Christmas Roombox

The "clock box" container was a club exchange gift. Every year, my club does two gift exchanges. For the 'little' exchange, we each make or buy a small favor to give to each member. For the 'big' exchange, we buy or make a larger item, and it is taken home by another member. The container was Dawn's 'big' exchange gift in 2001. It was a yard-sale find, which Dawn painted and wallpapered. She replaced the missing glass front with a sheet of plastic. She even wired it and there is an outlet ready on the back wall, in case I decide to add a light some day.

In 2002, I was lucky enough to win Dawn's 'big' exchange gift at our club's Christmas party! When I was gathering things together to furnish the clock box, I realized that the side table was the perfect size for the project.

The Christmas tree was a gift from my sister. My sister isn't 'into' miniatures, but when she saw the tree, she thought of me. It was a good tree for 1/12th scale. Undecorated, it really had a 'Charlie Brown' Christmas tree feel to it. It was glued to a chunk of wood that looked like a stump, which I was able to remove. I devised a different stand for it, and covered it with a velvet tree skirt. My sister had also given me some miniature beads shaped like Christmas lights. They are a bit too large to be 1/12th scale, but I used them anyway. I had purchased the brass ornaments with another tree in mind, but decided to use them for this project. I made the candy canes a few years ago, when I was in a Fimo mood. I had also made most of the 'glass ball' ornaments out of beads. I made a few more to fill the tree. I strung green, red, and white seed beads to make a garland. I then added a few ribbon bows here and there. The ribbon was salvaged from a Christmas party I attended in 2002. (The ribbons were used to tie the bundles of silverware together for the dinner at the party.)

I made some bows and wrapped some gifts to go under the tree. Ann, a club member, had taught us how to make bows, and had given us all bow makers. The gift with the fish paper was my first attempt at bow-making and package wrapping. I finally found a good place to display it! Two of the papers I used for the giftwrap were the wrapping paper club members used to wrap their exchange gifts. (There is no such thing as a pretty piece of paper that is too small to use for something.) There are two gift bags behind the tree. Those were made by Hannah (Dawn's daughter, who used to come to our meetings, until she became a teenager). She had used them to wrap her little exchange gifts. The plaid package was made by Judy, another club member. It even has a gift card on it with my name written in it! The braided rug under the tree was made by Marilee. It was her club exchange gift in 2000.

The shelf was from a kit made by Jeri, a club member. She provided it when we made our laundry room boxes, but I didn't use it for my laundry room. The items on the shelf are swaps and exchanges I received. The sitting angel was made by Hannah (2002 club exchange), the brandy set was made by Paula (Ocelot 2001 'Tater Table' exchange), the Christmas plate, cup, and saucer was made by Judy (2003 club exchange) and they came in the box that is under the tree. The Christmas candle was made by Paula and the singing angel was made by Polly (both from Ocelot 2000 exchange), and the snowman was made by Hannah (2003 club exchange). Hannah's snowmen all had names. I got 'Elvis'.

Hanging on the pegs are a Santa ornament made by Dawn (2001 club exchange). I made the stockings. Ed helped me pick the fabrics from my quilting stash. Ed's is the green striped sock. I put a piece of fringed plaid fabric on the table top. The Santa tea set was made by Wanda (Ocelot). The cookie tin (with Christmas cookies) was made by Dawn (2003 club exchange) and the bowl of peppermint candies was made by Pearl J (Ocelot 2001 exchange).

On the table's shelf are Christmas cards made by Elisabeth B (Ocelot 2000). The poinsettia candle mold was painted and decorated by Judy (2001 club exchange). The ornament box and one ornament was made by Loralee (2000 club exchange). I added 3 ornaments to the box, which cannot be seen in the picture. They are two gingerbread people and a snowman, made by Jan T (Ocelot 2001exchange).