The Fairy House, Revisited...

Well, Dears,

I didn't get quite as much completed (with pictures, anyway) as I thought I would today...

It was a productive day, but nothing has quite come together just yet,

so I'm going to do as I promised a sweet lady recently, and re-run some

photos of the Fairy House and try to better explain how I made it.



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I started with two dried birdhouse gourds, one just slightly larger than the other.

The first step was to cut the top off the gourd (just a couple of inches)



that I planned to use for the main part of the house in order to



 fill it with sand, so it wouldn't blow away outside.

Then, I had Mr. B cut the top off the other gourd



 (approximately half -way down) for the roof ~



I drew on the gourd where I wanted him to cut it, making the roof-line



 go up a bit over where I planned to put the door with the little "arbor" over it.

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Then I began cutting the scales off some large pinecones to use for shingles.

 

I started using scissors but quickly switched to some heavy-duty garden clippers ~

 


This is tough, no matter what you use!

 

 It does get easier after you get a few scales removed, though; it's easier

 

 to get the clippers positioned. Sometimes you can even pull the scales loose,

 

 but be sure and wear heavy gloves...

 

 (some varieties have really sharp little barbs ~ these did)!

 

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I then trimmed the scales to about 2", and started hot-glueing

 

 them onto the roof, making the first row (at the bottom)

 

 hang over the edge a little more so the cut edge of the gourd wouldn't show.

 

 Then I just staggered the individual scales; they actually fit back together

 



 pretty much like they do on the pinecone.

  

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Here you can see I've gotten quite a few of the scales glued on,

 

working around a little window I made from polymer clay.

 

 I rolled out a piece of black clay about 1/8", and then cut it into a rectangle.

 

 Then I rolled out a piece of brown clay a little thicker, about 1/4".

 

I cut it into a rectangle the same size as the black clay,

 

and used a little square mini-cutter (Hobby Lobby) to cut out the window "panes",

 

 then I stacked the two together. I used purple clay, rolled to about 1/4" thick for the shutters.

 

None of these are exactly straight, and that's okay; it just adds to the whimsy, I think!

 

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 You can use any clay tool or just household items to add texture to the shutters.

 

I baked these pieces in the oven, then hot-glued them onto the roof

 

 just like the pinecone scales.

 

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I wanted to keep the color of the gourd close to the natural gourd color,

 

 but I did add a little interest to it by dry-brushing on some sienna

 

 and metallic gold acrylic paint.

 

(The base is already painted in the photo above.)

 

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Everything else is polymer clay.

 

 I did the door and windows just like I did the little "dormer" window on the roof,

 

 except I actually laid them on the gourd (turned on its side) to bake them

 

 (for the curvature), and then removed them and used white glue to re-attach them.

 

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All the other little details are either rolled-out-and-cut or "pinched" pieces of clay.

 

 I think texture adds so much!

 

 I used a little clay tool to make the "dots" around the door, the hinges

 

 and on the steps, but you could do the same thing with a nail or hairpin.

 

 The vines are skinny snakes of clay,

 

 and the leaves are little rice-sized bits, pressed on the vines.

 

 I used a needle-tool to make the veins in the leaves.

 

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The roses are the finishing touch!

 

I used two yellows and rolled out a bunch of little pea-sized balls of clay for the petals.




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I then smooshed them pretty flat between my fingers...

 

this makes them really irregular, and that's a good thing ~

 

 they look more like actual petals!

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 Roll one petal fairly tightly for the rose's center;

 

 then continue around, overlapping the petals until you get the size flower you want.

 

 Buds can be just a center roll with only one petal or two;

 

 pinch them to make them a little pointy.

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A completed rose.

 

You can lightly brush the edges with just the tiniest bit of pink

 

 or peach Pearl Ex powder, if you like.

 

 In making the rose, you will probably have pinched a little "tail" on it...

 

use this to connect it to the vines (cover the tail with leaves),

 

so you won't mash the rose.

 

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In making the arbor, I arranged the "vines" around the door

 

 and baked them on the gourd to get the rounded shape,

 

 just like I did with the windows and doors.

 

"Unbaked" polymer clay adheres to "baked" clay well;

 

and, the oven's heat doesn't affect the dried white glue ~

 

This is one of the reasons I didn't permanently attach the roof to the house;

 

I would have had all the hot-glued shingles sliding off the roof if it went in the oven!

 

There are probably other thick, tacky adhesives I could have used,

 

 but I'll experiment with that another day ~

 

After the last baking, I used a brown water-based antiquing gel to bring out

 

the textures on everything except the roses.

 

As for a sealer, you really have to be careful what you use on polymer clay.

 

Most spray sealers will eventually turn polymer clay to goo...

 

and you don't want that!

 

I use a water-based brush-on sealer called Diamond Flecto Varathane (Satin);

 

any water-based sealer will be fine, though. You really don't need

 

anything at all unless you just prefer a little more shine.

 

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The finished house!

 

Until a just a few days ago, actually...

 

Someone asked me if I would consider selling it,

 

and I would, except that I had really only made it for myself,

 

 just to take pictures with in my garden...

 

and there were things that I thought should be "fine-tuned" before offering it for sale...

 

The steps, for instance, didn't go all the way to the bottom of the house,

 

as I had set it down in the soil a little in the garden, for stability.

 

So, I added more steps, "railings", and a few other little touches.

 

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I'll show it in tomorrow's post, along with (hopefully) the finished Ellie ornament!

 

Happy Thursday!

 

♥