Miniature Take Your Dog to Work Day

 Photo: Workspace in Fairfield Dollhouse attic. See top tab, My Dollhouses, for other links and photos.

While I'm still working on the Half Scale Witch Cottage, thought I'd share a few photos for some of the more unusual holidays. (Click photos for full size; see other posts in left column archives.)

Today is national Take Your Dog to Work Day, and if you work at home, your dog is there, of course. The 29th is also Work From Home Day. See calendar for other dates.

Funny that I never put a dog in all the miniature stores I've done, but I do put them in all my dollhouses, so I'll share those instead.

Another "work", crafting space in the attic of my Country Victorian house, with a companion. See video on website Miniatures page.(Scroll down past blog link there.)

Dog toy also in the Country Victorian house.

Another dog in my larger yellow Victorian dollhouse. (Video also on the miniatures website page. Scroll down past blog link there.)

Dog in my vintage doll Christmas room.

And of course! A corgi for my Tudor Tea Shoppe honoring the Queen!

Speaking of dogs....  Well, if you want to sit and work with a laptop in this room, good luck finding somewhere to sit! haa! My Dogcatcher's House has about 100 dogs. The fun was the theme and  finding all of them!

That's it for now. I know there 's more but it's finding the photos. ha!  I should have some new updates soon. I'm working on several things in the second floor of the Witch Cottage. Tricky stuff like papering the top tower....

Thanks again for visiting. Come back soon for new updates!

Miniature Witch Cottage & Garage Sale Finds

 What are those?? Keep reading!

It's finally church rummage and yard sale time! It's always fun to look as you never know what you'll find and you can usually get some pretty good deals! So had to share some of my latest finds.

The best find is after all these years of doing dollhouses we finally got a scroll saw at a church sale, which makes cutting out doors and windows sooo much easier; see top photo of door openings on the Half Scale Witch Cottage. I'll share more on that later when I make progress on it. (See last post - plants and older posts in left column archives. Click photos for full size.)

Door openings cut out on front wall and on back of tower wall panel on second floor.

 Mr. Dollhouse Contractor used to cut the holes with a jigsaw, which is more shaky and you got wobbly cuts. Always worked around it, but this is so much better. It's also great because it's easy enough that I'll be able to do my own cutting, which will be really nice when I want it done right away and don't want to wait. ha! The great thing is that the saw blade is like new and... you won't believe we got it for only... $5!

You'll appreciate this too - I also found  the cutest small garbage can - tiny, with the pedal and a lift out bucket! Now I don't have to keep getting up to throw stuff out.

The other finds were some inexpensive dollhouse pieces for 50 cents each. The blue couch is a Mattel Littles metal couch which is half scale; the plastic couch will probably fit somewhere too once I cover it in fabric. The table/bench will work in half scale also and is hand-painted. Someone even signed the back. No, doesn't look like anyone I know. Also got another crate of flowers and a metal wheelbarrow.

Here's another pretty unique find I came across at a yard sale: so... what are these?

Once I saw these strange little statues, I knew I had to get them, especially the ones with the faces. Nothing says creepy like statues with faces. ha!

Did you guess?

Actually it's some kind of dragon, medieval or Mayan? chess set. What I liked besides the unique carvings is that they were smaller, so they'll be perfect house and yard accents for my witch houses!

The box they came in is really cool-looking too. 

The neat thing is that dragon - lion? head drawer pull/knob on the front of the box. 

I am thinking (gasp!) of taking it off to use on a dollhouse wall (wouldn't that look neat?) but I think I have to take half of the drawer apart to get it off. So, I'll leave it... for now. I only paid $7  for the purpose of using the statues for dollhouses so I won't feel real bad if I take it apart and then have to re-glue it with a different knob. ha!😏 I have been thinking of making a small antique, brocante-type shop on the bottom floor of the Park Ave. Mansion when I get to that project, so I really like the idea of using this head on a wall.... I know.. and I know you understand. ha! But I buy stuff like this to take it apart or re-use it so no guilt, ha!

Going to a couple other church sales next week so we'll see if I find anything else. And I'll be working on the second floor of the Witch Cottage. Lots of steps to do there but I've pretty much figured out the layout and have the flooring cut. The black/white star print floor I bought will look pretty cool. I think the second-floor tower will be a neat little space, too. Since it has windows, it would be a shame to leave it unused and closed up. It's a tiny room but perfect for stargazing, I figure. (Photo of house from website.)

So... that's it for now! Thanks for visiting and come back soon for more updates!

 

Miniature Witch Dollhouse Green Thumb

Time for some fun stuff!

(*See last post: lighting. Click photos for full size; see other posts in left column archives.)

Decided to take a break from all that building, painting, and trimming, (ugh!) to make some spooky plants! (House is the Laser Dollhouse Designs' Jasmine Gothic Victorian Cottage. Photo of kit from website.)

 

Well, not real spooky but more on the "magical botanical" end since this is a cottage for a witch who makes potions. 

You remember the potion shelf I made previously? See below. (Victorian Gothic shelf kit from SDK Miniatures.)

New: I had this other large shelving unit and thought it would be another bookshelf at some point, though I really didn't want to make so many books! So this works - figured it would be a good addition for the plants and poisonous materials storage. So the witch has large boxes of poisonous items like mandrake, hemlock, etc. Then there are the various pots and dishes of plant starters in case she has to pick something for a special potion. I like how this came out as I wanted it to be slightly different than the other shelves.

A secret: I cheated on the boxes! ha! I made fronts and sides, then covered them with scrapbook paper and poison labels. I cheated on the wood plant crates, too. They don't have backs since no one will see that. Some of the jars are beads and pot-shaped beads.

Another idea is I saw a photo of some real-life hanging boxes and thought it would be perfect to make a mini set of boxes to put on the wall with plants growing. Handy to have them right there for use, I figured. All the plants are just bits and pieces of the assorted plastic plants I have saved up.  

Ok, here's a fun guessing game. What kinds of flowers are these???

This is part of a group of unusual "punny" plants that I got a long time ago in a swap with the Half Scale group that could fit in this project. Some I already used in front of the haunted house I leave set up.  (You can see a few of the plants a little in this photo. Look for the odd plants in front of the house with purple trim.)

I haven't found all of the above plants yet, but I did find these below. Can you guess what kinds of flowers these are? The two in the center top row below are regular plants.

And here's an idea I hadn't thought of: I think I'll make a set of risers to go in front of the windows in the tower on the first floor as I wasn't sure what to put there but that makes more sense to put a bunch of plants in that spot. Of course, I made a small circular riser a looooong time ago that I didn't use, but not sure where it is.... ha!

Here's an interesting set from that group too. Can you guess what the plants are?

The crow is fun; not sure who made it. A perfect totem/mannikin for this house! Maybe a place to rest her witch hats!

Next is the potion making work table and deciding what to put on it. Also have to finish that center wood wall divider. So, moving on!

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

Lighting the Half Scale Miniature Witch Cottage

 

The ceiling/second floor is on now so it now looks like a little square box. ha! Some gaps to cover but not too bad. I'll have to add some ceiling trim, too. I hate all that painting and trimming!

Also had some more progress! Got some lights in the first floor... (See last post: exterior) Click photos for full size; see post archives in left column) * Next: Miniature Green Thumb: Plants

Here are the lights I added. The top left light is from a set of medieval-looking tubes I bought in a package from Hobby Lobby. I used the larger bell cap with the keys attached for the larger light. More magical keys if the witch needs them. ha!

  I wish the color would come out right in the photos. The ceiling really looks neat - a spring green color.  It's hard to get a photo for the color to look right. Here's the paint though computer tones may vary.

Here's the octopus I used on the side wall with a painted metal tube for the bulb.

Still some trim to add to the porch yet and small railing strips. I'm working on the larger botanical shelf at the moment and some small poison plant boxes for a wall. Hope to show that soon.

In the meantime, some more real plants.  Did four containers of morning glories this year and they're really coming up! Moved them  over to the trellises. Just hope our resident bunnies (we keep seeing babies!) leave them alone. haaaa! Can't wait to see when they all bloom! The sunflowers are doing pretty good, too.

So, a "little" update! Thanks again for visiting. Come back soon for new posts!

Witch Half Scale Cottage First Floor Done

 

Witch's Cottage first floor

Finally! Making some progress on the Half Scale Witch's Cottage (the Jasmine Gothic Victorian Cottage. See last post. Click photos for full size; see other posts in left column archives.)

The floors, trim and windows are done on the first floor shown above. The lights lying there will make sense later... The nice thing is because of the thickness of the flooring I don't have to add any baseboards but will probably use some trim around the ceiling. We'll see.

I like how it has a somewhat rustic/old-world feel.... I also decided to use one of those octopus buttons I have to make another light on the right wall here. The floors are painted and cut wood placemats. The walls are scrapbook paper. The textured brick paper is from  Starboc2 on Etsy. I really like this darker, older-looking brick pattern.

A partial view of the shorter wall in the center. I'm building a part room divider from one of those wooden fans as I thought the space needed "something."

Here's the front porch with the door in. The porch rails will be glued next. Below: A close-up of the flooring paper. First time I used tile-paper on a porch but I liked how it matched the mustard and green colors, and really didn't want to do wood again.

I know it's only a few things, but it feels like I got a lot done. Painting all those tiny designs on that door was a challenge! 

I'm in a plant making mood next and want to add another shelving unit with lots of pots and botanical stuff. Will be putting the ceiling/2nd floor on and then have to figure how to open up the tower and portion of the front wall as it seems a waste to not use that tower space. I hate having unused rooms, especially since it has windows! Looks like a good stargazing room to me! Here's the kit photo from the website:

In the meantime, here's the latest real-life garden bloom  - the irises just opened. Such a pretty purple!

So, that's it for now! Thanks for visiting again. Be sure to come back soon for more updates!

Witch's Half-Scale Cottage Build-Paint Update

 

A peek at the outside. Porch trim not attached yet. I wish the colors showed up better.

Yay! Been working, slow but sure, so wanted to share a "little" progress on the half-scale Witch's Cottage (made from the Laser Dollhouse Designs' Jasmine Gothic Victorian Cottage. (See last post: 3D printed items. * See first floor done. Click photos for full size.)

The tower is celery green; the trim is blue spruce (dark) green, wedgewood green, light yellow and mustard. The brown is dark burnt umber. I had a hard time with one tower piece warping but it's okay now. I'll add trim on the outside and thin strips painted the dark blue spruce green in between the tower pieces inside.

Porch side piece below. For the porch floor, I decided to do something different and am using a larger tile print with the green and mustard colors. I think it'll look pretty cool. I'm also going to add a thin wood strip piece on top those inner rails so I can set plants on top.

Side porch piece.

Inside: the textured brick paper.  I liked the darker and worn colors for a change; from Starboc2 on Etsy. 

Yay! Got the wall candle light in - after I had to fight and fiddle with it to put one of those bi-pin bulbs in. I like the "old-world" look to this.

I think the dark floral paper works well here.

The floors aren't in yet. Hint: I decided to use these wood placemats I find at Goodwill. The good thing is they're not real thick so are easily cut with a razor knife. They have a webbing on the back to hold them together once I take the rows of thread out. The tiny holes really don't show once I paint it. It'll be a dark brown. I like to use this or have to put paper on matboard to hide the wires since the lights will be soldered to the floors and ceilings. 

(But.... holy cow! I forgot I had that flooring with the black stars! But no worry.... I think it'll look much better with the Gothic furniture in the second-floor bedroom...)

Next step is to get the other electric tape in so I can finish the papering and put the side windows and the trim in. Then I can glue the ceiling and the floors in. Then there's other trim to add.

Ceiling: The colors seem off in the photo but the interior ceilings are the swirled embossed-style floral scrapbook paper (from Hobby Lobby) painted a lighter spring green with a sparkly coat of mod podge added. The porch roof (on right) is the wedgewood green. 

Here's what the finished kit looks like. (from website.)

And something bright and cheery from the real-life garden. I love these flowers. My favorite color. I'll have to make some in mini. My real-life sunflowers and Mexican sunflowers are also doing well and getting bigger. Luckily we fence it off as we have the resident mama and baby bunny hanging around. 😀

So, that's it for now! It takes a while with all the painting and constructing and fixing problems. But getting there! 

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