This project was inspired by Sharon at Where The Gnomes Live. She has a room dedicated to her forest of trees spanning from floor to ceiling. There is no way I can do that so I started small.
I started out in the fall of 2019 with a tall skinny box adding aluminum foil for the shapes and then covering it with tape. I decided on making it 3 stories.
I added a slide so they could slide out of the window. That was not easy to make since it curves! It worked out though.
After putting the floors in I decided it just was not big enough. I have noticed most people that make one ends up enlarging it.
So, I added on. I used foam board for the structure on the addition and had to cut doors between rooms. I used cardstock to round out the corners on the walls and aluminum foil to make a curved ceiling.
In this picture, the inside walls are covered in air-dry clay that I made using toilet paper and glue. It was a lot more work than I realized and I probably would not use that again. I decided to add a small attic at the top.
This is how the front ended up with the addition. As you can see, everything is covered with tape.
Then I decided I just had to add a tree spirit. I had never tried to make anything like this before, but gritted my teeth and hoped for the best. There was still a lot to do on the face at this point! I had purchased some rings with eyes on them and used them for the eyes. He looks terrified!
I finally got him shaped, even managing to make fingers. He is holding a bird nest in his right hand. I remembered that I had a dragon claw holding a crystal ball in the leftovers from my store and it was perfect for adding to the top of the staff. I am thinking about adding some branches to the staff. Something always gets changed. lol! One of the things I love about this technique is that it is very easy to add or remove features.
And here it is painted and looking great. I was very pleased with it. But wait, it isn’t big enough. I must make another addition. lol!
So, I added a fork coming out of the main tree.
I cannot add any more to the house. I can’t reach any further up and it won’t fit through doors or on its table if I try to go wider. So, I have to be satisfied with this. I guess I could go down though….. lol!
I made a little gnome home that is beside the lake so the gnomes don’t have far to go for fishing.
Here is the lake all finished and the gnomes happily fishing.
I still have a lot to do on the outside, not to mention the inside. I will show pictures of the inside in another post.