Matchbox Landscapes

Tags

Craft, match boxes, miniatures, paper craft

I have been obsessed with matchboxes of late. I keep seeing such cute projects and going crazy with the need to make one. My fingers itched. And so, one fine day, I made this:

I am not too happy with the result. But this was easy to make for a first attempt. Complicated landscapes can wait for later!

To make miniature landscapes out of matchboxes – purely for the joy of it (or for a kid in your life), you will need the following stuff:

Empty matchboxes
Scarps of paper
Glue
Ribbon
Scissors
Pinking shears
Colored pencils

How to:

Draw the outline of mountains on a colored piece of paper. Make sure it is small enough to fit into the matchbox. (Or you can draw it on a sheet and fill it with colors). Cut it out as close to the outline as possible.

Paste the inside of the box with a blue paper – to denote sky.

On the bottom of the box, i.e. the part which will be the ground, paste a green colored paper.

Now, attach the mountains you had made to the blue sky of the box. A folded a thin strip of paper in to “U” shape can also be used to stick to both the mountains and the sky so as to give it a more 3D look.

Use a paper punch or scissors to cut out 2-3 flowery shapes from green craft paper. These will be our trees.

To make the trunk of the tree, cut very thin strips of brown paper, a bit longer than required. Fold them a bit at one end. Now, on the other end, stick the green flowers previously punched (step 5). Let dry for 15-20 minutes.

Stick the folded end of the trees to the green base of the box.

Take two contrasting sheets of paper. Cut out a little rectangle from it. This will be the hut. Fold it a little bit at one end. Now, using the other paper, cut out the roof of the hut, using pinking shears to give it the border. Stick the roof to the hut. Make sure the overall height is in sync with that of the trees. Cut out a door and chimney and paste them. Leave it to dry for 15-20 minutes.

Attach the folded end of the hut to the green base of the box.

Clouds can be added to the landscape at this point. Grass, huts, flowers, birds, a little girl… the list is endless.

Now, we need to cover the outside of the box. Take a piece of paper bigger than the match box. Take the measurements of the matchbox and place it in the center of the paper.

Paste the back of the box to the paper. Cut out all extra paper. Make diagonal cuts at the corner of the paper. Fold the paper at the edges of the box, and start sticking it, one by one.