Search My Blog!

Use the Search box below to find keywords that you're looking for quickly and easily!

Search Feature

Wednesday, September 27, 2017

Sweet Christmas Cottage - Living Room

The Sweet Christmas Cottage living room is complete at last! And I am so excited, not because I was anxious to get it done, but because now I can just look at it! I am so happy because it captures exactly the mood I wanted!

Photo with old fashion-y effect.
As with any dollhouse endeavor, it had it's share of challenges from the wiring to the space restrictions to the tree. Oh yes! Let's talk about the tree!


As I mentioned in my pity party post, I had purchased what I thought was going to be the perfect realistic looking tree. And it was! Until I touched it. All of the little beautiful branches crumbled off in my hands.


There was just no hope after I began trying to string the lights on. Even trying to re-attach the branches was fruitless. For every one I attached, several more would fall off. It simply was not meant to be...

Doug Fir as it comes.
Because we have no mini shops within two hours of me, I am forced to buy online. I was not willing to spend more of my mini budget to roll the dice. So, I looked through my stash to see what I could come up with. It just so happened that I had a couple Douglas Firs which were intended for the barn. Since I never made it to the landscaping, here they were, waiting for their moment in the sun!

I printed the skirt, from an online photo, onto fabric paper.

Using the branches from one, I hot glued branches to fill out the other. I really liked the effect, so I kept going. Some of the clump stuff came off as I handled it, so I just took time to apply glue liberally and sprinkle the crumbs back onto the plastic branches. I printed the skirt, from an online photo, onto fabric paper.

Front of tree

Right side of tree

Back of tree

Left side of tree
I did this several times before and after installing lights and ornaments, and it was worth the trouble for what it turned into. I LOVE it, and would recommend this method and those trees, especially if you have little money to spend on a mini Christmas tree! Adding the mini gifts underneath made me squeal with delight!
 

Here it is in the room before adding the other furniture.


I showed you the cards made from the digital art in last week's post. Here they are added to the stair stringer.




I made up some rolls of extra wrapping paper and bows, and put them into an aged (resin) basket.


I love the way the fireplace turned out, and couldn't decide which were my favorite photos, so here are several! :O)

Lights on

Lights on old fashion-y effect

Lights off

From the front door, lights off

From the front door old fashion-y

From the front door different effect
 
From the front door lights on
Here it is filled up! Giac, I know it is crowded, but I still hope you love it! :O)


And more angles and effects. I think I might use one of these on our Christmas cards this year!






And a couple of the kitchen, just to remind you of the mood...



And a shot of the bottom floor...


And the whole back to remind me that I am still only 2/5 of the way, including the exterior finishes, done. And Thanksgiving is only eight weeks away!


Yikes! Gotta go now! Much to do! TTYS!

xo xo
Jodi

Tuesday, September 26, 2017

How To Make A Quick Turntable For A 1/144th Dollhouse

So I wanted to have a turntable for the little 1/144th scale dollhouse in my Sweet Christmas Cottage. I went to sleep last night thinking about how the ones they sell for 1/12 houses worked, so I could come up with a design. I figured I'd need a stable base with a spinning top that somehow fit in to it. Here's what I came up with.

Supplies:

Wooden Craft Circles - the pack that comes with three sizes
Wood Glue
Xacto Knife
1/2" Round Handle - from a paintbrush or the like
Sandpaper
Finishing Supplies of your choice

Start with 2 large, 2 medium and 3 of the small sized circles.


1. Trace the small circle onto the center of 2 of the medium sized circles, then carefully cut out with your Xacto knife.


2. Glue the 2 medium circles together. Glue the 3 small circles together. Let dry.


3. Find a round handled object that you can slide your medium circle onto.


4. Attach sandpaper onto the handle with double sided tape, then sand the center smooth. Sand the rest of the circles and round the edges a bit, just to knock off their sharpness.

5. Glue the medium circles, centered, onto 1 of the large circles. Glue the small circles, centered, onto 1 of the large circles. Let dry.


You can simply stain or paint at this point, then move on to step 9.

6. For an aged effect, stain both pieces. Let dry.


7. Dry brush the color of your choice onto the circles, leaving the centers bare as pictured... Let dry.


8. Apply a light coat of antiquing wax. Let dry. Buff to your preferred level of shine.


9. Cut a similar sized chunk of wax (preferably from a scented candle as they contain oil) to the center opening of the top circle. Apply wax liberally. Repeat on the shaft of the bottom circle. Remove excess wax crumbs. This will help the top and bottom circles to spin smoothly.


Place the top onto the bottom and there you have it! Works like a charm! If you secure the bottom circle to the table, and the top circle to the house, it seems to spin nicely and remain stable.




This is a very first prototype, so I am sure you can improve on the design! Like Kris always says - expand on it and make it better! :O)

Have fun,
Jodi

Friday, September 22, 2017

Sweet Christmas Cottage - In The Pits? Make Kits!

Hello Dear Friends! Hope this post finds all of you enjoying the change of seasons. We went from A/C to heater weather in a flash, and it has put me into a bit of a funk. :O( Not so much the cold, but the loss of sunshine really affects my motivation.

I have been slowly plodding along mini wise, working on some mini kits for the Sweet Christmas Cottage living room. I'll share some of the progress here, and save the complete room photos for later. I still have much assembling and arranging to do, but more than anything I need to catch up reading what you've all been up to! A couple weeks is way too long for me to be out of touch!




I added a light and a new dial to the Jane Harrop 30's radio kit to add a bit of realism to the room. I have an extra kit, so when I feel inspired I may actually assemble it with a light and with a speaker so that it can play Christmas music. A good use for one of the old iPods we have filling up "junk" drawers around here.



I made a little SDK Mantle Clock Kit - super simple and fun, then filled the clock face recess with Glossy Accents for a bubble glass effect. It took several layers and lots of waiting but it's a great effect!






I used a very affordable Grandpa's Toy Dollhouse Kit in 1/144th scale to make a dollhouse for Ellie. It was fun to accessorize using scraps of lace and ribbon for the window coverings, scrap fabric for rugs, scrap wood and fabric for the bed and linens. The exterior was adorned with window boxes using scrap wood and ground cover, cardstock for the "timbers", and ink marker colored sandpaper cut into strips with pinking sheers for the roofing. The tiny kitchen appliances came from HBS, and the dining room table and chairs set are a kit by SDK.

Betsy - I have a whole new admiration for your Secret Christmas House and all it's tiny detail after working on that dining room kit!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~




The little Christmas Lap Desk kit is by Art Of Mini. Super easy to assemble and comes with lovely little paper accessories for in and on the desk. Also includes the wood and plaque print pictured. I distressed and had a little fun with it.

I have to take a moment here to say what excellent service I received on this order! The shipping from Germany was very reasonable to begin with, and then they even refunded me for part of it! And the package arrived so quickly! I will not hesitate to spend my mini budget there again in the future, and I already have my eye on several more kits! ;O)


I also purchased a digital file of Christmas cards on Etsy. At $3.00 it was a great deal. Lovely vintage art work, card files in two sizes, and I can use them as long as I can still print and cut. I'll also be using several of these cards as accents in the build.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The "vintage" Concord chairs that I purchased and planned to recover for the living room looked much too overbearing in the room. I loved the style of them though, so decided to adapt a couple HOM kits to resemble them and better fit in the space. By cutting the wings down and adding some curved bits of wood, I managed to come up with a happy compromise. I got the kits from eBay a couple years back. They were opened and the leg assemblies were missing. I rummaged up some Tim Holtz Hitch Fasteners from my stash for the legs and came up with a better height for the Heidi Ott dolls who will be sitting in them.




Those wonderfully charming hand embroidered pillows you see were so kindly made for me by Kat of Kitty and Kat Miniatures! I absolutely adore them! There is no substitution for handmade minis from very talented friends! They make these chairs and the whole room so very special! Just wait until you see the ones she made for the bed! Thank you so very much, Kat! :O)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I made several poinsettia kits using both SDK and Bonnie Lavish kits. I've had both for a long time now, so the Bonnie Lavish one might be hard to find at this point. The SDK kit was wonderful, though, so you won't be disappointed.



The sleigh is a laser printed kit from Alpha Stamps. That is also where I got the kit to make the gingerbread house. The reindeer was a purchase from TinyTreasures on Etsy. He started out as an unfinished piece but I had fun giving him a nose, tail and a little vintage charm. I also swapped out his arrangement for mine and used his in other areas.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Christmas tree has been a challenge. I had purchased a tree on eBay which was touted to be the perfect ready to decorate tree. It was somewhere around $30. Unfortunately, the minute I attempted to start stringing lights on it, it began to crumble in my fingers. There was no good way to reattach the very fragile "fur branches" back on to the pokey wires, so consider that a rough lesson learned. I rummaged through my landscaping stash and came up with a solution, but I will save that for the next post. I am still waiting for the topper, which is taking many steps and immense patience, to dry. Hopefully, the attaching will go perfectly!

Luckily for me, I know the perfect solution to keep the seasonal blues away. I will gleefully sit tomorrow morning, warm cup of coffee in hand, catching up on all the exciting blog posts I've missed! You all inspire me so much, giving my mini dreams and ideas wings!

Be well, my friends!

xo xo,
Jodi