I made this book nook for @gozer in the light it up swap!
I waffled very hard between this and a painting similar in concept to the lighted desert painting @Myruka did. I’m glad I eventually landed here because I think it turned out very pretty.
It’s a good thing that @gozer likes mushrooms- and pink and green….
The top- I wanted to make it a little bit pretty so that if she decided not to use it as a book nook, it would have a little “something”.
I made a little holster on the back to hold the battery pack:
In addition to the focal mushroom, I snuck in this little fellow:
And here it is, all lit up in the dark:
The wooden box I used originally had 2 partitions in it. I removed them and sanded the heck out of the box. Then I painted card stock and used it to wallpaper the interior. I didn’t just paint the inside because I was using the card stock to cover the grooves in the wood where the partitions had been. Then I added glitter which turned out to be rather pointless since the box is stuffed so full that it’s doubtful if you’d even see the glitter! The door came next- it’s mat board with patterned paper, leather strips and hardware made from jewelry bits.
Then I suddenly realized I was about to mount a door kind of in the middle of nowhere… and thus the giant mushroom was born of tinfoil and polymer clay. This was a challenge for me since polymer clay and I are merely nodding acquaintances. But after much wrangling I was satisfied and glued it into place with a brain-melting amount of E-6000.
I added the pretty paper to the outside and drilled my carefully placed hole for the lights.
Next, the stairs were made from packaging from my computer ink cartridges. The package was cut shorter on the tall end and the cut on top slightly rounded to fit snugly to the side of the mushroom. Then I decoupaged it with tiny pieces of a brown paper bag, which provided not only the rustic appearance I wanted, but also greatly increased stability to the flimsy plastic.
I used floral foam pieces on the sides of the nook’s interior and covered them and the floor with moss.
I knew I wanted an effect that had most of the light coming from behind the open door. So I grouped half of the lights on the string and tied them into a little bundle which I kind of tucked between the mushroom stem and the back wall, then moved the rest of them towards the top of the box. I created the little battery holster next, to help hold everything in place as I worked. I wanted Becca to be able to easily manipulate the battery pack in case she wanted to replace the battery at some future date.
I used a push pin stuck in the side of the big mushroom, to help prop the door open. Then I affixed the door.
Finally, I stuffed it full of foliage and the wee mushroom. I wove the lights among the plant forms and then added the paper on top and the lace around the sides.
whew!!!
I’m quite proud of this project.
Thanks for looking!
