And now for the rest of the story...

These two houses are my very first ones. I made the Artply Bobbi (on the right) when I was pregnant for my oldest. The Greenleaf Canterbury was done when I was pregnant for my middle child.
The Greenleaf Jefferson was built when I was pregnant for my last child. It represents our real house as it was in 1993. Since Christmas is my favorite time of year, the house is always decorated for Christmas. On the right is a garden made in an aquarium.
This house is a RGT Vermont Farmhouse, Jr. It represents the farmhouse I grew up in in the 1970s.
De's Diner on the left was made in a 1950s era tin breadbox. The DuraCraft house is Santa and Mrs. Claus's home.
These two houses are both decorated in Victorian style. The one on the left is the RGT Victorian Cottage, Jr. The parents of the lady in the other house live here. The left house is similar to the RGT Allison, Jr. but it's a Petite Dreams Victorian. I think there are more staff than family in this house, lol.

So, there you have it. My entire dollhouse/roombox collection. I'm pretty much out of room and I don't want to sell anything out of my collection so I may have to learn to like 1:144. :0)

While I'm at it...

I may as well post the rest of the photos. First, in the living/dining rooms I currently have the beach cottage, the back porch, the half scale Colonial and the log cabin. There are photos of all of the those somewhere on the blog page.This is Harriet's Kitchen. It's the last of the rooms in my craft room. Harriet has the grandchildren over for a visit.
This wedding gazebo was made in a bird feeder. It hangs from a hook over the window in my bedroom.
This is a plastic canvas house made for me by my favorite of hubby's aunts. At the time my kids' rooms were blue, yellow and pink. The colors she used downstairs are the colors we had in the main living areas then, too. This one sits on the floor in my bedroom as it is child friendly if young ones come over to see the dollhouses.
These two tin lithographed houses have the same interior. The one on the left was my mother's when she was a child. She still had a lot of the original furniture. I added some as well. Her version has an opening front door. I thought her house had been thrown away during a move so hubby bought me the one on the right for an anniversary gift. Mine doesn't have an opening front door. The exteriors are painted differently, too. These are Playsteel houses made by the National Can Company in the 1940s. These houses are on a shelf in my bedroom.

More from the Victorian houses

These top two photos are from the Victorian Cottage Jr. I made the bed, quilt, washstand and one of the bedside tables. The rug was printed onto a T shirt transfer and then ironed onto Aida cloth. The rugs in the parlor were made the same way. All of the photos in this room are ancestors or living relatives of either my husband or me. I made the chandelier, sofa, wing chair, table, and fern. The dining set was made from a Chrysbon kit and the black chair at the front right started life as an inexpensive import. I painted and reupholstered it.

This is the Petite Dreams parlor. I made all of the furniture in here, including the fireplace. The burgundy drapes are made of velvet scrapbook paper. It's very easy to get nice pleats - just accordian fold. The stair carpet is embroidered ribbon.

Emma and Richard in the master bedroom. I made the bed and fireplace. The hanging lantern is based on a lantern photo I found online. The "plaster" ceiling rose is an element cut from my real size kitchen ceiling paper. The dresser and vanity are refinished Dollar Tree purchases.

The kitchen tin ceiling is made of another element cut from my real kitchen paper and then painted silver. The floor and wainscot are both printed from the internet. The cook stove started life as a Spam tin. The sink was made from a Vaseline lid with hardware added. The cook is hard at work at a table I made from scratch and aged. I also made the chair at the front right.

I made most of the dishes in the hutch and the food throughout the kitchen. The best thing about miniatures is that you really have no excuse to be bored - there's always something different to try!

Victorian times

Many miniaturists' first project is a Victorian dollhouse. Not so with me. My first three houses were all contemporary and I had no interest in doing a period dollhouse. However, after that third house and the birth of my third child, I had little time for minis for several years. About 5 years ago, my husband bought me a Real Good Toys Victorian Cottage Jr. for Christmas. I decided that it would be fun to try a Victorian house and so it began. The next Christmas, I got a Petite Dreams house kit. It's very similar to the RGT Allison Jr. but reversed. It is prefinished on the exterior and I left it the original blue but added touches of darker blue for accents. I also made the dolls for both houses (except for the baby - she's a Renwal doll). Emma and Richard and their two children live in the big house and Emma's parents live in the cottage next door. Both houses have staff as well. Maria is the cook/housekeeper at the cottage. Emma has a cook, a nanny, a butler and two maids. I made or refinished most of the furniture in the two houses. I really enjoy figuring out how to make something out of bits I have on hand. That challenge is my favorite part of the miniatures hobby. These photos are all of the Petite Dreams house.

Mini Museum

Hi everyone. I'm back from a long day of driving. Hubby had a doctor appointment 2 1/2 hours away. The appointment itself was an hour and a half long and then we had the return drive. He got a good report but there will be no actual mini-making today. Instead I'm posting some pics of the "mini museum" I set up in my house last spring for the senior citizens' group at my church. I set up all of my dollhouses like a city block on the dining room table with a gazebo in the middle (lucky for me I have a very large table!) The roomboxes were on the kitchen counter and snack bar. It was a lot of work to set up but very fun - and everything got a good cleaning. The seniors enjoyed looking at everything and several have commented on how much they enjoyed it since but I haven't yet been able to convince any of them to take up the hobby.

Weddings on my mind

My daughter became engaged over Christmas and I've had weddings on the brain. Her wedding isn't for a year and a half but I've got a mini bridal shop I can play with in the meantime. Storybook Weddings Bridal Shoppe is located in a Greenleaf Storybook Cottage that I found already assembled in a local antique shop. I added the egg carton stonework on the exterior and did the interior decorating. I also made most of the fixtures and all of the dresses in the shop. Several dresses use bits of fabric from my honeymoon nightgown and robe. I have still have room for more gowns if inspiration strikes. The upstairs houses the sewing room the shop owner uses to create her lovely gowns. All of the designs are her original creations which makes her shop the one the brides frequent.

My first post!

I've enjoyed reading so many other miniature blogs that I decided to try my own. I have a large dollhouse and roombox collection. I have four Greenleaf dollhouses, one Petite Dreams Victorian, two Real Good Toys (Victorian cottage and Vermont farmhouse, jr.), one Duracraft Chelsea and two Playsteel tin lithograph houses from the 1940s. My favorite scale is 1:12 but I have done work in 1:16. In fact, my two most recent projects were both in 1:16 scale. I made a game room for my brother who customizes 4 inch action figures and I made a ham radio set up in an old radio case for my husband. My favorite things are those I've made from what I have on hand. I'm not a collector (except for the Playsteel houses). I prefer to make as much as possible. In the game room, the pool table and fireplace are made from bits and pieces I had on hand. In the radio room, the plant stand is made from scratch. The sofa is an inexpensive plastic piece that I upholstered. The radio is also scratch made. It was a collaboration between DH and me. It lights up like a real radio.

As the blog continues, I'll post more photos of past projects as well as some how-tos for current projects. I hope you'll come back again!