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.