Some people have asked me how can I give up something that I have worked so hard on. It's worth it all to see the look on the recipient's face when they open their special package. My daughter, granddaughter and I wanted to do something special for Ms. Laura, the manager of the day care where Liz attended. Here is the story behind my making this play school music box.

The basic box is the same as I use for my other musicboxes. Stain the outside of all pieces. Paint the ceiling white. Glue the top piece in top of the sides with an overhang which is where the plexi-glass will fit. Measure 8 inches from the ceiling and place a mark to show where the floor will be. The bottom fits in between the side walls. Glue a piece of 1/4x1/4 strip of wood on the inside walls making sure the floor piece will fit still leaving 8 inches of wall space. Glue the floor piece resting on these pieces of wood.

Add your choice of wallpaper and flooring. I also chose a miniature paper border in ABC blocks for the top of the walls. For the flooring, I chose a grayish white colored miniature vinyl flooring. the best wallpaper is the kind that comes pre-pasted. Adhere this to the inside walls. Allow to dry then glue the wallpaper border across the top. Glue the flooring down using craft tacky glue.

The Table and Chairs

To make the table, I used basswood 1/8"x2" cut to the length I wanted for a classroom table. The legs were cut from 1/8"x1/8" strip of basswood cut to the height minus the thickness of the table top (1 3/4" total). The legs are set in about 1/4" and have a bracing made from a strip of wood that is 1/8" thick and 3/8" wide. The length is determined by the length of the actual table. The chairs I actually purchases at a craft store that sells miniature supplies. Hey, for $1.00 a piece, you can't beat it.

Art Bulletin Board

I purchased a craft black board and using my computer and printer, printed the bulletin board cover paper and border.

I used scrapbook scissors that have a scallop edge to cut the blue gingham. Glued the dark blue poke-a-dot paper to cover the board and then glued the scallop edging. When finished, I glued the board to the wall over the table and chairs.

I decided to make little butterflies for the craft project  where a butterfly is made from a round clothes pin and tissue paper. First, to label the bulletin board, I made a sign that said "Our Art" and printed it on computer labels. I also found a letter chart that I reproduced in miniature using my printer.

I purchased a package of bright colored tissue paper and cut a set of squares about 1"x1". Of course, these would be too big. However,my plan was to trim them after I had finished the butterflies. The next step was to find something that would resemble the wooden clothes pins but in miniature. I was buying groceries and needed toothpicks for another miniature project. To my surprise, Diamond now makes toothpicks in a small dispenser. The fascinating thing is these toothpicks ahve a turned edge much like a spindle. PERFECT!!!!

I used my mitre box and saw and cut the turned portion of then toothpick off. Next, I gathered a square of tissue paper in it's middle and glued it to the toothpick. Trimmed up the tissue paper and glued to the board.

Crayons

On the table, I have placed a bowl of crayons in the center of and a color page and crayons at each chair. I made several real copies of a color page and using different color sets. I then scanned and reduced them to miniature size. Next, I made the crayons. Using fimo, I makde small snake like shapes and baked them according to directions. Then, I cut them in to the appropriate mini size keeping the ratio of 1:12. I used the lid from a hot oil room scent bottle. Using my mini hand saw, I cut the end of the cap so as to make a bowl. I then glued the crayons in the bowl and several different crayons by each color page.

Aquarium

The aquarium was a fun project. I purchased a rectangular plastic display box. The size was 1"x2"x3/4" deep. Remove the lid and mix art sand with glue and create the sand area. With the box on it's side and the lid off, place the sand inside sloping down in the front where the box lid will be placed when done. While wet, sprinkle extra sand so it will give the appearance of aquarium gravel. Snip small pieces of a plastic plant (not silk) to look like aquarium greenery and add miniature seashells that you can purchase in craft stores. Arrange these in your miniature aquarium. Let this dry. While the miniature aquarium is drying, you can make tiny fish from fimo™. I rolled a tiny ball of of orange fimo™ mixed with transparent. Formed the ball into an egg shape and then flattened the end to for a tail fin. After baking the fimo™ fish, glue to pieces of plants.

After all the pieces of the aquarium are in place and dry, you can place the lid which becomes the front of the aquarium over the back.

Bookshelf

Using strips of basswood, I made a bookshelf. It's the perfect place to place the aquarium. I purchased some metal miniature toys (a plane, train, and dump truck). After painting them, I glued them to the top shelf.

Using fimo, I made a set of blocks. The blocks are the type that are in bring colors and come in triangles, squares, cylinders, and the pieces that resemble a bridge with the half circle cut out. I glued these blocks in a plastic box. I also made several books on the bottom shelf as well.

Pictures of the kids

I took a group shot of the kids in my granddaughter's playschool class and reduced to fit on the paper balloons. The balloons were cut out of colored paper using a scrapbooking paper punch. This was a fun project for my 3 1/2 year old granddaughter.

Under the kids' pictures, I made a reading center. The bench was purchased at a local craft store. I downloaded the images to make the classroom decorations and made several more books. Because my granddaughter is fondly called our ladybug, I decided the Grouchy Ladybug would fit nicely.

The inside is all done. Time to add the glass and the outside trim. After that has been added, the playschool musicbox is ready for its new home with the owner of my granddaughter's playschool. Some people have asked me how can I give up something that I have worked so hard on. It's worth it all to see the look on the recipient's face when they open their special package.