Cool Miniature Finds, Kits, Halloween & More

What? Halloween already???

 I am painting the Lavender Cottage roof now, in spurts --- *** AND the first coat is DONE! Yay. But have to paint, cut, and put on side trim yet. Then planning some side gardens and a patio. The work is never done! haa!

 In the meantime, some cool and different things I've come across:

Believe it or not, Halloween stuff is coming out already! They call it "Summerween." So, Michaels already has the Lemax Spookytown Halloween stuff!  There's a cute mailbox with octopus arms and these cute Halloween dogs will have to come home with me (above). I always like to get new Halloween dogs and the tombstones. There's also an IT figure too (but $$$).                               

                          

* Here's a fun-looking Halloween project: Kiki's Magic Shop: Rolife/Amazon  (* Don't forget to check out my list of Craft books & book-related Book Nooks on the top tab or here.)

* How about a Halloween Haunted House book nook? (Boy these are getting pricey though!)  Fifijoy/Amazon

* Classic 3D Printed Monster Figures (about 1.25 inches high/32 mm; available to Nov. 30) I want the Creature from the Black Lagoon! 

* I recently lost my German Shepherd, Gracie, 14.5 years old. (Her puppy photo is in the top banner.) Was looking at a couple dollhouse-sized dog models on Etsy: Funny that I bought that dog at the show last time. But I do have a half-scale dog that I might paint white for the dollhouse. But not ready to do that yet.

* Some cute dog figures - 20 pcs/Amazon

* Awww! A sleeping Lab, 1/12th scale: Dog/Amazon

* For fun, another cute kit. Alice in Wonderland -  Rolife/Amazon

* So, the recent "big" little things are the MiniBrands Fill the Fridge and Mini-Minis Foods. (Fridge not coming up on Amazon yet.) While the fridge is bigger, more Barbie size, really wondering if some of the foods aren't close to 1/12th scale. Anyone know? 

* If you like to make your own polymer clay foods, or want to try your hand at it, the classic book, Making Miniature Foods & Market Stalls by Angie Scarr is a miniaturist's must! I've used this book and it really is easy to follow, with good results! 

* Angie Scarr also has some neat new 3D printed planters, 1/2" , 1" 1.5". (I can't find them on the website yet but she also has some nice kits besides her books.) She also has some great clay food canes.

 *  This is cool! An Old West Old Town Saloon Book Nook - Wonderland/Amazon

* That's it for the moment! Will post more soon. Thanks again for visiting! * 

(Note: Amazon links are affiliate links; may offer some compensation to blog poster.)

Miniature Greenhouse

Still working on the Mini-Mini Greenhouse while I'm shingling the Lavender Cottage dormers. (*Update: The rows are done! Yay! Now to paint and paint and... ) (*Click photos for full size.) 

In the meantime, I also changed and finished the front flowerbeds on that house. Switched a few things around as I wanted to use these purple bushes on each end. That looks better! The center pieces are removable in case I want to change some flowers out for seasons later on.

The greenhouse kit is almost done. (In case you're wondering, the greenhouse measures 6" h and 6" square.) Deciding on interior layout. The furniture pieces are filled. It's a greenhouse shop, so visitors can buy plants to products. PS - there's a mistake on one of the stands that I noticed (and fixed) after the photo was taken. (Of course!) Can you spot it? 😅

The various plant food, bug stuff, etc. canisters are from the potting bench project on Joann Swanson's DIY site. Some good printies and ideas here. I wrapped the printie labels around dowels or you can roll the paper as she shows. The tops I used are made from a 1/8" punch. The seed box I made was cut from mat board, with a label printed out. The kids' and gardening books are front cover printies of books I found online. I also made a small chaise that I wanted to put in the corner. 

A fun, simple project.

Speaking of greenhouses, here's a small potting shed that I made before, attached to my half-scale Country house.

I hopefully will be painting the Lavender Cottage roof soon and then can begin playing and setting up inside. That will take awhile... then what do I do???? ha! But... I am already envisioning changing it all around for Halloween! 

* Thanks again for visiting. Stay tuned for more projects and updates! * 

Spooky & Eerie Stories, plus a Kickstarter!

 Bear with me... some new minis are coming up shortly!

if you like spooky and eerie stories then this post is for you!

Did Al Capone have a deadly secret? (And not just the St. Valentine's Day Massacre!) 

Well.. find out in my eerie story, Big Al's Revenge, in the upcoming Behind the Shadows III: Dark Secrets. 

 **** The Kickstarter on the anthology starts today - Friday, the 13th! (6/13). Click to get in on some goodies!

Then.... in my spooky crime story, a burglar gets more than he bargained for in "Cat's-Eyes" - now out in Noncorporeal III: Nightfall. 

Get it here:  Paperback - https://www.barnesandnoble.com/.../noncorporea.../1147539749

Digital - https://books2read.com/u/3njGy8

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My earlier stories were also in: books II of the series:

* "Blink!" in Behind the Shadows II   and "Secrets of the Lost Mine" in Noncorporeal II. 

Happy Reading!!

Shingles, Plants & a Tiny Miniature Greenhouse

 I didn't disappear! I had several projects in the works, but nothing was finished enough to show here, until now! ha!  (*Click photos for full size. * See last post of the Lavender Cottage interior and exterior so far.)

When the computer router dies, you shingle. All day. But... I got the shingles done on the Lavender Cottage. Front and back, too. Yay! (The chimney will be papered to match and I may put one short row of shingles under that front bottom edge.) I am doing the dormers yet. Halfway on those. The hard part is cutting the side angles that butt against the roof, but getting there!  Well, then there is the painting, of course. I'm really cured (for a while!) of wanting to do individual shingles again. NOT for a long time anyway! Any next houses will be strip shingles!

Did get one planter done for the front. Decided to make the center removable as I may, or may not, change the flowers later. I might do irises in the other one, then I can take that out as I already have a mixed flower bed made for another project that will fit this.

For fun, also made this potted tomato plant for the Lavender Cottage using some ivy-type leaves and small painted air-dry clay balls. Close enough!

 In the meantime...

Remember this stuff for the small greenhouse kit? (*Click photos for full size.)

I was on and off about continuing the kit, so I got an idea and decided to paint it! I have a couple larger white greenhouses, so who needs another one? And this will make it yes, Halloween friendly, too! That got me inspired again. I like it better this way.

I have to put the doors on, decorate outside and finish plants so it can be furnished then. (Ignore the hole inside which I have to cover since the battery pack got moved outside.).

Luckily, Gigi helped me glue the roof pieces to each other as it really took two people to do it. I wanted to make the roof removable, then you can get inside. Electrician Don came up with the good idea of hanging the center light from a post so it wasn't attached to the roof pieces, too. Another change was I adapted a light pole that didn't work to make the light post on the corner. I glued the parts on top but did NOT want to do the total piecing that you have to do with these kits. 

It is small, but maybe... I can switch it out at Halloween, put in spooky plants. I'm always looking for a small Halloween project to work on between larger projects. Or I might make a sitting area inside. It's a cute structure so figuring that out. Right now I'm making a bunch of "faux" plants to go inside. I also will have a shelf full of gardening books. I'll show more soon and hopefully get pix to show it better.

An idea I had was making wreaths from circles of cloth-covered wire, glue on fake plastic ferns, and then attach pix of seed packs for the doors. I think it adds something! The doors will be glued next and propped open. I have to put on door handles also. (Done since this pic.)

I found these fake bamboo stalks at the Daiso Japanese store. (It's kind of a glorified slightly-more-than-a dollar stare. Some interesting things if you need household goods and some craft things. Supposed to have minis, but didn't see any furnishings. The plants were $2.25.) Thought they'd be good for pots. I kind of like the idea of putting several in pots to use as a room/space divider. 

Well, that's it for the moment! I'll be doing some real-life fiction book posts soon as projects coming up, been doing some writing, and a giveaway will be coming too!

* Thanks again for visiting. I appreciate your stopping by! I'll share the other small dollhouse kit next time. Just a couple things to finish on that! *