The Little Mermaid Box

I stitched this little piece a couple years ago - it was Danish kit I picked up at Celebration.

And a couple weeks ago, I was inspired by a little box I found in the clearance shelves at Michael's and a tiny book from the "Fairy Tale" jewelry line at Hobby Lobby.  Today while my daughter was enjoying her first day of kindergarten, I finished this! (I propped it up against an aqua-colored t-shirt for the picture.)

The top box where the stitching is located is 4" x 6".  I made a twist of jute cord and sea green perle cotton to "frame" the stitching, and nestled a few teeny seashells in the "waves."  Below the stitching, the little book is in the center.  To the right is a mermaid cameo I found on eBay, with a few more shells (on perched on a glass stone).  To the left is Neptune's trident and a tiny jar with white sparkly sand and an even tinier shell in it.  The "waves" in that box are made of 2 pieces of scrapbooking paper cut with some of my fancy scissors, and a few squares of felt between them to give them some dimension in real life.  And then, just for the heck of it, I glued a bunch of the glass stones to the top as well (I got a big old bag of them at the dollar store, it seemed silly to just use ONE...).

I'm not sure if I totally love how this came out, but the three-dimensionalness of it makes me happy.  And my daughter thinks it is cute!  Hopefully it will be displayed in my mermaid-themed half-bath that hasn't happened yet.