Doreen's Miniature Projects and Tuts

Camp Chair Project

2010-08-24T10:56:00.004-07:00

I have been working on a camping scene for quite awhile now and it involved several projects. One of them was a folding canvas camp chair which I just finished.

I used stir sticks and shishkabob skewers. I could have used toothpicks but I already had these in my stash and they were already stained.

I used a hat pin to make the holes in the stir sticks as when I tried to use anything else, the wood kept splintering.

I then glued all the frames together and set them aside to dry. I found they were still very flimsy so I had to put more glue on and wait again for them to dry.

Once the glue was dry, to used straight pins to put everything together. I wish I had a better way that straight pins, but I always use what I have and make the best of it.

The next step was gluing the fabric to the frames.

The finished chairs are adjustable and can be folded up but they are rather flimsy so I do not want to move them around too much.

Landscaping The Dollhouse

2010-06-04T19:14:00.000-07:00

Now that the inside of the house is finished, my next project was to landscape the outside. This was quite a large project and kept Julie and David busy for quite some time.

David's dad came over to help him with the heavy work and to measure out the pathway. They hauled a lot of stone and bought a lot of gardening tools.

Julie and David set out the stones (made out of egg cartons) to make sure they fit before they put them in permanently.

Christopher and Goldie check out the finished pathway.

David lays out the garden shape and lines them with stones. Christopher brings Julie her garden gloves while Jennifer plays with her birdhouses.

Next, Julie and David pick out the flowers they want in the garden. I had never made flowers before so this was a project all of its own. There were gladiolas, dahlias, sunflowers, black eyed susans, daisies and painted daisies as well as assorted bushes.

David plants the first bush and Julie makes sure it has lots of water. Goldie wonders if there is a bone buried there.

The right garden and a bird is already trying out the birdbath while a little rabbit keeps watch.

The family look over the left garden and are very pleased with the results. David promised Julie that she could get new furniture for the gazebo now.

The gazebo furniture was made from a Joanne Swanson tutorial. It is made from matboard covered with aida cloth.

Julie sets up the gazebo and invites her best friend and neighbour over for afternoon tea.

Julie and Charlotte have a very pleasant afternoon enjoying the garden and each others company. They would like to thank Debbie for supplying the treats for their tea.

The house is now completly finished, inside and out and now the family are contemplating going on a camping trip.

Giveaway

2010-04-22T08:26:00.001-07:00

On my other blog - Doreen's Miniatures and Memoires I reached over 200 followers and so I am having a giveaway. The draw will be on Mothers Day so if you would like to participate hop over to my other blog and leave a comment on the giveaway post.

Photo Box and Versatile Room

2010-04-22T07:24:00.000-07:00

Whenever I was finished making an item and I wanted to take pictures of it, my desk usually looked like this. I had no room to put the item down and it really would not make a nice picture in all that clutter. So I had to clear my desk off every time I wanted to photograph my projects. So I thought that I would make a box that I could put the items in to photograph them.

I started off with two pieces of foamcore and a plastic corrugated sheet that came under a birthday cake.

I glued the two pieces of foamcore together using my lego angles to hold the pieces at a 90 degree angle.

I knew that the white surface would reflect the flash of the camera so I decided to wallpaper the walls. I printed some wall paper that I liked off the Internet and when I glued it on, it was terrible. Bubbles everywhere and when I tried to smooth them out the paper ripped as it was just too thin. So I had to rip it off and it did leave some gouges in the walls.

I then found some heavier scrapbooking paper that I hoped would cover the gouges.

I also heard that if you only wallpapered one side of foamcore it would warp so I also wallpapered the outside wall.

Then I had to cover the white floor and decided that I may as well go full way and do a hardwood floor and then I can use the box as a room as well. I covered the floor with Gesso so that the wood would stick to it. When I was trial fitting the sticks, the white showed through the cracks.

This will never do! So I got some brown paint and mixed it in the gesso and painted that on the floor as an undercoat. Then I glued down the floor and varnished it.

At this point, I looked at the box and realized that I now had a neutral room that I could use for scenes as well as for photographing my projects. And if I am going to use it in scenes, I do not want a lot of white edges showing. So I searched in my stash of stuff and managed to find some trim that was left over from my dollhouse and I used that to finish off the room.

I now have a box that is very versatile and can be used in many ways. By adding doors or windows and paintings etc. that can be changed I can set up scenes without taking up a lot of space. (Which I do not have.) I also have a place to photograph my mini creations that will hide my cluttered desk.

Computer-playroom: The Final Room of The House

2010-04-13T13:14:00.000-07:00

This is the final room to be completed and David and Julie decided to make it a combination study playroom so that both children can use it.

David built a bookcase unit for storage and also to make use of lost space due to the sloped ceiling. Julie wiped up all the paint spills.

The children did not waste any time in filling the shelves once the railing was in place. Now they need some type of table to work on.

I have never made a table before but I used the kitchen table as a pattern and copied that. I cut the top and sides from basswood and the legs from a square dowel.

Then I stained and varnished it. I figured a table would be more useful than a desk because they could also use it for games, jigsaw puzzles etc.

The children began to use the table right away. Christopher loves to draw and Jennifer was working on her homework. (Of course snacks are also important.)

A bulletin board is also handy for them both to use for their projects and notes.

Jennifer's computer is all set up and in good working order. The tower is a block of wood with a picture of a real tower glued on the front.

She has the same screen saver as I do and the keyboard is identical to mine. (I took pictures of mine and shrunk them down. The mouse is made from clay and has a thread for the cord.)

David hangs the picture that the children chose as Julie, Jennifer and Christopher watch.

The last picture to be hung. The inside of the house is now finished.

The Living Room

2010-04-10T06:56:00.000-07:00

Now it is time to put the living room all together. First David and Julie hang the drapes.

Then they bring in the sofa.

And the chair.

They set up the fireplace and Spike is quick to take up his favorite spot.

They lit the fireplace to make sure the flu was operating well and left a few ashes behind.

Next they had to choose pictures for the room. This took a long time and they went through many, many pictures. There were some scenes that they loved but they just did not blend in with the room. The winter duck scene was a favorite of David's but the blue just did not go in this room.

Then they added some plants to give the room warmth.

And finally it was done. David sat down to read and relax and enjoy the room.

The room is finished and Jonathon wants David to read him a story before he goes to bed.

2010-04-02T06:18:00.001-07:00

I hope everyone has a very Happy Easter and a wonderful spring.

Renovating a Fireplace

2010-03-31T07:45:00.001-07:00

My next project was the fireplace. I bought this fireplace when I first got my dollhouse but I never really liked it. The white insert just did not look right to me. So I decided to renovate it.

I used my hair dryer to heat the glue and I pulled and prodded until I got the white pieces out. I did damage the back a little but I figured that it would not matter as I was going to paint it black anyway.

I then went outside to search for good sticks to use as logs, and found a piece of Lego to use as a stand for the logs. Then I got an old hair roller to use as a log basket and small beads for the legs of the basket.

I painted the back of the fireplace black and then I used a lot of burnt match heads to make ashes and charcoal.

The finished fireplace.

Making A Sofa and a Chair

2010-03-28T08:41:00.000-07:00

Now that I had the drapes up, I needed a rug and furniture. I found the perfect tutorial on Jennifer's Printables. She has a lot of easy to follow tuts and you really should check out her site. I will post my pictures that I took while following her tutorial.

First,I cut all the cardboard and stacked them see how the dolls would fit. Then I cut all the foam and the material.

Then I worked on the arms. I used dowels for the round part and when I was gluing the rolls onto the arms, I used plastic bags wrapped around to clamp them together until it was dried.

The next step was covering all the pieces with material and foam for the backs.

Then I glued them all together and again I used the plastic bags as clamps to hold them together. I found a piece of material for the rug and pulled threads on each side to make a fringed rug.

At first I dreaded trying to make this type of furniture but Jennifer made it so easy if you just do it step by step. Thanks Jennifer! Do check out this site for other tutorials and lots of wallpaper and other printables. Jennifers Printables.

Making Drapes

2010-03-27T12:43:00.000-07:00

When I started the living room I found there were several projects that I had to do and the first of these was to make new drapes. I always had trouble getting the drapes to hang right and I had heard you could make a pleater out of corrugated cardboard. So I thought I would give that a try.

The cardboard I found was not really long enough and when I first tried to push the material into the grooves, it all collapsed on me. So I strengthened the grooves by inserting bamboo skewers in each of the holes in the corrugated cardboard.

I then soaked the drapes with spray starch and pressed them into the grooves. To hold them down, I inserted more skewers into each space. I then put a heavy book on top of it all and set it aside to dry.

When I removed the book and skewers, I had a nicely pleated drape which held its shape very well.

The next step was the valance. I looked around my stash to see what I could use as a pleater for it and I found the spacer for the stair railings. This is more the size I wanted for the pleats. So I used the same process for the valance using this spacer.I had a valance in my old living room that was very similar to the this one and I used that for my pattern.

I used the bamboo skewers for curtain rods and I used beads glued to the wall as the curtain rod holders. Then I made a u-shaped frame to glue the valance on in order for it to stand out over the curtain. The hardest part was getting the valance to stick to the frame. I did try tie backs on the drapes but they just didn't look right so I left to hang naturally.

Catching Up On Various Projects

2010-03-26T09:38:00.000-07:00

I have been very lax with this blog and paying all my attention to the other daily blog. But this blog is where I like to keep the whole project together once it is finished. So I am going to go back and record all the projects I have done and add them here. I am sorry that I have not posted here regularly but I intend to correct that in the future.

Decorating The House For Christmas

2010-01-02T09:56:00.000-08:00

Fresh snow has fallen and it is a beautiful day. Just perfect for starting the Christmas decorating. Julie and David discuss how they will do the decorations this year.

David sets up the creche scene while Julie hangs the wreath on the front door.

Julie helps David with the icicles.

David sets out the sleigh while the children play in the snow and make a snowman.

They place ribbons and wreaths around the veranda.

Julie and David sit down and admire the house and are very happy with the way it turned out.

Now it is time to decorate inside the house. Julie David and the children decorate the Christmas tree and also do the mantle.

Snow has started to fall again so David go out to shovel the driveway and walkways. Then Julie has to go and wrap the presents so the children finish the last decorations on the tree. Then they sit and discuss what they hope to receive from Santa.

Julie settles down to wrap the presents. The children know not to go into the dining room until all the presents are wrapped. As Julie is wrapping she can smell something delicious coming from the kitchen.

The kitchen is a very busy place with Julie's mother, Barbara Anderson, and her grandmother cooking up a storm in preparation for Christmas. Julie does not like cooking or baking very much so her mother and grandmother were only to glad to do it.

Barbara has just taken a cherry pie from the oven and the yule log is done.

Sugar cookies, gingerbread men, mincemeat tarts, cupcakes, as well as other assorted cookies have all been prepared and the whole house smells so delicious with all the wonderful aromas.

Christmas Eve, and all the work is done. The presents are wrapped and under the tree, the stockings are hung, and the snack for Santa and Rudolph is all set out. Julie and David and the children have a quiet moment as they dream about tomorrow and enjoy the peace of Christmas Eve.

Christmas Day after the presents are all unwrapped and the room is deserted as the family gets ready to go to church.

It is quiet now but it will ring with laughter when the family returns to tidy up and get ready for their grandparents to arrive and join them for Christmas dinner.

Winner Of The Giveaway

2009-11-26T13:00:00.000-08:00

I thought that I would get Rusty to help me pick a name for my giveaway in celebration of 100 followers.

You want me to help with the drawing????

Hmmm which one?

I think this one looks good.

Congratulations Rosanna! If you will send me your address, I will send your gift out to you.

And I will also send a little gift to Reisl Today as she was the 100th follower. Reisl, please send me your address as well and I will send you a little memento as a thank you.

Happy Thanksgiving

2009-11-25T17:52:00.001-08:00

Although our Canadian Thanksgiving was celebrated last month, I would like to wish all of my American friends a very Happy Thanksgiving Day. May the sun shine for you and may your tables be laden. May you enjoy a year of health and happiness and be thankful for all that you have.

Have a Great Thanksgiving.

Tomorrow is the draw for my little thank you gift so if you want to enter you will have to post a comment tonight.

Santa Snack

2009-11-24T18:36:00.001-08:00

I was in a Christmas swap and decided to make a Santa snack.

The first thing I needed was a table to put the snack on. So I used the little table you get inside pizza boxes and made a cover out of some red fabric that I had. I used glitter fabric paint to put a sparkly edge on the cloth and then glued the cloth to tin foil

and then glued that to the table. (The foil helps to keep the shape of the cloth

The next step was to make Christmas cookies. I made them from Model Magic clay and I iced them with spackling compound that I had coloured with food coloring. Then I sprinkled some glitter on top of that.

I also had some wood plugs that I used for cup cakes. I also "iced" them and sprinkled some no hole beads on top.

I also wanted to try to make some ginger bread men. They also were made from model magic clay and I made the features by dipping a needle into white paint and then dotting the features on.

The next step was gluing everything on to a plate. I used buttons for the plates and glued tiny paper doilies on the button to cover the holes and make the plate more decorative.

Then Santa has to have something to drink of
course and so I made glasses of milk. I did have a lot of problems with this as I used while paint and it kept shrinking. To see how I did this go to my other blog for this step.

And we can not forget the reindeer - especially Rudolf who has to lead the others. So I made carrots out of Fimo and shaded them with green chalk.

Then I made a Christmas letter to Santa and put everything together on the table. If you enlarge the top picture, you will be able to read Santa's letter.

As I was packing everything to send away, Rusty decided that he had better check them all out to make sure they were good enough for Santa.

Dream Blog Award

2009-11-24T18:12:00.001-08:00

I am so pleased to receive this award from Dwaallicht. She makes many neat things and especially little babies. Thank you so much Dwaallicht.

The rules of this award are:
1. Show the image of the award and state the rules.
2. Post the link of the person that gave you the prize.
3. Display 10 blogs to which you grant the award.
4. Advise the blogs listed.

However I did receive this award twice on my other blog, Doreen's Miniatures and Memoires and therefore I have already passed it on to the required 10 people. So I am passing this award on to those of my followers that have not yet had this award. You all have dream blogs that you follow and would like to nominate so please pass this on to those you think worthy. I feel that all my followers deserve this.

WOW 100 Followers

2009-10-26T15:15:00.000-07:00

Reisl from Reisl Today just signed on as my 100th follower. Thank you Reisl and welcome. 100 followers is a momentous occasion for this blog as I do not write in it regularly. My other blog Doreens Miniatures and Memoires is the one I write in the most and I keep this blog to record my whole project when it is completed.

So for this occasion I feel that it deserves a giveaway. As I am still very much an amateur in creating items, I do not have any special item to offer. But I wanted something that I made myself. I'd like to offer you my hospitality of a Salisbury steak and corn on the cob dinner with lettuce and tomato garnish. A can of coke for beverage and a bag of corn chips with grapes for dessert. The reversible place mat and decorative candle will add a little atmosphere and the dollhouse magazine will offer items of interest to talk about . The teddy bear is the only item that I did not make but I think he is warm and fuzzy and is a good companion.

If you would like this giveaway, please leave a comment on this post and I will draw a name for the giveaway one month from now on November 26th. That is the American Thanksgiving day and believe me, I am very thankful for ALL my followers so I think that is a very appropriate day.

Halloween Project

2009-10-13T11:23:00.000-07:00

David and Julie like to decorate their house every year for Halloween. This year they thought they would change things around a bit.

They tried a skeleton in the swing but David did not like that idea as that is where he wanted to sit and watch all the kids.

They made a small scene in the garden again.

But this year David and Julie made up a story to go along with their scene. If you wish to read the story it is on my other blog Doreens Miniatures and Memoires.

The graveyard scene is also done.

The Seance scene is all set and the participants patiently wait for Gertrude. Whatever happened to her????

So that is what happened to Gertrude!!!

Now that the decorating is done, David sits back and watches all the neighbourhood children and their various costumes.

The children are all excited because they heard that David and Julie are giving out Taffy Apples!

Julie looks after handing out the sweets.

This is what it is all about - The Treat Table!!

The Finished Halloween House

The Finished Rug

2009-08-22T09:55:00.001-07:00

Now that the glue has dried you peel off the mactac but do it slowly and carefully otherwise the rug will come apart. The glue does not get into all the seams.

This is the finished rug.

I have the larger rug in the room now but I think it may be a bit too large.

Making A Braided Rug

2009-08-21T12:06:00.000-07:00

I have had several people ask me to do a tutorial on braided rugs. I do not know if this is the correct way but it is the way I did it. I hope it will help you.

When I braid rugs, I use whatever materials I have on hand. After all that is what they did in colonial times - they used what they had. I find three stands of wool does not give a very nice look for me so I usually use six but I did not want as much yellow so I only used one strand of that.

I also was not worried about the different types of wool as I felt it would give a more ragged look that way. Here I have started to braid and this shows my grouping. Putting the white and pink together in pairs gives a more blended look that it would if you used two pink together and two white together.

I use a clamp whenever I have to put the work down so that it does not start to unravel and loosen the tension. The main thing is to try to keep the tension equal on the braids and keep it as flat as possible.

When I finished braiding, I use mactac or contact paper to lay my rug out on. This will help to keep it in place as you form the rug.

Put glue around the wool just under the knot. (More came out than I wanted.)

Then cut the knot off - but cut it straight across to give a flat end.

Then you start to lay it out on the contact paper. I wanted an oval rug so I had to start out with a long "U". If you want a round rug you just go in a circle.

Then you just wind the wool around and around. But make sure to keep it flat and close together. Don't pull the strand tight as it will bunch up on you.

The finished placement.

Cut the ends at an angle so that they can blend in to the side of the rug.

Glue the end down so it does not unravel.

Then I spread glue all over the back of the rug. (I have always been heavy on the glue LOL) This will be the bottom of the rug so I am not too concerned how it looks.

This will be the top of the rug. This is the side you want to be nice and even and flat.

I replaced the backing paper on the glued side of the rug so that I could place heavy objects on top.

Then I placed some heavy books on top of the rug to make sure it was good and flat. I left the books on top for about one hour or so.

I did not leave the books on too long because I did not want the backing paper to permanently be glued to the rug. So I carefully took the backing paper off and I will set the rug aside to dry overnight.

Tomorrow I will post the picture of the finished rug.

Jennifer's Bedroom

2009-08-21T08:00:00.000-07:00

Jennifer and her parents discuss their plans for the room. Julie has some material that she thought Jennifer might like and Jennifer has some pillows that she likes for the colours of the room.

Jennifer would like a false wall and a window seat just like Christopher's so David agreed that he would build it for her.

Julie helps David build the wall.

The next step was to get the paint in the colours that Jennifer wanted. She also found the wallpaper that was in the same shades of pink and green.

Julie paints the window well while David finishes up the wall and window seat.

The painting is done and the wallpaper is up. Now Jennifer wants to add the touches to give the room the theme of Tinker Bell.

Jennifer has put the fist TinkerBell poster up in the window well and discusses the rest of the
room with Julie. But Julie said it would be better to wait until the floor is down and the furniture is in place.

The floor is now done so now Jennifer is anxious to put the furniture in so she can start to decorate.

The furniture is in and Jennifer has been putting up all her Tinker Bell pictures and posters. Julie made bedding for the bed that matched the colours of the room.

She also made a braided rug to match the wallpaper.

Jennifer set up the dresser with Miss Kitti that she got from Oese and the cosmetic tray that she got from Deborah. She was so pleased with them both.

More gifts were placed on her desk top. The lamp and perfume bottles from Deborah, the lotion bottles from Paky, The Swedish bird book from Briggita and the teeny, tiny bear from Jenny Wren. The other books and things were made by Doreen.

The pup Trixie came up to play and brought a rawhide bone with her. Jennifer loves to watch her play.

However Trixie is a little unsure of Misty and is trying to share his bone with her

The completed room and everyone seems to be happy and enjoying themselves.

Backyard Shadowbox

2009-08-20T17:18:00.000-07:00

This post was on my other blog Doreen's Miniatures and Memoires but it is a completed project so I am putting it on this blog as well.

I finished this project in July and it did take me a long time to complete it as there were many little projects involved with this box. Our two cats Misty and Rusty had to be represented even though they are indoor cats as this box is a memory box of our favorite past-times.

My husband and I both love nature and we love to listen to the sound of birds singing so I put in a birdhouse and bird to represent that.

This is my husbands area. He loves to fish and barbecue. Steaks, hamburgers and hot dogs are his foods of choice (and lots of beer in the cooler.) The can of worms, fishing net and stool I got in a swap but I made the fishing rod and the fish myself.

This is my area. I love to sit in the swing and read, watch the birds, and do crafts. I also love my garden. (see the seed packs and soil under the swing?) I also like to snack if you notice the bag of cheese doodles under the pillow.

I have a craft basket that I take outside with me if I want to work on any crafts outside.

Christopher's Bedroom

2009-06-01T19:28:00.000-07:00

The empty room with just the tape wire in. This house is all MDF board and almost impossible for me to hammer those tiny brads in. I used a whole package of brads before I finally managed to get four working ones in.

Julie did not like the slope of the ceiling and asked David what he could do to change it.

First of all, David would need to have a set of tools in order to do work on the house and build things.

David built a wall and put in a window seat.

The bed is made with different types of wood to make it look like a sun.

Julie and David paint the furniture a nice sunny colour. Christopher has shown an interest in space and the solar system lately so the sun should be perfect.

Then they try it with the wallpaper to see how the colours go together. David is still not sure of the bright colour but Julie assures him that it will all go together well.

The wallpaper was the next step. Since Christopher likes the solar system, Julie had a space theme in mind so she chose this paper as it looked like sky.

David did not realize just how much staining was required for this floor, but Julie helped him so it wasn't too bad.

The floor is finished and the wallpaper border is up. MiniKat sent me this border and I was so pleased because it will really pull the whole room together. It is just what I was looking for.

The border and a few space posters all tie together to give a space theme to the room. My husband plays the guitar so I was glad to find one to add to the room at a mini sale.

I used the same material for the bedspread, window seat cushion and topper over the window.

The hutch has a combination of books, games, and toys. I made the play doh with a bead, a printie and a clay lid. I made all the books and it includes the set of Burnstein Bears and Curious George that Christopher likes.

I bought the combination blackboard and art board at a mini craft sale as well as the bat and ball on the stool. The walkie talkies were from a lego set and the other little toys were just stuff in my stash.

Christopher loves to curl up in the window seat and read his favorite books "Curious George" and "The Burnstein Bears".

He also likes to play with his toy soldiers. (I made these from toothpicks.) The lamp was a dollar store find and although it is not electric, it does reflect light.

His train set. This was one of the first items I bought for the dollhouse long before I started any of the rooms. I just knew my boy's room had to have a miniature train set.

Christopher is waiting for his friend to come over so they can play baseball. Spike waits patiently by his side.

He slung his helmet and backpack on the bedpost. (Another dollar store find from ChiChi Chic.)

The finished room.

Butterfly Award

2009-05-16T09:02:00.000-07:00

I received this Butterfly award from MiniKat today and I was thrilled to get it. To be among MinKats top choices means a lot to me as she does have a cool blog and it has a lot of life and variety in it and I love visiting it every day. I still feel honoured that people follow my blogs, and especially the projects blog as I do not write in it everyday - only when I complete a project.

Passing an award on is a difficult chore as I follow so many blogs and I wouldn't be following them if they weren't cool. I will try to pick the ten that I visit most often. Some of them may already have this award but that will just mean they are "doubleley" cool.

Casey from http://caseymini.blogspot.com/ is a wonderful blog. Her stories of Tessie and Zar and other wonderful characters keep me in stitches. She brings me joy every day and also shows how she makes things which is a great help to a novice like me. (I know MiniKat also sent the award to her but she deserves it twice.)

Katie from http://katiesclaycorner.blogspot.com/ also has a lot of variety on her blog and she has always been so supportive and helpful with her comments and suggestions.

Kate from http://chroniclesofacountrygirl.blogspot.com/ takes such beautiful pictures and tells such wonderful stories about her life. She really should write a book as she has a lot of experiences to relate.

Mercedes from http://libertybiberty.blogspot.com/ makes s lot of nice things but the nicest part of her blog is her involving her daughter Liberty. Liberty shows delight in the items she receives and makes and she is budding miniaturist herself.

Michelle from http://boulderneigh.blogspot.com/ has several sheep and I have watched every day to see all the lambs born and the activities on her property. I love animals and Michelle provides a day to day pictorial of the various animals she has and I enjoy following them.

Oese from http://raumfuerraum.blogspot.com/ is from Germany and I feel like I have made a friend. I have watched her rooms and creations grow day by day and she has a very modern outlook with her miniatures. She makes fantastic items out of the most unusual things.

Susan from http://unusualadventures.blogspot.com/ is one of the most optimistic upbeat people I have ever met. No matter what happens in life, she has something positive and uplifting to say. Happy, cheerful, bright things abound on her blog.

Coralie from http://charmsofdays.blogspot.com/ finds such interesting things to write about. Old books, vintage finds, decorating - everyday something new.

Debbie from http://debbiestinytreasures.blogspot.com/ who has been such a help to me when I started blogging. Her blog also has a lot of variety as she tells us about her life as well as her miniatures. Her miniature Shetland ponies are so adorable.

Wizz from http://anenglishshepherd.blogspot.com/ is a different type of blog as it is written from a dogs point of view. It shows his daily activities and has lots of pictures.

As you can see there is a lot of variety in the blogs I follow and maybe the reason that I see these blogs everyday is that they are posted everyday. I do follow a great many more blogs and they are all very cool and all deserve the award but these ten are the most frequent. Please visit them and say Hi even if they are not miniature related, they are interesting and have a lot to see.

Front Entrance and Hall

2009-05-09T12:46:00.000-07:00

The front hall and entrance is quite bare and needs renovating.

Julie get the old clock out and finds it is a perfect place to showcase her vase collection.

Julie and Kate get the cabinet out of storage. It is the perfect size to fit under the stairs. It needs to be painted and varnished.

This was Julie's first job of painting (Kate usually does it) but she wanted to do it herself. I think she got more on herself that she did on the cabinet.

As we come up to the front door we find Julie has just returned from taking Spike down to get the mail. The two rugs at the entrance were done by Virginia at A Touch of Fancy She also did the sewing room rug.

Julie brings in the mail and puts it on the hall table. That is a current picture of my husband and I on the wall over the table.

Julie checks her mail and reads her letters.

Spike wants to know if he is going on another walk.

Welcome to my home! Come in and set a spell and have a cup of tea or coffee.

Spike also welcomes you to our home.

The clock with Julie's vase collection.

The view of the hall from the back of the house.

Dining Room

2009-05-03T12:41:00.001-07:00

The dining room is my least favorite room because I am not a formal person - I am more a country kitchen person. But in Julie's house the kitchen is not big enough to have company so the dining room is necessary.

The first thing Julie did was to get Kate to help her with the drapes.

Then we had to recover all the chairs and make a rug. The chairs were originally red velvet and Julie did not like the red. The rug is simply braided 1 ply wool.

Then Julie placed all her good dishes in the china cabinet and she was quite pleased with them.

Gramma came over to visit and as usual she brought a bag of goodies with her.

My wedding picture is on the wall as well as my grandparents wedding picture.

The finished dining room. This room as I said is not my favorite room. I recovered the chairs, made the rug, the drapes, the pictures, the candle sticks and the plant. But everything else is bought and it lacks all those little personal things that I was able to put in the other rooms. To me it is not as warm and homey as my other rooms.

Dish Set

2009-04-26T11:02:00.000-07:00

Whenever I see some interesting project, I always save it for a rainy day project. Quite awhile ago, Lesley Shepherd from miniatures.about.com had a project for making a canister set and dishes to fit in a hutch. The associated articles showed how to make casserole dishes, tea service, and cups and mugs. I thought it was a nice set and so I copied it and put it away.

Well this week has been rainy and rather miserable so I thought it was time to get out a rainy day project. The canister set was fairly easy and Lesley gives good clear instructions. Gluing those tiny rims around the lids was a bit tricky but not too bad.

Then I did the casserole dishes. (Just don't look too closely at the glue as I did have a bit of problem doing those tiny rims.)

Next was the tea service. Wow - those tiny spouts and handles! Then the sugar and creamer handles were even tinier.

Then came the cups and saucers.Well!!! talk about tiny. The mugs were fine and quite easy but the tea cups were a challenge. There were two types - one had to taper in at the bottom, and the other was rolled and you had to pull out the bottom. Well I was almost pulling out my hair! They kept coming apart on me and I had to re-roll them into tight coils and start over and over and over. I never did master the handles the way Leslie did them but I did the best I could.

I still need to glue tiny beads on top of the lids for handles but I dont' have any right now so I will have to wait until I can buy some.

All in all it was a fun project and it really didn't turn out too bad with the exception of the excess glue everywhere.

Sewing and Laundry Room

2009-04-18T10:17:00.000-07:00

The sewing and laundry room is now finished.
It was a little hard to decide what to do with this room because it is "L" shaped and goes in behind the bathroom. There is a door from the hallway into it but you can't see that are unless you look in the window. I put a tile floor in as I felt that was best for the laundry area and Julie can have a scatter rug in the sewing area.

This was my first attempt at bashing a Michael's hutch and I sawed the two pieces apart with little damage. (I found out later that I could have put it in the microwave to soften the glue and them pulled them apart.)

I painted the top section white and added all the items that I felt you would find in a laundry room cupboard.

While I was busy working on the laundry area, Julie was getting her sewing area ready. She kept getting sidetracked though with a dress she is trying to make.

This is the view looking in from the hallway.

And this is the view looking toward the hallway door. Even though you can't see it (except through a camera's eye) I knew it was there and had to put something in to finish off the area.

This is looking through the window.

Now Julie started to think of all the things she needed for her sewing area and she called Kate to ask her to help make a bulletin board and a spool holder for her threads.

The bulletin board and spool holder are now in.

Julie's sewing area is now complete and she wasted no time in working on her dress. The new kitten Misty is right by her side as usual.

The Laundry area is also complete and a place to store the vacuum cleaner and all the cleaning supplies. As you can see there is a basket of laundry waiting for Julie but she has other priorities right now.

The calendar on the wall is April 2009 to show the date the room was finished.

Master Bedroom

2009-04-02T13:46:00.000-07:00

The first things I did for the room was to make the rug and the drapes.

Julie did the basic cleaning before we moved the furniture in.

Julie wanted a quiet corner where she could read or do her needlework, so we had to find a chair and make a table. She tried her nice warm blanket on the chair.

Then we set up the dresser.

Julie asked an expert for his opinion on which fragrance he liked best but Rusty wasn't sure he liked any of them.

Julie finally chose her favorite perfumes and best nail polish.

Then we made a quilt and pillows for the bed.

And a new pad for the rocking chair.

Julie also needed a new housecoat so we made one out of some deep fushia velvet.

Cousin Kate came over and helped Julie make some pictures for the wall.

Julie added one of her favorite pieces of art to the corner of her mirror. Jennifer drew this when she was in kindergarten. (click on picture to zoom in.))

Our wedding picture is on the bedside table as well as the purse that I made for Julie.

Julie's is in her finished quiet corner. She is trying to get her needlepoint done so she can get back to her book.

The finished room.

My Art Gallery

2009-04-01T17:43:00.000-07:00

These are my pictures and this is how I made them.

The picture frames that I had been using were dollar store items I had found in the scrap-booking section. There were various colours and I painted them gold. I also found some picture frame charms that I cut the hook off and used in some scenes.

But when I was doing my master bedroom, I wanted wood frames. This turned into a full project for me. I did not want them to just be flat pieces of wood and I am no woodworker so I couldn't put wood on a lathe and shape it.

I recently found a new tool that I was dying to try out. This multi-function pair of shears would enable me to cut a 45 degree angle. I assembled my supplies and then searched on the internet for pictures.

I found several that I liked and I printed them off in three sizes as I was not sure what size would be best for the room.

For the frames, I glued a round toothpick to a square toothpick and for the larger pictures, I used a shishkabob stick.

After the glue set, I started to cut the 45 angles on one end of each piece. This new tool works great!

Julia's cousin Kate came over to help as she is great with building and painting. So they started to measure up the lengths of each piece.

Once the pieces were all measured and cut they had to be glued together.

This is where my handy Lego Angle Holder came in handy. I glue the pieces together and then put them in between Lego walls to hold the 90 degree angle until the glue dries.

While the glue was drying I made the mats for each picture. These are not true mats as I was not about to cut out tiny squares so I put the mat under the picture. It gives almost the same effect.

Then came the glass. I used the plastic that comes around the collar in new shirts. Or I use any plastic packaging that I have saved from food containers etc. The backing, the mat, the picture and the glass is now all ready for the frame.

Julie and Kate show off the frames. They are quite pleased how they turned out.

Now they have to be stained and them varathaned. Julie has a wood finish marker that is much easier to use for small projects.

When they were dry, then I glued all the pieces to-gether.

This is my grandparents wedding picture, my wedding picture and a picture of my three children.

Our Art Gallery. Julie and Kate are now anxious to put their art in the Master Bedroom. My next project which is almost done once I get a little electric problem fixed.

The Kitchen

2009-03-16T13:34:00.000-07:00

I have now finished the kitchen so I can add it here to my finished projects. This room has taken a long time as I kept changing things but that is a women's prerogative isn't it?

I started out by making small things like curtains, a garbage can, paper towel holder, dish cloth, tea towels, pot scrubber, dish drainer etc.

Then I made things to fill the cupboards. Cans and packages of food, canister set, baking items.

Pots and pans were made from a kit. Dishes were painted to keep with the blue theme. (The wine glasses came from a charm bracelet.)

The stove and fridge that came with the furniture set was also wood and this to me is not natural so Kate got out her handy paint brush and agreed to help me. The finish on them was very glossy so we put an undercoat of Gesso on first.

Then we put several coats of white high gloss spray paint on them. We painted the knobs black and replaced all the burners in the stove.

Then Kate insisted we fill the fridge before we returned it to her Aunt Barbara and Uncle Peter. They are her favorite aunt and uncle and she wanted to make sure it was filled with healthy food. There is frozen dinners, pork chops, chicken and fish in the freezer side. There is milk, cheese, pasta, eggs, fruits and vegetables as well as condiments and drinks of pop. There is even a beer for Uncle Peter.

Aunt Barbara likes to bake so we had to make sure she had all the ingredients and she wasted no time in cooking up a storm.

She has baked a cherry pie, just taken an apple pie out of the oven and has the dough ready to do another one.

She has the supper on the stove and the table is all set. But Peter just can't wait. That pie smells so delicious he has to have a piece right now.

Sisterhood Award

2009-03-13T13:36:00.000-07:00

I received this award from Rosanna from http://lastanzadigiuggiola.blogspot.com/.

Thank you Rosanna. The rules connected to the award are thus:
1. Put the logo on your blog or post
2. Nominate at least 10 blogs which show great Attitude and/or Gratitude!
3. Be sure to link to your nominees within your post.
4. Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog
5. Share the love and link to the person from whom you received your award.

I also received this award on my other blog Doreen's Minatures from Debbie. So I am going to combine and duplicate this post on each blog and list the twenty people who I would like to present this award to. Many of them have already received this award and therfore I do not expect them to pass it on again but they are part of my "sisterhood". They give regular comments on my posts so therefore I know they are there and are reading the posts and this means a lot to me. Thank- you "sisters for being there.

Brenda , MiniKat , Liberty Biberty, suzeeez , Meli, Katie's Clay Corner , De , Sans, Glenda/MidSouth , marlies , kimsminiatures , The Carolina Quilter , Ingrid , MiniAlev , Oese , Joke , Jayne , Mary , Tallulah-Belle , Sasha and Kindergarten Girl

and of course Debbie and Rosanna.
If you have received this award before it is because you deserve it.

Crumpled Paper Project

2009-03-07T19:54:00.000-08:00

Have you ever made anything out of crumpled paper? One of the groups I am in had a contest to make something out of crumpled paper. Apparently, if you crumple paper and straighten it out and crumple it again and again, it will become very soft and give a leather type look to the paper and you can use it just like cloth.

Well I had no idea what to make and since I am not a sewer, I do not make much out of cloth anyway. I needed something easy like a bedspread. AHA! That is it, I will make a bed set for a girls room since I will be needing that in the future.

I found a nice wallpaper pattern that I liked so I printed off a sheet and sprayed it with a matt finish. Then we had to start with the bed. The only bed I had was this ugly old brown one.

This would not look good in a girls room so Kate helped me to tear off the old covering and we painted it with Gesso to give a good undercoat.. The we painted it white. Even with using the Gesso, it took many coats to cover the brown. Although it is rather streaky, it looks so much better and the bedding will cover a lot of the flaws.

Then we made a new mattress for the bed that was more fitting for a girls bed. We put an underskirt all around the bed and added beads on the legs to give the bed a little more height.

Then I started to crumple the paper. I didn't know how much you were supposed to crumple so I just kept on doing it over and over till I thought it had a leather look.

It still did not look like a bedspread to me so Kate suggested putting trim around it.

I also needed a contrasting paper for pillows so I found some regular pink paper and some fuchsia wrapping paper and I crumpled them as well. Then we had to stuff and glue the pillows.

The finished Bed Set. I do not like the look of the fuchsia pillows though as the paper all cracked when you crumpled it and I really don't like the look of it. I will have to find some material to make some other ones in that colour.

Kate made the bed all up and now it looks fit for a girls room.

I did not win the contest but it was fun learning all about "paper" material. The winning entries made dresses and hats with theirs and they looked great.

Leilani was the winner with the blue and pink dress at the bottom with the hat. Isn't it great? And she also made the other two dresses.

Blog Award

2009-03-05T07:56:00.000-08:00

I just received this award from Sasha at Sasha's Mini World and I would like to thank her very much for this award. It always gives me pleasure to know others are reading my blog and to receive an award is indeed an honour.

The rules of this award are to list five addictions and then to pass the award on to five others.

My addictions are:
1. Miniatures - I love making things out of scrap for the dollhouse.
2. Blogging - I love being able to share my miniatures with others this way.
3. Reading - I read fiction books, wether it is mystery, romance, historical etc.
4. Soft Music - When I am working or reading I like to listen to background music.
5. Nature - I love the smell of flowers, the sound of wind, the beauty of nature.

I love my husband, my family and my pets but I hesitate to call them addictions as I give them the freedom to go their own way and do their own thing.

Now to pass this on to five others is a very hard task. I follow many blogs and I love them all or I would not be following them. Some of these blogs have received this award several times so I do not want to trouble them with giving it to them again. So I have chosen;

Tiffany of Mini Mischief - she is fairly new to blogging and is working on the San Fran and other projects.

A. Wright of Every Little Thing - is also new to blogging and is building a Beacon Hill.

Carmen from La ventana a mi mundo who is working on the tomb of Nefertari

Minna of Minn's Doll World - who crochets lovely outfilts for her dolls.

MiniKat of Little Thoughts From an Average Mind who makes such lovely birthday cakes for her friends.

Please go to their blogs and make them feel welcome.

Bathroom Project

2009-03-04T11:49:00.000-08:00

One of the groups I belonged to raised a ingenuity challenge. We were given a list of items and told to make something out of it.

1. PAPER CLIP
2. BALL POINT PEN
3. DRINKING STRAW
4. TOOTHPICK
5. 2 BUTTONS USED FOR CLOTHING
6. JEWELRY

7. BOTTLE CAP
8. CIGARETTE LIGHTER
9. EMPTY TOILET PAPER ROLL
10. COIN
11. WOOD – basswood strip wood - length about 6 inches
12. DIFFERENT SPICES
13. 2 ITEMS OF YOUR CHOICE (COMMONLY FOUND IN MOST HOUSEHOLDS)

First I took apart a lighter and a ball point pen and tried to think what I could make from the pieces. Then I assembled other items that I had from the parts list.

Since I was working on my bathroom, I decided to try and make bathroom accessories. This is what I used the items for:

BATHROOM ACCESSORIES - PARTS LIST

1. PAPER CLIP – Toilet paper holder
2. BALL POINT PEN – toilet paper holder
3. DRINKING STRAW- part for core of toilet paper and rest for shower head
4. TOOTHPICK – toilet paper storage holder
5. 2 BUTTONS USED FOR CLOTHING – wall plaques
6. JEWELRY – bead for top or toilet paper storage holder
7. BOTTLE CAP – seat for stool, garbage can, toilet bowl brush holder
8. CIGARETTE LIGHTER – shower head
9. EMPTY TOILET PAPER ROLL ( piece of toilet paper that was stuck to roll)
10. COIN – used to show scale
11. WOOD – basswood strip wood - length about 6 inches – not counting ruined pieces. Clothes basket, corner shelves, toilet paper storage holder
12. DIFFERENT SPICES – mustard seed for toilet paper holder
13. 2 ITEMS OF YOUR CHOICE (COMMONLY FOUND IN MOST HOUSEHOLDS) – empty spool of thread for stool base and string to make all items decorative.

I won the contest and then proceeded to continue on other items for the bathroom. I did not use the toilet paper holder or the shower head and I added daisies to the clothes basket and garbage can. I made a rug, towels, toilet plunger and filled the cabinet with items that I made.

I then put the corner shelves over the bathtub and filled them.

Then I made a picture to put over the toilet

Of course young Ben needs to make another visit before he can go to sleep. So Julie brings him down again (isn't this the third time?)

Plant Project

2009-02-26T12:53:00.000-08:00

I like to keep this blog for my projects that have been completed. The Miniatures blog is for everyday use so there will be some overlap of items and pictures. I did spend quite a bit of time making these plants so I guess it can be considered as a project and therefore be on these pages.

David is Julie's husband and is the resident gardener so he gave a hand in assembling the plants. Julie's cousin Kate helps out a lot and she likes to paint so we usually get her to help with the painting. Once the plants were all done, Kate and David took a junk food break. (although I don't consider my HoHo's as junk food - it is a power booster)

The first step in making the plants is taking cloth covered wire and painting it green and then cutting it in various lengths from 2" to 3". You then take masking tape and fold it over the wire and paint it green as well.

I painted several different shades of green because I was doing several different plants. This is the base coat for all the leaves.

Then you have to blend your colours and cut out the shape of each leaf. It doesn't matter which you do first but I think it is nicer to cut before you blend. If you have a picture of the plant you wish to make it would be a good guideline for what shape to cut the leaves. I did not have any pictures handy and mainly went by memory. (Which at my age is not too good.)

Once the leaves are all cut and you have blended the colours to your satisfaction, you want to give them a shine. Most of the indoor plants I have seen all have shiny leaves. The easiest way to do this is to give them a coat of clear gallery glass. It gives a nice shine and does not leave streaks. These leaves have not been shined yet.

To make stamens, I just dipped thread into yellow material paint several times until there was a blob at the end of the thread. Then I glued the thread onto the white flower.

Once you have all the leaves made, you have to put them in pots. Search through your stash of lids, milk creamers, etc. It is surprising what nice pots some of lids can make. David found some nice putter cups that looked great when they were covered with string. And those make up lids looked nice when they were painted gold. I filled the containers with grey florists foam and even though it crumpled when I pushed it in, it still held the leaves nicely.

I made two different shades of ferns because I have seen so many different types of them in all different shades and I wasn't sure which shade was best.

I made one Mother-in-law plant because apparently nothing can harm this plant and it will survive anything. I also made a spike type plant that I copied from one that is in my house right now. This is about the only plant that has survived my "black" thumb. In real life my plants do not do well and so far this one has survived so I thought it would stand a good chance in the dollhouse too.

I made two Peace Lilies just because I like them.

and finally - the two I am not so proud of - the Cadium which I do not like the paint job on and another plant that I have seen often but do not know the name of it. The paint blending was okay on this one but I think the leaves are a little too big.

The Nursery

2009-02-15T11:49:00.000-08:00

I have been working on my nursery for quite awhile now and have been posting the day to day progress on my other blog "Doreen's Miniatures". It is now finished and so it can now be added to my projects blog.

I wanted everything in this room to be just like you would find in a real nursery It has been awhile since I have had anything to do with babies and there are a lot of products on the market that I know nothing about. I put some of these items in the nursery even though I did not know what they were used for. But I was pleased to find out that not much has changed since my children were babies. A lot of the products I used are still in use today.

I started out with an empty room that Julie helped to clean up. The wallpaper was left over from our bathroom and the rug was an old housecoat of mine. I thought the colour and the nap on the fabric would be perfect for a nursery rug. I was unsure what to do with the ceiling though as it had such a steep slope.

I needed a theme for my nursery and since the daisies were on the wallpaper, I wanted something springlike. I finally settled on bunnies, butterflies and daisies. This was easier said than done as I had difficulty in finding pictures of these items anywhere. I made my daisies from foam, found a bunny that I liked and found some butterfly stickers. I was ready to get started.

I found some Peter Rabbit wallpaper on the Internet and I had just enough ceiling wallpaper to do the ceiling. Then I added some rabbits to the ends of the crib and made a butterfly mobile. As well I found material in the blue and yellow tones to do the bedding for the crib. The crib was done and Jonathon settled right in and fell asleep.

I removed the pad on the change table and replaced it with the spring yellow fabric and put foam daisies on the handles. I made a diaper pail, clothes basket and garbage can and put the bunny on each of them. I also made a window out of chopsticks and toothpicks and made some lace curtains.

The two pictures of the babies on the wall by the window have special meaning for me. I do not know who the babies are but those two pictures were on my mother's bedroom wall for as long as I can remember. I always loved those pictures and was so glad to find them in miniature.

The hutch was next and this took the most time. I had to make all kinds of small boxes and jars of baby products, diapers etc and as well I needed nursery toys. Making all these toys from scratch was a lot of fun even though it was a little tedious. These were all documented as I did them on Doreen's Miniatures. I also added readable books to the the hutch as books are important to me and they will be in every room of my house. They are not glued in and can be removed and read. (If you can read that small)

The picture on the wall over the hutch is my baby picture. I was able to scan it and shrink it small enough to use.

I painted the rocking chair and stool white and made cushions for them and then I made a side table with a covering from the same material. I made the lamp from a bead and a toothpaste top.

Julie finishes putting the clothes away and then sits down for a quiet moment while Jonathon was still sleeping. Christopher was playing quietly with the toys and was quite happy.

Blogger Award

2009-02-06T09:11:00.000-08:00

Because I only use this blog for projects, I do not go into it every day and I was very remiss because there was an award from Debbie which I did not see until to-day. You have been very inspirational and helpful and I thank you Debbie from Tiny Treasurers . The rules of this award is to acknowledge who it came from and to pass it on to 15 others. I received this award on my other blog - Doreen's Miniatures - shortly after I started blogging and I did not have 15 followers to pass it on to. Now I do. There are many who's blogs that I follow who are great artisans and who have received many blog awards so I will not pass it on to them as they already have several. I would like to pass it on to:

Kathy Calhoun who was the first person to visit my blog and who helped me get started. Thanks Kathy

The Carolina Quilter who shares with me on a mini group and who has given me a lot of encouragement

Marlies who has become a friend and is willing to share her hobby. Wonderful work

SenaMena who was one of my very first followers

Erica who has been with me from the beginning

Joke who tells a story with her house

Jemjoop whose blog has a little bit of everything

Minna who makes lovely crochet items

Meli I love her Mediterranean house and she makes such neat knitted items

Shannon who has just started blogging and is having fun with it

Justus Her kind offer of two adorable nursery figures got me started on my nursery in anticipation of their arrival.

Kewpie a new blogger like me and also fairly new at miniaturing but doing very nice work

Glenda a blog with a lot of variety. Her general store in miniature is wonderful

Donna her cakes are so beautiful and so are her other miniatures

and finally Walker Zed who has only just started a blog and it is a subject that is very dear to my heart. I wish him well with this new adventure.

Backyard Barbecue Shadowboxes

2009-01-08T08:20:00.000-08:00

Shadowboxes
I wanted to make my children something for Christmas that would be different and yet something that would appeal to all three families. Well we all like to eat and in the summer we love barbecues so the idea was formed. A friend of mine, Tanya, from Ty-nee-stuff miniature group had made a barbecue scene that I had fallen in love with and I thought that would be perfect. But how to make it unique for each family? I must add something to the yard that represents each member in that family........ Then I got the idea of putting their kitchen inside the house. I called them all and asked for a picture of their kitchen taken from their back deck. They were curious but I told them it was just something I was working on and it was a surprise. So while I was waiting for the pictures, I started the boxes.

I am not a woodworker and I had no plans nor any idea of size but I had four pictures frames that seemed the perfect size to me so that was my base. That would be the front of the box. I bought some basswood which was 4" wide as I thought this would be a good depth for the shadow box and would save me a lot of cutting.

At first I just did the three sides as I was going to have a removable top but I didn't know how to do that so I glued on the fourth side.

Then I had to stain and shellac the boxes. Again this is a first for me so I am trial and error here. But I was quite pleased that the end result matched the front picture frame very well.

While I was at it I did all the fencing at the same time. I do everything with my hands so I thought I should get all the staining out of the way at once so the stain would have time to wear off my hands.

Then I downloaded pictures of sky from the Internet to use above the fencing and painted the top of the box a sky blue. I glued all the fencing in place

Next I tried to think of what to use for grass. I had some of the indoor/outdoor stuff but when I put it in the box it looked awful. I tried green felt and it was okay but it didn't look real. I thought of doing stonework with the egg carton stones but that was a whole new learning process and I didn't think I would have enough time for that. Plus I really wanted grass.

So I went to a little hobby shop in Collingwood to see if they had anything I could use. They do not have any miniatures but they did have a rack of model railroad stuff and they had one bag of grass! Boy I hope I can stretch it out. I also tried the Michaels store in Barrie but there grass was so phony looking I knew it would spoil the whole effect.

(After I completed the project, I found out that I could have used ground parsley and it would have been perfect. Ah well..... for the next project.)

The next step was to start making the barbecue items. I knew I wanted a filled cooler, so I found a printie from Jims website and I made them up so they could open. I filled them with ice and cans of pop and beer. I tried to make each cooler with the pop and beer that each family would drink, so each cooler is also different. The cans were made from dowling that I cut and painted silver and then pasted labels on that I picked up from the internet. The charcoal bags are also filled with those "ice" pellats so it feels like a real bag of charcoal. I even made tiny boxes of matches, with matches in, to put on the base of the barbecue.

Now the barbecue! Tanya helped me a lot with this. First I had to find plastic wine glasses and this was difficult as most of the stores had different shapes than the one I needed. I finally found them in my local dollar store. The stem had to be cut because they were too short for a barbcue so I added a straw to the stem to give it more height and then I painted them all black. The top of the barbecue is another glass with the stem cut off and the handle is the end of a paper clip mounted in two tiny eyelets. The grill is plastic canvas painted silver.

The table was made from a different shaped wine glasses that I had bought but wondered what to do with. I did not want the table cloth to go to the ground so I needed a table with a nice base and these glasses seemed just right. I did have to cut the glass part down and this was hard as the plastic kept cracking. But it wouldn't show under the tablecloth. Then I just glued a cardboard circle on the top. To make the table cloth, I just cut circles out of the cloth and sewed lace around the edge of the cloth. (I am NOT a sewer and I hate anything with a needle and a thread but you do what you gotta do - glue would not work in this case.) Then I glued the cloth onto a circle of tin foil and glued that onto the table. The tin foil helps the cloth keep its shape as you form it around the table.

Now comes the food. It was all made from fimo and it took me quite awhile to make it all as there was a lot of trial and error. The meat had to be cooked for the table and raw for the barbecue so I had to do different colours. The buns I made from model magic air dry clay so it would have a softer texture. The corn was made by pressing screen around it to give it the look of kernels and the macaroni salad was made with tiny little crescents of fimo. For the condiments; I used fimo to make the ketchup bottles ( a VERY important item in our family) beads to make the salt and pepper shakers, and painted bugal beads with brad tops for the mustard and relish.

Now the basics are all done, I need to personalize each box. My eldest son Steve, is a single dad and he is interested in golf and my granddaughter, Emily likes the High School Musical group. So I copied a picture of a golf bag from the internet and tried to copy it. I made the bag from a lipstick tube that I covered with faux leather and red felt trim. The club holder in the bag is a piece of plastic canvas. The clubs I made with fimo on a toothpick. I was quite pleased with the way it turned out as I am not a golfer and do not know much about it. But I had to keep gluing and regluing and regluing as the leather did not want to stick to the tube and the felt did not want to stick to the leather. I kept trying different types of glue.

I did not know what to do for the High School musical so I finally settled for a gift bag with posters, cd's, games and dolls in it. Both my grand-daughters are into High School Musical so I made gift bags for both of them.

My youngest son, James is a soccer coach and his wife, Leann is a music and drama teacher. His daughter, Kaitlin is the one that likes the High School Musical, and my youngest grandson, Cameron loves Thomas the Train. They also have two cats, Sassy and Dexter. So I made a soccer ball, a set of the comedy/drama masks, the gift bag, two cats and a Thomas. Thomas was made from a lot of scrap items. The base was the tube off a nose spray bottle glued onto pieces of wood. The face was cut out of a picture and glued on a small foamie circle. Then everything was painted. It is not the best paint job as my hands are a little shaky for such close painting.

My daughter, Cheryl is always on her lap top computer, so I had to have one of those and my son in law, Kevin is a computer whiz who fixes computers but I couldn't see a full computer in a backyard yard scene. So since he also likes football, I put a football in to represent him. My teenage grandson Mike, is really into basketball so there had to be a basketball hoop in their scene. The also have a dog Stacy and a cat Marney. I did not actually make the dog and cats but I painted them to represent the actual animals.

Finally it is time to put it all together. I took their kitchen picture, put acetate over it and then a door frame and put it on the brick wall. I made wall lights out of beads and wire and put it beside the door. Then I glued everything in place and put the back on.

They all seemed very pleased with their shadow boxes and that just made my Christmas as I wanted this gift to be a gift from the heart that I made every stitch completely on my own. It gave me such a wonderful gift to see their faces as they opened up their gift.

Hamburger Concession Stand

2009-01-05T13:16:00.000-08:00

Hamburger Concession Stand

This was was my second project and I made it from foam core. Here is the base structure with the door and window cut out.

The second stage was making the cupboard unit from mattboard. The freezer doors were covered in silver paper and the handles are clip off ball point pens.

The fryer and the grill were a little more complicated but they were made from cardstock which was covered in silver paper. The dials, guages, lights ect. were made from odds and ends in my "junk" collection. The fryer basket was make from a piece of screening, the fries were made from broomstraws and the hamburg was fimo clay. I used chalk to make the grill look used.

The counter, sink and grill area are now in place. The sink was made from a honey container, the tap was a small hook that I spread open and the taps were pieces out of a disposable lighter.

The soda fountain was made from pieces of wood glued together and painted black. The draining rack was plastic canvas painted silver. The pop labels were printed off from the internet. The spigots were ends cut off my husbands insulin needles. The glass is the end of a ball point pen.

I made the paper towel holder from pieces of wood and the hand soap, Lysol, and cleaning bottles were made from fimo. The trays in the sink and on the bottom shelf were eyeshadow trays. the condiment bottles are pony beads with brads used for lids. The take out tray liners are tissue paper that I cut into small squares. There is even a box of bandages beside the sink in case of accidents.

Under the counter on the other side (where customers cant see it) is the grease pail and the garbage can. Very necessary items in fast food kitchens. There is also a large sack of PEI potatoes. The tile floor is kept spotlessly clean to avoid slips and well as being sanitary.

In this view can can see all the utensils hanging neatly on the wall close to the grill for easy access. The take out trays are all made up with tissue liners on the shelf above the grill. Also the hamburg and hot dog buns are there as well. The extra buns are stored in the shelf below the grill. The condiment tray is not too clear but it holds pickle slices on one end and tomatoe slices on the other. There are napkins inbetween and mustard, ketchup and vinegar bottles at the back and salt and pepper shakers in the front.

A wider view of the back wall. The clock is one of my old watches that I made a frame for and hung on the wall. The menu and price list is displayed where customers can see clearly and there are several varieties of chip bags on a rack by the door. An apron hangs on a hook on the door.

A close of of the grill area. there is extra mustard and ketchup bottles on the shelf above and Susan is preparing the little girls order. She is sprinkling on a little salt while the fries are still fresh from the grease. mmmmm so gooood!

Grampa is going to put mustard on his hotdog. He has already given gramma her order (she is sitting on the bech with the groceries) and now he is getting Carolyn's and his lunch. Those drinks look so cool and refreshing.

Larry is on his lunch break and he likes lots of ketchup with his meal.

The front view of the stand showing the trailer hitch and entrance door with the apron on it.

View of the front counter and the bags of chips for sale. Customers have spilt chips and pickles on the condiment tray.

Back view of the trailer showing the large menu and hours of operation. Also the tail lights, bumper and Ontario license plate.

Full front view showing Gramma sitting on the bench with her hamburg.

Since I now have two stands, I thought I would make a mall type scene and put them both together. I guess now I need to add a coffee and donut shop????????????????????

Doreen's Ice Cream Stand

2009-01-03T14:22:00.000-08:00

Ice Cream Stand Project ~ working on miniature projects is a lot of fun and you can go wherever your imagination takes you. I do however like to keep things as real as possible and I am very fussy so it takes me longer than most to finish a project.

This was my very first project and the group I was in were very patient with me as I was slower than they were and I asked a lot of questions. They took me through the process step by step and I was very pleased with the result. It was also very interesting to see all the different variations as each member did their project their own way. Thanks to all the members of mini-swaps who helped me.

I made the container from cardboard held up in embroidery hoops that were painted silver. It was made to look like an ice cream container. The top was filled with poly filla that I had tinted to look like strawberry ice cream and with a real ice cream scoop, it looked quite real. I had to put additional supports around the walls as the cardbaord was too flimsy to hold the weight of the roof. Then I had to make the counters! I am no furniture maker and this was a real learning process for me.

Then I made all the miniature tubs of ice cream using the same poly filla and acrylic paints. It was a challenge to come up with 12 different flavors.

Then came the fun part of making the icecream treats. Boy you can get hungry doing this.

The signs had to be made and all the incidentals that would be required to operate an ice cream store. The back counter is put in place and the condiments are added. The milkshake mixer was made from a clamp, a bead, and the lid from a glue tube. The straws were tiny wires from inside telephone wire. The bannanas were made from clay.

The front counter is now put in place and people are added to give it life. I always like to add people to all my scenes as I feel they are important for realism. (Of course I couln't admit that I still like playing with dolls. LOL )

Fianlly I added a coke machine, garbage can, menu and small table to sit at. My first project was finished and I was very pleased with it. Now I think I need a hamburger stand to accompany it. That is my next project.............