A lucky garage sale find

I have my mom's childhood tin lithograph dollhouse. For the past 4 years I've been working on repairing or replacing the furniture I remember from when she let us play with it. I've been looking for this Ideal bedroom set with the blue bedspread for all 4 years. Today I found it at a garage sale just down the road from my house. I probably paid more than I should have but I was so excited to find it that I didn't really care. :) My mom's dresser had drawers that really open and this one doesn't but it is in excellent condition with the original cardboard backing. The bed is missing the top pieces of the posts on the headboard but that's a fairly common problem. I'm so happy to have finally found these!

I also purchased a couple of cardboard cigar boxes to use for future rooms. For a quarter each I couldn't pass them up - even if I do prefer the wooden ones.

It's finished...for the first time anyway

I worked on this in little spurts throughout the day to finish the accessories. In this photo the dimensional gel I used for the TV screen is not yet dry so it's a little hazy.
My first little working session today was making all of the books on the shelves. I also added a clear finish to the floor and baseboard.
The next step was making the windows and drapes and adding artwork.
The last step was making the ceiling light, television, dvd player and video player and filling in the rest of the shelves with accessories.
The bedroom got art over the bed, a frame for the mirror, window and curtains, table lamp, and a tiny tray of perfumes for the vanity.

Now that I've made a two story corner box I know what I'll do differently next time. My floor warped a bit this time so none of the angles are quite right. But it was fun to do another half scale project. I didn't like quarter scale very much but I enjoy half scale almost as much as one inch. You can still put a lot of detail into half.

Oh, today was the baby shower and my friend was thrilled with the little nursery. She also liked the baby afghan I finished several weeks ago. She looks so good and so very pregnant. :)

There's nothing like a new mini project to cheer you up!

I got my green beans canned yesterday and that went well but the rest of my day was not as good. Just one of those days that we all have sometimes. So I broke out the last of my cigar boxes and started a new project. This one is too tall for a one inch scale scene to look right so I made it into a 2 room half scale scene instead. When it's finished both rooms will have a bit of Asian influence with more obvious Asian accents in the downstairs living room. It has a skinny stick floor (I'm leaving it natural colored). The contemporary swivel chair was made from half a plastic lid, a push pin and some plastic sheeting with a cushion added for comfort. I'm planning to paint the "swivel" base a chrome color. The coffee table is a lid with a wooden ring added to the top. The art over the fireplace and the pillow on the couch were made from the paper covering on chopsticks.
The back of the chair.
So far, the bedroom is very simple. The headboard looks very bamboo-like (corrugated cardboard) and the art over the nightstand has an Asian feel. The smoked acrylic vanity was made from half a clear plastic lid that I colored with a wood stain marker. The chair is an inexpensive dollhouse toy that I stained and painted. The carpet is a fabric sample.

I still have a lot to do in both rooms. I think I'm going to add windows on the right side walls so I can add texture and color with curtains. I have lots of mini accessories to add to both rooms so making those will keep me busy this week, too.

Another update

I added side panels to the curtains, candle sconces on either side of the window, a plant next to the hutch and a cup of tea on the table.

I just can't ever let a project be finished

I couldn't sleep last night so I was up making a braided rug for under the table instead. ;) These are very easy to make. The braid is very thin nylon cording. That is stuck to adhesive backed paper (or sometimes I use adhesive backed felt.) You can make any shape you want and the cord comes in many colors. I didn't purchase my cord - it was a gift from a friend - but she said that it comes on large spools so you have enough for a lot of rugs. I think she purchased it at a hardware store.

A room with a view

My mom sorted through some more craft supplies and I got several boxes of goodies. In the boxes were a couple of cigar boxes as Mom used to make cigar box purses. I have a beautiful one that she made several years ago and had no need for another so I decided to make a room box to display some recent swaps.
The base is a laminate flooring sample. The beautiful quilt was hand pieced and sewn by my friend Joan. She also made the chair.
Brenda made all of the food on the hutch and finished the hutch itself. Gaye of My Small Obsession made the stew and bread on the table.
I made the quilt rack, table, curtain and the window. The wallpaper is actually scrapbook paper.
This is what the top of the cigar box looks like.