Christmas in Wonderland Giant Mixed Media Nutcracker

Inspiration: I’ve wanted to create a large steampunk inspired nutcracker, so imagine my excitement when I found a nutcracker measuring two feet tall! My mind began to design the magical wintery holiday nutcracker that was further inspired by the amazing Prima Winter Effects Kit offered for their 2022 Black Friday event.

Description: The mixed media Christmas in Wonderland Giant Nutcracker features a sturdy wood nutcracker measuring 24" tall and 4.5” x 5” at the base. I covered the entire surface of the 3D nutcracker with dozens of chipboard shapes, gears, mechanicals, found objects, and decorative elements adhered with heavy body gel. Additional mechanical gears, hearts, and screw heads were added to create more depth.

Liquid acrylics were used to give piece some holiday and wintery drama. Dark liquid acrylic was used to push the shadows and depth of the piece. Next waxes were used to highlight the rich textures followed by the addition of glass beads, glitter and jewel effect paste. Art Extravagance Snowflake Paste and Christmas ornament bulbs were added to finalize this magical wintery holiday nutcracker.

Products:

  • Wood nutcracker
  • Finnabair Art Basics Heavy White Gesso
  • Finnabair Art Basics Heavy Body Gel
  • Prima Marketing Finnabair Decorative Chipboard – Steampunk Wreath
  • Prima Marketing Finnabair Mechanical Flourishes Decorative Chipboard
  • Prima Decorative Chipboard – Mechanical Dreams
  • Piccolo Medium Flourish Accents Chipboard
  • Want 2 Scrap Chipboard Gears Frame
  • Prima Marketing Finnabair Art Alchemy Liquid Acrylic – Ultramarine, Prussian Blue, Deep Turquoise, and Ink Black
  • Prima Marketing Finnabair Mechanicals Embellishments Pocket Watch
  • Prima Marketing Finnabair Mechanicals Embellishments Tin Hearts
  • Prima Marketing Finnabair Mechanicals Hardware Accents
  • Prima Marketing Finnabair Mechanicals Steampunk Gears
  • Prima Marketing Finnabair Mechanicals Vintage Trinkets
  • Found and repurposed objects
  • Finnabair Art Alchemy Metallique Wax – White Pearl and Old Silver
  • Prima Marketing Finnabair Art Ingredients Glass Beads
  • Prima Marketing Finnabair Winter Glitter
  • Prima Marketing Finnabair Art Extravagance Jewel Effect Paste – Diamond Rings
  • Prima Marketing Finnabair Art Extravagance Snowflake Paste
  • Christmas ornament bulbs

 Video and Photos:

 



YouTube time lapse video

The final result!






I began by adhering steampunk chipboard
pieces with Heavy Body Gel 

This project gave me a change to use new and old
chipboard in my collection - it was a lot of fun!

I used two wooden discs and found metal 
circles for the steampunk goggles.

I layered more chipboard with 
mechanicals, gears and screwheads.



Layers of chipboard
gave the piece more depth

I covered everything in Finnabair's
Art Basics Heavy White Gesso

Prima Marketing Finnabair Art Alchemy 
Liquid Acrylics were added next. I layered
Ultramarine, Prussian Blue, Deep Turquoise, and Ink Black



Next game the waxes to bring out
the beautiful details of the chipboard.

I finished off with adding Finnabair's
Winter Glitter, Jewel Effect Paste and Winter Glitters.



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Location: Indianapolis, IN, USA

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