Christmas Time's A Comin'

Christmas time's a comin', Christmas time's a comin', and you know I'm goin' home.
Yep!
WARNING/DISCLAIMER: PICTURE HEAVY POST TO FOLLOW
I can say, I'm pretty excited about this piece I'm about to show you. I had the idea back in...oh, say October, and it's taken me this long to gather supplies, formulate how to execute the "plan", and actually taking time to create it here and there.
Ooo, Ooo, and I have a great idea of how to finish off a Christmas tree made with the snowflake rosette die, so it looks nice on the top.
But first, here's the piece. I had an old wooden box, approximately 5 x 7, and 3 inches deep, and used it as a base.
I give you the bottom of the box, or the "outside" of my guy's house:

closeup of the birdie in the window, I laughed when I thought of this:

He's thinking..what the heck is going on in there?

 Here's a view of the top, I'm no florist, but I'm pleased with the way it turned out:

 The rusty key handle is actually a Studio 490 Art Part, painted with Ver Day paint and patina. 
As far as the brick goes, I used the Studio 490 Brick Stencil (really?), embossing paste and distress inks in Fired Brick, Aged Mahogany and Black Soot.  The "grout" is actually a mix of gray acrylic paint and Snowtex painted directly on the wood prior to the application of the embossing paste.  The wreath is a piece of chipboard, inked and stamped with a Studio 490 stamp, and the holly leaves were cut with the Festive Greenery Sizzlit strip die.  The paper I used for that was a piece of Co'ordinations, embossed with Lettuce embossing powder. I used a Studio 490 stamp for the stamping.
And the "inside" of the house, she states..gleefully clapping her hands together:

Kind of reminds me of a Clark Griswold moment from "Christmas Vacation". lol.

 Another shot:

 Sorry for the poor lighting, we haven't seen the sun for a few days, and I got tired of waiting.
 Some details:
The star on the top of the tree is a Maya Road stick pin, thought it was PERFECT here.
That guy is my favorite Studio 490 guy stamp. LOVE him! I should name him.  Any suggestions? He was stamped on the matching art part, and heat embossed with black powder. 
Couldn't resist a little nod to Steampunk, so I made it look like he's stepping on gears to get to the tree.

Love the mini lights. He's having a little trouble getting them on the tree, it appears. lol. Guess I should name him Clark, huh? 
"Squirrel! Where's Eddie, doesn't he eat these things?"
"No, Clark, not since he found out they're high in cholesterol."
Believe me, if I would have had time to find a picture of a mini squirrel to put in the tree, I would have. lol. That movie is a classic.

There are some stickers on the wall behind Clark, courtesy of K & Company. Can't really see them, but they add some interest to the wall.  The scallop piece behind the stocking is Maya Road, stamped with a Studio 490 stamp.
The Christmas tree skirt is a little tatted doily that I've been saving for something. Found the perfect use for it!
Here's a closeup of the clock on the wall:

Yep, Studio 490 clock stamp, covered with Rock Candy crackle, inked with Brushed Cord, and set in a Maya Road foundations circle chipboard, which is also stamped with the Studio 490 plaid stamp. Love that one. Oo, it's 10 o'clock, better hurry dude, Christmas is almost here!
Ok, so, on to the Christmas tree. I used the same paper as I used for the wreath on the outside. Co'ordinations green paper, embossed with Lettuce powder, using a Studio 490 stamp, then cut with the snowflake rosette die.
Stacked the rosettes together on a bamboo skewer. The hole in the middle of the rosette, even though it's covered with a circle of paper, allows enough space to run a bamboo skewer through it, which makes the "tree" straight. Like this...

 I stuck the skewer into a half of a wine cork for the base, which you can't really see.
Now, for the "genius" moment. I was wondering how the heck to finish the tree off nicely, I've seen several different interpretations.  I came up with this idea, I think it's original, but forgive me if it's not. Take the snowflake pieces left from the die,  that you're supposed to use to hold the rosettes together...you know, these:

I took one from each of the three sizes, and snipped in between the points on each to the center of the snowflake, and glued one point on top of the next point, thereby eliminating one point of the flake. Similar to how you make one layer of the grungepaper roses. Then, stack the three pieces on top of each other, large to small, like this:

 Isn't that cool? Then I glued that on top of the bamboo skewer, and I think it finishes the top of the tree really well. Please see photos above for the whole tree, as I didn't take a picture of the whole tree before I glued it in. lol.
Man, I really wish the lighting was better, these pictures don't do it justice. It really does look better in real life!
If you have any questions on how I did something, please ask!
As always, thanks for stopping by, and Skels and I have a message for you, as I don't think there will be another post before Christmas... 

 Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!