Let them eat cake...

My first purchase from Kim Saulter of It's a miniature life!

A woman in my local dollhouse store recommended Kim's work to me when I first started back into Miniatures with the Daydream Cottage build. Her miniature baked good are spectacular.  And the houses and shops she does are magical!  I think it's taken me so long to buy something because everything looks yummier than the one before!

Let there be light...

Finally got lights all the main lights in the 1930's glam townhouse.  I did my first attempt at soldering to lengthen some of the wires.  Took me forever to get it right but I was pretty proud of myself!  Can't wait to try it out on some wire furniture!

I also used the "How to light a front opening dollhouse" from the Greenleaf Website on the front porch.  I was pleasantly surprised when it worked.

 The Living room...

The Bedroom and Dressing room...

I'm on a roll now.  Hopefully, I have more to show soon!

The Three little bears...

 

I've been working on the entry of the Glam 1930's townhouse.  I have all the elements it's just a matter of getting to work!  

As I'm working, I've been trying to figure out a table for the entry.  I built the above console from a kit.   I thought it might be too large for the space so Emerson (baby bear sized at 5 inches) and a glamorous visitor (papa bear sized at 5.8 inches) are checking it out...

Maybe a little big...

 And a smaller dollar store find for reference...

Maybe a bit too small...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hmmm.  I think the key is a Momma sized one somewhere in the middle!

Gifts for myself

I've been trying not to buy any new miniatures, especially when I don't have an immediate use for them, but I couldn't resist HBS's 50% off sale on their some of their modern miniatures pieces.  At one point, I had all the sale pieces in my cart.  But I came to my senses and culled it down to three!

 

 And I finally bought Lea Frisoni's book. I had been waiting to see if would be translated into English but I could wait no longer.  I was able to make the chair in the picture from the French online tutorial, so hopefully I'll be able to manage something from the book!  In any case, it is a beautiful book with lots of wonderful ideas and inspiration.

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!

A little Daydreaming...

The other day I turned the Daydream Cottage around so that a young visitor could check it out.  I was a sunny day and I liked how the light was coming through the windows.  Just a few shots since I haven't posted is no long...

The door is off its hinges!

Christmas Swap: What I made...

This is what I made for Maria Narbon during Caterina's International Holiday Swap!

A FALL wreath. 

 

A Christmas Hutch.  Started with a Michael's hutch and added to it.  I used Carolyn's Little Kitchen Tutorial on waterslide decals to make the plates (the pictures are the first three days of Christmas).  The jug is from Marlies Minies. The Candy Canes and Santa Mug are from MiniKitz.

  

This is a little pull toy.  I left this for the last minute so it was kind of rushed.  I used the same decals that I used for the plates earlier.  This swap was a lot of fun.  Can't wait to do another!