I’m a HUGE Doctor Who fan. When I saw that @EclecticDreamer is also a fan, I knew I had to make something timey-wimey for her in the Positive Aspirations swap.
One of my goals for 2026 is to use more of my stash and I had this super cool chipboard shelf that @pottermouth sent me years ago along with some other chipboard elements and notions. Inspiration struck and I knew exactly what I wanted to do with that shelf: a miniature homage to the modern era of Doctor Who.
(Real banana included in the pic for scale. That was my co-worker’s brilliant suggestion.)
I began brainstorming items to represent each of the doctors in modern Who, from 9-15. Some doctors have a ton of iconic items associated with them. But many don’t. For them I had to get creative.
Here’s a cheat sheet for what’s on the shelf and which Doctors they go with.
Hidden for those that want to guess on their own first
From left to right:
- The fez - worn/referenced at one point or other by the 10th, 11th, and 13th Doctors
- River Song’s diary - gifted to River by the 11th Doctor
- Bowtie - Bowties are cool as the 11th Doctor reminds us frequently
- 15th Doctor’s Sonic Screwdriver - and the most unique take on the Doctor’s sonic thus far
- A banana - the 9th & 10th Doctors both have iconic scenes involving a banana
- 3D glasses - 10th Doctor’s iconic glasses from the Doomsday episode
- The Tardis spare key - the 10th Doctor keeps a spare Tardis key on a cord, as seen in Blink when it’s stolen by the Weeping Angels
- Psychic paper - basically all the Doctors, but this one says “Marble Inspector” if you peek inside; 10th Doctor reference from The Fires of Pompeii
- Fender guitar pick - 12th Doctor, there are several episodes where he plays electric guitar
- A spoon - 12th Doctor in Robots of Sherwood, a subtle reference to the spoons the 13th Doctor uses to make her new sonic screwdriver, and the spoon from the 15th doctor in the episode Empire Of Death
- Framed quote - 11th Doctor to Amy Pond in his first episode The Eleventh Hour
And of course, a painting of the Tardis set within the shelf.
The shelf includes a loop of wire on the back so it can be hung on the wall.
Process:
Painted and then assembled the chipboard shelf. I painted it with gouache. What was I thinking!? When I added glue, the paint reactivated. Doh! I sealed it using Matte Distress Collage Medium to seal the paint and give a more finished look.
I traced the shelf opening onto mixed media paper, sketched the Tardis and then painted it with watercolors and finished with a liner pen before cutting out and gluing to the shelf.
Now the fun bit: props! 99% of them are made with polymer clay. For the 3D glasses, I cut the frame from paper, colored some stiff plastic with alcohol marker and then glued it together. The fez tassle is DMC floss. The cord for the key is thin cord. I painted in details for the sonic, banana, and bowtie. For the diary I cut paper sections and glued them inside. For the psychic paper I printed a teeny “Marble Inspector” text and glued inside the wallet-style flap. For the quote, I cut some balsa wood for the back then used sculpey to make the blue frame. I glued the quote to the balsa, added plastic as a protection, and then glued the frame in place. All props were secured to the shelf with E6000.
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