Miniature dollhouse snow shovel (2)

I made a 1:12 scale snow shovel for Santa’s cottage and here is how I did it!

Cut 2 pieces of red card stock to 1 1/4” x 1”

Preferably a smooth textured paper. I just used the smoother side of what I had.

Cut 3 pieces of thin wire to 5/8”.

Tape one wire in the center. Then tape the other two. Run your nail along the edge to get the tape snug.

Cover one side with wood glue. Press together with your fingers, wait a minute, and then use a ball stylus to press the paper down against the wire. I used a smaller stylus then a larger one to smooth out the paper.

Cut a toothpick to 3/8” for the handle. Sand the cut edges with fine sandpaper.

Cut down a shish kabob stick or a wood dowel to 2 5/8” long for the shovel neck.

Cut red card stock to 3/8” tall to the circumference of your shovel neck (pole). It will wrap around the pole.

Put wood glue on, wait a minute, and wrap it onto the wood pole. You want the edges to butt together.

For the handle end, cut 2 pieces of red card stock to 1” long. The width will depend on what you use for the shovel neck. Mine was about 1/16-1/8”. See photo.

Glue them on both sides of the pole keeping in mind where the join is on the bottom part of the pole. The butted seam you made earlier would be at the back of the pole.

Wrap another piece of paper around the handle pieces. Keep the butted seam at the back.

Bend the long card stock handle pieces out and then make light creases where they would bend.

Place the toothpick handle inside with glue. 

Score the bottom of the shovel with a ball stylus.

Wrap the shovel base around something curved. This is where the wire will help. Be gentle you don’t want to crease the paper.

Glue the pole base onto the back of the shovel base. Let dry.

Once dry, snip away the excess paper on the handle.

Give it a coat or two of gloss varnish.

You can age it if you like. I kept this one nice because it is Santa’s snow shovel. I think he would like it shiny red like his sleigh. :)

Have a happy holiday season!!