Finished the last few additions (for now) in the Victorian dollhouse, so I tried making a video of the rooms. I put it up on my website Miniatures page here.
The house is now covered with a giant acrylic case we made to keep out the dust and dog hair (which seems to get everywhere!)
I realize I didn't get a full photo of the front after it was finished, instead you can find photos of different sections in the blog archives in left column.
So, the pretty cover on this one definitely caught my eye. Oh, and the book contributed by the author for her upcoming blog tour also came with this pretty painted seashell, which was a nice surprise! Now you know me, I'm a sucker for little stuff and... my miniaturist's mind also was thinking, Ooh! Can I use this in the someday beach dollhouse or another house? You bet I will. I'll find a way to use it - it's too pretty not to use!
Oh! A quote on the underside too: (Good advice!)
For now, stay tuned for an upcoming blog tour, review giveaway and interview. Learn more at the author's website, where she has all kinds of cool stuff!. She has some online puzzles and more on the book page, too. She's also had several of her novels adapted to film showing on the Hallmark channel!
And here's more about the book: (Sounds good, right?)
The Shell Collector, USA Today Bestselling Author Nancy Naigle - A novel of a friendship that crosses generations, and learning how even the smallest gifts can change a life for good.
Two years after her husband’s death, Amanda Whittier has two children to raise alone, an abandoned dream of starting a business, and a fixer-upper cottage by the sea. She has no room in her life for anything else and little interest in moving on after losing the man she loved.
What's this, you ask??
Yes! I am starting to plan this year's HALLOWEEN IN MINIATURE posts. I think I have some fun stuff lined up, so be sure to come back and keep in touch!
In the meantime... ha! Remember the photo box I mentioned earlier? Well, it's about done, except for putting some trim in to hold the front glass. See progress below.
Well, I really love how the inside turned out and at the latest Goodwill trip, yes, I found two more boxes above. I kept thinking on it and decided I better not pass them up, especially as the top one was really different. Yeah, I needed more projects. haa!
The top box is cool as it's smaller and if you look close it has a peaked roof with a round ball. I see a room, don't you? So stacked on top the other one, it can be a tower of rooms. The second box is the same style but these two are mahogany while the first box I bought is a lighter blond wood. But I may still stack them for variety. All I have to do is lift them off to open the lid and get inside. I'm putting in lights with a battery pack and on/off button on the back of each.
Now the first one (below) was going to be an attic...then hubby mentioned a tiki bar. So maybe I'll order that tiki bar kit I've been seeing... I recently found a neat tiki monster statue by chance, too...
I love how the wood walls and the brick wall came out.
So maybe I can make a tiki bar in the basement, have an entrance and sitting room on floor 1 (I might leave the divider in and make an outside scene on one side for variety though it's a small space) and some kind of tower bedroom... ??? Decisions, decisions... The height of these seems to fit half scale the best, too. We'll see...
The Halloween house is also underway.... slowly. More posts will be coming.
Thanks for stopping by!
Surely, you're not tired of looking at dollhouse photos, right? I'm featuring my work tomorrow at the Half Scale Miniatures group on FB, so thought I'd share a few new photos here as well.
Well, new as in I just added some finished things to the Victorian dollhouse (see last updates, also scroll down or look in archives at left), or at least took recent photos.
It's been fun working on this house and coming up with new things to make or kits to finish. But no worry! Of course I have many, many more kits to do yet! haa!
Part of craft table which is in center of room but I can't get a good overall photo. This was a NAME kit.
Kitchen: counter top, side baking table and main table. Finally found a dish drainer - was in the kitchen cabinet kit from D-Tales Miniatures/Ron Chase. (Now I wish I had another drainer!) The mixer is a painted metal miniature. I put some white puff paint in the bowl. The veggies are from past Half Scale group swaps.
The purse, if you didn't know, is actually a shaped button.
Just love this stove kit! From MiniEtchers.
More to come! Working on Halloween layouts and finishing the attic in the photo box. Got the top covered and working on putting the lights in next. See you next time!
What is this???
Well.... I couldn't resist. haa! Wondered what to do next and I'm in a HALLOWEEN mood!! So.... out came a kit I bought a while ago for this purpose! (And yes, the photo box room is still ongoing!)
I'm building the Greenleaf Half Scale Van Buren dollhouse, which I'd bought some time back (for much cheaper than that price!) with a Haunted House in mind... or a Haunted Mansion.... So this is the start...
So far.... the middle and top roof parts aren't glued in yet, nor is the second floor. I lost the pattern instructions somehow, so muddling along, but it's going okay. Have to figure how to run electric tape first as I do want some lights in it. Will use scrapbook paper on the walls as I usually do.
Here's the full house front and back from the Greenleaf site. I may keep out some inner walls, still deciding.... I like the design so probably won't change much on the outside.
A few other half scale kits I finished for the Victorian-flavored dollhouse. (Scroll down for past photos or look in archives list in left column.)
The shelf kits I think I got a while back from Sdk miniatures. The painting easel and stool (plus the paint tray on the shelf) are from MiniEtchers. The small paint cans, wool skeins, radio, sewing basket, Candyland game and painting are from past Half Scale Groups io swaps. I made most of the other items.
Another project:
Yeah, I know, I flit from project to project. As the big dollhouse is pretty much done now, what is next? (I do have to put up kitchen cabinets and share pix of the kitchen counter, which is about all that is left now.)
I am getting in the mood to do Halloween stuff though I do and don't want to do another house. I have lots of things saved and plan to make more. It would be fun to do a full house (this is all in half scale) but....? I do have to set up my Halloween display first, of course.
For now, I'm working on this box....
This is actually a photo box I found at Goodwill. It had smaller glass windows on both sides along with glass on the top.
So far:
The front windows were cut to have one full window. I lined the inside with a bamboo mat I stained and brick paper on one side and the back of the front wall. I'm putting stained wood strips over the threads on the back wall. The floor is stained MDF wood flooring. I'll add wood on the outside for the window holes and add some printed posters.
The top will have three battery-run lights in the ceiling. I'm leaving the bars and putting paper in for the ceiling I think. So you see, you don't always need a house or regular room box to work in miniature.
What is it going to be? I could decorate it for different holidays, but I also have an attic in mind. Stay tuned!
I was lucky today! Went to Goodwill and found a good assortment of punched flower and leaf petals. I was getting low on these tinier petals which are used for Impatiens, so thrilled to find them! Plus Geranium leaves and an oval type leaf, plus yellow "foam" for flower centers. Only $1.99! Also found a whole big bag of sticky-back rhinestones which I use for potion bottle tops and other things. There also was some green quilling paper that may be useful.
And I found these little figures which are kind of interesting. They're a bit chunky but about 2 1/2" high, so may work in some half scale rooms with slightly larger furniture. They're kind of cute and could work in certain scenes. Maybe I can use some by the eventual beach house.
* House Updates:
Changes on the Half Scale Victorian-flavored House continue. (See archives in left column or scroll down for past posts.)
I changed the parlor to add another chair in and added pillows on the couch and chair, plus a small ottoman. (It doesn't show behind the coffee table. The ottoman, btw, is simply one of those round foam sheet layered "beads" from the dollar store that I covered with fabric.) The left chair is vintage plastic, which I usually cover with cloth but decided this time to leave it as is. The right chair I made from a pattern from Terri Shuping Correll in the Half Scale Miniatures group on FB. She sends the pattern free by request.
This was fun. All the craft items are from various swaps from the Half Scale Miniatures group at groups.io. The craft table was a 2019 Name Day project. (Scroll down photos on page.) This goes in the top floor craft room. (The green fern wallpapered room.)The table also has tiny bins added on one side. Cubby bins kit from S&S Furniture Co.
This was the best change. I forgot I had several other pieces stashed away that I'd bought when the half scale Jefferson Monticello dollhouse furnishings were marked down and discontinued. This "leather" chair really does fit the den better. It's a neat chair as it is rather unusual looking. The top and bottom are two pieces and it actually swivels.
I also added a red chair (above) from the Monticello collection to the hall as it adds some extra color against the tropical art on the wall. I also have one of the blue chairs similar to it in the dining room.
The Monticello dollhouse, a 1/24 scale replica of Thomas Jefferson's historic home, was actually a pretty interesting house, but I think it had a limited audience as my guess is you almost felt confined to follow the historical style and time period. See photos of the house kit here.
That's it for now! See you next time!
My latest mini finds at Goodwill. How could I pass that up?
Awhile back I'd found this cool site where you could buy a kit to make a mini TV that showed TV show clips.... See TinyCircuits. But that's rather pricey at $75... It also must be a new trend as do a Google search and you'll find all kinds of links for mini TVs.
Well! They must've licensed their technology as - this is so cool! It probably was a matter of time that this would be mass produced. Already working mini TV's will be sold soon at Walmart. So far the price is $25. (They're not in yet.)
The page has links to buy them at Walmart, though they aren't in and some pages don't show up yet. But it's something cool to look out for! Hopefully the supply chain problems they've been talking about on TV won't delay shipping too long.
Today's Mystery Item:
Can you guess what this is?? It's cast in resin, the top is a solid piece, so it's pretty heavy, too.
Funny story on this - I can't even remember when I bought it... years ago. A real long time ago.
I'd seen it online I think and liked it. Bought it, then during one of my "reorganizing" stints, I guess, I stuck it in a drawer. Forgot about it. Totally. haa!
Wow! Something new to work on. haa! (Like I don't have enough projects?! Oh, and I have another project idea to show you next, too.)
So, I guess I'll have to work on it now since it's out and won't take a lot of work. Miraculously it wasn't broken and all the pieces are here. (Cool, I see it even has a light bulb but I'll switch it to LED I think so I can use a battery box.)
I think it'll be a perfect Halloween addition to my house and Halloween scene.... I put most of the stuff away so when I bring it out towards October again I can enjoy the redecorating and changing stuff around. The house sits out, but it gets boring leaving everything else out.
Here's what this should look like:
Stay tuned for progress pix. --Chris
Took a few more photos of the interior of the Victorian-flavored half scale dollhouse. (See other photos at archives in left column or scroll down. Click photos to enlarge.) Plus I did forget a couple photos from the dollhouse show. See other photos here.
Show items:
Love these Egyptian items (above), always get one or two when I see them at William Chabron's table (WCD Miniatures). I'll get to doing that Egyptian room one of these days. ha! I know not everyone likes dolls in rooms, but I have a beautiful kit I got some years ago that I want to include, simply because the decorating will be fun as the glitzier the better for a Cleopatra!
Also got this cool Indian figure from J&J Dollhouse Miniatures at the show. Thought it would fit perfect in the second floor hall. (No more room in the travel-room den!) The Egyptian statue got put in the room, though.
