Take me to the Steps

I have several necklaces with my children’s and husband’s names incorporated into the pendants, but I didn’t have one with their likenesses. So I spent an afternoon in the craft cave and created my own tiny family charms. Here’s how I did it.

Notes: I used tiny corked watch part vials collected from flea markets that are plentiful on Etsy.com. Depending on the size and information on the labels, you may choose to keep vials turned in the direction of their little labels or backwards, keeping the front clear.

My family figures came from the following N scale sets: Children, Fireman to the Rescue, and Pedestrians. Check your local hobby shop or find them online at Woodland Scenics. N scale model train people are 1:148 scale, the perfect size for tucking into the tiny vials. Depending on your peoples’ body positions, you may need to make adjustments. (I had to break and reposition my miniature husband’s arm.)

Project Steps

Prepare grass and sky.

Punch tiny rounds of faux model grass and lightly glue them to the bottoms of the vials.

Adhere narrow cuts of blue seam binding ribbon to the inside backs of each vial to act as a backdrop of sky. Use a toothpick to help position and press into place.

Add tiny person.

With a tiny amount of glue on the feet of each figure, I tucked them into the grass inside each vial and held them in position with a toothpick until set.

Seal bottle and attach to chain.

With a tiny drop of glue on the backside of each cork, seal the bottles.

Snip the eyehole head pins to the length you want and glue the stems into the corks.

Then string each little vial charm along a chain with jump rings, using pliers.

These charms can be modified to hold pets, snippets of nature, word messages, baby’s first haircut, sand from your beach vacation, and more. Have fun!