Three Projects

Hello. The first day so Autumn began cool and calm--just the way we like our first fall day. Instead of planting the 100 spring bulbs yesterday, I spend making minis while my husband spent his day in the organizing his newly rediscovered woodworking passion, so we let the gardening go.

To quickly review my current project, it is the Greenleaf Westville that I purchased a while back along with the toy store house. I've been in a quandary as to what to do with the little house that was built probably 20 years ago--or more. First it was going to be blue shabby chic--more of cliche, I decided, than chic. Next it was going to be a Victorian English apothecary with a bit of weird twist, and then I did some research on the house and discovered that the Westville's inspiration house was a little cottage in Massachusetts's, so it will now be turn of the century (1907) New England apothecary.

At first I was going to leave the interior as is because it has naturally aged, yellowed, gotten dusty, but as I researched stoves and kitchens of the period, the wood stoves had brick or tile behind them in many kitchens, so I built half a false wall and decided to brick it.

The false wall with the shelf stained and glued in place

I tried two patterns and since I am not a brick mason or artist, either, I decided against fancy brick work. It just looked too messy. I had the little plaster bricks in my stash and the powered mortar, so I had tried this before and it didn't work then, but this time I'd do it just right.

Wrong.

   

The bricks didn't stick.

So the mortar ended up in the trash--again. 

So, what do you use for mortar?

I'll do more research to see what I can come up for motor

Three Easy Projects

#1

Along the way, I decided to make hooks for the shelf above the stove where pans will hang. This is so easy. I practiced my idea with a left over piece of the balsa wood that I used for my shelf. Pots will hang from the shelf, so I needed hooks for them.  I made pot hooks out tiny scrapbooking brads, and a jeweler's pair of needle nosed pliers, the small one. The result was a very nice authentic looking hook

 

.

 First, I opened out the brad and flattened. Because balsa is so soft and the brads bend too easily , I used a tooth pick to begin a starter hole.

Next, bend the brad downward to flatten the head against the wood. I will add glue to the brad as I insert to keep it in place.

Use the pliers to gently bend the other side of the brad into a hook.

I like the look.

 The older turn-of-the-century houses didn't have a lot of cupboards, so pans were hung and dishes were stored on open shelves. With a a craft stick, I made a plate rail in the soft wood.

Bookin' It

#2

I shared in another post my book making project, which was work intensive and required a lot of printing and cutting. The mistress of this little house will be a real book worm, she will be curious about the world and there will be books all over the house, so I needed more books but not the work, so I cheated.

Inspired by Heather (love her voice) at Thicketworks.com last week, this week I modified her book to reduce all of the cutting,  the ink, paper, and time.To begin, I printed the book covers on mat photo paper, scored the spines then cut 1/8 inch balsa wood to find the inside of the book cover. Because I didn't make the correct setting on the printer of the photo paper, the covers came out discolored. Instead of throwing them away, I used them since they look more like old volumes. I like that. You can find the printable book covers and pages here: https://thicketworks.com/miniature-books-a-love-affair/

Heather has a second book tutorial that is even more work intensive to make an open book. Once again I modified her technique. Using the book cover and printed pages for the second project and a glue stick, I made my own opened book. 

Here is the link for the open book: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsPCNvJ5voM&feature=share

 Shadow Box

#3

Another miniaturist, Julie Warren, has the most delightful, doable tutorials for those of us who are not particularly talented. The mistress of the Westville is also a collector, so I decided to make some shadow boxes for her house. Here is the link to Julie's video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ot5alXevtuk

Here is the first box that I made. It has a mistake, but it turned out very nice. I just need to decid what to put in it.

The second box has problems, too, but I'm not going to point them out. Building these tiny boxes requires precise measurements and a steady hand for cutting the wood. Let's just say this: the box required a lot of sanding to get everything to fit. In my stash I had 3 white wooden eggs that I painted and I had some brown plastic eggs that I also painted. 

Yes, chickens do lay blue and green eggs. We have hens that aren't laying right now. The old girls are done and the young ones haven't started. We select the hens for the color of eggs they lay. Green is a favorite--with ham. We don't have any blue egg layers because those chicks are very expensive.

I used acetate from my stash and find it a bit thick. I had considered using the clear plastic packaging which will work well, but I had the acetate so I used it. If you don't have it in your stash, save that plastic packaging for these little projects. 

This is a really fun project that can accomplished in an evening. I will be making more once I decide what to put in them. Butterflies, maybe.

So these are three easy projects for beginners and seasoned builders as well that can produce fun little additions for you dollhouse. 

Thanks for stopping by. Have a wonderful week. 

Making a Halloween Bed

When my ten year old grandson, Nathan, told me that he wanted a dollhouse, we were the Denver Doll and Toy Museum's mini show in February, a show where only local vendors and artisans offer their wares for miniaturists. I asked him what kind of house he want and he had to think about it. I helped him along the way by telling him to think of theme or maybe a person who would live in the house. Finally he said he wanted a Halloween house. He found a couple of pumpkins at the show and we were ready to get started.

He comes to stay with me during spring vacation and then the week after school is out, so together we built a bed out of lumber in my stash. A simple bed, easy to build and then we talked about how to customize it. I suggested skulls and he said a canopy, and then it was time for him to go home. I got busy last week with two projects in mind that I wanted to finish in September: The San Franciscan, which I am happy to announce will soon go to it's new home, and to finish Nathan's bed.

He has a house, the Dura-Craft Lafayette. I have one also, so we fit the bed in the upstairs and it will barely fit.

With the bed built, I painted it black then I wanted to add some embellishment. I had this piece that I purchased from Hobby Lobby (two to the package, $1.99). I painted it black first then lightly went over it with gold craft acrylic.

I photographed it with the bed on end since I hadn't painted or glued the headboard in place. Later I would change my mind and move the medallion a bit lower, a decision I regretted after I added the pillows. Oh well.

Next I wanted to create a worn, wispy canopy. I had bolt of cheese cloth in my pantry the I bought when I was making my own yogurt from fresh cow's milk. I'd put the yogurt in cheese cloth so that the liquid (or whey) would drain off. The cows moved to Nebraska, so I have a lot cheese cloth.

Now how to dye it. I purchased this watercolor ink. 

First I added the ink to water and the results were not what I wanted. I wanted black, not purple.

So I wadded up more cheese cloth and put it in a container and kept dripping back ink on it until I had my desired results.

I let it dry.

 While the canopy was drying, I made the mattress. I sort of cheat here. I cut a piece of 1/4 " foam board that fit inside the bed then covered it with wool batting--because that's what I have. I use it when I make rag dolls that need stuffing instead of poly fiberfil, which would work fine. I sort of lay it on the foam board to shape it, layer it to make a nice bumpy, saggy old mattress. When I have the batting shaped, I smear white glue on the mattress and press the batting in place.

When the glue had dried, I simple cut a piece of fabric with enough on the sides to fold it over and glue it in place. I have taken the time in the past to sew fitted sheets, but gluing the sheet on was easy and quick.

Here is the bed next to one I made up the other night from a kit. Don't where I'll use it, but it's a sweet little bed.

Nathan will love the bed. I love it. 

Now for the fun. On reason I had put of this project for so long was that I couldn't find skulls. Factorydirect. com has them, but I didn't want to order them in case they weren't the right size. Then I found these at Michael's by Tim Holtz, twelve to a package with three differed styles. I was thrilled.

I found the skeletons at Michael's, too, on a garland of six.

I made the bedspread and pillows from fabric that I had purchased just for this project. The fabric came in stack of fat quarters that quilters use, color coordinated. Worked perfect.

The jack-o-lanterns and the candelabra also came from Michael's.

It's hard to tell how long the poor fellow has been expired. Did he die in bed? Or was his body moved later? A long time later?

I'm not sure. Maybe Nathan can solve the mystery.

Thanks for visiting. 

Comments?

Denver Museum of Miniatures, Dolls and Toys

It only comes once a year, the big miniature show. The only one in town, so I plan my year around the Denver Doll museum's miniature show where all our favorite vendors come to show, share, and sell their wares. I usually go early Saturday morning, meeting oldest daughter Heather who lives in Denver at the show and sometime taking her sister Jennifer with me. It's a long drive, 80 miles straight down I-25 all the way through Denver then a few short blocks west to the hotel; however, Denver traffic is miserable. Sometimes slow and grueling all the way from where I get on the interstate near Ft. Collins. I can drive by myself, but it is more fun to take my daughter.

But life gets complicated.

A few years ago we all joined Daughters of the American Revolution, and our first meeting of the season meets the same day as the miniature show, the second Saturday in September. I do have my priorities--the once a year special even is one. I am now recording secretary and while I could miss a meeting, I really can't, so I asked my husband if he would go to with me Sunday, and of course, drive. The big sporting goods store, Cabela's is in the area, so he was willing to go. We had a lovely day, except Heather, because of a family emergency couldn't join us. I called her when we arrived and she said that she was just two minutes away and then seconds later she called again to say that there had been a family emergency and she had to go home.

What was I to do? She didn't want me to join her until she had the details of what had happened, yet I felt awful going in and shopping when I knew how her family was hurting.

But I did. There wasn't anything that I could do for her or family at that moment. I have say that I didn't enjoy myself as much as I wanted.

I was looking especially for two things. One I found; the other I didn't. I am working the Westfield, turning it into an apothecary and hit upon the idea to add an orrery to it, so I started to build one the other night and decided that I would look for a miniature one at the show. I didn't. But I did find some cool things. (click here to see an example of an ornery and go this article in Wikipedia to read a description of an orrery 

First, I wanted a doll's head, as special one. Pat Boldt was there last year who makes beautiful china dolls of all sizes and styles, and I was hoping that she would be there again. Here's the reason:

I have had the life sized china head for decades. It was my mother's sister's doll; in fact I have photo of the little girl with her doll and teddy bear. Marjorie was born in 1901and died at age 16 of a bad heart, as my mother said. So the doll's head is a family treasure that has alway been with me for as long as I can remember. It is now in a little china hutch with other treasures and collectables. The slightly larger head on the left was my first attempt to buy a mini head on Etsy, but as you can see it larger than 1:12, about two inches. And do you see the scowl on that face? What child would want to play with a grumpy doll. Yesterday I was able to buy the one that I wanted. Thrilled, to say the least.

What I did not buy: A bust of William Shakespeare. I was so tempted, but even had I seen it before I spent money on the doll's head, I would have passed because while they were the same amount, I had my heart set on the doll, and I didn't want to spend that much money on just two items. I figured that I could find the bust online, but so far not so.

Why Shakespeare? I'm a geek. I have a Master's in English literature and taught his plays in my literature course. What can I say? Would an Victorian apothecary have a bust of Will? Maybe. Maybe next year. 

She does look nice with a candle stick from my stash and my newly printed books.

She has sort of a Mona Lias smile. Where will put her? I don't know.

While I have a copper tea kettle, I liked this one better. Besides I have more than one house. And there will be a stove in the apothecary, too.

I looked for these tiny airplanes last year for the toy store, but they were very pricey. I find this one for only a few dollars.

And 4 slices of pizza

And a tutu for the dance studio, so nicely made. Better than mine, but I'll display both.

And I cannot resist pink flowers. Ever.

Planters for the outside of a house; however the Brockwood has a solarium attached with nice plant material. I could something with them there. From Dragonfly International

And a Dragonfly International tea chest that I assembled last night. I also bought the tea-towels and a sheet of water slide jar labels for Nathan's little halloween house. You will see them in later posts.

These are other things that I have collected mostly from Hobby Lobby and Michaels as I look for things for my apothecary, Jen's haunted house, and Nathan's Halloween house. I found the hour glass in the steam punk jewelry charms, along with a couple of other cool things, like the green jar. I had the marbles in my collection and they will become crystal balls. I looked all over the skulls and found some skull beads, but I wanted more authentic looking ones and found these at Michaels.

These are by Tim Holtz and come a package of about twelve, or ten with 3 different styles. Perfect.

I also found the tiny cloche dome, half the size of others and the skeleton at Michaels. The skeleton came on a garland of four. Another score. He's not very flexible, but he will do and is scale, standing 4 inches tall.

He may be the sole proprietor of the apothecary.

Back at the show: downstairs the miniature club displays indivuals' projects. I took a a few photos, but most are over the top and so elegant and beautiful, that they really are not something that i would assemble, but this realistic double room box kitchen, caught my attention. The scene is so realistic, and I especially like the messy kitchen at Thanksgiving.  If you look really closely, you see flour on the floor. Messy. Just like me.

A perfectly set Thanksgiving table, too.

And this flower laden patio seems do-able, too, with all of the hand crafted plants. I am thinking that I could pull that one off, as well.

Finally, I have noticed the Denver Museum of Miniatures, Dolls and Toys on some blog lists as a place to visit in Denver. If you do travel to and want to visit the museum, currently it is closed. It lost its lease at its original location, but had has found a new home and hope to be open next year. This show and the Little Show in February that hosts local artisans are it main fund raisers. Visit their web site for more information.

Thanks for visiting. I appreciated the comments that you leave.