Leaderboard

all done except a final coat of oil fun little project using scraps of burl and leather

The other day, I was browsing Leboncoin (Craiglist equivalent) to see if the HOM kit seller answered me. Well, he didn't, but I was on my lunch break, so I decided to kill some time browsing the "collection" category for my hometown. It was on the frontline of WWI, so there's a lot of old military stuff that turns out among collectors (pretty interesting to look at) and it's also such a broad category that you can see some real weird stuff (point in case : someone was selling a meteorite fragment !) Now, I spot a listing called "Miniature porcelain". "Oh, that's cute" I say, looking at the tiny platter and saucepan. "But I don't really need a porcelain set. I won't buy it, but I'll look at the picture, after all, it's tiny eyecandy, right?" And then. On the third picture of the listing. "Reutter Porzellan" proclaims the tiny black box. "No way !" I says "Yes way!" a five minute google search answers me "Dear little sister of mine that I really love" I texted immediately, "Would you mind spending 15minutes of your day to pick something for me?" I am now 18€ poorer and a Reutter dinner set richer. Unexpected, but holly molly am I happy !!! 😄

Finished the cabinet, all static, no opening drawers or pullouts, but this is the look I wanted which is the important thing to me. I had a bit of trouble with the paint color. I had a very old bottle of Wedgwood green, and mixed with white it was just right, so I started blending into a new jar. Poured in some more white, went to add more green and guess what, the rest of the green had turned into a globby mess. I wound up blending a new batch of paint starting with the blue I used on the other 2 cabinets. It matched the green perfectly. I'm so proud of myself!

Well, here it is. I still have to glue the top to the bottom half, and I see a few places that need touchup paint, but overall, I think it looks pretty good. I changed the dishes, the Chrysnbons just sort of faded away in there. I felt the porcelain plates were still too thick and chunky for my liking, so I took care of how I arranged them. They do look retro-wise. Can't change anything now, it's all sealed up.

I (re)started making miniatures a little over 2 years ago. I had created a haunted dollhouse about 15 years ago. I'm an empty nester and semi-retired. I saw a video on Facebook of food being made in a tiny kitchen and shared it. One of my friends commented on it and how she used to make miniatures, which peaked my interest and I started looking up dollhouses and miniatures and I was like, Wow! Maybe I can do this. Since then I've created a few roomboxes (1 as a gift) and rehabbed 2 dollhouses (1 as a gift). I'm now starting to work on my 4th roombox with plans to rehab my haunted dollhouse. This is only a hobby, no selling on my part, and I primarily create "moments in miniature." For example, I created my Grandma's 60's kitchen and a 70's unfinished basement. I love doing this and look forward to being in this forum. Happy miniaturing!

Great way to multi-task! If they offer you butter, it's probably is best to decline!

I know it is a bit off topic but I won this one at auction (eBay) yesterday

A lot of my paintings are here https://www.spminiatures.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&manufacturers_id=396

what? I would've absolutely then offered her $12.50 lol

Hi Debra, I have been to your blog several times. It is great to see you here. My husband's parents lived in our guest house for years. It was awesome, especially for my kids. They formed such a strong bond. Later my Dad lived in it, and my teenage kids learned all sorts card games and (some not so good things) loved his stories. He worked in the casino industry and knew how to deal every game. No doubt, your grand-kids will enjoy doing minis, and learn tons of skills.

I've gotten past rearranging furniture into finally making a sink cabinet for a retro style kitchen roombox. I have no idea what period the room will be, for now just generic retro. Originally I'd planned on using a Reutter kitchen sink cabinet, but I didn't want it to be stained brown so I removed the sink and repainted the cabinet. Turned out in the end it wasn't what I wanted after all, so I started over. The porcelain sink is the one from Reutter, the box is my own design. I changed the color a couple of times till I liked it. Gee, it matches the mom's skirt. Nice! I think if I cut the top section of the Reutter sink cabinet it'll look good as a hutch atop a table, but I just finished drawing out a kitchen hutch for the retro kitchen. Dunno....we'll see.

We had a bbq with homemade burgers, hotdogs, bratwurst, potato salad, pasta salad, green salad, grilled veg, crudites, dips, and grilled sweetcorn. There were 11 of us, so just a few bites of each thing filled each plate twice! After all the lockdowns this was the first time in a couple years our two families could meet up in the garden, and it was just so lovely to have everyone there. My niece made my cake, it was delicious and red, white and blue in honour of my American side (my Mummy is American). Birthday is Monday, but loved my early celebration.

I'm seeing American Vernacular, meaning no architectural style or period plan. I'm reading a book set in rural Texas, and there's an old house by a lake wherein lives a little old lady. By the author's description, this could be her house. It stood on piles, in case the lake flooded, so I added some and some steps using a clone tool. I removed the gingerbread and added some boarding detail under the porch roof instead. If it were mine I'd look at strips of embossed wood to see how they looked. For a Craftsman style, I would prefer heftier porch posts, but doing it the way I illustrated is much more easy-peasy and you're done!

I’d go with what your gut is telling you. Otherwise you end up forcing creativity and you won’t be happy with the end result.

I wondered about that and also the chamber pot on top of the kitchen cupboards.

The butter churn in the bathroom surprised me.

I like how it's run-down but not derelict, like the old farmer & his wife still live there but just can't keep things up like they used to.

Hi Holly! I will check my Willowcrest for the instructions. I bought mine for $130 with shipping and thought that was a bargain! I need to get up in the attic this evening (its a walk up) for some other items, so will check my box.

Hello all. A few years ago my parents cleaned out their place and passed along my unbuilt 1/2" scale kit house from childhood, which reawakened my interest in the hobby. Half scale is my jam but I have a small collection of inch-scale dolls that I'm rehabbing a inch-scale house for. I have a ton of questions about techniques and preferences so you'll probably hear a lot from me! I'm attaching 2 shots of the Lighthouse Keeper's Cottage I've been rehabbing (RGT, half scale). I added a window on one side and a chimney/fireplace on the other. It's still a work in progress.

Billie, there are only dumb questions if you don't ask them.

Why oh why do I go looking for these things when I know I'm not going to buy one? I didn't even when I found one nearby! Oh well, nice pictures. Colorado Lace House

We haven't heard from you in forever! Welcome home. BTW, your link wanted me to sign in (?).

Obviously she doesn't want to sell it. I'm with Susie on this one.

Hi, Stephanie: I use Gesso as a primer - no odor. You do have to wait 24 hours for it to dry. Dry fit the house first, double check that it all fits together nicely, and mark where the walls will be glued - you don't need to prime that area. Also, when you dry fit, you can get a good feel for the house and how your decor will work - though I have often had spur of the moment inspirations later in the build. Enjoy!

Thank-you all for your welcomes and hugs. My daughter remarried a year ago to a wonderful man who lost his wife to cancer. They now have 10 children together and we live in a cottage on their property after selling our house, so I have lots of company! LOL! They love to be in my shop with me and I just picked up some fairy houses for them to build. I will post those when they are done. Glad to see familiar names and faces here.

In today's day and age, people usually don't know their neighbors names much less recognize signs of a stroke because they are not acting like their normal selves. He is very lucky that you live nearby and got him help fast! My dad and I were waiting in the ER for him to be seen for a possible infection in his foot. It was the weekend, and he has Parkinson's and diabetes. He gets infections real easily. I noticed he was super sleepy, garbling his speech, and not his normal self. I could see one side of his face was drooping. After eR doc said not infection (4 hour visit), i told him that I thought my dad was having a stroke. The doc said to my dad, "smile." My dad did, doc says to me nope. I mentioned the drooping. He said, no that's from the Parkinson's (this was first time my dad had ever seen that doc). So we went home. He got progressively worse, returned at 3am with my mom, who drove him. My brother had to help load him into car cause he could no longer walk. He ended up staying for 2 weeks because he had a stroke. So even though he was your neighbor, you did good staying with him and getting him the care he needs.

Happy early birthday, Muriel, and what a lovely confection of a cake!

So, I just finished watching (not all, but most) and was also underwhelmed. I was confused because I thought they all had to work on the same house (California style) and then there was the RGT house - where the stairs were omitted and the gaping hole was left. No trim work. No door handles or windows (Cal house). Creases and open seams on wallpaper. Granted, my work is not perfect; I guess I am too fussy about the details.

and thank you Carrie!

This is my take on Thomas Cole's "Course of Empire" series. I am working on the frames the one shown is a mock up in Cherry I still need to clean it up and finish it but the prints have been "treated". The frames are roughly 3" x 4" outside dimensions so this would be a dramatic set in a dollhouse. Clockwise from bottom left "The Savage State", "The Pastoral State", "The Consummation", "Destruction", and "Desolation"