Miniature Bedroom in Arles

I have loved science my whole life.I've also had this fascination with art in all its forms,whether it's a colourful painting or a beautiful piece of music.

Out of all artists out there Vincent van Gogh's story is my favorite.His art speaks to me in ways I cannot explain.I also cannot explain how I got the idea to make a miniature version of one of his paintings but here we are.

As Vincent once said: ''I dream my painting,and then I paint my dream''.

Let's get started!

• Mount board
• Acrylic paints
• Brushes
• Craft glue
• Scissors
• X-acto knife
• Craft mat
• Ruler
• Wooden skewers
• Popsicle sticks - small and large ones
  
• Toothpicks
• White and blue felt
• Needle and thread
• Cotton
• Gauze pad
• Acetate sheet
• A tiny glass bottle
• Cotton string
• Hot glue gun
• Foam
• Burlap
• Sanding paper
• Clamps
• A pencil
  

To make the bed frame you will be using the thicker popsicle sticks and mount board.Lots of mount board.

Start out by measuring each of the popsicle sticks and cut off the excess.I cut mine to be around 10 cm long each.You need to cut 8 pieces in total.

Once cut,glue two sticks onto each other.Repeat with the rest.This way you will end up with four legs.To ensure the popsicle sticks adhere really well to each other clamp them up and let them dry completely before you move on.

While the popsicle sticks are drying prepare the base of the bed frame.

Take your mount board and using the painting as reference make a rough sketch of the base.Cut it using scissors.Since my mount board was very thin I needed to stack multiple pieces of each part of the bed to make it thicker.Trace two more of the same base pieces onto the mount board and cut them both.Next,using some craft glue glue the three pieces on top of each other.

Repeat this step one more time to make the second bed frame base.

Once the two stacked bed frame bases are completely dry we can move on to create the details.

To make the bottom detail cut a strip of mount board around 1 cm wide and as long as the base of your bed frame.

To create the top curved part of the bed frame trace the base's curve,then rougly draw the remaining part and cut it out.

To make the vertical details measure the width of the base of the bed frame and divide that by 1 cm (which is rougly the width of each strip).This way you will know how many pieces you need to cut.

Finish off the base of the bed frame by glueing each of the vertical strips down.If there is any excess glue clean it up using a dotting tool.Glue the curved and bottom detailing on top of the vertical strips and let everything dry completely.Once dry,cut any excess mount board off.

Repeat the same steps for the second bed base.

We have the bases but we also need something to connect them.

Again,using the painting as reference draw a rough shape - a rectangle with slightly curved top parts.Cut out 6 pieces of the same shape in total.Stack three of them up and glue them using some craft glue inbetween each piece. Repeat the same step for the remaining three pieces.

Let them dry.

Once the popsicle sticks are completely dry sand the cut parts down rougly so that everything is nice and smooth.Using a stronger glue adhere the popsicle sticks to each sides of the base of the bed frame.Clamp them up and let them dry.

Repeat this step for the second bed frame.

When both of the frames are dry,connect them using the longer two strips - put some glue towards the lower part of the popsicle sticks and assemble the bed.

Let everything dry,again.

To make the chairs you need:

• two pieces of the wooden skewers measuring 8 cm each
• two pieces of the wooden skewers measuring 4 cm each
• three pieces of the smaller popsicle sticks measuring 3 cm each
• twelve pieces of toothpicks measuring 3 cm each

Start out by cutting all of the pieces you need.Once cut,give them a rough sanding.To make the smaller popsicle stick pieces curved simply sand their corners on an angle.

The assembly is simple - glue the three popsicle sticks to each sides of the longer wooden skewers.This is the back of the chair.To make the front glue two of the toothpicks towards the lower part of the 4 cm long wooden skewers.Next,glue one more toothpick but slightly higher.The front of the chair is complete.In order to assemble the chair glue three toothpicks perpendicularly onto each of the wooden skewers of the back of the chair so that they correspond to the front.Attach the front of the chair to the toothpicks.To complete the chair glue the rest of the three toothpicks to the back part - again two toothpicks lower and one higher.Lastly,glue some burlap onto the chair,so that we can sit on it. :)

Repeat these steps to make the second chair.

A tip: I used two types of glue to make the chairs and I would highly recommend you to use hot glue - it dries significantly faster.

To make the table cut out three rectangle pieces that are the same size.Stack them up and glue them to make them thicker.For the sides of the table cut two longer strips of mount board and two shorter ones.

Notice how in the painting there is a drawer on the table.To make the drawer simply cut a smaller rectangle and glue it on top of the front piece.A bead is perfect to create the drawer pull so glue that on top of the smaller rectangle.

To assemble the table glue the wooden skewers down first using some hot glue.Next,attach all of the remaining pieces.

The table is complete.

There is a single window and two doors in the bedroom in Arles.

To make the window cut a rectangle piece of mount board.Using a small rectangle piece,trace it six times with a pencil and cut the window frame using an X-acto knife.

Make the two doors similarly to the window - cut two large rectangles and one smaller rectangle.Use the smaller rectangle to trace.Cut the traced parts of the door and glue it down on top of the second large rectangle.This way we are achieving the same look of the doors in the painting.

There are multiple paintings on the walls of the bedroom.I couldn't tell which ones they were so I decided to print out small versions of my favorite van Gogh paintings:

• Almond blossom
• A self-portrait
• Portrait of Joseph Roulin
• Wheatfield with cypresses
• Green wheat field with cypresses

To frame each painting simply glue it on top of some mount board.One of the paintings needs to be hanged above the bed so attach some cotton string to the back of the painting of your choice.

To make the small mirror on the left side of the window cut a rectangle mount board and a smaller piece of acetate sheet.Glue the acetate sheet to the mount board and paint the frame black.Finally attach some string to the back of the mirror.

Paint each of the pieces accordingly - the bed in yellow,the window frame in green,the doors in blue and the table in a brick-like color.I painted my doors in two different shades of blue because frankly,I didn't like the first color.Painting a lighter color on top of the bright cobalt blue made a much lovelier shade.

To finish the window paint a piece of acetate sheet in green,too.Next,glue the window frame to the acetate sheet and clean up any excess glue.Once dry,cut the excess acetate sheet off.

All of the furniture and paintings need to be put inside a room,right?

To make the room cut:

• three pieces of thick cardboard measuring 27x20 cm (the walls)
  
• one piece measuring 27x27 cm (the floor)

Once cut,paint the walls in a light blue shade and the floor in brown using some acrylic paint.To create the blended effect on the floor add a tiny bit of white or cream acrylic paint and blend it in one direction using a brush.

When completely dry,assemble the room by attaching the walls to the floor using some hot glue.

We have a bed frame.Now it's time to create the matress.

Put the bed frame on top of some mount board and rougly trace around the inside part.Cut the traced piece out and using some hot glue attach foam to it.Flip it around and cut any excess foam off.

To make the bedding glue some white felt and red fabric to the foam base of the bed.Finally attach the base of the bed to the frame.

Sew two pillows using some white felt.Cut four identical rectangle pieces.Take two of the rectangles and start sewing the first pillow using a needle and white thread.Nothing too fancy here - just a regular hand stitch.When you get close to finishing sewing the pillow,flip the sewn part inside out and stuff it with some cotton.Make sure you leave enough room to fill the pillow.Complete the first pillow by sewing the leftover part.

Repeat the same steps for the second pillow.

Put the bed,table and two chairs in the bedroom.

Using hot glue attach the window to the wall,behind the table and chair.Repeat the same steps for the two doors - one behind the other chair and the second one in front of the bed.

To make the wall hanger take a larger popsicle stick and cut both of its sides off.Attach four push pins and using some pliers cut off the heads of the push pins.

Attach some push pins to the walls of the room,too - one next to the door behind the chair,one next to the window and one above the bed.

Vincent is infamous for his straw hat.It can be seen in multiple of his self-portraits.There is a straw hat in this painting too,hanging above the bed.

To make the straw hat cut a square and a circle piece of burlap.Fold and glue the square piece multiple times so that you end up with a tiny thick piece of burlap.Glue that to the circle piece of burlap.To make the hat more realistic glue the circle burlap down to the sides of the tiny piece of burlap.

Put the pillows on the bed,glue the wall hanger above it.Hang some blue pieces of felt on it and of course - the straw hat.Hang a piece of sterile gauze next to the door,put the Wheatfield with cypresses painting above the bed and the mirror next to the window.

To finish the Bedroom in Arles place the tiny glass bottle on top of the table.

With that last touch the Bedroom in Arles is complete!

I really appreciate you reading or scrolling through this Instructable.I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed making it.Like I said - my love for Vincent van Gogh is endless and I will be sharing a brand new project inspired by my favorite painting of his very soon!

Happy crafting!