The first step in setting up your tea cup scene is to create the backdrop for your house wall. If you have a regular round tea cup, this will be easier than if you have a tea cup which is an odd shape. Check the inner walls of the tea cup to see what shape the wall is roughly one inch down from the top of the cup. If your cup has a fancy inside border, choose a level inside the cup that will be below the border.
If your cup is round, measure the diameter of the cup at the level you want your wall to stand, leaving space between the wall and the top edge of the cup for your porch. Cut a piece of waste card to this diameter and try to set it into the cup to see if you have the correct size and shape. Mark the position of the handle on your card template as a reference point. As many tea cups are not exactly round, you may need to modify your shape to fit as neatly into your tea cup as possible. When you have modified your template to a good fit, cut a final wall backdrop from fresh card. To make sure you can always fit the template back into the cup, mark the position of the handle on the wall backdrop.
Note: If your cup has sloping sides, you may find it difficult to keep the template square with the front (top) edges of the cup. You can put a bit of modelling clay or blue tack in the cup at the correct depth to act as a stop while you fit your template and final card backdrop. Before you cut your final wall, make sure your template fits into the cup so it is evenly back from the top (front) edge of the cup and that there will be the correct amount of room between the wall and the edge of the cup for a front porch. If you have furniture you want to fit on the porch, check that the space you need for the furniture, will still give you a wide enough backdrop wall to fit a window and a door for your scene.
