Birthday & Advent Calendar Miniatures

The "birthday" cake shop

Had some pre-birthday fun with good friend Gigi. This year was a first as we also decided to make each other a miniatures-filled advent calendar. What a fun idea!

First I have to share the so-cute little scene (above) that she made for me from a kit. These are so cute (and she has more patience than me in working in this size.) The little scene is 4.5" high.

She also gave me two of these really cool Tudor-inspired wood benches she made from a kit (country benches kit, The Daisy House), and I made another two. They will go in a Tudor-flavored loft house I'll be working on soon. I have a great batch of Tudor-Medieval style food I got years ago in swaps that I've been saving to eventually do this kind of project. It's one of the very few 1" scale projects I'll be doing.

The adorable Raggedy Ann box is part of the Advent Calendar we are exchanging with each other for the first time this year. Fun thinking what to make and what to fill it with! 

The box is actually a trunk she made from a Dragonfly Intl. kit. I have admired the kit, but never got around to buying one. Sooo cute! And while 1" scale, I'm still going to put it in the half-scale Raggedy Ann house (to be finished at some point.) The photo shows it up lighter, but here's the inside: So cute and so detailed!

My photos are not too great, but I admit I'm too lazy to do the right set-up for the lighting. ha! Bear with me!

We opened the calendar days 1-4 since our get together was on Day 4. The funny thing was she had mixed up the dated boxes, something I didn't expect when I opened it! For some reason, I thought they'd be in order! So I had to re-shuffle my dated boxes around for her  too. ha!

She also gave me these teensy paper Halloween houses for the fireplace mantel and these really cute Halloween decorated plate shelves.

We'll be opening individual days on our own and then are getting together again two times before Christmas. It's always fun as it forces me to get some things done. ha!

This week I worked on a small kit I found at Goodwill of all places (Hobby Lobby Delightful Den kit). 

The bookcase, which I have to repaint, is about 3.5" high. I remade what was an odd-sized loveseat to turn it into a smaller chunky chair. I loved this print I found and thought it came out pretty well. I'm hoping both fit in the Lavender cottage or another house. I usually end up bashing these kits and taking out pieces to use in other projects instead of building the actual room.

Another holiday-themed project I'm working on is a half-scale Christmas house. I found one of these smaller plastic kid's toy houses and for $1.99 I couldn't pass it up! It'll work out well as a Christmas house since I didn't have a half-scale scene set up. So we'll see how far I get on it. I'm repainting it now and doing some wallpapering. I'll show the progress soon. 

That's it for the moment! Stay tuned for more Christmas miniatures and projects! Thanks again for visiting!

Miniature Christmas Gingerbread Houses

Wow, December already??? 'Tis the Season!

Well, it's festive time!  This was a fun holiday project and I'm thrilled with the results! Of course I decided to do a partial Halloween theme on my mini house!  (*Click photos for full size.)

As I shared in an earlier post, (scroll down at the link), I got these cute little Gingerbread House kits at AlphaStamps.

The idea was for me and friend Gigi to decorate them as part of our Christmas campground... then she found a few other tiny resin houses and another table had to be added: a Gingerbread House Decorating Contest!

Aren't they cute??

These were so fun to do! Mine (right) is Halloween-themed, of course! Used some tiny "peppermint" candy slices cut in half for the roof and other areas, plus decorated a small tree. Used puff paint and glitter for "snow," plus added some cotton fuzz with glitter on the base.

The cool part! She had these teensy fairy light balls so the insides can be lit! 

Light on (before I finished decorating.)

Here's a photo of the little lights at Walmart, but you can find them much cheaper on places like Temu and AliExpress. The balls have an LED light with three batteries. You take out and replace a tiny plastic tab to turn them on and off. 

A fun, satisfying little project!

* Thanks again for visiting! Come back soon for more holiday minis and stuff!

Book Tour: Idaho Madams and a Mining Dog

 I love historical fiction and nonfiction, so as part of the blog tour for the book, Idaho Madams by Milana Marsenich, I'm sharing an interesting post on a dog as part of that history.

About the Book: 

Fur, silver, and gold first lured men to Idaho Territory. Women soon followed. And what women they were! Molly B'Damn, Peg Leg Annie, Spanish Belle, Lou Beevers, Diamond Tooth Lil—the names alone promised excitement and intrigue.

In fact, these madams led complex, turbulent lives. Meet Maggie Hall, a devout Catholic whose husband used her to pay off his gambling debts. Working as a prostitute, Maggie made her way west and, as Molly B'Damn, became the guardian angel of an Idaho mining camp. Or Annie McIntyre, a young girl among the prospectors and ne'er do wells of Rocky Bar who amassed a small fortune as the local madam only to lose it all—along with both her legs.

Idaho Madams uncovers the enigmatic and salacious lives of 30 women who ran brothels in the Gem State from the 1850s to the 1980s. Here are the hedonistic and sometimes heroic exploits of Effie Rogan, Jennie Girard, Nettie Bowen, Ginger Murphy, Dixie Colton, and Dot Allen, but also the unsung sagas of Carrie Young, Grace Freeman, Willow Herman, Hattie Carlton, and many more. 

The Auditor: Dog of a Mining City

By Milana Marsenich

 My first novel, Copper Sky, takes place in the mining city of Butte, Montana in 1917, the year of the Speculator/Granite Mountain mine disaster. 168 men died in the disaster. Mining accidents were rampant in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries. After each accident, despite a fierce independence, the Butte citizens generously took care of each other. Those left behind picked themselves up, helped each other out, and carried on.

(Image: Butte Montana, Washington State Library, public domain/Wikipedia)

 In writing Copper Sky, I wanted to write something that demonstrated the good heart of the people of Butte, Montana. I wondered how a town with so many tragedies could produce so many good-hearted people.

 To demonstrate the nature of Butte, I told four small parts of the novel through the eyes of The White Dog, a dog that belongs to the town, and travels through time, both real and ghostly. (Dog image: free content license, pixabay)

When I wrote that novel, I didn’t know about The Auditor, Butte’s flesh and blood dog. I had to wonder what ethereal being had been pawing at my leg when I wrote The White Dog in Copper Sky. Had The Auditor somehow reached out to me and magically placed himself in my awareness? I don’t know.

 I learned about The Auditor in a copy of the Montana Standard splayed out on my dad’s kitchen table. The article reported that The Auditor had died a few years before. The town’s people dedicated a memorial to him. Holly Peterson, an environmental engineer at Montana Tech, organized the installation of bronze statues of him placed at three locations around Butte. The replicas show him as having long matted hair, maybe tan at one time, but rough and dirty.

 The Auditor would show up unexpectedly and disappear for weeks at a time. The miners put out food and water for him. When he got older and arthritic, they added aspirin to his food. He was skittish and wouldn’t let people near him. Yet, he seemed to appreciate the food, returning for a good meal. He’d occasionally sleep in the shabby doghouse with ragged bedding the miners built for him. Come morning, he’d wander off into the barren landscape surrounding the Berkeley Pit, a once productive open pit copper mine that turned into one of the nation’s largest superfund sites.

 Near the end of his life, Peterson analyzed samples of his hair and found “nearly every element imaginable,” 128 times more arsenic than in normal pet hair. Even though he was standoffish and didn’t let people close, they cared for him. They might have understood his slow to trust nature, and his reluctance to become dependent. The Auditor lived for 17 years, a feral, mangy dog, avoiding human contact, and despite his wildness, becoming a well-loved part of the mining community.

About the Author:

Milana Marsenich lives in Northwest Montana near Flathead Lake at the base of the beautiful Mission Mountains. She enjoys quick access to the mountains and has spent many hours hiking the wilderness trails with friends and dogs. Her first novel, Copper Sky, was chosen as as a Spur Award finalist for Best Western Historical Novel in 2018. Her second novel, The Swan Keeper, was a Willa Award finalist in 2019. Her short story, Wild Dogs, won the Laura Award for short fiction in 2020. Find her online at: Website: https://milanamarsenich.com; Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MilanaMarsenichAuthor.

* Follow the blog tour and read an interview at The Muffin/WOW-Women on Writing.

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! Enjoy your meals and get-togethers!

Miniature flowers: Clematis trellis

 Remember the half-scale clematis kit I shared earlier?

It took some doing, but I finally got it finished! (SDK Miniatures) 

I have to say it was a challenge, but the results were worth it! 

It really is rather striking, isn't it?

Since the (still-in-progress) Lavender Cottage will be done in shades of purple (and some green), I'll be doing flowers in those shades, too. Next I have a couple other kits to do and maybe, just maybe, I'll work on some hollyhocks again, this time in purple. We'll see. 

I'm painting more windows and have an idea to do stained glass for the door, so have some ideas to try out soon!

In the meantime, I've been wrapping lots of little packages. My friend and I are doing  miniatures advent calendars for each other this year for the first time, so this will be fun! I made quite a few things that I think turned out nicely, too.

* That's it for the moment. Thanks for visiting. Come back soon for more minis! * 

Fun Miniature Obsession: Mini Brands Home

 

Top: that's a French fry fryer. Cute!

While I'm working on making some mini Christmas gifts for my friend, and painting (oh so much painting!) windows on the Half Scale Lavender Cottage, thought I'd share another fun obsession - - those Mini Brands Home balls. (Here are all the items - view on Amazon. Which is a good price for two of them.)

I've gotten some of the others before like the Mini Brands Toys and the Disney versions, but these really are rather cute. These may be my favorite as they are the perfect size and the details are great! So far only got a couple doubles, the mirror and the teensy clear Tupperware, which I really don't mind! And really, $8 for five items isn't a bad price.

I think I'm going to paint that puff chair, maybe purple for the Lavender Cottage (in the works.) I saw someone online paint the mirror gold, which is a good idea, too. Hoping to get the other shaped chair yet, too.

This vacuum is so cool!!!

I think I've bought four now. I can't resist. Still hoping to get more of the appliances which are so realistic and the boxes are so cool! It's a gamble, I know, and I can see why eventually you may end up just buying the items you want outright. (Saw some for sale at the show and they sell them on Etsy, too.) But the surprise is still fun!

The latest batch: I'd like to get the chair that goes with the footstool. I may repaint or cover the set then. The drill is great!

I've been surprised that the local Walmart seems to have them in stock lately when I've gone there. (Or their new remodel has the whole display buried on one of the other aisles. Still don't know where half the stuff is in the store.) Saw them at Michael's too though they of course wanted more for them. Maybe the craze is winding down so us "latecomers" can now find them. ha!

So fun! Yes, I'm not done buying these... yet! Update: Got another one. Yes, another mirror. ha! (3 now.) Also got the water bottle and the office chair. 

Next: finished the tiny Gingerbread House - turned out really cute! Will share once my friend and I set up the table!

Come back soon for more projects. Thanks for visiting!

Flowers , miniature flowers

 

I like making miniature flowers. Usually. Sometimes they are difficult, but you have to just grit your teeth and keep plowing ahead, which is the case for making this 1/24 half-scale Clematis kit (SDK Miniatures.)

(website kit photo)

I mentioned in the last post on the new cottage kit  that I'd had this flower kit a while and couldn't get up the courage to start it. (Then why'd I buy it, you wonder?) Well, it'll be pretty and I like the flowers in real life. Reason enough.

Since I decided the house will be lavender, then I figured I'll hake to make some purple plants, this being one of them. Planning for my weekly mini meeting with friend Gigi I had this kit on my mind. Working myself up to do it, I guess. ha! 

Yes, it is labor intensive. But... I have some progress! 

Yay! - The trellis is built and ready to paint once I trim it a bit. Over half of the 14 flower stems are made (six teensy petals each glued around a 1/8" diameter circle); four leaf stems are made. (The leaves went easier once I figured it's better to glue leaves down one side of the cloth-covered wire, let them dry, then glue the opposite leaves on top.) Yes, all individual leaves. Yes, it's tedious. ha!

I'll share how the rest works out as I go along.

Next:

So far:

Next on the agenda is a tiny gingerbread house kit (AlphaStamps) I got for me and my friend as a mini Christmas gift. Pretty cute. Hers is about done and looks pretty cool. Decided on a Halloween theme  (of course!) Our Christmas campground is looking fantastic! and now a table with a Gingerbread house decorating contest will be added to the site. Pix to come! This has gotten pretty elaborate, I'll say!

That's the update for the moment. Thanks for visiting and come back soon for more mini projects!

Next: Half Scale Miniature Cottage & Show

 New cottage!

(website photo)

Yes, yes, I still have other projects but I couldn't resist and got a new 1/24 - half-scale house. This time I got the Abriana Country Cottage from Laser Dollhouse Designs, a rather "cute" 3-story cottage. I liked it as it's not super big but still enough room to decorate. It's 14" w x 10" d x 19" h. (*Click photos for full size.)

 I got several other houses from them: first was the Park Ave. Mansion that I added a diner to; then the Jasmine Gothic Victorian Cottage, which became my Witch Cottage; then the Alisha Dollhouse, which is set aside and will be a kind of country cabin. (It may sound like a lot, but I've seen how kit prices have gone up, so it's good to buy these, paying them off over time, and buying them when they're relatively cheaper. I can see the price difference in kits I bought quite a while ago; and some kits I bought years ago. Besides, I don't drink or smoke, which is costlier. ha! )

I really do like the nice details this company offers in their houses. Great doors, and nice stairway and porch railings. Though all those tiny parts to paint always looks scary at first. ha! But I like the building challenge, the planning, and especially the decorating!

This time, I had to plan out the colors to see what would work. Decided on Lavender walls, Hauser Green (a darker sage green) window frames, Antique White windows with a purple in the line around the windows. I'm thinking of adding shutters in African Violet.

I'll have to make wisteria and work on that clematis kit I've put off every time I look at all the tiny petals! (kit photo - SDK Miniatures.) 

I may do a kind of 1940s-flavored interior, a mix of old and new, I think. Still deciding how I want the inside to look. I was going to do a sage kitchen in the other house, but I think I'll do a sage/yellow/white kitchen in this one. Here's a 1940s style kitchen (Daily Mail) a woman did that's pretty close to some of the kits I have. 

Maybe I'll use this sink and cooker kit I bought last year (or use the stove kit I have that looks like the one in the link):

I found some neat vintage linoleum patterns to make flooring:  I kind of like this one with yellow and green in it. 

Probably going to do some brick walls inside. I seem to do that in all the houses as I like the brick look and the paper has great detail. I have quite a bit of the textured white brick paper left that I used in the Park Ave. Mansion, (Starboc2/Etsy), so I might experiment putting a light coat of paint on it. 

I'll sort some kits soon to see what I might use in the house. 

Show Stuff: Here are a couple new kits I got at the show which I may or may not use in this house depending on how they fit in.

 

I liked this resin table for a hallway or near the front door inside.

Here's something fun: I got a kick out of the teensy dumpster and garbage bin. Going to dirty them up. Guess I'll have to have a doll or skeleton arm sticking out of the dumpster at Halloween. (I watch too much Blue Bloods on TV.) ha!

I also found a set of 3D printed pumpkins that I can paint and put lights in. Love the scary faces!

Another different garden statue and urn.

That's it for the moment! Thanks for visiting. Come back soon for more updates!

Sneak Peek: Miniature Desserts: Hungry Anyone?

 

Despite the stores sneaking Christmas out earlier every year, I'm old school and stick to the season starting after Thanksgiving.

But... Well... I already shared the Halloween decorating for the Coffee Camper on the previous post, but thought I'd share a sneak peek of the decorating of me and friend Gigi's Christmas Campground now underway. (*Click photo for full size.)

Wow, she had a smorgasbord of delicious desserts and goodies set up for the snack table. Looks yummy! There are some amazing foods here!

More to come soon! Saturday's the Fall dollhouse show (yay!) so I'll be posting soon after to share what I found and saw.

Thanks again for visiting! Come back soon.

New Project: Miniature Camper

 

Still Halloween! (Or it was...)

Yes, I've been working on some things. I quit camping years ago after being caught in a horrible rainstorm, but camping in miniature sounds fun! (Click photos for full size.)

I got this camper kit quite a while ago and had papered the inside, then put it away. I'll admit, the project still didn't thrill me, but I decided to finish it since my friend Gigi and I were setting up a display for our Christmas mini get-togethers. She has a couple much smaller campers so we decided to set up a campground Christmas display.

After the Halloween display she did (a fun surprise!), we've been gathering things to make it Christmasy. She has a giant green felt cloth which is draped over a large coffee table that will be the base.

Lucky for me, my idea to make the outside all silver in back and on top, and half silver and half painted corrugated paper (on the back and sides) worked out since Hobby Lobby discontinued the scrapbook sheets of shiny coated silver paper. (But I did see some 2" or so wide rolls if I need smaller roofing pieces.) I had just enough to make it work. I wanted that shiny paper on the ceiling inside too but had to paint the plan paper silver instead since I didn't have enough. The top and back look pretty cool.

My idea was to make this a coffee cafe, a place to get drinks, snacks and some easy food like burgers and hot dogs. My friend will have the "sleeping" campers.

Back and inside

I decided to turn the window boxes upside down and paper the tops with some of the same silvery paper to make awnings. Thought it added something. Most of the small windows got covered with food/cafe signs.

One of the side windows, which still needs a Pick Up Orders sign above it. I also added the counter and supports. The other side is the Order Here window.

The left side from the back has the sink unit turned drinks fridge and grill. I also added a side counter and glued a microwave under it. Didn't think I'd be making another grill since the half-scale mansion diner, but never say never, right? But it's kind of fun making these. I put some of the silver paper on the side for a place to hold the food.

The former benches were turned to make tables and storage on the inside front wall for assorted supplies. Pretty happy with the coffee machine, which I measured off some pieces from a coffee shop kit my friend had. Copied the top and bottom plates and added a jump ring, sequin, and beads for  dimension. I added a few more things since this photo.

Oh, look a visitor! How fun! Mr. Grinch decided to stop by. He'll be ready for Christmas - soon!

I'm pretty pleased with how it came out after all. I'll be sharing the Christmas set-up and the campground soon.

Momentous week! Election Day Tuesday (VOTE!) and then Friday-Saturday is the Fall Dollhouse Show, which has moved to the Wyndham Garden Hotel, 1725 E. Algonquin Rd., Schaumburg, Ill. It's not a big show, but it's so nice to have an event to attend before the long winter lull until next Spring's big shows.

That's it for the moment. I'll have another post or two before the shows so be sure to come on back soon! Thanks again for visiting!