Bits and Pieces from Everywhere (Part 2)

So the other thing I worked on this past week was a gift for a friend.  The last two or three Christmases I have made my two best friends something in miniature (miniature wine cellar, miniature bookstore, birdcage with a miniature tile floor, beach stalls, tiled roombox).  I told them that this year I was just buying them gifts because I run out of time every year and stress about getting their gifts done in time.  But, when my one friend mentioned that she was working on a witch's scene I got excited because I have a long-neglected witch's scene too!

My carved pumpkin has been waiting for almost 10 years for me to add witch's stuff to it

And I have always wanted to make a dead potted plant for that scene but have never "found" the time to do it.  But, if I convince myself that I am making one for my friend, I can make one for myself too at the same time and not feel guilty about playing with miniatures when there is so much housework and customer projects waiting for me!

So I bought 2 small pots . . .

Scratched them up and aged them with a water/antiquing gel mix (1 part water to 1 part antiquing gel):

Waiting for water/gel mix to dry

All scratched and dented and aged

Then I mixed dirt with some water/glue:

And put some mud in the pots, along with a piece broken off from an old grapevine wreath...

Dead little plant

But it didn't look "done" yet.  So I added the most important piece that I had been dying to try to make for as long as I can remember: a miniature spider!  Using transparent thread I tied a knot in the bottom and them dipped the knotted bottom into black nailpolish.

Trying to get legs on my spider blobs.

As the nail polish was drying I used tweezers to gently pull bits of the nail polish off the knotted clump to make the spider's "legs".  It's much too small to get exactly 8 legs, but they have the appearance of having legs, so I'm happy.

Little spiders hanging from the dead plant

Up close view of 1 pot

Now I'm brainstorming for a little something I can make my other friend who is making a hunting cabin (I made one a few years back too!  And I know you are so surprised by this, but mine's not finished yet either!  It's still a "Work in Progress") -- certainly there is something our little hunters need that I can make for each of us!