Snowballs

Having A Ball!

Dear Readers, First I want to wish you all the Happiest of New Years! I hope you were not disappointed that there was no party at the Castle this year.... but Frankly, I was a bit tired of Parties... and there was no new work done on the Castle to show you.... and well, the TRUTH is I got Really absorbed in making the Tiny World of Santa's Parlor in my Snowball Ornaments! This was LONG overdue... and BEST done while the Christmas Spirit is still wafting in the Ether.... And while I know that the entire World has moved ON into the next Season..... Please Forgive me if I linger in Santa's World for a little while longer!

To Begin with, I will show you the tiny cat I made from Sculpey....

to curl up on the window seat at the back of the parlor....

His name is "Snowball"....
I forgot to upload his picture later so you will have to wait a bit to see him in place!

And since the fire in the fireplace had been only a pile of coals.... I added some flames

(painted on clear plastic packaging material and cut out to fit the hearth....) and I also added a Screen in front of the fire to keep the coals from rolling on the floor.....

Here below is a closer... moodier picture of the glittery sparks flying up from the fire.....

You may recall that Santa and Mrs. Claus were still just pipe-cleaner wire with a bit of Sculpey modeled in the shape of heads and hands and feet......

well I painted the Sculpey parts.....

and wound cotton tape around the pipe-cleaners to give them some substance......

And then I started on the clothes...

Pajamas in this case as Santa has returned from his LONG Night of Sleighing.......

And then I added his Snowy white beard...

which I cut from some of that polyester "snow" you can get to put as a skirt around Christmas Trees..... it has tiny bits of glitter in it....!

Here he is in his chair... Sound Asleep!

And Mrs. Claus had to have a Lace Nightgown under her Flannel Robe.......

And the Robe has to have some fancy trimming....

and I have added her hair too.......

And then because the Parlor Mantle is SO bare of Homey decorations....

I had to make some tiny candles and bottles....

And Stockings to hang by the fire....

with Gingerbread and Candycanes...

(made from a fancy paperclip!)

And I was not content to let the candles be Simple....

but HAD to add Glittery Flames.......

And here you can see them in place on the Mantle.....

I tried to get the light right to show the glitter of the tiny flames..........

And a slightly different angle showing the whole globe......

And you can see two heart shaped Mirrors I added to the walls on either side.....

And a Closer view......

Then I made an Ottoman for their feet to rest on....

necessary as their feet don't reach the floor!

And then I started on a whole bunch of Tiny Books.......

I used bits of catalogs cut out for the covers and glued them onto the ends of the woodsies I used on the floor of the Cupboard House......

And I made a Tiny Bookshelf Table to sit beside Santa's Chair........
And filled it with the Tiny books.......

It had to have an oddly curved shape to fit into the curve of the Snowball......

Here below, you can see it in place ...

with Santa ....... and the ottoman......

And here is a closer view showing the Telephone
(this is a small metal charm bracelet charm...)
on the Table with a stack of books......

And Mrs. Claus in her chair too......
with a sewing basket on her lap..........

I didn't make the basket..... it is the TINIEST Basket I have EVER seen!!!!

And it is Perfect for Mrs. Claus.....

even has her favorite colors of red and green in the weave!

But I DID make the tiny spools of thread....

they are only painted on toothpicks and cut tiny....

And glued into the basket.......

And glued onto her lap......

Aren't they so Cute?
They are about two inches tall.....

The Snowball is getting close to being ready for them.....

"Snowball" is asleep on the window seat.....

Santa's glasses are on the Book Table...

There is a Christmas card on the Mantle.......

And I added a beaded edging to the opening in the Snowball......

Here is a closer view with the sparks from the fireplace shining......

And an overall view ... showing the Tree on the table....

decorated with golden beads.....

And a bit closer......

oh, you can see the glowing crystal hanging from the overhead light......

And a tiny crystal snowglobe on the table beside Mrs. Santa.....

and the Cup of Hot Chocolate....

And another view of Santa........
Snoring away.......

There are only a couple more tiny things needed and I will call this Finished! I have spent much of my Vacation making all these Tiny bits and pieces! After working in this scale... regular dollhouse items seem Huge!

And while we STILL have NO Snow here in our "Real" world......

I have been having a Ball playing with my little Snowball ornament!

Snowballs!