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Being an older sister and having raised two girl, I knew that once my middle granddaughter, Ellie, created Hagid's Hut room box, her little sister, Grace, was going to want to make something too.

For the past four years or so my youngest granddaughter has been absolutely crazy for red foxes. (This started long before the "Mr Fox" film was released.) So I wasn't surprised when our Grace said she wanted to use little foxes, but they must be realistic. No fantasy stuff for this eight-year-old.

Ultimately, online I found a pair of ceramic fox kits that were the right scale. She wanted the box to have two tunnels. "They need an extra one in case of emergency," she insisted.

Our first attempt was made in a large plexiglas ballot box from TAP plastic. Grace formed a den from wire mesh, which she then covered inside and out with paper clay and set on the bottom. After placing plastic tubing to serve as tunnels, the box was filled with potting soil.

Because I make miniatures there's an entire drawer in the garage filled with woodland supplies -- rocks, trees, shrubs, gravel -- from which to choose. Unfortunately, the moss she used gave off too much moisture and condensation quickly appeared on the walls of the box. After retrieving the foxes and woodland items; we trashed the plastic box and went to Plan B.

Her new scene was created inside a traditional wooden room box, which I first sealed with enamel paint. A sheet of paper showing blue sky with white clouds was glued around the sides.

Again, Grace created a den from wire mesh, set it on the bottom, then began filling the box with paper clay. To keep down the weight, underneath unseen areas were filled with styrofoam. A piece of plastic tubing was pressed into the clay to create the single tunnel. Grace mixed the paint color for the dirt herself.

It was her idea to add the snow. What fun she had pressing the fox's feet into it, making tiny footprints across the landscape. It was the den floor that had her the most troubled. What do foxes sleep one? Grace settled for a little bark.

It will be summertime before the two girls come again to stay a week. I wonder what their next projects will be.

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In the charming Mother Lode town of Murphys (just off Highway 49) there's a great little antique plumbing store. In the vacant lot next door I spotted this collection of old tubs.

Take one talented nine-year-old with a vivid imagination and love of everything Harry Potter. Add her miniature-making grandmother with a drawer full of woodland supplies and anything might happen.

Once Ellie decided she wanted to do a “Potter” room box, it set me thinking. Her project would have to be something not too large or complicated (Hogwarts was out) and not too expensive (ditto a magic shop). Hagrid’s house -- or hut, as it’s called -- seemed the perfect compromise. So imagine my delight, when asked if she had any ideas, Ellie’s immediate response was “Hagrid’s Hut, Grammy.” There may be 60+ years difference in our ages, but we’re sure on the same wavelength!

Now Ellie has read all the J. K. Rowling books; in fact, some of her favorites she’s read at least three times each. Naturally, she’s a great fan of the films and was adamant we depict the hut from the earlier films, not the latter. Didn’t know there was a difference, did you? Neither did I.

Once Ellie selected the background photo, had it enlarged at a local print shop and glued it on three walls of the box for her, then Ellie took over. She began using paper clay to shape the forest floor so that it sloped down toward the glen where the structure’s located. Also modeled from clay were four large rocks for the house to rest on.

As Ellie stippled three paint colors on the floor, I started shaping walls, using first a paper pattern, then cardboard, finally cutting pieces from foam core, which were taped together. After she painted the exterior walls, Ellie began gluing on fieldstones. I cut a length of ¾” X ¾” wood for the chimney that she also covered with rocks.

Using trees from a Diorama kit, Ellie assembled and painted them. As I worked on producing shapes for the roof, she pressed birdcage gravel into white glue to create a pathway. After a brief lesson in perspective, Ellie realized the path needed to taper as it reached the back wall and smaller trees should be placed behind larger ones.

Ellie built and stained a door while I constructed the stairs. One side note: I had purchased a pair of metal hinges for the front door. “Oh no, Grammy,” she insisted. “It opens in so you won’t see any hinges from the front.” Warning to grandparents everywhere: be prepared for nine-year-old experts.

It was her idea to have Harry standing on the top step rapping, which meant cutting a ball from his hand, then painting over it with flesh-colored paint. She also cut a wand from Ron’s hand and a flute from Hermione’s. The latter created a small problem because it left the girl’s hands in a strange position. “She can stand with her back to the front,” Ellie determined. That’s the mark of a true miniaturist, solving problems as they pop up.

What happened next blew me away. I left four bottles of acrylic paint on the worktable and headed off to get dinner. With absolutely no coaching from me, my talented young granddaughter began texturing the rocks.

Finally, we had to make a determination about the roof. Because neither of us was quite sure what it was made from, we decided to create one of “metal”. After file cards were cut to shape, Ellie covered them with copper paint, adding moss once that dried.

Locating the small Potter figures was the most difficult part of this entire project. I spent hours and hours on the Internet trying to find something in the correct scale. And, just as I was about to give up on the entire idea, there they were: Harry, Ron, Hermione, Dumbledore, Hagrid, the White Owl and Fluffy (the three-headed dog). It was a good thing I grabbed them for I never found anything in that 3” size again.

Ellie was delighted when she discovered the small chair and cart amongst some items left from one of my earlier projects. It was her idea to place bark in the cart.

And so, in her debut as a mini-maker, we proudly present Eleanor’s interpretation of Hagrid’s Hut, a room box in ½” scale, based on the popular Harry Potter series.

This charming Wine and Chocolate Shop was a present for someone who loves both. Sue Ann Thwaite of ladybug.com taught the workshop in January 2008 before Mollie Cromwell's Sarasota Miniature Show.

Finish on the structure, which came as a bare, empty shell, is like satin. (One keeps rubbing one's hand over the top because it feels so wonderful.) The building was made in England by Glenown; unfortunately, it's the only store front in their line. Wish I could get right-hand and center door opening versions to create a street of shops.

Sue Ann provided old wine labels for us to glue on bottles and we made our own chocolates, as well as creating five or six candy boxes and small signs. The corner shelves of plexiglas rest on straight pins pushed through the velvet-covered cardboard backdrop. All the lovely gold trim on the door and store front came on adhesive-backed sheets, thoughtfully provided by Sue.

Inside the door I added a wallpapered entry hall with tiled floor and welcoming potted philodendron. The bicycle for deliveries, trash can and salivating retriever were other additions.

SUPPLIERS:

Bicycle: Unknown
Bracket for hanging sign: Wright Guide
Brick base: Houseworks
Brownies on metal plate: Unknown
Cake plate with chocolates: Taller Targioni, Spain
Candy boxes: MBO
Chocolates: Lola
Chocolates: MBO
Dog: Armitron
Laser cut sign: Cynthia Howe
Potted plant: Bright Delights
Room box: Glenowen UK
Signs: MBO
TIle flooring: Handley House
Trash can: Unknown
Wallpaper: Unknown
Wine bottles: Unknown
Workshop: Sue Ann Thwaite (Ladybug)

MBO = Made by Owner