Changes in the wind

If you've been following me for any length of time, you know that I can rarely call something finished and then leave it that way. ;-) Fortunately, my changes are usually improvements and, in this case, that is definitely true. I just didn't like the look of two separate cabinet units when that isn't how they look in real life. So I trimmed a bit here and filled a bit there and painted over it all. Then I used a scrap book trim, filled in the holes with different colors, added a bit of Triple Thick, and called it tile. I added bits and bobs from my stash to blend in any problem areas, and...ta da! Now I should probably finish the walls, flooring, windows, etc. LOL

Hope you are all having a lovely and blessing filled weekend!

Am I the only one

...who makes the interior furnishings before finishing the building? I'm not sure why I work this way but I do. It's partially because I like making the furniture best and once that's done I'm more motivated to finish the house. I'm going to try to go back and forth on this house. I did get some of the painting done yesterday and I really like how the living room plaster turned out. Anyway, here are the finished kitchen pieces:

 I'm really pleased with how the kitchen cabinets and appliances turned out. Parts of two Michael's hutches, a block of balsa, cardboard, cardstock, beads, woodsies, and stickers got the project this far. Still needed: faucet, backsplash, and a second shelf for over the sink/range area.

 This is the baking hutch that I pulled from my zibbet shop. The yellow over red finish makes it perfect for this kitchen. I don't remember where the dog came from but he will be one of the residents here.

 I am just playing with layout possibilities here. I hope to make an "iron" headboard. I have fabrics chosen for the bed linens. I don't know if I will leave the rocking chair as is or distress it. Opinions?

 The bathroom is really rough at this point. The shelf unit will be finished and wall mounted for towels and other supplies. The tub will be painted and probably have wall mounted plumbing fixtures. I am tentatively planning to somehow use the wash stand as a sink but I think it is oversized so I'd have to cut it down. At this point, the toilet will be completely from scratch unless I stumble on one at a thrift store.

The nursery will keep this walllpaper. I have pink carpet for the floor. The baby needs some work. She's not very pretty, lol. I think lightening her hair will help. She was only $1 at the miniature shop in Holland, Michigan, we visited last month. I figured I could fix her up somehow.

It's finished!

I just listed this in my zibbet shop (see link in the sidebar.) Since I showed this to you previously I've added a used canning funnel and a bag of sugar to the counter. The canner is partially filled with "boiling water." I love how this turned out!

Still waiting for paint to dry...

...but I thought I'd share anyway. You can see that the jars of cherries are still cloudy. Everything else looks pretty good. The cabinet is the bottom of a Michael's hutch with legs and new handles added.

I'm really happy with the boiling water canner. It's been well used and has a few rust spots (just like my real one!)
I carved the wooden spoon and made the wire whisk. The bowl is a bead cap and the jar lids are the top of paper fasteners.

It feels good to mini again. :-)

Projects

DD #2 is home for a short break between her early student teaching activities and the start of her college classes. She was bored and needed something to DO (emphasis is hers, lol.) So I gave her some wood furniture pieces and her choice of paints. She did the base coat work on these three and I added the folk art and floral designs as well as the aging. My favorite is the trunk. I've got some brown on cream fabric I plan to use for inserts in the wardrobe styled hutch.

Time for a mini project!

This pink and brown dinner set used to be listed in my etsy shop. I painted and distressed a Michael's hutch in Nutmeg Brown with a top coat of Victorian Rose to coordinate with the dishes. They are held in place with tacky wax.
Both lower doors open but there's a bowl in the right one.
I added opening drawers lined with the same paper that lines the back of the top - it's a really pretty scrapbook paper.

The dishes were all handmade out of polymer clay. I will be listing this hutch, complete with dishes in my zibbet shop - www.zibbet.com/DeLightfulMinis

I really needed to make time for a little project. I get tense if I don't get some regular mini time. :)

Late Mother's Day Gift

My oldest got me a new supply of Michael's hutches yesterday. They only had two styles but all of them are versatile.

I spent time working on a new swap with a pub theme. I'm really happy with my results but I can't share until next month. There will be photos then, I promise!

At last! Mini inspiration strikes again.

I've been struggling for mini inspiration this past week. Finally, I decided to go through the supply drawer and see what "struck" me. I found a Michael's hutch and a TV magnet. Ah ha! Entertainment center. So this is my shabby version. The dvd player and the remote were made from scratch. I also made a new base for the cabinet as the original was broken. I want to add some dvds on the top shelf - just a few, though, as most are probably stored in the drawer below. (Although it is really a non functional drawer.)

I'm off to take my MIL to her eye appointment. Back later!

A few steps back in time

This is the Canterbury dollhouse I built when I was pregnant for my middle child. She's going to be 21 in March so this house has been around for awhile. It was only the second dollhouse I'd ever built. The rooms are so tiny that I never really got around to making decent appliances for it.
Today I sacrificed a couple of my last Michael's hutches to take care of that.
This is Elizabeth Greene making some stew in her new kitchen. This unit holds the sink, cook top, oven and cabinets.
The unit on the opposite wall holds a mini fridge and cabinets.
Elizabeth's husband, Martin, is playing with one of the grandkids. Elizabeth and Martin are the first polymer clay dolls I ever made. They are kind of large for this little house and they are very simply made but they're special because they were the first. I'm proud of this little house. It was only my second mini project but I reupholstered the furniture and made rugs. I made my own trim for the inside and sewed all of the curtains. If I were ever to make another of these kits I think I'd use it for some type of store instead of a house since the rooms are so small, especially on the top floor.

I'd love to see some of your early projects, too. It's fun to see how much we've grown in our abilities over the years.

And now for a little shabby chic

A miniaturist friend of mine is dealing with some health issues. I made these as a gift to cheer her up.
The shelves are lined with a little lace paper.
The comforter was all hand quilted.
I'm very happy with how the painting turned out. The roses were painted with a very simple technique. Dab on a dot of the darker paint, pick up a drop of a lighter shade on a toothpick and swirl the colors together. Very easy and quite effective.

The armoire is a Michael's hutch. The bed was made from a kit that came with one of my dollhouses. I had originally stained it so I sanded it down before painting it roughly with cream paint. After painting the floral design (and letting it dry thoroughly) I lightly brushed on an antiquing gel. I finished with a satin varnish. I left the inside of the armoire/hutch the pure cream color.

Spring is coming...really!

To remind myself of that I made this spring themed hutch today. The hutch itself is a sanded, painted and glazed Michael's hutch. It's pretty but what I think makes it special is the hand painted "china" displayed in it. The plates and platter started life as those plastic seals that come out of milk and juice cartons. I painted the yellow flowers and green stripes and then sealed with a scrapbooking dimensional product to give them a china like finish. On top of the hutch is a glass bead vase of hand made daffodils and a ribbon trimmed basket of rocks "collected from vacation spots." I also added clear plastic "glass" to the upper doors. I love the warm and sunny feel of this hutch.

Something new

I finally made something that isn't for the log cabin. My etsy store had been seriously ignored. :-) This started as a Michael's hutch that I took apart. I turned the base upside down, added a desktop to the new top and put the hutch back on top. The chair is a Chrysnbon Duxbury.
The book covers and folders are printables. I made the pens and pencils from colored paper clips. The laptop is made from fun foam and pictures from the internet. I made the candy, candy dish and mug of tea from polymer clay. The bulletin board is aida cloth and the thumbtacks are just dabs of paint.

I really like the black and brown finish. I wouldn't mind one of these in my real house. Too bad it isn't so easy to make one in 1:1 scale.

Thanks for the ideas!

So here's the finished piece all ready to list in my shop. I added the cutting board with cheese, grapes and a knife; the small blue water jug; and the fern planted in a basket. The cheese and jug were made from polymer clay. The grapes came from a fake plant. The basket was made with a circle of wood for the base, aida cloth for the woven part, and cording for the handle and trim. I stained the finished basket with oak stain and planted some plastic fern leaves in it. I could add more but I will leave it as is for the customer to embellish if he/she wishes.

A little bit of French country

I just finished this hutch this morning. The plates are printed on cardstock and sealed with gloss Mod Podge on the front and back. I added the wine rack in the bottom center. I'm going to list this in my shop but I'm thinking it needs a little something more. A bowl of fruit, a basket of flowers or vegetables...suggestions?

It's finished!

I added dark glaze to antique the finish and I really like it. The "carving" stands out so much better. I love making these. I'm so glad that Casey posted her tutorial!

Another polymer clay embellished hutch

This isn't finished yet. I want to antique it to add dimension. I added carved feet made from clothespins and the doors. The area under the drawer was originally just an open shelf. The "carved" embellishments on the drawer and pediment were also made with stamped clay. I still need to add door pulls.

Hutch ala Casey

This is what I came up with based on Casey's tutorial. It took several attempts before I found a combination of rubber stamp motifs that I was happy with.
The hutch on the right is like the one I used. On the left you can see the finished hutch. The door insets are leather. I used cherry acrylic stain and then a dark walnut glaze to add depth to the finish.
The color on the picture above is more accurate but this one shows the detail a little better. I love how expensive the finished hutch looks.

And now for something different...

I posted photos a while ago of the nursery swaps I got in a Small World swap. Today I finally made a place to display everything. I started with a photo box I bought on sale at JoAnn Fabrics. I paid a little over $2 for it. Everything else was a swap item or I already had it on hand.
The tree stump table by Sandy Copeland needed some matching chairs so I made the little tree stump stools. They aren't as nice as Sandy's table but they fit the table theme. The wall shelf and changing table are two pieces of the same Michael's hutch. I added trim and a bottom shelf to the hutch top to make the shelf. The bottom got "carved" feet/trim made from pieces of wooden clothespins. The window is made from the doors of another hutch. I made the border at the ceiling by cutting elements from floral wallpaper
The curvy wood trim was cut from veneer strips with scrapbooking scissors. The baseboard is also from veneer strips. The carpet is just a piece of felt.

It's Not Easy Being Green

This is Wanda. She was inspired by the orange leather witch's hat and owl made by Sandy Copeland for a recent swap. I added the band and feather to the hat and sculpted and dressed Wanda. Her owl is perched on a witch's hutch from my etsy shop. This is the first doll of this sort I've ever made. It was nice to not have to worry much about "pretty", although Wanda is dressed in her best dress and curled her hair especially for Halloween. ;0)

What do you all think?

Feeling better and a project in progress

Thanks again for all of the get well wishes. I am already feeling better and hope to be back to normal (or as normal as I get, lol) within a couple of days.

I'm still working on the dollhouse for my friend's nieces. The kitchen in the house is really tiny so I'm converting a couple of Michael's hutches into the appliances. The double door cabinet is going to become a refrigerator with double doors and a freezer drawer below. I removed the legs and knobs. The other cabinet has been taken apart by microwaving it. The top half will basically stay the same. I just added a shelf to the bottom. I removed the legs from the bottom half, drilled out a sink hole and used the container my daughter's contacts come in for the sink. The cabinet door on the right will become the oven, with an oven style handle. The top on the right will have a cooktop with button burners. The shallow hutches will help with playing room in such a tiny room.