Monday, April 25, 2016

Houseworks Double Room Box......DONE!





Here it is.  Months and months later.....I finally get the chance to write about my room box! It is the Houseworks Double Room Box from The Little Dollhouse Company that you have scene in numerous mini scenes, just never as a finished whole in photos.


Walls and Doors


There were a few challenges.  The walls are really, really thin plywood.  So, I had to smear a thing layer of wood filler all over them and sand them smooth.  Then prime and paint.  I believe this is the wall colour of my bedroom!  

The thin walls meant the door frames just seemed to jut out way too far into the opposite room.  I corrected this with thin wood trim that sat sandwiched between the wall and the door frames. This made the thickness of the frame relatively equal on both sides of the wall.  I had similar issues on the front door too, but I had more framing and bits to play with so, I could hide it better.

Then, there was the floor and the bottom of the door frames.  Notice the right side of the room box is higher then the left? That's because I lay a thin plywood subfloor on the right side.  Again, the door frame base seemed SO high above the the wood floor.  And these are Houseworks doors I might add!

The whole bag of weirdness left me thinking, what the heck is wrong with this?? It's the same manufacturer! 

Whatever.  That's what morning runs to Michael's with my 50% off one item coupon is for.  Wood and more wood and glue.


Left Room 
Right Room

Floors


The floors are stir sticks.  There a bit more narrow then regular popsicle sticks.  And I wasn't in the mood for veneer.

They were stained in Minwax Classic Grey and finished with a satin polyurethane. 





FUN TIP!


Have a bench vice? You can clamp reasonably 6 popsicle sticks in them....just catch the rounded ends in the vice...tighten very snug....then pull each stick forward one by one to get a clean break that nips off the end! Repeat on the other end of the stick.  You can knock out tons of sticks in a short time.  It does work for snapping any length you might subsequently like, rather then hand cut, but beware if you tighten it too snug, the vice might leave an imprint on the wood.
Photo: Lowes.com
http://www.lowes.com/pd_552524-281-4935507_1z11pbc__?productId=50168501&pl=1

The Exterior


You make recall a past post about egg carton stone, well, there is the finished product!  The cinder blocks are coarse sandpaper.  In fact, the cinder block area is really the wood base I mounted the room box on.  It was a smart move.  It makes the structure very secure and sound given the thinness of the plywood.






The Front Door


I grabbed a cute battery operated light for the front door.  And as soon as I turned it on, the on/off tab broke.  Usable, but I now need the tip of the craft knife to move the switch.  It was perfect for 30 seconds...and then I had to go and touch it.  Ha.

The house numbers are kind of fun.  I keep my tiny minis in small divided tray containers.  The dividers are movable....but I have so many I used on as the slightly frosted plastic back for my house numbers!  It's suspended off the wall using jewelry findings (the long metal sticks with the flat ends for earrings).  The numbers are jewelry charms from ebay....I just nipped the loop off the top, sanded and painted a flat silver. 






And......


One last shot of the air conditioner on the roof.  I might add that I realize I never added vents or light switches in the room box as I wrote this post.  Gah!!!






I hope you enjoyed this drawn out and painful saga!


Friday, April 22, 2016

Après-ski



The ski season has now passed, but there is something nice about a nice ski lodge and some fun times après-ski.  If only I was a boho hipster with a sweet little chalet to relax in....oh to dream!

I had fun making the art. The large 'B' print and the grey framed picture hangin on the wall are my photography from the Neon Museum in Las Vegas, NV. A must to visit in Las Vegas!



Window Scene Tip

First tip: shoot outdoors whenever possible.  But if you are a) lazy b) have bad weather and can't wait or c) make/photography minis when you don't have natural light....read on!

Here's my window scene secret: I get design magazine subscriptions (and other assorted ones come my way too) and I go through them and hunt for spreads that have large images of the outdoors. If you mount them on a book, play around with the distance (between house and photo) and get the right lighting you can make it work! The book mount also allows you to turn the picture so you can capture it when you shoot at different angles. It's great for taking pics at night or like now, when nothing is growing in the garden to act as a backdrop.



















Where To Buy - Where To Find

  • 2 large photos - my photography
  • Wall art, Ikea pillows, books, magazines - me
  • Petit Point pillows - Tremeer's Treasures
  • McDonalds bag - PaperMinis.com
  • Rug - Deserres
  • Kate Spade cell phone holder (bed) - Chapters
  • Sandals - buttons painted by me



Saturday, April 16, 2016

When Short On Time....Mini It Up!




My new "thing" to do after a days worth of work around the house, and living it up with Miss Kitty, is to rush downstairs during Thomas & Friends (the little blue train, you know what I'm talking about) and in 5 mins think of and grab the ingredients for a mini scene.  Very relaxing!








And I always have a little helper wanting to "see" and "help" and "make miniatures" with me which brightens my day.






Thursday, April 14, 2016

My Puppy.....




This followed me home the other day from the thrift store.  Like a puppy in need of a home.  But it was only $14.99 and perfectly intact.  It's almost a clone of Greenleaf's  Arthur dollhouse (minus an inch here or there).  Think this will be my dry run at building and wiring and *%$* a kit before I tackle the Orchid project that's been in my mind for over a year now....eeek.

And from what I could gather from various internet sources, PC made a copy of the Tennyson too.  The "Arthur" kit is copyright 1997 on the box.


Wednesday, April 06, 2016

Just Sit...



A nice little seat to relax in....when its slushy outside and the sun is trying to peak through the clouds.  And all you want in a cup of tea and a sugary treat!

And a "hello" shout out to those reading this in St Pierre & Miquelon!  I saw this in my reader stats...minis are everywhere!!



Friday, April 01, 2016

This Ain't Instagram Worthy.....




I really enjoy Instagram.  And I will write a special post about that one day soon, but its a great source of creativity, miniatures and the truly laughable.

All these perfectly set pictures of interiors.  With nothing out of place.  Even before Miss Kitty arrived, I was 80% there, but I still lived in my house.  This little vignette is my homage to the non Instagram ready moments in your life.  When your desk looks like someone vomited paper all over it.  Kinda like my work bench....wood....paper...minis...everywhere!

PS Those little tiny leather pulls on the desk a la Anthropologie almost were the death of me!!






Where To Buy - Where To Find