The Poison Room

Last year I read a number of books by Alan Bradley in a series called the 'Flavia deLuce Mysteries'. Clever, witty books written with a precocious child as the main character. At an early age Flavia discovered her great uncles forgotten old poisons laboratory at the top of the huge crumbling family estate. By the time she was 12 she was putting poison ivy oil in her older (and beastly) sisters lipstick and solving crimes with Scotland Yards finest.
This little 'Poison Room' was inspired by Mr. Bradley's snarky pre-teen heroine, Miss Flavia deLuce.

A shot so you get the idea of scale.....

Looks like someone is not the best housekeeper and who doesn't need a large economy-sized bottle of Chloroform?!
And all the hand written journals on Venom, Toxins, Acids on the shelf above....some excellent bedtime reading.

 Is that a poisoned cup of tea?

And what about the slightly creepy skeleton guy peeking around the corner? Is that the mastermind? An experiment gone wrong? Or just some really skinny Boo Radley type hanging out in his favorite room.......

Probably don't want to know.

Here is a quick tutorial on how to make a plate rail/bracket shelf like the one holding all the book above.

First off, I did all of the interior work on the box, like papering it and painting around edges, back and side. While I was at it, i painted the frame as well.

Next, I measured the interior of the papered box and decided how wide I wanted my shelving to be. I cut seven pieces. One goes across the entire back wall, two extend from the the back shelf (side walls) and four 45 degree triangles that make up the brackets or shelf supports.

I lined up the back shelf on my handy mat full of measurements and glued the sides and back together and after those set up, glued the brackets on.

After the shelf was completely dry I dry-fitted it into the box, making sure it was snug.

I then removed the shelf, painted it and glued it in place. And with a bit of Quinachrodone gold and a little black acrylic paints, I 'aged' the walls and the shelf. I did the same with the little bottle rack and the table and then glued them in place.
And then it's all set up for filling in all the fun stuff.
Wait a minute.....what's he doing there? I've had a lot of trouble keeping him out of the photographs. You don't know how many times I've had to redo shots as he wants to photo bomb everything.
And I thought he was shy......

For a link to all the supplies from the incredible Alpha Stamps click HERE.
Supplies List:

Small Frame Shadowbox
Simple 1:24 Table
Small Spice Rack
Skeleton Slide Mailers Collage Sheet
Mini Old Windows And Doors Collage Sheet
Secret Spell Book Labels Collage Sheet
Little Potions Collage Sheet
Little Library Collage Sheet
Large White Turquoise Skull Beads
Tiny White Turquoise Skull Beads
12 Tiny Glass Bottles
Mini Mason Jars-Set of 3
Corked Vials
Miniature Hurricane Lamp
Set of Miniature Books
Pewter Measuring Spoons
Bronze Teacup and Saucer Charm
Tall Bulb Perfume Bottle
Tiny Wooden Flower Pots
1mm Micro Beads (in Teal and Red)
Tiny Wooden Bowls
Tiny Glass jar with Lid

Additional supplies
Chipboard scrap
Matte Brown Acrylic Paint
Various beads for bottle making


Thanks for stopping by!