The Christmas Cottage

Christmas has come and gone but I wanted to finally show you what I have been working on since early November.  It was intended to be  Christmas present for my sister and her family, but it did not get done in time.  Luckily, she moved into a new house last week so I finally gave it to her as a housewarming present this past weekend.  I wanted to show is sooner on the blog but since she reads it from time to time, I didn't want to ruin the surprise.

So, at last, The Christmas Cottage....

I used Greenleaf's Primrose cottage which was at one time intended to be used as an extension to the Laurel that I bought before I discovered the wonders of craigslist!  (The Laurel will now be simply made and donated to my kids school auction.)

 I love how some people have bashed this cottage but I wasn't that adventurous and just added an egg carton fireplace siding and fishtale shingles which I had for my Craiglist Strawberry Patch but won't be using...

 A simple cottage with just a sitting room and bedroom...

The bedroom...

 The shelf is the top of a Michael's hutch (the bottom is the dresser in the Daydream Cottage.)  The little toys I stole from our Christmas decorations.  I added a baseball bat and a framed bicycle to give the room more of a boys feel in honor of her husband and son.   The picture is  of the three of them on Christmas day...

 

 The insides of a Christmas music box that I tore apart.  It is a train and little village...

A simple white stocking...

The sitting room...

 Presents under the tree. (Bottle brush and Lycopodium tree)...

 The fireplace with mini glitter houses and a Beauty and the Beast picture (my sister is a big Disney fan. The card in the foreground is my families Christmas Card...

Chair made by me. Michael's Hutch in the background...

Shabby Chic table (a la Liberty Biberty) with champagne cork legs.   The Santa mugs are just like the ones my sister and I used as kids. From Minikitz painted by me.

I tried to use furniture I had already.  The rocking chair is from the furniture that came with my Strawberry Patch Craiglist buy and painted white.

 A messy wire wreath Christmas card holder (my wire work needs some work.)

 A miniature of a painting I gave my sister for Christmas.  It is by Janet Hill.  I love her work and own five of her paintings.  I think she somewhat inspired my miniature work. Her interiors are wonderful.

 

 I added three different battery operated lights. The fireplace and the tree (the battery packs are hidden under the house. And some colored lights on the front (battery pack hidden in the ceiling.) The lights are a combination from Minikitz and Evans Designs...

 

I envisioned the exterior as a dark green from the beginning (my sister's favorite color is Green.) I also knew I wanted to keep the interior palate mostly white with red accents. I found inspiration in  Les Carnets de l'atelier Blondie's Scandinavian Christmas Room and Three Pixie Lane's Swedish Christmas decor.  Though I touch with the red and other colors was a bit more heavy handed than their calm and serene environments!

This was a lot of fun.  I burned out on minis after Christmas but the last week of putting this house together has peaked by interest again!