsicle sticks for the fence along the back. I love how it turned out! I put bird stickers around the outside of it. The first week we had many kids make bedrooms, but we also had a scene from Tangled, an underwater scene, a mechanic's garage, a wrestling ring and a greenhouse. The kids were so creative!
For the second week I brought in the kit I had purchased. It has an intricate front that was laser cut. It came with colored lights and also has a dust cover for the opening. I had decided this one would be a tea shop, but I wanted the shop to have space for tea parties or afternoon teas. I decided to add a second floor. I made it out of cardboard.
Since Amazon sent us extra lights with all the school kits we bought, I used one of the extra lights for my first floor. I made shelves out of tongue depressors and wooden beads. I used crystal beads as jars of dried tea. I used the names from a local tea shop I go to for the labels on the jars. I made tea pots out of wire and beads and some out of paper. My counter is cardboard, and the cash register is a printable that I put together. I made the chairs somewhat from scratch as well as the little table between them. The display of treats (on both floors) is from Michael's. It was actually broken which worked better for me. The upstairs tables are cardboard and beads and the chairs are cardboard and coffee stirrers. I used scrapbook paper for the upstairs wallpaper and downstairs floor. I used buttons as plates and had the miniature teacups with my dollhouse supplies. I made paper flowers using some templates for my Cricut, but I made them much smaller! I also used beads as fake lights downstairs. I had planned to make a chandelier for the upstairs but ran out of time. I had some teapot shaped bracelet closures that I used in the railing. (The other piece of the closures were spoons.) I also put a mirror on the back wall so it would look bigger upstairs. The floor upstairs are coffee stirrers. I love how it came out as well!!
This week we had some really creative kids. There was a lighthouse, Mr. Miyagi's backyard, as well as some other scenes from various shows, an ocean themed craft room, a backyard, a magic store and so many other great ideas. It is amazing to see how creative the kids are.
I fell in love with making plants and flowers both from fake plants and from paper. I used svgs from Jennifer Maker for most of my flowers and plants. I just shrunk them down on my Cricut design canvas. Here are some of the paper ones I have made thus far. Most of the vases and pots are beads. For the hanging spider plant, I used a bottle cap. I glued twine around it and made the hangers from it as well.
It has been so fun to look at beads as different things. I decided I wanted to make another book nook. This time I wanted it to be a library or favorite room filled with things I love. I bought another kit like the one I made into the tea shop. Since I was thinking a library, I wanted shelves. I used tongue depressors with popsicle sticks glued underneath them and then painted the same color as the wall so they would blend in. I filled the shelves with books I bought a pendant that looked like a snow globe and a diy snow globe made from beads, a bead decoration as well as some photos "framed" on piece of tongue depressors and a giraffe decoration. The giraffe is from one of the Safari Ltd mini packs. I made bookends from pieces of tongue depressors and elephant beads. When I saw the elephant beads I envisioned them on bookends. I also placed the last of the Eiffel Tower charms on the shelves. I had bought them for the tea shop and used them in there.
I gave this room a window. I printed a backyard photograph I found online but made it small and overlayed it with a double hung window picture. I then used popsicle sticks and coffee stirrers to give it dimension. I place some of my diy plants on the windowsill. I made a curtain rod out of a skewer with beads on the ends and used small square wooden beads to hang it out enough. The curtains are pieces of ribbon that was tied on a loaf of bread I bought at the bakery. I made a spider plant using a smaller bead and glued strings to it to hang it. I made the hanger from a piece of wire. I also printed a picture and glued painted coffee stirrers on the other wall. The rug I had in my dollhouse supplies and I bought the tea cup and macrons. I made the lamp from beads, buttons and paper. The table is a scrap piece of wood from a dollhouse kit and the legs are chopsticks. Now the chair and ottoman gave me some trouble. My original chair was too large for the space. Even this one is a bit too big. I found a chair that I had that I liked in the space and then I pulled it apart since it was made cheaply and traced it for a pattern. Unfortunately, it came out a little bigger than the original chair. (I glued the original chair back together as well.) I used foam board, cardboard, quilting batting and fabric to make the chair. The fabric I used was bought at The Dollar Tree. I used wooden beads for the feet of the chair and ottoman. I made the pillow by cutting squares and gluing three sides of the right sides. After the glue dried I flipped it, stuffed it and glued the fourth side. The ottoman is also made of foam board, batting, fabric and beads. The book on the ottoman I made by printing pictures from online of the soon to be released book in one of my favorite series. I need to find more time to catch up on the series though!! The cat is from my collection of dollhouse supplies as well. I wish this room was real because I would love to spend hours in there reading! It truly has all my favorite things including my family and pets. Plus, I included the picture of me feeding the giraffe on our spring break vacation.
So this is what has been keeping me busy when I have down time. I think I want to buy a double book nook next and create a dream craft room including a staircase!! Stay tuned! What have you been creating?
