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 - Wondyland/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.)

Annual Dollhouse Show Countdown!

 

Coming up this week! Three days - 3 days!!! My friend Gigi and I will be going Saturday on our annual pilgrimage to the Bishop International show at the Marriott O'Hare in Chicago and the Spring Showcase show at the Wyndham Garden Hotel in Schaumburg, Ill.

What do I need? A zillion dollars, maybe? ha! Well, nothing but... I have a list!

Of course you always find things you didn't realize you needed or just like... Some things I might look for and just a few of the many great vendors I'll come across. I'll share a few here:

* There is a project waiting in the wings...I bought a kit - a rare 1" scale project - that I want to turn into a Tudor house as I've had these fancy dolls and food stored forever for this. I'll show that and what I've saved once it's started... at some point. But I may add some modern touches as I don't want to be limited by strict Tudor-style. It will be designed to look Tudor but I want to be able to change the furnishings later if possible.

I do want to turn part of it into a fancy library, unless I put that in a smaller roombox. I have some beautiful furnishings saved for that, too. Those two and a possible small Lizzie Borden scene are the only 1" scale projects I have in mind. I have a small box and furnishings for that set aside.

At the Spring Showcase show: There are lots of new vendors this time, so I have no idea what I'll find.

* I like the 3D printed items from Blackthorn Miniatures. I am still eyeing the half-scale Zombie Tiki glasses (set of 3) for my haunted houses. I do have her half-scale Addams Family "Thing" hand to add to a scene yet.

   * I always get the Gothic furnishings in half-scale from my favorite vendor, SDK Miniatures. For a change of pace, I'll get the Gothic chairs and might get my favorite Gothic table in 1" scale for the Tudor house. I'm also looking for flowers (to paint purple of course!)  for the Lavender Cottage.

* Preston Poling, the "Bearded Miniaturist," will have a table this year. He displayed his fantastic Frasier TV show project in 2022  (see my photos here), so not sure what he's showing this time. 

* Teri Hanson of The Covered Chipboard has some really cool spooky items and will be exhibiting for the first time. (Good luck Teri. Have a great show!) I really like this spooky stall kit she's done and she has a nice assortment of furniture and other kits. My list has gotten longer! 😆

Bishop Show: 

* So many tables to see! First off, I have to get some kits from CastleCrafts. I am thinking of getting the 1" scale trugs/trays for the Tudor project plus some other things like lanterns, bottles, birdcages, etc. and of course, half-scale kits. (table R15)

 I do have a larger half-scale farmhouse to do yet, and while I have beds, this Vintage bed is rather pretty and different than what I've done.

* Melvin's Minis also has nice kits and materials. I really like the weathered wood flooring sheet which I used in the Lavender Cottage so hope to get more. (And only $1 each.) (Table Suite XIV)

* Tonya's Miniatures (table R28) has some cute accessories I want to see. Look at these little cassettes and 8-tracks! She even had some tiny Jelly shoes. (Remember those? They were cute but made your feet stink! ha!)

 

* Oh these are so cute! Just saw these on FB from Italian miniaturist Valeria Bonomi with Graffialuna. Wonderful hand-made shoes tho a bit beyond my usual budget. (Table 057)

I'm also looking for odds and ends, mostly half-scale (1:24): silverware, metal baking items, doorknobs, faucets (always seem to need some!) I'd like to find some kind of armchair kit that's different than what I have to put in the cottage attic. Plus, I keep an eye out for things for my friend for our annual Christmas gift exchange and Advent calendar.

So, this is just a tiny, tiny sample. Hope to find some bargains and different items. You never know. We'll see what I come across at both shows! I'll share my finds later.

* Update:  Yay! The small roof pieces on the Lavender Cottage are done and painted. I'd thought I was finished and then realized I have to do a last row with half-shingles to finish it off. I questioned what color to pick, but using the same purple as the shutters looks really good. I think this is the first time I painted shingles. I always try to do a different roof on each house. Guess I'll have to do a post on that if anyone wonders how to do their house. I'll show pix once I glue and trim it. Started shingling the top roof now.

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

Miniatures 2024 Year-End Round-Up

Happy Miniatures New Year!

(Image: pixabay.com Free license)

 Can't believe it! Where did 2024 go???

At the end of the year, I like to share and link the projects I've finished. It's a good way to see what I've actually done for the year! haa!

January:

I was finishing up the trim and other things on the half-scale Park Avenue Mansion. * Here's the tour part 1, with link to part 2. (Yes, that's a gargoyle on the roof!)

February:

Diner counter

The real fun of working on the mansion was doing something different - making a diner in the bottom floor of the house. I'd always wanted to do a diner so this was fun making one in half-scale. * Here's the finished diner tour.

March - April - May:

Besides working on flowers for the mansion in March, I shared a bunch of my miniatures projects for the A to Z Blog Challenge in April. (See archives list in left column for posts.)

May - June:

I began working on a Tiki Bar in a former photo box. See the finished project in June. I loved doing this one. The drinks and food were a lot of fun to make!

July:

It was back to making Halloween items for the Van Buren dollhouse I finally got back to finishing. * Tour the finished Halloween Van Buren Dollhouse. Part 1 - Part 2.

August:

Between finishing the Halloween house, I got it in my mind to do an abandoned room in another former photo box I had on hand. This was fun to do as I'd seen similar rooms and thought it would be fun to "wreck" a room. I might, just might, do a small house kit I have this way eventually. It can be a lot of fun being intentionally messy!

September:

Did some early Halloween posts this month using the tag "Spooky Season." See other posts in the left column archives.

October:

Different accessories I've done - even a "haunted" garbage can. (Look for the eye!) 

November:

For variety, I finished this half-scale Clematis trellis. I'd been putting it off, but the results were worth doing it! I'll be making more purple colored flowers for the latest project listed below.

I also started painting parts for the next much-smaller half-scale project, which I'm calling the Lavender Cottage.  * Update: the base and first floor are assembled and glued. All windows painted. The door has to be painted next. Then there's lots of tiny trim to paint on the arches, plus the exterior walls.

Set up for Halloween.

Also worked on the camper kit, that I turned into the Coffee Camper for a Christmas Campground display at my friend's house.

December:

I did the Halloween-themed house on the right. (Of course!)

Did several Christmas projects. First, making a tiny Gingerbread House turned into a cute Gingerbread House Decorating Contest as part of the Christmas Campground.

Outside flowers (before finishing)

I started repainting a toy plastic house as a Christmas house. * Finished house post to come and will be linked here.

It was fun this year opening our own Advent Calendars for a Miniature Christmas. Fun gifts like the new addition to my Halloween house lawn. (See right side.) Made different assorted items for that and for some gifts.

It was a really fun miniatures year! Here's to more creativity in 2025!

* Thanks for visiting and sharing minis all year! The best to you and more fun next year! *

Happy Halloween! Miniature Haunted House 2

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!! Welcome to part 2 of my half-scale Halloween House tour! If you missed the beginning, scroll down or see Part 1 here.

Side view, bedroom. I covered a plain chest with different black/white prints.

 

Back view: Greenleaf half-scale Van Buren Dollhouse turned into a Halloween House

* Like to Read? See my Halloween Reading List on the other blog. * 

* Click photos for full size; links to all posts are in the left column archives; other projects are linked on the top left dollhouse tab.* 

**** Continuing the tour, we'll go upstairs

Second Floor: Parlor/living room on right side: 

I added the rug and coffee table since this photo:

Hard to take pix with the glaring light, but I added the funky clock here and a poison plant. A Skellie visitor is taking a break. And a ghostly visitor....

This was fun to decorate using a spooky cat print scrapbook paper I had left. The large armchair on the wall turned out better than I expected. (Also part of the Gothic set, SDK Miniatures.) The side table (TCM Miniatures) is topped with a poison sumac plant kit (also SDK). The furnishings are those cheapie wood punch-out kits I redid. The coffee table was a swap gift that I repainted and added some art inside.

Second floor:

Bedroom - Added more pillows to the cool tree bed from Michelle's Miniatures.

Third floor attic:

I made several furnishings for a small bedroom and sitting room on the left side. There's also a trunk kit (SDK Miniatures.)  I really like the music area on the right side. I found this small plastic organ and Victorian furnishings in my stash and decided it fit perfect here. 

One thing I forgot: Have to make room for the Fortune Teller box I made earlier. (Michelle's Miniatures) It could go downstairs against the wall if I decide to move that couch later.

Hope you enjoyed the tour as much as I did in making the house and furnishings.

Next: There's another non-Halloween project that I just finished, too. An older kit that also sat around - a camper. My friend and I are setting up a small campground for our Christmas mini get-togethers. Something fun to do. Will share more on that so come back soon!

Thanks again for visiting! 

Happy Halloween! Miniature Haunted House

 

Pictured: Outside back of half-scale Van Buren dollhouse. (Click photos for full size.)

I've done several haunted houses or Halloween-themed houses since it's a favorite way to decorate in miniature.

I've been working on the half-scale Greenleaf Van Buren dollhouse a while, having let it sit and then going back to it some months ago to finish it. So I finally kicked myself to (mostly) finish decorating so I could post it here.

I'm sure I'll add or change more things over time, but I'm done for now. I'd like to add some more decorations on the front walls and some kind of wreaths on the doors, but I can't decide what would look good.

Since this will be kind of long, I decided to split the house tour in two, so be sure to check for the second post  later today as well.

Let's start outside on the Patio:

Well, it looks like Mr. Pumpkinhead isn't such a bad guy after all. He decided to clean up the patio and rake some leaves. How nice of him! (Rake: SDK Miniatures; Table and chair, TMC Miniatures; Bench: Jane Harrop Miniatures, UK).

The window boxes looked plain, so I added some tiny skulls. (I like that decorative pumpkin string on the balcony* but I think I'll add some orange paper in back to show through and then it'll be more visible.) I really liked doing the whole house in brick. I used the textured brick paper from Starboc2/Etsy. *The balcony was part of a fence section from AlphaStamps since I didn't like the bulky piece that came with the house. I also cut out the top row of the fence for the top of the roof. (See top photo.)

C'mon inside!

Front hall: (right side of the dining room)

I like these using little statues like this one of Pan (by the front door.) I have another one like this but in stone color. I also have an archer that I got from WCD Miniatures. Fun decorating additions. I usually pick up one or two new ones at the Fall Miniature Show, Schaumburg, Ill. (Nov. 8-9) Recovering the Victorian couch really made a difference, I think. Really liked this fabric!

Kitchen on right:

I can't help getting a bit gorey here. Decided to use an old Tootsietoy icebox - and I didn't even have to touch-up the chips. ha! I love Tootsie toy pieces (1920s-'30s) and try to use them when I find them cheap. Here's some history on them.) I also hesitated, but gave in and dirtied up a plastic sink/stove section I had as it fit here. Since this photo below, I added two painted seed beads for knobs and a piece of cut solder for the faucet. I think a picture is needed above the icebox.

Oh.... I wouldn't bother Grandma if I were you. As you can see, it's best to not complain about the menu or her cooking! That must be what happened to the family portrait, too. Quite a temper!

The table has some yummy bone soup for lunch. There are pies in preparation on the side table. (Side: Narrow Vesper table, All About Miniatures/Etsy ). The bookcase has some potions, whatever other ingredients, and some cookbooks. I liked using a different style this time instead of just walnut stain. This time I painted it gold and used red metallic designs for inserts. (Gothic set, SDK Miniatures.)

Here's a view of the closet and staircase next to the kitchen. Watch out for the monster under the stairs! 

To the dining room, left:

Some items on the table:

The doll was one of those cheapie figures that I painted gray and re-dressed for a Miss Havisham-style room. The bench seat and table are my favorite Gothic half scale furnishings (SDK Miniatures.) My friend Gigi gave me that little heater and I thought it fit perfect here. I still have to add some silverware to the table.

Next Post: Come back later for part 2 of the tour upstairs! (If you sign up for email headline updates in the left column, you'll know when it posts!)

Thanks again for visiting!

(pixabay.com, cc license)