DYI DOLLHOUSE MINIATURES: IN LIKE A LION

"The March wind roars
Like a lion in the sky,
And makes us shiver
As it passes by.
When winds are soft,
And the days are warm and clear,
Just like a gentle lamb,
We know spring is here."

Author Unknown

You will need: copy of printie on bright white paper + water color pencils to match the two colors of the lion and black for the lamb + Fimo: white for lamb & yellow, orange, caramel for the lion + 1/8” thick stripwood + sheet glass or ceramic tile of a size to fit in your toaster over + toaster oven (it is a good idea to have one that is dedicated to Fimo use…a simple, small model can be had quite inexpensively) + acrylic craft paints in colors to match the lion’s mane, the lion’s body, the lamb’s body and black, green or your choice of colors for the bases + very thin wire for lion’s tail (use printie for a guide to thickness and length) + small, round, metallic gold bead in a size to match up with the bell hanging from the lamb’s neck + stripwood ¼” x 3/32” for bases + a 3/16” and a 1/16” round paper punch + scraps of matboard + straight pins + brass/gold or silver colored ¼” long bugle beads + buttonhole thread + seed beads + wire cutters + safety glasses

Click on image to enlarge. Click to copy and save to your computer

Set to print at exact/actual size or 6.40"w x 2.47"j

Print onto bright white paper at best settings

Instructions:

Make copies of mirror images of lion & lamb. Carefully cut the images out. Use damp watercolor pencils to carefully color match the very edges of the cutouts.

LION: Using Fimo, make a mixture of mostly yellow with approx. ¼ that amount of orange and 1/8 that of caramel to match as closely as possible the color of the lion’s body. Knead the Fimo until it is soft and pliable. Place it on a piece of glass or ceramic tile. Place a strip of 1/8” stripwood on either side of the Fimo…these will act as a guide to make your Fimo 1/8” thick. Using a small rolling pen or something similar, with its edges resting on the stripwood, roll over the Fimo, in one direction, until it is smooth & the same thickness (1/8”) as the wood. Carefully lift the Fimo from the glass and then lay it back down on the glass again.

Glue one of the Lion cut-outs smoothly to the surface of the Fimo. Using a sharp knife blade roughly cut out the lion shape from the Fimo. Using the knife and other tools of your choice, refine the shape. Make sure to keep the cuts perpendicular to the glass. Carefully lift the Lion from the glass and turn it over. Glue 2^nd lion cut-out to this side of the Fimo, lining it up as closely as possible. Make adjustments to the Fimo as needed for a good alignment and matching sides. Using a whole lion printie as a guide, make a hole in the rear of the body to take a wire tail. With the piece still on the glass bake it in a toaster over set to about 250 degrees for approx. 8 minutes. Let it cool. At this point you can make any refinements necessary to the Fimo.

Paint the area of the Fimo around the mane in a color to match the mane.

Cut out the dark tips of the tail from the printies. Glue them, back to back over the end of the wire tail. Paint the rest of the tail to match the lion color. Shape tail to match the printie and insert it into rear of lion with glue.

LAMB: Proceed as for Lion using white Fimo. After the Lamb is cool you may choose to leave the Fimo white or add a tiny dot of light pink to white acrylic to match the actual “white” of the lamb. Use this to paint over the white Fimo on the matching areas of the cut-out. Paint the edges of the legs black. Paint black across the top and bottom of the ear to match the two sides of the ears. Glue a tiny round metallic gold bead under the lamb’s neck, centered side to side.

BASES: From ¼” x 3/32” stripwood cut out bases to lengths desired….3/4” long is a good size. Paint as desired. For each pull toy make two wheel assemblies. Each assembly consists of two, 3/16” punched rounds of matboard for wheels; two 1/16” rounds punched from computer paper for hubs; a straight pin and bugle bead for axle. Poke or drill a hole thru center of the two wheels, large enough to take a straight pin snugly.

Glue the wheel assemblies to the underside of the base, set in about 1/8” from each end. Put on safety glasses (the cut pieces can fly across a room and you don’t want ending up with one in your eye) and then cut the head off of a straight pin. Insert it into the hole in the wheel so one end is flush with the outside of the wheel. Blue a hub over the hole on the outside of the wheel. Add a tiny dot of Krazy glue where the pin touches the wheel on the inside. Insert a bugle bead on the straight pin and then push the end of the straight pin into a 2nd wheel and push it in until the whole wheel assembly is approx.. 3.8” across…put the safety glasses back on and nip off the excess pin. Glue a hub on the outside of this wheel. Make two of these assemblies for each toy.

Make a knot in one end of the buttonhole thread. Wipe a tad of glue on it and cut off any excess thread on one side of the knot. Insert a seed bead onto the thread, snugging it up to the knot and tie another knot right next to the other side of the bead. Decide on the length you want you pull cord to be and make a knot at this point. Add a tad of glue to the knot to hold and cut off excess thread beyond it. Glue this knot, centered on the front edge of the base.

There you have it, the perfect toys to celebrate the end of Winter and the start of Spring. Of course this year in my part of the world, the Pacific Northwest of the USA, the "lamb" has not shown up yet...wind and rain greet still greet us everyday and it is still snowing in the mountains. I hope things warm up her soon as I want to get a start on a herb garden planted in a pocket-shoe bag, as seen on pinterest.com ...a great idea!. If you haven't been to this site, take a look...it is full of ever-changing, interesting things for just about all tastes...crafts, recipes, pithy sayings, home decor, etc., etc., etc.. Be forewarned, it is very addicted.

See you soon.... Joann

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