I have always loved the miniature woodland scene that Gay Stewart of Miss Muffet's Miniature shop had done in a cup and bowl. I photographed her miniature project and came home to do my own version. See how I made this miniature woodland scene. I ended up finishing this project and placing it in a glass dome with wooden base and donating to the bank where my daughter works as an item to be raffled for one of their charity fund raisers.

If this is a project you would like to make, here are the directions for making a woodland scene in a cup and saucer.

Supplies:

Choosing the right cup and saucer is very important for making this project work. You will need a large cup and the saucer should be more like a bowl. In other words, the saucer must be deep and not flat and still hold the cup when sitting on its side.

From the craft store, I bought sculpting plaster, a small terracotta flower pot, a small cat, and little turtle. You will also need some small rocks and pebbles such as Woodland Scenics'™ rock debris in fine and course grades and ballast, Realistic Water and Water Effects from Woodland Scenics™. For the foliage, I used Woodland Scenics'™ medium green foliage, course turf. All this can be found in a miniature shop under landscaping supplies or where model railroad supplies are sold.

On to the project directions:

Using the sculpting plaster, I mixed according to directions and put some in the saucer/bowl to the point I wanted the soil to be on the outside. Next I placed the cup in the plaster and put some of the sculpting plaster inside. I pushed the small terra cotta pot into the plaster and placed a tiny bit of plaster inside this as well. the pot is buried half into the plaster to give the look of a drainage pipe. Make an indent in front of the terra cotta pipe that is deeper right in front of the pipe and gets shallower as you extend to the sides of the cup. You don't want this area to extend too far back on the sides of the cup. Make sure you make a small hole in the side of the cup where you want the tree to be before the plaster dries.

After the sculpting plaster has dried, glue the ballast over all the sculpting plaster to create the illusion of dirt. Glue course turf inside the cup leaving the ballast showing on the sides and inside the terra cotta pot.

Making a waterfall

The water fall is made by using Water Effects from Woodland Scenics™. You squeeze the water effects onto wax paper forming a rectangle. Then using a stiff paint brush or any other item that will make ridges in the water effects, you create streaks. this makes the water seems realistic. The waterfall is white until it dries which can take several days. Also, when you place the waterfall in place connecting the terra cotta pot and the water beneath, the waterfall will turn white again. This should disappear in a day or two.

White this is drying, it's time to work on the pond under the terra cotta drainage pipe. Place several larger rock debris pieces around the pond. Remember that the pond is deeper in the center and gets shallow as it starts around the cup. you will need some rocks that will be out of the water. If you need larger rocks, check out a gravel driveway. Regardless, the rocks still need to be small. Glue these in place and when dry, pour some of the Realistic water in the pond. You will need to do this in stages. Pour the "water", let it dry. pour another layer, let dry. Do this until you get the dept you want. Keep in mind that it has to be low enough for the waterfall. Place your waterfall before the last layer or two. I put a small amount of the Realistic Water in the drainage pipe to help keep the waterfall in place.

Making a Tree

The trunk of the tree was made from a dead branch in an Azalea bush. I tried to choose a branch that resembled a tree with several branches. To preserve the branch, I coated it several time with clean nail polish. Next, to add the tree, I used pieces of medium green foliage from Woodland Scenics. The image to the left actually shows a package of lichen. However, I felt the foliage would be a better choice and went with that.

Using tacky craft glue, I glued pieces of the foliage to branches until I was satisfied with the the realistic look. I then glues the tree into the saucer of molding plaster where a hole was made before the plaster dried.You might need to clue a bit of the trunk to the side of the cup to help stabilize it.

Vines and Ground Cover

Spread tacky glue over the area of the "dirt where you want to show grassy areas. Remember that if you don't get the grass even, it doesn't really matter as the "dirt" that doesn't get covered by grass will show through for a more natural look.

Using Woodland Scenics™ Course Turf and tacky glue, cover your grassy areas.

The vines going up the back and over onto the top of the cup are made using pieces of Woodland Scenics™ Poly Fiber. Pulls pieces into strands and glue on the cup.

There are places where I placed little purple flowers both on the ground and on the vines. These were cut from flowers bought at a local craft store. You would need to choose flowers that have tiny flowers similar to queen anne's lace. Cut off tiny individual flowers and glue on the ground and vines.

Cattails
To make the cattails, you will need green covered florist wire, plain green florist wire, florist tape in both dark and light green. Brown Fimo™, ground cinnamon, and tacky graft glue. Cut various lengths of the covered florist wire. Roll out a thin layer of Fimo™ and cut a piece to fit around the florist wire about 1/8 inch below the top end. Bake according to the directions on the Fimo™ package. To make the leaves, you will need to cut two lengths of florist tape, one of each color. Using tacky glue, glue a piece of regular florist wire between the florist tape. Place the wire about 1/2 inch below the top end of the leave. When dry, trim the sides and top to resemble the leaves of the cattail plant. These leaves would be thin. Make sure that some remain upright while other leaves bend down into the wet ground and water.

Caladium Plants

On the same side that has the tree, is a small grouping of caladium plants.In the real world, you would have varying sizes of plant leaves. The same applies to the ones in our miniature project. To make the leaves, I created a page of leaves. I cut these out and glued them to pieces of green covered florist wire. Use the smallest size available. You will need to bend each stem to form a tiny loop and then bend the main stem in a 90 degree angle.

I also used some pieces of small queen ann's lace plastic flowers among the caladiums.
On the inside, I finished with several larger rocks and a stick to resemble a log. It's hard to see in the picture, but there is a turtle peeping out of the cattails and a cat standing on the log inside. I again placed a few caladiums inside along with a few of the Queen anne's lace flower clusters. You can store your finished project inside a glass dome.