Enchanted forest book nook with LED lights

Imagine being a fairy, living in a tiny acorn house beneath a magical tree in an enchanted forest. That's exactly what it might be like to live in this cosy little fairytale book nook.

This diorama has been hand crafted to nestle between books of a similar height on your shelf to create a tiny world that will bring a little everyday magic into your home.

Taking pictures of tiny things and doing them justice is very tough. The miniature details of this piece really need to be seen in person to be fully appreciated. From a distance, the overall impression this book nook gives off when in situ is so beautiful.

Before starting this book nook, I created a palette containing different shades of green, teal, purple and blue using my acrylic paints. I then made sure that all the elements of this book nook were colour matched to the palette or hand painted to give a cohesive night time look. I was inspired by the colour palette of night time scenes in animated childhood films as I designed the overall look of this piece.

This book nook is one of the most time consuming, intricate and enjoyable things I've ever made and it truly is a one of a kind piece.

The backdrop of the scene has been hand painted using professional acrylic paints in a variety of shades and has been finished with a dusting of mica powders that glow and reflect the light. A glow in the dark moon hangs towards the back of the piece, which glows when the lights are off.

The centre piece of the book nook is a single enchanted tree, which has a bounty of ethereal goodies and fantasy items around its base and is growing out of a lush and exciting forest floor.

The tree has been modelled on a real Oak tree. It is made from clay and the texture and colouring has all been made by hand. Parts of the tree bark open up and contain LED bulbs, which glow from the inside. The bracket fungus growing out of the tree is real dried Turkey Tails mushrooms.

The forest floor is made up of scatter grasses and reindeer moss. Dried rosemary and lavender have been used to create the taller plants.

A miniature light-up acorn house sits at the bottom of the tree along with other fantasy items such as purple stones, a miniature potion bottle, tiny books and small clay mushrooms. These items appear to be intertwined with the tree's root structure.

Finally, parts of the scene have been recoloured to match the palette and the forest floor has been dusted with the same mica powder's that cascade through the night sky. 

The wood used in structuring this scene comes from dried ivy branches that we chopped down when clearing our garden. The rosemary comes from my grandparents' garden.

The book nook contains LED lights. The light circuit does not give off any heat and the book nook is not a fire hazard. The switch and battery holder are exposed at the back of the book nook and you can keep this behind or on top of the piece, depending on your preference and how often/easily you would like to access the switch.

 Please note: some of the photographs have been taken while the book nook was unfinished but the outer casing is actually painted black as in the first photograph. This makes it look least conspicuous while on the bookshelf.