Mom's birthday

Today is my Mom's birthday and last night I did finish up the mini scrapbooking table that I have been working on for her. It actually does remind me of her workspace because it's so messy! I thought I would share a few pics with everyone. I won't see her until tonight after work so you guys are getting the first peek! I'll try to remember to take some pics of her real scrapbooking area as well.

This is just a table top view. There's a red box in the corner full of stickers and bags full of scrapbooking paper and cut-outs of shapes and frames. Then there is a wooden jar with 3 pencils and a ruler - the ruler actually has lines on it, but for some reason you can't see it in this picture. There is also a white notepad and another yellow pencil hiding in the upper right hand corner of the desk. Then just scattered across the top are sheets of scrapbook paper - some with pictures and stickers already attached and some blank. Then there is a pile of family photos in the middle of the desk. I finished two pages in the scrapbook itself and left the rest blank as if she had been working on it. And of course she has a cup of coffee sitting in the corner as well. I included my favorite wheat penny for scale.

Here's another angle from the top. If you look back through previous posts you'll see that I gave the website of where I got all of the printies for the scrapbook paper and stickers. And then of course I used a photo index print to cut the small family photos out of. The box that the stickers and bags are in is actually the bottom of a box of matches painted with a red marker. The wooden jar (which I stained), the pencils, ruler, notebook paper, and the coffee cup were all minis bought at either Michael's or Hobby Lobby. Oh and the little bags came from Michael's as well. I just cut them down to size and used clear scotch tape to seal up the sides. I used clear nail polish on the cardstock stickers to make them look more realistic. And some of the sticker packs I wrapped in scotch tape to make them look like they haven't been opened yet. I'm going to scan a sheet of the notebook paper that way I can print my own off for future projects. Also the pencils that I bought are the exact size of a toothpick so I'll buy some more paint and be making those on my own from now on too.

And here's a view with the scrapbook open. My Mom has albums full of old photographs that she has put me to work scanning for her so they'll still be around for the next generation. She likes the little black photo corners that hold the pictures to the page so I tried to recreate that here. Starting from R-L the photos in the scrapbook are my Dad's parents and then my Mom's parents on the next page. I used some of the printies of cameras and stars and glued them to the pages as well. My Mom likes to write the names underneath in her real scrapbooks, but I don't know how well my tiny handwriting would be.

And here is a front view of the desk. Can't you just see my mini Mom sitting down to work?! And finally in this shot the lines on the ruler show up!

And here's a shot of the chair and the bottom of the table. The chair I bought from Hobby Lobby and the table I made myself. As you can tell I'm no expert, but I thought it was okay for a first try. One leg is just a tad shorter than the other 3, but when everythings on top you really don't notice. I would definitely appreciate a good table and chair tutorial if anyone has one to share. I stained the table and chair twice and then used a spray sealant, which made them look more shiny and natural I think.

This is a close up of the left side of the table just to give a little more detail. I had to glue a piece of cardstock to the back of the scrapbook and I used a glue dot on the front so it can be opened and closed. I love all of the family photos and I think my Mom will be so tickled with them. In this shot you can see a pic of David and I to the right of the scrapbook. Below that there is a scrapbook page in progress with a picture of our dog Oscar. I put a little pack of dog stickers on top to make it look like she was working on it.

Here's another zoomed in pic of the left side, but this time with the scrapbook open. I love the pictures of my grandparents when they were younger! Also somewhere in the pile of pics is a tiny copy of the picture of my Great-Granny Frye that I shared with everyone a few posts ago.

Now for a close up of the right side. I scattered the pictures around a little for this one. If you look close you'll see my picture from Father's Day in the center. To the left of the coffee cup is an unfinished scrapbook page with a picture of my sister and her boyfriend at her nurse's pinning last year. In the upper right hand corner the is another scrapbook page of a schoolhouse with one of my sister's cheerleading pictures and a little pom-pom sticker for decoration.

I actually forgot that I had a tiny pair of scissors to go with the table so I had to move some things around and do one more pic. The tiny silver scissors came from miniaturesandmore through amazon.com. You'll see on the chair a scrapbook page of my parents on their wedding day with a little heart sticker on top and a sticker of a bride and groom beside it. Mom must have went for more coffee and just left her work lying there? Also the little bowl I added in last minute - it also came from Michael's and I stained it to match the wooden jar. It's filled with lots of tiny little multi-colored beads (not that you can see the color in the pic) but I thought they could add a little 3-d element to the scrapbook pages. After my Mom sees the table tonight I'll let her move the stuff on top around however she wants it and then I've got more glue dots to keep the bigger pieces in place. Well that's all for now - hope you all enjoyed the pics!

Meet and greet with some more of my wonderful followers!

I've been checking out a few more blogs this evening. Eventually I will catch up and will have looked at all of my followers blogs. I apologize for not doing this initially, but being a new blogger I wasn't entirely sure of the etiquette. The first blog that I checked out tonight was from Sandy who is located in New York. She sells jewelry online through etsy and artfire.com. And just let me say WOW - she is really talented. Definitely check out her bell flowers. You can visit her blog at http://forbesfarm.blogspot.com/

Next I checked out Traci who is also from the US. Her blog can be reached at http://random-aspects.blogspot.com/. You can tell right away that she loves dollhouses and miniatures. And Duran Duran? :)

I also joined Susan's blog at http://susanshouses.blogspot.com/. She sounds kind of like me - always wanted a dollhouse, but never really had one and now that she's started collecting it seems to have taken over! I've checked out her blog before and she's got some beautiful dolls and I love the "hand" that helps moves dolls into their houses!

Susan's Mini Talk is another follower, but I didn't see a blog for her just yet. Her profile says that her interests are miniatures and dollhouses though so I know we would get along!

I also checked out http://senamena.blogspot.com/. This is Rachel's blog and she is from Wisconsin. And Rachel please don't feel alone - I am also a grown woman who plays with dollhouses! I could tell she was a Greenleaf member right away because the first thing I saw was her Spring Fling. Definitely check out her Japanese Restaurant roombox and also the roombox that she is making of her Grandparent's kitchen.

Next I checked out Erika from Sweden. She has two blogs http://miniatureserika.blogspot.com/ and http://myminisale.blogspot.com/. She likes to make mini roomboxes and she also has a doll named Angela that likes to help her out. I think Angela would get along with Kitty from my saloon.

Another great blog to check out is http://somersethouseaproject.blogspot.com/. This is Marlene from the United Kingdom. I knew I liked her blog immediately because the first picture that I saw was of a pub. I love pub and bar scenes because they inspire me to work on my saloon. She is working on an 1820s townhouse and her blog says she has been working on it since 2004. This house is amazing. I also love that she has a "wish list" on the side of her blog (I hope she doesn't mind if I borrow her idea!). She also has another blog http://poppypatchwork.blogspot.com/ which looks like it covers some of her other interests such as sewing and gardening - too things that I also wish I was good at!

I promise to finish checking out everyone else's blogs over the weekend. I told David this is the first time that I've ever had too much to read- and I love it!

Working on my Mom's birthday present again

My Mom's birthday is June 30th so it's about time that I kick this mini project into gear. She and I went to Hobby Lobby a few days ago and of course she thought I was just buying more minis for the saloon. I picked up the chair, the candlestick holder, the wooden bowls and vases, the tiny coffee cup and spoon and the notepad with pencils and ruler. I already had the hutch, the rectangular and round wooden discs and the wooden spindle sticks in my unfinished mini collection at home. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the hutch yet, but the rectangular piece of wood and spindles are going to become my Mom's scrapbooking table. I had a fabulous idea for the candlestick holder for the saloon (you'll see that a few pics down). Now I'm a little proud of myself for this next idea (toot <- that was my horn!). I took my Mom's picture printer and printed out just the index copy of some pictures that I had on a cd. Then I borrowed her scrapbook cutter (I've been driving her crazy with borrowing things) and cut them all out. Some of them may be a little bit bigger than a true 1:12 picture, but I don't think she'll mind. If I was guessing I'd say that they're maybe closer to 5x7 size instead of 4x6. Here's one just to show you all of the little pics cut out and a penny for scale. There are pics of my Mom and my Dad, my sister Samantha and her boyfriend Kenneth, me and David, my dog Oscar, and all of my Mamaw's and Papaw's. I actually don't even care so much now that they're not exactly to scale because they're just big enough for you to be able to appreciate the picture. And my Mother is a diabetic so her eyesight isn't so great anyway. Too cute, huh?! And you didn't think I'd leave Kitty and the saloon out of the fun mini making did you? She came over to my desk to try out the table and chair after I had stained them and left them overnight to dry. She knows the chair goes to my Mom, but she just loves the round table that I made for the saloon. She's ordered two more already! For the table I simply used a wooden candlestick holder for the bottom and two round discs glued together for the top (one disc just wasn't wide enough and didn't look right. The bag of candlestick holders from Hobby Lobby had 6 pieces and was $2.99 and then either 40 or 50% off of that. At most I think I may have paid around 50 cents for the round discs. I don't know how you would calculate how much it cost to stain the pieces (unless I had measured how many ounces were in the can before and after I guess) but anyway I think the table is just as nice as any that I could have bought from a mini store AND even better I would estimate the total cost at maybe a $1!!! Now if I can just learn how to make chairs and bar stools...any ideas?Well I'm signing off for now - I've got to go grab a beer because Kitty's challenged me to a game of Texas Hold'em. Good thing I got paid today :)

More great blogs to check out -

I got to look through a few more blogs recently and I wanted to share them with everyone. De from Indiana has a great blog called http://delightfulminis.blogspot.com/. She has pictures of beautiful miniatures she makes that are so incredibly realistic looking. I recommend that everyone check them out. At first I thought the pic at the top of her blog was a real house - the little red metal chair looks just like the ones on my Mom's porch!

The next one that I checked out was Debbie from the United Kingdom. Here is a list of blogs that she either writes or co-writes (sp?). http://debbiestinytreasures.blogspot.com/ http://hericusminiatureshetlandstud.blogspot.com/ http://nikkismagicalminiatures.blogspot.com/ http://theminifoodblog.blogspot.com/ http://tinytreasuresminilinks.blogspot.com/ She has a lot of awesome minis and some great mini links so definitely check out all of these blogs. And her pics of the mini ponies are adorable!

Another blog that I checked out was Tallulah-Belle who currently lives in California. Her blog http://tallulahbelleoriginals.blogspot.com/ has all of these amazing miniature plants that she makes. Check out the slide show at the bottom of the blog for some great pics.

Downstairs saloon flooring is finished

I haven't posted in a while, been busy with work and life and such, but I wanted to get a quick post in today on my lunch break. In between all of the craziness I have found a little time to work on the saloon. I have completely finished the downstairs floor. And let me tell you it was ALOT of skinny sticks! I'll have to look and see how many bags I went through. But I still think it was worth it - to me it looks so much better than the panels of wood flooring that I bought from Hobby Lobby. I like it even more just because it isn't perfect. I like how some boards look like they are different colors and how some have cracks and didn't fit exactly together. I think it's going to make the saloon look more original. Next I'll do the upstairs floor and then decide on a stain color. I could not have done this without my Easy Cutter - that was the best piece of equipment that I have invested in so far.

And here's a new pic of our little Olive. I've been trying my best to explain to her that what she calls her "beanbag" is actually in fact David's hackey sack. She doesn't understand why her favorite place to sit keeps disappearing. I believe that she thinks David uses it as a beanbag as well because she just keeps saying, "But it's Olive size!"

Mischievous minis...

As you can tell from the title the girls have been a bit naughty as of late. Yesterday Kitty caught Olive stacking pots and pans in order to climb up on the wood chest for a snack. Apples are a good healthy snack, but if she would just ask for help then we wouldn't have to worry about an accident.And Sophie seems to be finding new things to get into as well. Today she told me that she would like to go swimming now that it's summer and the weather is so pretty outside. So I asked her, "But you're made out of porcelain - how is that going to work?" To which she replied, "Don't ask me, you're the one who talks to dolls." Point taken. Anyway, I'm still reviewing everyone's blogs and hoping to be able to catch up on all of the introductions soon. Tonight I'll leave you with a new layout pic - this is something that Kitty probably enjoys after the girls are tucked into bed.

Beer and pretzels

I posted this previously on Greenleaf, but I haven't gotten around to sharing it with my blog friends until now. And by the way if you haven't already joined Greenleaf then I definitely recommend it. The forum members are wonderful people and reading their posts always makes me smile.
To make these I scanned an empty 12 pack of Miller Lite that I had at the apartment. I did have to use a black shirt to cover the box as of course the scanner lid would not shut all of the way. I also cut open an empty can of Miller Lite and hammered it out flat in order to scan it as well. I used a 1/4 inch round wooden dowel from Michael's to make the beer cans solid. And then I took a regular hole punch and punched out tops and bottoms from the flattened aluminum can. I used brown sculpey for the pretzels and clear/white glitter for the salt. The pretzels are meant to be very big because I wanted them to look like the large hand-rolled soft pretzels that I made when I worked at the Pretzel Twister (mall pretzels - like Auntie Anne's etc.). I think with more practice I could make these look much better. Once I can afford more ink for my printer I'm going to reprint the box and beer can labels on cardstock paper to see if I can make the colors more vibrant. I also want to work on the actual folding of the 12 pack itself so I'm looking at other printies online to try and find an easier way (it's really tricky!). Anyway, I guess it's not so bad for a first try :)

More great blogs to check out :)

I've been checking out a few more blogs that I'd now like to share with you. I've been joining each blog as I go along as well. I've seen so many wonderful things that I want to try and it's given me great ideas for my own minis!

First I'd like everyone to meet Taenia who is from Austria. She has 2 amazing blogs http://taeniasminiatures.blogspot.com/ and http://taeniasgrimmauldplace.blogspot.com/. Taenia's Miniatures shows off some of her wonderful miniatures. And 12 Grimmauld Place - if you don't already know - is the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. All Harry Potter fans will really enjoy this blog.

The next blog I'd like to introduce is Minimaker from California. Her blog is http://creatingdollhouseminiatures.blogspot.com/ and this one is really neat! Her blog has all of these videos about miniature projects and tutorials. I've never seen so many great videos all in one place! Also Minimaker's blog introduced me to MOA. If you are like me and had never heard of this site before it is like ebay for minis only. Definitely one to bookmark!

And the third blogger that I'd like you to meet today is MiniKat from Chicago. Her blog is http://minikatslittlethoughts.blogspot.com/. Not only is she a miniature enthusiast like the rest of us, but she also enjoys fiber arts. I admit to not knowing what all fiber arts included at first, but after looking through her blog I know that it does include crocheting, which is something I'm definitely interested in learning how to do. I will doing alot more exploring of MiniKat's blog. I also adore her Calico Critters because they remind me of my Maple Town toys that I had when I was a kid.

Anybody remember the cartoon Maple Town from Nickelodeon? I've got the theme song stuck in my head now - "Can't wait to get to Maple Town, my favorite place to be... Maple Town and me!"

Checking out everyone's blogs: Part One

My previous post said that I was to "tag" 6 people, but I actually only ended up tagging 3 so far. Once you start looking at someone else's blog it's really hard to stop! I keep seeing all of these neat ideas that I want to try and all of these amazing pictures! I'd like to go ahead and introduce 3 more followers right now. First is Kim from Flowers and Art. She is from Minnesota and has some great pictures so definitely check her blog out. I admit to not being able to read all of her posts just yet, but I kept seeing different versions of this one beautiful picture. I don't know if she's standing in her front doorway looking out as she takes pictures or what, but there is this huge old looking barn in the background and this lovely windy looking gravel or dirt road running beside it - and when I see that picture I just want to go there! She also has pics of her minis of course (check out all of her tiny tea sets) and her blog says she loves gardening.

Next is Meli from Spain. You can visit her blog at http://casitasdemeli.blogspot.com/. And by the way, the music that she has playing in the background is beautiful! Her blog is mostly in Spanish, but she does translate underneath all of her posts (thankfully since it's been a few years since my foreign language classes back in high school!). Meli has some of the most beautiful doll clothes ever! I haven't read enough of the blog to see if she sells any of them, but I'll keep my fingers crossed because I bet she could make some wonderful outfits for my dolls Sophie and Olive.

The next blog I'd like to introduce is http://afminimansion.blogspot.com/. Ara is from Texas and is doing the Addams Family Mansion and I am so excited to follow her progress. I'm especially interested to see if she'll be making dolls to go with the house. Her recent post shows a dollhouse that she got from Craigslist for $5 - I'm so jealous! I'm secretly hoping that she goes with her idea of turning the new house into the "Clue House" and leads us all on a mini murder mystery...! Anybody else remember reading The Dollhouse Murders as a kid?

Tag - you're it!

Today I received a comment from Teresa at Inside the Mind of a MiniMadWoman saying that I had been tagged. Now I've only been blogging for a couple of months so I'm still sort of new at all of this. For a while I've been meaning to do one of those "meet and greet" posts like I've seen on other blogs where I introduce new followers. Well I've got 16 now so I'm a bit behind. So I'll take this tag as an opportunity to begin checking out everyone else's blogs and posting about them here.

Minimadwoman's profile says she is originally from Canada, but is currently living in the United States. I know she is a Greenleaf member because that is where I first met her and found out that she loves Pippi Longstocking! You can follow her blog and check out her minis here at http://minimadwoman.blogspot.com/. And it looks as if she's started a new gardening blog as well http://forgetthedishes.blogspot.com/.

Now for this "tag" I am suppose to list 6 things that make me happy and also tag 6 other bloggers. So here goes!

1. My family - especially my Mom, my Dad, and my sister Samantha - and of course all of my extended family as well. I have 32 total aunts and uncles and over 50 first cousins so saying that I'm from a big family is a bit of an understatement!

2. David - my wonderful boyfriend of over 5 years! I'm not sure exactly how long we've been together, but I know that I met him the week before my 23rd birthday and I'll be 30 this year :)

3. All of my wonderful friends - and I know that I am blessed when I saw there are too many to name!

4. My pets - Oscar who is a miniature Daschund. He'll be 8 years old on November 15th! And my two Red Eared Slider turtles Herman and Cecil. Herman was given to me by a friend who could no longer keep him as she had a toddler in her home and as you may already know reptiles do carry the risk of salmonella if you don't properly wash your hands. I'm honestly not sure how long I've had the turtles, but I know I've had them longer than I've known David so I'll say 7+ years. Herman's growth was a bit stunted when I received him as he had always been kept in the same plastic container that he came home from the pet store in. Both turtles now live in a 75 gallon tank and Herman actually started laying eggs so now his (her) name isn't exactly appropriate!

5. My hobbies - I of course love minis. I actually collected them for years as a kid and filled up multiple shadow boxes with them back at my parent's house. It was only February of this year that I bought a dollhouse on impulse and got back into the hobby. I love taking pictures and scrapbooking with them as well as posting them online. I'm also an avid reader - my friends at work have actually been bringing books in and leaving them on my desk (I really need to pay my library fine!). I am trying to teach myself how to crochet and I'm having a bit of trouble - most tutorials that I've found online are all for right-handers (southpaw here!). I have some beautiful things that my Granny Frye (my great-grandmother) crocheted and I'm hoping to follow in her footsteps. I also like gardening, which is another thing that I am a beginner at. So far the only thing that I've grown successfully is tomatoes, but I'm hoping to get more practice in this year.

6. Being green - I know that may sound weird, but attempting to be as environmentally friendly as I possibly can does make me happy. We try to be as green as our budget will allow - we like to buy from local farmer's markets, try to buy/make natural cleaning products, and learn about other ways to preserve the planet for future generations. I love when David's friends come over to hang out and they all know which can the plastic and glass goes into, which one is for the aluminum cans, and where the cardboard boxes go. And I think David even enjoys that fact that he's doing something positive when he helps me take everything out to the recycling bins. We also donate all of our aluminum cans to a local spay/neuter charity http://www.hollyhelp.org/. The trash can that the city provides is so large that it will fit 3 - 4 large garbage bags and David and I only have a full trash bag about every 2 weeks so our can may only go to the road once a month or so.

Now I'm off to explore some of your blogs and tag a few readers. I plan to post something about everyone who takes the time to read and follow my blog so this may take a while to finish, but I'm eager to see what everyone out there is up to! And since I'm thinking about her after writing this here is my favorite pic of my Granny Frye :)