MiniJoyMonth 12: Show & Tell

 

Men's Shoppe in a Cigar Humidor

Another day as MiniJoyMonth on Instagram unfolds. So fun to have a whole group of miniaturists sharing their work!  (Be sure to join in or follow along with host @vintagedollhouseshop and look for the tag #minijoymonth2026. * See my Instagram page and friend me at cwrite12. )  

*Click photos for full size. * For this blog, I'll share all my posts on the Day 1 post here.

Today's Prompt: Show & Tell

Interior: Men's Shoppe

I have lots of completed projects, so it's hard to pick what to show!

But today, I'll share a favorite, my Men's Shoppe in a cigar box humidor. (See more photos at link.)

This was meant to be a (real-life) wall unit in a cigar store. I loved the writing on the glass, so I decided, after having it set aside quite awhile, to make it into a men's store. One of the few male-themed projects I have. 

The fun of this was adding all the details - making shirts to fill the counter, hanging clothing, boxes, shoes, hats, vintage art, and more. 

* Thanks again for visiting! Come back tomorrow for more minis! * 

MiniJoyMonth 11: Pet Parade

A couple favorite dogs in a wall-hung cabinet.

 Another day as MiniJoyMonth on Instagram unfolds. So fun to have a whole group of miniaturists sharing their work!  (Be sure to join in or follow along with host @vintagedollhouseshop and look for the tag #minijoymonth2026. * See my Instagram page and friend me at cwrite12. )  

*Click photos for full size. * For this blog, I'll share all my posts on the Day 1 post here.

Today's Prompt: Pet Parade!

Yay, I'm today's host for Day 11 on Instagram @ cwrite12.  * I"m posting early the night before for everyone to see. If you followed here I'll expand, as I have been doing, on my main photo. * And keep reading for some freebies below! 

This was the perfect prompt for me as I've had pets all my life. We used to have turtle races on the kitchen table with those tiny turtles you used to get at the pet store. Had a parakeet, and of course, had dogs. As a little kid, I used to sneak out of the yard and walk my baby buggy around the block alone, but our faithful dog, Mitzi, always was at my side and made sure I was okay.

Real mini seahorses with newborns. Yes, the male carries and births the young.

In later years, I had saltwater fish and the smaller (mini) seahorses. What fun watching the babies born, but they are hard to raise as you had to constantly hatch live brine shrimp for them. (Yes, I still have some of the dried seahorses. Couldn't bear to just throw them away if they died and those also cost a lot to buy!)

I continued to have dogs all my life and lost my German Shepherd Gracie last year. (That's her baby photo on the top logo.) She was the oldest dog we ever had, but she had a lot of problems at the ripe old age of 14 1/2. Still miss her greatly!

I try to put dogs in most of my projects. What's a house, even a mini one, without a dog or pet?

  

I love this new statue I got this year. Isn't it cute?  I get a kick out of these and love finding new ones each year. I'll share more of those later. 

And while I am a dog person, I have put cats in a few projects, but not too many! haa!

 😚 What pets do you have, real and mini? If you can, feel free to share them here in the comments and/or on Insta!

Note: I put the printies and tip temporarily in a pdf: Click here. 

Some Freebies For You:

* Several pages of dog, cat food box printables like the above @Jennifers Printables  (right click to save the printies.)

* Vintage dog art to frame: (public domain, portion, 1911 ad)

How to: 

** TIP: Make an easy dog bone. Take a 2" long strip of masking tape (or any size you like.) Roll it into a tiny tube, then twist the ends and roll each end into a ball. Play around with sizes and twisting to get it to look how you want. I did these quick but make the ends wrapped sideways tighter. Yes it looks like a miniature rawhide bone! 

* Thanks again for visiting! Come back tomorrow for more minis! * 

MiniJoyMonth 10: By Hand

 

The Witch's Bakery

Another day as MiniJoyMonth on Instagram unfolds. So fun to have a whole group of miniaturists sharing their work!  (Be sure to join in or follow along with host @vintagedollhouseshop and look for the tag #minijoymonth2026. * See my Instagram page and friend me at cwrite12. )  

*Click photos for full size.

* For this blog, I'll share all my posts on the Day 1 post here.

Today's Prompt: By Hand

Witch's Bakery - interior

A fun project was making my Witch's Bakery in one of the Houseworks Street of Shops kits. I decided this time to do the whole exterior in egg carton stone. I love the results, but that was tedious! I have one more kit building left that I want to put a spooky restaurant in and maybe try to put it on top of this one as a second floor. 

Yes, I buy things I like but I also like to make a lot of things myself and construct kits, all by hand. I especially like building house kits. Well... I don't always like the consturction, but I do like watching the plan unfold. For me, the fun is the planning, the decorating, and the creating. Interior design in miniature can be so fun!

* Thanks again for visiting. Come back tomorrow for more minis! *

MiniJoyMonth 9: Think Green

 

Lavender Cottage half-scale 1:24 kitchen

Another day as MiniJoyMonth on Instagram unfolds. So fun to have a whole group of miniaturists sharing their work!  (Be sure to join in or follow along with host @vintagedollhouseshop and look for the tag #minijoymonth2026. * See my Instagram page and friend me at cwrite12. )  

*Click photos for full size.

* For this blog, I'll share all my posts on the Day 1 post here.

Today's Prompt: Think Green

Funny, as I'm not a big fan of green but I do seem to use it a lot. But a specific green. I like the Wedgewood Green, which I've used on the outside of several houses like the Witch's Cottage below. I also like the Light Hauser Green which I used on the kitchen of the Lavender Cottage.

Half-scale Witch's Cottage

Half Scale garage

The half-scale garage also uses both shades of green.

MiniJoyMonth 8: How it Started

 

Half-scale bakery and apartment in a Tudor-style house. I used the older plastic chairs by the top floor table.

Another day as MiniJoyMonth on Instagram unfolds. So fun to have a whole group of miniaturists sharing their work!  (Be sure to join in or follow along with host @vintagedollhouseshop and look for the tag #minijoymonth2026. * See my Instagram page and friend me at cwrite12. )  

*Click photos for full size.

* For this blog, I'll share all my posts on the Day 1 post here.

* Today's Prompt: How it Started

Bakery bedroom

This is a tough one to show since I started minis a long time ago with a couple cheap dollhouse kits I found at KMart. Both are gone now. ha!

It started even further back, I guess, with a metal dollhouse as a kid. I still like finding some of that plastic furniture now that I can use in my houses and cover some with fabric. So I'll show some of those pieces to match the prompt today.

I thought I was pretty clever when I put the two houses together and used coffee stirrers for baseboards. Then I discovered there were dollhouse shows and never looked back!!!

The, um, "collection" has grown to tons of stuff and many, many projects. 

* Thanks for visiting. Come back tomorrow for more minis! * 

MiniJoyMonth 7: Little Necessities

 

Some mini "fast food" I got in a swap some time back. I made the fish sandwich.

Another day as MiniJoyMonth on Instagram unfolds. So fun to have a whole group of miniaturists sharing their work!  (Be sure to join in or follow along with host @vintagedollhouseshop and look for the tag #minijoymonth2026. * See my Instagram page and friend me at cwrite12. )  

*Click photos for full size.

* For this blog, I'll share all my posts on the Day 1 post here.

* Today's Prompt: Little Necessities

When it comes to minis, it's all necessary, right? 

* Flowers for the garden or porch.

* Food in the kitchen. -- Hey, even some fast food. I'd say that's a necessity. Who likes to cook all the time? I love mini foood as it looks so real!!

Salad I made.

* Shoes, stuff lying around. Books.

* And of course, pets!

It's all the things that make a mini house seem real. 

Mostly it's the things you enjoy. 

What's your favorite?

MiniJoyMonth 6: Made of Wood

 

One of my past Houseworks Street of Shops kits - turned into a Witch's Greenhouse

Another day as MiniJoyMonth on Instagram unfolds. So fun to have a whole group of miniaturists sharing their work!  (Be sure to join in or follow along with host @vintagedollhouseshop and look for the tag #minijoymonth2026. * See my Instagram page and friend me at cwrite12. )  

*Click photos for full size.

* For this blog, I'll share all my posts on the Day 1 post here.

* Today's Prompt: Made of Wood

I buy some things when I spot something I like, but I prefer making furniture kits and house kits. For one, the price is usually better and it gives me a chance to make something the way I want. I also like to repaint regular wood furniture or put new coverings on things to match my project. But even with aggravation sometimes, I like making things myself when I can.

Wood window valances

Something diferent: I made the window valances in my large half-scale Victorian dollhouse from the Chinese wood fans. Those are so handy! (See more house photos.- Lit up. - Some rooms.

His and hers dressers.

In one of those rare moments, I realized that over time I'd bought two of the same dressers, so this was fun making a his and hers for the bedroom in that house. 

* Thanks again for visiting. Come back tomorrow for more minis! * 

MiniJoyMonth 5: Let's Eat!

 

Dinner cooking in the half-scale diner. Don't the burgers look yummy?

Another day as MiniJoyMonth on Instagram unfolds. So fun to have a whole group of miniaturists sharing their work!  (Be sure to join in or follow along with host @vintagedollhouseshop and look for the tag #minijoymonth2026. * See my Instagram page and friend me at cwrite12. )  

*Click photos for full size.

* For this blog, I'll share all my posts on the Day 1 post here.

* Today's Prompt: Good Enough to Eat!

Picnic food in half-scale. Polymer clay. I also made a 1" scale size to mach a vintage cookbook cover.

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Nothing better than a good recipe to make your mouth water. 

The fun of miniatures is making something small look real. So when you see some miniature food that looks like the real thing, what can be better?

Over the years, I've tried making various types of food, which is great when it comes out the way you want. Polymer clay, of course, gives you the ability to mix colors for realism. But I do like to use air dry clay also for breads and things that look great coated with pastel chalk (rust) to make it look browned. Just be sure to seal it to protect in humid climates. 

One of the recent projects I had the most fun with was designing a diner in the lower level of my Park Ave. Mansion. I made it into an apartment-style building and really wanted to make a diner. So fun designing the cabinets and making the food! (See more photos and a video at the link above. See full house here.)

Homemade French fries.

* Some "secret" tips:

* The backsplash on the diner wall and on the cabinet edges is the metal inner lining of a coffee can.

* The burgers and all the food is air dry clay (Crayola Model Magic.) Painted and tinted with acrylic paint, pressed into sandpaper to give texture, then coated with Mod Podge Gloss to make the "grease."

* The fries use light tints of yellow pastel chalk. Rust chalk can be used to look "cooked." Seal with matte Mod Podge.  

* Thanks for visiting! Come back tomorrow for more minis! *

MiniJoyMonth 4: My Style

 

Here's the bed I redecorated for Halloween in my Lavender Cottage.

 Another day as MiniJoyMonth on Instagram unfolds. So fun to have a whole group of miniaturists sharing their work!  (Be sure to join in or follow along with host @vintagedollhouseshop and look for the tag #minijoymonth. * See my Instagram page and friend me at cwrite12. )  

*Click photos for full size.

* For this blog, I'll share all my posts on the Day 1 post here.

Today's Prompt:

My Style

I like pretty things and floral and Victorian. But I also fight my "darker" side as I love the colors and decorations for Halloween! So even if I'm decorating something "prettier," I seem to go back to Halloween somehow. ha!

Loved the fabric and making these slipper chairs.

I did that in my Lavender Cottage, which was first decorated as a kind of summer cottage. Then last month I decided to decorate it for Halloween, which also led, for some reason, to my switching the rooms around. (* See house updated for Halloween.)

So with my color choices and decor, I'll say my style is Halloween Lite. (Though, yes, I do like to indulge in the gorier stuff sometimes. Nothing more fun than making some mini Eyeball soup or something creepy! ha! (Yes, I've made a Witch's Bakery last October (where does time go?) and there's a restaurant in the planning.)

I did use a brighter "fun" Halloween touch also in my Halloween shop, which was a lot of fun to do. I'll share that again on a later post.

* Thanks again for visiting! Come back tomorrow for more minis!* 

MiniJoyMonth 3: Floral

 

 Another day as MiniJoyMonth on Instagram unfolds. So fun to have a whole group of miniaturists sharing their work!  (Be sure to join in or follow along with host @vintagedollhouseshop and look for the tag #minijoymonth or @minijoymonth2026. * See my Instagram page and friend me at cwrite12. )  

*Click photos for full size.

* For this blog, I'll share all my posts on the Day 1 post here.

Today's Prompt:

Something Floral

Miniature flowers can be beautiful, and can be a pain to make sometimes. ha! Theyr'e an acquired taste but they do make a mini house a home!

I like making flower kits and making up flower pots when I can. Some may look more real than others, but I still enjoy the process (most of the time! haa!) 

My miniature mum-like flowers I made one year got a blue ribbon at the county fair. (See top photo.) I used to like entering my miniature flowers in the artificial flower category at the fair (no real miniatures category so I fit them where I could.) Then some old crab must've complained and they changed the entry to "silk" artificial flowers. Huh. Then I quit entering for a number of years. Haven't gone back though I saw in the book they changed it back to the original wording. haa! (Entries are low.)

TIP: Here's how I made hollyhocks and sunflowers. 

I liked this floral style and found it made a really pretty faux flower by punching out various printed scrapbook papers. I think it takes three different sizes of punches for the layers. I did this one for the Christmas decorating. I'll have to try making one for Halloween.

* Thanks for visiting! Come back tomorrow for more minis! *