Tabletop Steampunk Fairy Garden in a Cricket Box

After crafting the Woodland-inspired gift boxes
from paper-mache,
I believe I'm on a creative roll.

I've had a couple of brass cricket boxes for a while now, that I aged with bleach, because I very much prefer dark brass with patina, versus shiny and bright.
I had intended to sell them empty after I darkened them,
but reindeer moss was sitting nearby,
and started a chain reaction.

Plain ol' brass cricket box is now a tabletop 

Steampunk Fairy Garden.

So many materials that are fun to play with,

look great together,

and just plain make an instant statement.

Chartreuse reindeer moss & Tamarack cones

equals natural elegance!

But I couldn't stop there.

I added a homemade toadstool,

created with pulpy paper, a piece of twig,

and brown German glass glitter.

After that step, I decided the background

looked dark and empty,

so I created a rustic fence using more twig pieces.

Finally, the coppery brass was whispering 

"Steampunk" to me,

so I dug into my chain stash for this

textured chunky perfection.

As for the construction,

I secured styrofoam to the base

to hot glue everything to.

I wanted the lid to be fixed at just

the right angle, so I twisted some semi-stiff wire, 

wrapped it with brown floral tape,

stuck it into the foam,

then hooked it to the lid through a cutout.

I enjoyed making this so much, that I'll craft another one

with the smaller box.

This treasure is now available in my Etsy shop.

Join me on Instagram!

@MagiaMiaEtsy

Linking To:

Woodland-Inspired Paper Mache Gift Boxes

Finally, I've crafted something new to show! 

I went to an outdoor wedding recently, and the color scheme was crisp pesto green and brown. The brown element was represented by thin tree slices as plate chargers, with the pesto green being silk napkins. I was so enamored by the design, that it inspired some creations
out of me.

I had some small paper mache boxes on hand, so off I went. With brown and green in my head,
here's what resulted......

I gave both the same treatment. Painting the lids green, then haphazardly in dark brown to look woodsy.

Attached crisp olive green seam binding, then added reindeer moss and Tamarack cones. The best part came with an epiphany to "pool" dark brown German glass glitter around the moss to give the effect of elegant "soil".
I love how it looks! 

Then I covered the box base in crisp moss green crepe paper. 

Cutting curvy chipboard, attaching to the bases, then coating in the same brown glass glitter,
to finish the soil effect.

Painted the insides in a coordinating green, and adding tiny dots of citrus green German glass glitter to the moss
to look like dew drops.

These will make fabulous presentation boxes, and are now available in my Etsy shop. 

Join me on Instagram!

@MagiaMiaEtsy