Mini A Day: MiniJoyMonth Storytime

 Today's theme for #MiniJoyMonth: Story Time

Above: Girl's horror-circus themed bedroom: My Fairfield house has inhabitants who like a touch of Halloween and I thought it would be fun to use old circus "freak show" posters. Scroll down here for links to other rooms in the Fairfield. (Click photos for full size.)

Most of the projects have stories behind them, whether it's about the planning or deciding on an actual or invisible owner which helps in the decorating, etc. All these are half-scale (1/24th scale) houses.

(Below) Like in the Lavender Cottage: given the style, I decided it was a vacation home, which explains the double beds in the bedroom, etc. New photo! I'm still adding art and decorative items, but getting there...

The Witch's Cottage with its spooky visitors... well, the title says it all. ha!

Making up a small story helps cement what you want to do with the house and how it's decorated. Funny that being a writer, I haven't actually written short stories to go with the houses. Maybe that's something I should do sometime.

NOTE: Click the headline to comment. I'd love to hear where everyone is being referred from to give me an idea. (I saw the comment box the other day but now I can't find it... weird...)

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* Trying to keep up and post here as well for MiniJoyMonth, a minis event for September via @ vintagedollhouseshop on Instagram.  Friend me there @ cwrite12.

Mini A Day: MiniJoyMontth: Flat Not Round

Today's them:  Flat Lay Fun

Above: mini salad I made

* I decided to add this photo below late afternoon since it's more in keeping with the theme. Assorted items that are mostly going into an Old West book nook and in the Lavender Cottage.

Wasn't sure what I'd share for this, but one of my favorite things to lay flat and take photos of is miniature food. Love making it and seeing the end result.  

Easter and carrot cakes

Another favorite project: the half-scale Tiki Bar - decorating; finished bar with food

Tiki  Bar drinks

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* Trying to keep up and post here as well for MiniJoyMonth, a minis event for September via @ vintagedollhouseshop on Instagram. 

Friend me there @ cwrite12.

Mini A Day: MiniJoyMonth: Home

I added the dog with his toy in the Lavender Cottage. Love the expression on his face! 

Today's theme for #MiniJoyMonth: Feels Like Home

I'd say the best part of building dollhouses is the decorating and deciding on the decor. I'm not crazy about the construction part, a necessary evil, but I love choosing colors, style, patterns, etc. The fun is you can have and use things you wouldn't or couldn't in real life!

A few of my favorites I've done:

The half-scale Fairfield dollhouse dining room. See more pix here.

I loved doing this house. Well, I liked doing the decorating, the building was a challenge! The fun was putting in Halloween touches without it being full spooky. I love this view below.

Here's the main bedroom: loved the colors! Other photos here.

The latest: the Lavender Cottage. Still adding art, etc. but I love this kitchen and a more modern feel than I usually do. I like the homey feel of the rooms. Here's the latest pix though I have to do more photos, especially on the top floor. Earlier In progress pix. 

I've done many more projects and houses, of course. See the archives list in the left column.

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* Trying to keep up and post here as well for MiniJoyMonth, a minis event for September via @ vintagedollhouseshop on Instagram. Friend me there @ cwrite12.

Mini A Day: Pattern, Texture

 

Today's theme for #MiniJoyMonth: Pattern or Texture

Wasn't sure what I'd share for this, but I love mixing different patterns for wallpaper and fabrics like the black/white sitting room in my half-scale Fairfield. This was fun to figure out. See more photos here. Of course, the house has little touches of Halloween, too. I can't resist!

I had this textured scrapbook paper that I wanted to use for the floor and used contrasting print scrapbook papers for the walls Plus the red, gold, and black patterns for the furniture. Scroll down here for links to other rooms in the Fairfield.

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* Trying to keep up and post here as well for MiniJoyMonth, a minis event for September via @ vintagedollhouseshop on Instagram. 

Friend me there @ cwrite12.

Mini A Day: Favorite Color

 

Lunch in the Lavender Cottage.

Posting for #minijoymonth - Today's Theme: Signature Color. 

I do use purple a lot, so I'll share pix from my Lavender Cottage again. More pix: moving day. Lots of purple/lavender, inside and out! My favorite color is also yellow, so I'll say it's two colors.

  ** I'm slightly behind, but thought I'd try to keep up and post here as well for MiniJoyMonth, a minis event for September via @ vintagedollhouseshop on Instagram. 

Friend me there @ cwrite12.

Mini A Day: MiniJoyMonth - Halloween Journey

On the way to Halloween....

Was trying to figure out what today's post would be for the theme: On A Journey for the MiniJoyMonth posts on Instagram. (See info below.)

Then I had an idea to show an early miniature. I've been on the miniatures journey for a long time, even longer than what's on the blog, but this is one of the earlier miniatures of mine I shared online from 2009.

This little doll started as one of those cheap dollar store dolls (see beginning pic Links change: find Gina Bellous's witch hat tutorial & pattern here.) 

I loved making her. One thing I learned doing this: take the time and do the proper steps like pressing seams, etc. and you get good results. I have one of those mini irons that's really handy for this stuff. I still have a couple of these dolls set aside as I've been wanting to re-dress another one at some point. 

For a more recent photo: here's a much smaller half-scale doll I redid as a Miss Haversham-inspired figure in my Greenleaf Van Buren turned haunted house. (See the house in progress -  The finished house.)

I know dolls in dollhouses are a love-hate thing. I like dolls, always have since my early Barbies and Thumbelina. I still remember a lot of those dolls, had to re-find a few later in life, and have since added others later like my collection of Cher dolls. 

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

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* I'm posting here on the blog as well for MiniJoyMonth, a minis event for September via @ vintagedollhouseshop on Instagram. 

Friend me there @ cwrite12.

Mini A Day: MiniJoyMonth

 

Today's Theme for #MiniJoyMonth: Close Up

I was on a shoe and bag-making streak a while back. Still love making these. I really should finish the shoe-bag shop I had in mind. The room box is decorated and has shelves. Just have to fill it. Maybe that'll be my next UFO project! Yes, I have done many projects and have many to do yet!

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Trying to keep up and post here as well for MiniJoyMonth, a minis event for September via @ vintagedollhouseshop on Instagram. 

Friend me there @ cwrite12.

I'll try to share my posts here as well, though I may miss some days here and there. 

Mini A Day: MiniJoyMonth

How about some Witch's hats?

Today's theme: Retail Therapy

My favorite mini shop: My miniature Halloween store. Lots for the mini people to celebrate Halloween! Click link for more photos.

 I'm slightly behind, but thought I'd try to keep up and post here as well for MiniJoyMonth, a minis event for September via @ vintagedollhouseshop on Instagram. 

Friend me there @ cwrite12.

I'll try to share my posts here as well, though I may miss some days here and there. 

Miniature Halloween Skeletons

 

For some reason, I get a kick out of miniature Halloween skeletons! All sizes, clothed, and whatever else. (* See last post, Halloween miniatures. Click photos for full size.)

Another favorite scene I made with the coffin above was a Skellie Funeral Parlor.  I found the coffin (a gag stop-smoking item) at Goodwill some time ago.

* See more skeletons and a Halloween story, "Superstition" by Carola Dunn, here.

I'm not the only one who thinks skellies look even better dressed up. Here's a couple waiting on the fortuneteller and see more skellies here made by miniaturist Patricia Paul.

My half-scale Witch's Cottage also has a mini skellie visitor - and a skellie dog, of course! And the skellie sees something outside!

A while back, I also made another old skeleton lady fortuneteller in her house.

Wait, there's more! Told you I like using these skeletons in rooms and houses. 

Mrs. Skellie also likes acting as hostess during my Halloween in Miniature events. (See links at top tab.)

That's it for now! 

*Thanks for visiting. Come back soon for more spooky and other posts!* 

More Halloween Miniatures!

 

It's September! It's getting cooler at night, the gardens are sputtering out, Pumpkin Spice is here... it looks like Fall is coming! Which means Halloween-time! (Despite stores already pushing Christmas! Hey, Santa, stand back. Wait your turn!) (*Click photos for full size. Follow links for more photos!)

So, changed the theme here to Halloween and I'll start sharing some of my older Halloween creations again. Why not? It's not too early!

Above: One of my favorite projects, an abandoned room in an old photo storage box. See post. I loved doing this and am thinking of turning a smaller Greenleaf house kit into a full abandoned house. Believe it or not, it is harder being messy than being neat. Of course in an abandoned project, you can't really go too far!

Recent small Halloween projects: A Halloween hut and a Spooky Corner.

* More to come. I have plenty of Halloween projects to share and re-share! Plus, coming up:  let's see how many mini skeletons I've included! You can also click the Halloween in Miniature tab at the top for links to plenty of other Halloween posts! * 

* Thanks again for visiting! Come back for more spooky and other posts! *

Lavender Cottage: Halloween is Coming!

The moving boxes are inside now, being unpacked, and the Lavender Cottage residents are already thinking of Halloween. (Me, too!) (See last post - a peek inside. * Click photos for full size.)

Hard to believe August is already gone and wow, it got cool outside last night. But that means pumpkins and Halloween is coming!

So, getting ready, some pumpkins are slowly appearing outside the dollhouse. Why not? (Yes, I'll have to tape those post wires underneath somehow. Things you don't think of right away!)

But, look! Even the dogs are getting ready! This dog "begged" to have their flower costume  on. haa! (I saw this set at Menard's and couldn't resist. The owner will appear soon in her Halloween costume!)

The cooler weather (yes, even in miniature!) means the flowers will last a bit longer until it gets too cold. The flowers look pretty good still! (Clematis trellis kit from SDK Miniatures.)

Just a few photos. I'll be decorating more soon and showing the full inside, so stay tuned!

*Thanks again for visiting. Come back soon for more projects!*

Cool Miniature Inspiration

I've seen photos of his work before and always thought they were interesting and incredibly detailed.

Apparently, Anthony Schmidt was 10 when he started taking photos of model cars, and his photographic skills have only advanced since then. I had to share this as anything miniatures-related is always fun to see.

It's neat to see a young man, now 17, making money at something he loves, along with elevating model-making to an art form. He's self-published several books and has a new publishing project involving his model cars and Route 66 on Kickstarter, which is going strong, with just days to go. Check it out here. Fun is that he also likes restoring real antique cars.

Miniature Book Project Done!

It's done! Jack's Bookery from CuteBee is ready for miniature book shoppers! (*Click photos for full size.)

I received this kit, Jack's Bookery from Cutebee, (see Jack's Bookery/Amazon and check out the Cutebee store; more projects on the Facebook page)  and 'll say that overall, this is a cute project. This the second book nook project I've made and I can see how people get hooked on these!

The project goes together relatively easy though some of the tabs do need to be sanded slightly as they're too snug and some won't go in. But the main pieces all snap together easily.

There are pros and cons:

Nice detail, interesting subject, good quality. Nice that even the back is decorated.

 It goes together fast if you work on it steadily, but the puzzle-aspect of it can get a bit tedious if you work on it for a long period of time. A tip: younger children may not be able to handle some of the smaller pieces and will get frustrated because of that. Even as an adult with small hands, some of the pieces were quite small to work with. 

One side has a printed window, but I like that the other side has a window you can look through.

Note that while some items are directed to be glued, I glued quite a few more to get them to stay in place. I also colored in a couple spots on the tile floor where items are poked through. After having made dozens of books on other projects, the stickers for book covers is a good solution to all that cutting though I did touch up the tops or sides of books with white colored pencil.

Oh, look! A couple animals showed up!

The final project is appealing, though I'm not in favor of things like flat plants or animals, etc. A nice touch would be adding a real lamp post, but I didn't want to add another light. I might see if I have a fake one to use instead. To add some dimension, I added some punched out leaves and a couple miniature plants on the outside as not having any actual 3D miniature accessories in these kits is a minus to me. And I added a dog. Of course, as a bookstore, it has to have a bookstore cat, too! (Yeah, that empty mailbox will need some letters in the slot!)

The big plus is the touch light on the side - it requires barely any pressure to turn it on. For anyone looking to assemble a relatively quick kit, this is a good choice. It will make a nice addition on a bookshelf. Cute!

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 In the meantime, I'm still decorating the Lavender Cottage and figuring out the lawn and garden areas... and thinking of Halloween for sure! (see last post).

* Thanks again for visiting! Come back soon for more projects. *

* Note: Some links are Amazon affiliates, which may provide some compensation to the blog.

A Peek inside The Lavender Cottage Dollhouse

 

A glimpse of the living room.

While I work on the last of the furnishings and finish decorating the inside, I thought I'd share a couple new pieces I made. Love how this turned out. (*Click photos for full size.)

This is one of those small console tables you get in the MiniBrands Home ball. Was going to put bookcases on the sides, but decided not to. This goes under the window on the living room area of the first floor. I decided to do some large vintage floral print posters again on the walls like I did in my other house. The white chairs and curved tables are from a couple of those Hobby Lobby China-made kits. The white settee is the Gothic chair kit that I decided to paint white for a change of pace, from SDK Miniatures.

I painted the table to match the color scheme and added a piece of doily on top. I also painted a couple of the candles from the same ball. (Yeah, yeah, gotta touch up that one again.) I got the TV in a half-scale swap a while ago and changed the picture. Recognize the show? Shrunk down a remote and glued it to a piece of foam colored black.

I still may repaint the dog, and he may be a bit large, but I like him, so he'll stay there for now.

This other TV on the second floor was an eraser. I got a few of these ages ago from Michael's. Painted it, added a set of bead knobs and added a picture. I have to fill some shelves yet. That purple "thing" is one of those puff chairs from the Home ball that I painted purple. I moved a few more things around, too, and ignore any small mistakes you see that I'll have to fix yet.

The chairs are now set up around the table where someone is having a snack. Loved making these and love the print. (Made from 3/4" blocks of wood, cardboard backs, and some padding. *See last post.)

I'm still adding art and things, so I'll share full room views later.

While I finish this, I'll have to do a few posts showing favorite pieces from my different houses. You always like the finished project, but there are always a few things that you really love.

An inside tour will be coming soon!

* Thanks again for visiting! Come back soon for more projects! * 

Lavender Cottage: Moving Day!

 

Moving day is finally here!

While the residents are moving in and getting things set up - you know how long that takes and how messy that can be! - thought I'd share what's going on outside. You can see the florals and outside of the house here. (*Click photos for full size.)

Just a few boxes have arrived so far, and of course, the dog is checking things out. They did get some furniture on the lawn and the gardens are growing nicely.

I bought a "grass" sheet on ebay, well it's more "velvet" than grass, but it looks okay. I glued it on a plywood board and edged it with painted trim.

I was happy with how the walkway turned out. I cut stone shapes from egg carton, colored them with pastel chalks (rubbed my finger on chalk and rubbed it on the pieces) and glued to a piece of painted cardboard, then sprayed with matte acrylic sealer. I topped that with gloss Mod Podge, then glued on pale yellow railroad ballast/stones and dotted it with bits of green material. The whole thing was sprayed again with sealer. 

I should've attached an outside light to the electric, but, well, I'll have to make do with battery lights for now.

Oh! A few more boxes have arrived. They better get going!

Last minute, I decided I still wanted some wisteria on the front, so added two types of vines and some cloth-covered wire coated with mixed purple flocking. I might add more as I like how it came out.

Something special for the inside: (Not the room, just a prop background.)

Made some chairs for the table in the second floor bedroom. The chairs are made from 3/4" square wood blocks and cardboard with a bit of cotton padding on the back front and seat. I'm using one of the round tables from those MiniBrands Home balls, which fits perfect  under the light on the right side. Just love the colors! Thought it would work great to accent the purple colors and bring out more of the purple in the room, so I also painted the wood chair purple.

I just love how these turned out! Love this fabric, which was a garden print, so I used most of the hydrangea sections. I'll have to make more furniture with the other colors. Here are the chair backs:

And for Halloween: So cute! Found some tiny cauldrons, perfect for a planter or a pot of candy bars at Michael's. (Recollections, 6 in a pack for $5, near the front of the store.)

And lots of books! About 50 more for bookcases and inside. What's a house without books? I liked the greenery/garden books from Artsy Miniatures on Etsy and a set of farmhouse books (I'll have to share the link later once I find it again. Got those awhile ago.)

I'll show the inside of the house soon and some progress next on the Jack's Bookery kit pieces! Got a lot of the inside done, so working on the outside next.

* Thanks again for visiting! Come back soon for more projects! *