The Miniature Christmas Scene
(page 3 of 3)

(Fanatic Project of a Lifetime)
As mentioned earlier, the tree lights actually worked! Some of the tree decorations were purchased, but I made others from various beads and ribbon and like notions. The tree was fashioned out of two colors and thicknesses of pipe cleaners and some of the ornaments were laminated cutouts from magazines.

Here are close-ups of the tree and packages:

Each of the 21 packages under the tree were individually wrapped and adorned with a handmade bow. Each bow took me almost 30 minutes to make (wrapping the ribbon around the nail template, glueing each loop securely to the others, etc.) and not a single one was pre-purchased.

The "wrapping paper" for the miniature presents came from actual wrapping paper, paper samples, and most cleverly, from catalogs I dissected that sold full-size paper but had photos of it all in the perfect size for my needs!

I made the tree skirt out of felt pieces, sequins, various embroidery, glitter, and gold elastic to try to match the handmade one we actually had. You can notice ever so slightly in the right tree photo just a bit of this and the personalization of "Leiber" on it. You might be wondering just how I was able to capture the reality from so long ago, especially considering that I can barely remember what I had for dinner yesterday (these days).

Here are some of the photos I used for matching purposes:
This photo was taken when I was just an infant (1955), before I'd gotten my own knitted stocking. But notice Jeff's stocking and just how big it is!

Pay close attention especially to the fireplace andirons, the fireplace screen frame, the hardwood floor, the hearth tiles, and the rug pattern. Look back at the interior photos of the miniature scene to see just how exact the matches are!
This photo is blurry because it's from one of our old home movies, transferred to videotape, played on a TV, and then paused and captured on 35mm from the TV! I used it primarily to get the rug pattern. The actual miniature piece I used was a piece of upholstery fabric I found that seemed to have the same pattern as the real rug and I used felt markers to get the coloring the same. Was I crazy or what??!!
This is a fairly recent photo of my own stocking, in relation to Magic's, Shadow's, and Fubsy's.

And now do you see why I didn't make one of these for each of the family members??? :) Happy Holidays!