Welcome to the 7th annual A to Z Blog Challenge in April!
Come back daily for more exciting posts and even some giveaways!
Check out the 1000+ blogs on the list!
Today is the letter T for Tudor House Bakery
(See the Upper Floor tomorrow)
Today is the letter T for Tudor House Bakery
(See the Upper Floor tomorrow)
I started this house a while back and then put it aside. Originally, it was going to be a greenhouse, but I decided to make it into a bakery and upstairs living space instead.
I bought the house a loooong time ago at a show. So, some projects do sit around a while until inspiration hits.
The outside is covered with lightweight stucco (or wall compound, Spackle) with some plastic brick spots showing through. (I share how to do that in my book, In Miniature Style II or get the Kindle version of the first, shorter ebook, In Miniature Style.)
Well it's winter yet, I guess, since I didn't put flowers in the window box! See the door how-to at the bottom of this post. (Click images for full size.)
Floor 1: Bakery
The bakery case is made from a bookshelf with acrylic plastic glued in front and a larger wood piece glued on top for the counter. Cover front edges, top and bottom of the plastic with wood strips (coffee stirrers.) The stove is a magnet.
My friend Kitty Balke made most of the cakes and desserts. A few cakes are from the annual Half Scale Yahoo group swap. I made the brown and yellow cake on the back shelf from wood furniture plugs. Paint and cover with colored sand. I use dimensional or "puff" paint on top for icing. Add small fruit slice. Glue to a small button for a plate. Most of the square and round plates, including the plate for the mixed pastries on the counter, are buttons.
Left side: The cabinet (below left) is a kit from Petite Properties (UK). I made the table from a round piece of mat board cut out and sanded. The base is a chess pawn, cut, sanded and glued to painted table top. The chair is made from the punch-out Creatology 1/24 scale, punch-out furniture kits from Michael's.
Right side: Counter with cupcake art on right wall is made from a box shape and piece of wood for the top. The table is also hand made. The round center table was a purchased resin piece; I added the wood on top. The chair is also from the punch-out furniture kit, with an added seat cushion.
The rug is a paper print-out coated with Mod Podge, with fringe added to the ends. I like to do it this way to give the rug a floor-cloth look.
Fringe a Rug: Everyone has their own method. An easy way to do it by measuring a piece of cross-stitch fabric to the width of the rug. Cut it to about four-to six rows deep, enough to give you a few rows to glue on the back of the rug and to have several rows sticking out on the end.
Glue to back of rug with Tacky glue. Pull the strings to desired length for fringe. You can trim the fringe down if you think it sticks out too far. For an extra "glam" look, lightly coat the fringe ends with a metallic gold paint.
* Come back tomorrow to see the second floor.
Make a Hinged Door: (See top front photo.)
The door is handmade. Before you make the hinges, measure the height for the doorknob. I used flat silver beads and attached one to each side of the door with Quick Grip and a cut-off straight pin. See directions below for cutting the pins. You don't want to try fitting the door knob in after the door is hung. (Yes, done that too! ha!)
HOW TO: 1. Scribe lines into a piece of wood cut to size for the door. It fits into the open space and above a piece of wood set into the floor for the jamb. Cut wood strips for top and bottom, and glue to face of door to provide something for the hinge pins to grab onto.
2. I cut hinges out of the tin from the top of a peanuts can with scissors. NOTE: Measure hinge to fit across door on side and attach to wall under the doorway frame.
3. Cut hinge into an arrow shape. Drill small holes into the wood strips with a small hand drill. Line up hinge and push hole into the tin. Coat back of hinge with Quik Grip to door and to edge of doorway so it fits under the frame.
4. Cut off small pieces of straight pin with wire cutters. TIP: Hold the pin with a pair of needlenose pliers while cutting unless you want to be hunting for the pieces all over. (Don't ask how I know this. ha!)
5. Gripping pin with pliers, dab end into Quik Grip then push it into the hole in the hinge. Push down on top of pin with a hammer or flat side of the pliers until it's all the way in place. do the same to the end of the hinge to hold it in place.
6. Measure your side door frame piece. Press the wood piece onto the wall and over the hinge so you get an indent on the back side from the pin. Gouge out this space slightly so the frame fits flush to the wall, then glue in place. Once measured, your door frame will be glued over the hinge. The door can be opened - carefully - but excess stress may pull the pins out.
