Sunday, April 29, 2018

Darkly Delightful Bathing Machine for Grim Days at the Beach

The April showers might bring May flowers but right now they are making my landscape rather grim. Don't get me wrong, I am a fan of grim things and rainy days. Rather than fight against the current weather conditions, I'm going to embrace them and make something darkly delightful.


This little "Bathing Machine" is based on the 18th and 19th century change rooms wheeled into the sea by by-gone beachgoers. But what if the Adams' ancestors went to the beach? Or the Munsters? OR MARY SHELLEY OR EGAR ALLAN POE OR... well, you get the point. I'm sure they'd all visit the seaside on rainy days. I'd like to think they had a creepy little space for changing into their wading attire and doing a little fortune telling to see if the water was fine.
Gypsy Soul does have a proper Gypsy Wagon available if you're feeling more ambitious, but I like this little fella. It's a fun kit and there are LOADS of customization possibilities. Travelling snake oil salesman, a tiny portable library, a sideshow trailer... oooh, so many ideas!

Two tips I will mentions.


1. I am terrible at applying hinges so I glued my door in place and ajar. If you do the same, just be aware of the door placement so that you can still add the stairs.

2. I used the Chipboard Shingles - Half Scale Sampler for the shingles. One package is enough to do the entire roof. You might want to position the bottom row of shingles lower than I have. (Don't tell anyone but I think it would have looked a bit better with more of an overhang.)


If you'd like to see the process to create this particular piece, the walk through is available HERE.


And here are all of the supplies I used to create this version of this project: 

Chipboard Shingles - Half Scale Sampler
Leafy Corners
Faux Metal Number Plates 1 to 25
Miniature terrain grass
Moss and faux flowers
Bead caps
Thin Looped Dresden Border
Black Zig Zag Dresden Borders 
Paper straw
1/8" doweling
Graphic45 - Rare Oddities
Acrylic paint


Glass marble