vintage circus cut out
The circus is in town! I can't help but be a little sad that the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus will be closing for good this year. I have always loved the circus, and making circus art. It just so happens that the Alpha Stamps mini 3D Cinderella Coach, with a change of color and adornments, makes the perfect little circus wagon for little peg people. It's been almost two years since I made my Tiny Peg Circus, and it was time for those little performers to have a means of reliable transportation. The wagon is just the right size to hold six members of the circus. For safety reasons, no one wanted to ride with the lions, so I constructed a little cage to tag along with the wagon. I'll show you how that was made at the end of this post. Before assembling the wagon, I painted the body red, and the front and back pieces brown. The front seat was painted black, and given tiny gold "buttons", tiny circles which came from Dazzles gold stickers. Some striped paper went behind the seat, and lots more of the Dazzles stickers were applied around the window and doors and along the roof line. Metal stars, leaves, and filigree pieces add a lot of circus glitz. The back of the wagon also has some stripes, plus a "wooden" painted platform that is just the right size to carry the strong man's barbells. Here's a view of the back, without the barbells. The lion cage is tiny, but large enough to comfortably carry a couple of felines. The cage was constructed with cardboard and part of a set of chipboard gates. Those gates made the perfect fancy bars for the cage. To make the cage, use the smaller gates from the set. Remove the long side of the gate, seen on the left gate below. Figure out how large you want your cage to be. The walls of this one are 2 3/8" tall, and the front and back are 1 5/8" wide. You'll need four slim pieces to fit on each side of the bars for the front and back of the cage; these are 2 3/8" tall by 3/8" wide. Paint the front and back bars of the gate gold with a paint pen, and paint the remaining cardboard red. Using Aleene's Tacky Glue, glue the narrow pieces right up against the bars, and then glue on the front and back at 90 degree angles. Working quickly, glue the bottom of the cage into place. Using an x-acto knife, carefully cut the bars flush with the bottom of the cage. Keep the part you cut off; you'll use that later. Attach the back of the cage, which consists of the bars with the thin strips attached, and then cut those bars off, again, flush with the bottom of the cage. Using the gate parts you just trimmed off, cut the excess bars off as shown below, and then remove one of the finials so there are six remaining. These will now fit the front and back of the wagon. Glue into place along the tops. Glue into place along the tops, as shown below. Wrap a Dazzles sticker around the top of the bars and the bottom of the cage, and glue stars on the front and back corners. Use E6000 to attach the tiny ring handle, decorate the back, and add a flag if you're feeling festive. To attach the wheels, add a piece of cardboard to the bottom that's slightly smaller than the bottom itself. This will help stabalize the included rounded pieces that will hold the axles. Glue them in place as shown. Thread the axles through the holes, and put the wheels on. If the wheels tend to slide around, take some masking tape and roll it around the axle. That will keep the wheels in place. At the left of this photo, you can see the trailer hitch. It's simply a piece of cardboard with a hitch fastener punched through one end. I hope you enjoyed seeing my circus wagon even half as much as I enjoyed making it. Let's all wave goodbye to the circus as it leaves forever. For a complete list of supplies, click here.
The circus is coming to town, led in by a parade by the clowns. In my version of a circus, it’s not the people who are in charge but th...
Happy 2016! Here's my first project of the new year. One thing I really love about the Alpha Stamps' monthly kits is how versatile they are. This month, our stated theme was "Valentine Paper Theatres", but when I saw the square shrine and the wonderful stripey papers, all I could think of was "circus"! So, circus it is. The cardboard shrine was the perfect size to transport a zebra to the big top. The square shrine is designed to have a taller facade on top, but for the circus wagon, I used the shrine upside down. I added extra cardboard on the two sides and the back in order to make a good base for the wheels. Here's a picture of how the back looks with the 1" of extra cardboard on the bottom. The wheels come with the pieces shown here painted black. Once they're in place, it's easy to thread the axle through them and attach the wheels. Just make sure you have them lined up properly; I first put my wagon together without gluing it to make sure that these axle holders were on straight. I got the zebra from my local Michaels store, and then dressed her up for her circus debut. I painted her hooves glittery red with Stickles, and then gave her a ruffle made of pom pom fringe. I also used Stickles to create little red jewels on her crown. She's so fancy! I added a little 3D trim to the Cirque facade; here you can see some black and white braid and some gold star studs. Back of the wagon, an advertisement for the act: The rope in front was added to make this a pull toy. I punched a hole in the cardboard and threaded the cord through it. I tied a big knot and glued it to the wall of the side to keep it firmly attached. The end of the cord is glued into a small wooden finial, which I painted black and gold and then glazed. The back step was an old wooden block I happened to have, cut to size. Matchsticks make the perfect flag poles. Huzzah! The circus is in town! For a complete list of supplies, click here.
I have been working on a miniature circus, which you can see here. I had it almost finished, but making the animals was holding me back. Finally, I came up with a simple form in a paper mache style that seemed to work pretty well. Using a 20 g. wire, and pliers, I made an armature for each animal. Just sort of a line drawing in 3-D to hold the form. We have our elephant here. a giraffe, and a tiger, to jump through a flaming hoop! Then, using tissue paper I had lying around, I stuffed it in and wrapped around the shapes until they looked right, and secured with masking tape where necessary. This sort of makes them look like poor little wounded animals in an animal hospital, so let's fix them up quickly! I used just what I had at home already,an made a sort of quick paper mache. I tore strips of tissue paper ( used green b/c I was impatient, but white tissue paper would probably work best), and painted the surface under and over each layer with a watered down white glue mixture. This takes about 24 hours to fully dry. When they do dry they are lightweight but very sturdy, and ready to be painted. I did apply one coat of white primer to them first, before adding color. They really came to life once I added the details: the spots, stripes and faces. They just need some props! The hoop was made from 20 gauge wire with felt flames glued on. Then I painted some old wooden bobbins I had for the base. These bobbins came in handy. They also worked as stands for the elephant and the performers. You can see the finished Circus these animals belong to here!
A few years ago, I found a free printable for a Victorian carousel and have been smitten by it ever since! It honestly made my heart pitter patter with glee when I saw it! I posted about it here but didn't get much feedback on it. Maybe the photo that the website provided was less than appealing (much less!) or maybe my taste in whimsical decor is not so main stream? (I'm perfectly o.k. with the latter of the two.) Who knows...but I thought I would throw it out there again anyway, just in case you missed it or were turned off and/or misled by the crap photo. I finally got around to making one for not only myself but for my good friend Nicole who just had a baby boy! After making it, I fell even more in love with it because the detail and illustrations are too darling for words. What a great present it will be for baby Reyn's nursery and I can't wait to give it to them today! You can make one too by clicking on this pdf link and downloading it to your computer! http://www.vam.ac.uk/files/file_upload/45900_file.pdf FYI: It also makes cool shadows on the wall! Loved your visit! Until next time...
This miniature toy circus roundabout is a working model. It is made from acid free paper and card and is under 1 inch (2.5cm) in width and just over 1 inch (2.5cm) in height. The original version…
Our Latest Bundle from our Premium Membership Site! This Bundle includes: 19 High Resolution Images 22 Printables Want this bundle + over 170 More?! Read what some of our Members have to say: In this collection we are offering loads of fabulous High Res Vintage Images! We think you’ll find all kinds of uses for these,...Read More »
In the days before toys were based on cartoons, sci-fi movies, and breakfast cereals…….toy makers had to actually be creative. In 1903, Albert Schoenhut debuted his Humpty Dumpty clown …
This miniature toy circus roundabout is a working model. It is made from acid free paper and card and is under 1 inch (2.5cm) in width and just over 1 inch (2.5cm) in height. The original version…
DIY Miniature Paper Carousel: Hello everyone, I'm back! It's been two years since my latest instructable and so many things have changed! During this time I've been trying to make a living from my passion, which is certainly crafting, but that left me less free time to publish n…
