January 25, 2010

Miniatures Monday: Greenhouse Additions

I finally got back to finishing up some things on my Witch's Greenhouse. The 1-inch scale project is set in the Bay Window Shop of the Houseworks' Street of Shops. It is 12.5" w, 11" h and 13" d.

The double window shop of the set houses my Teapot Shoppe. The third corner shop will be a Witch's Bakery, which I have been collecting cakes for. (Most made by my talented friend Kitty. See her work at the Minis by Kitty blog.)

It took me a while but I'm pleased with how the greenhouse is turning out. I decided to make the outside a "regular" shop so if I ever change my mind, I can take out the spooky plants and use it as a regular plant/garden shop. I like the wallpaper (scrapbook paper) so all I'd need to do is change the wall art inside.



The back and outside walls are painted with a gray sand paint (sand added to acrylic paint) to give it texture. After painting and gluing the art, I sprayed the sides with Krylon Matte Acrylic Sealer.

I decided to make a stone/stucco lower strip on each side to match the bottom of the front bay window. I glued different vintage seed packet art on each side as posters. (See preview of house front here.


The stucco is lightweight Spackle tinted with Linen color acrylic. The stones are different shapes cut from the gray egg cartons.

The egg carton stones are tinted with shades of brown, green and orange acrylic, dabbed with black and brown for accent.

The stones are then sealed with Delta Ceramcoat Gloss Varnish and set into the stucco. I like to add a thin layer of tacky glue before I put the stucco on. More glue is added to the loose stones.

(Note: Victoria Miniland has a great egg carton tutorial using pastels to tint the "stones.")



The inside floor is also egg carton stone, though I added more browns to make it darker. I added the wall shelf from a Michael's hutch and am using an old cabinet for plants and supplies. I will also will add a table by the front door. The potting table is handmade and is my original design.

Next, I'm gluing a string of green beads to hang in the front window and deciding how to add a small valance to the door and maybe the windows. The green fabric has these colored stripes that remind me of "snakes."

I probably have more than enough odd plants to fill the shelves, but I keep coming up with new ideas! I'll share more pix as I add new items. Thanks for stopping by and looking!

** Have you done a greenhouse project or are you making any plants of your own? Got a favorite plant? Whose kits do you like to use? Please share!

1 comment:

L. Diane Wolfe said...

Love the scale model! I did that once with a castle. (Probably not really green...)