Jane, the Fox, and Me

Jane, the Fox, and Me; a graphic novel by Fanny Britt and Isabelle Arsenault

This is an achingly sad, sweet story that should be in anyone's personal library that has felt the sting of cruel peers, either as a child or an adult.  The book inspired me to create Helene,  her fox, and her own copy of Jane Eyre.

I used the Yun Shu pattern for Helene, and created a fox pattern.  There are some delightful fox patterns out there, but I wanted one that more closely resembled the fox in the story:

Helene's Fox

I plan to make Helene a FoxBox with the various articles of clothing she wears from the book.

Do yourself a favor and buy or rent this outstanding book.

Box Magic

A box can be a magical thing.  Before the lid is lifted, it can contain anything!

In this case, it can be a full bedroom and wardrobe for a small doll :-)

I've been working on this project, slowly, for the last few weeks.  It is something I have wanted to do for quite a long time.  I am in love with boxes!  Especially the memory boxes sold at Michael's.  You can usually pick them up for a couple of dollars, and every time I go there, I always come out with one or two more.  

I've always thought they would make a lovely presentation box for a doll, and maybe even a wardrobe.  But how about a wardrobe/bedroom/presentation box!

  

So, I gathered together some interesting items, plus the doll I wanted my BoxBedroom to fit.  In this case I am using Yun Shu, the doll I've been making for the past several weeks; she is about eight inches tall and slender, which is perfect for this project.  I used a dowel rod and a couple of spools to create a closet rod for hanging clothing, and a couple of papier mache boxes to create a  set of shelves.  I also printed out some colorful printables to cut out and paste to the wall of the bedroom and on the shelves.

I painted the inside and outside of the papier mache boxes, then glued them together to create the shelves.  I glued the printables to the back wall, then placed the closet rod two inches from the top and and inch from the edge of the box.  The shelves were then glued into the box, and the printables glued to the shelves.

While all of this was drying, I crocheted a bed that is 5 inches wide and 10 inches long, using three pieces of high loft batting as the mattress.  The bed, coverlet, and pillow were made with Knit Picks Brava Sport in assorted colors.

As you can see, the doll, her bed, and all her gear fit neatly into the box!  Remove the lid and place the wardrobe portion onto it, pull the bed out and put it in the lid and under the closet rod, and now she has a sweet little bedroom all her own :-)

And of course, I couldn't forget an extensive collection of clothing!  Nightgown, shoes, undies, shorts, dresses, skirt, tops, and even a knit short sleeve sweater.  

And all from a simple box :-)

A picture of the bed mattress, for Linda :-)