RN Graduation Pic!

My school pics came in the mail the other day!

How many days until graduation?

Funny you should ask...

45 days

or

1 month 14 days

or

1080 hours

or

64,800 minutes

or

3,888,000 seconds!!!

Happy Thursday blogland!

Mini "Mouse" Rugs

So the boy came home with some lovely gifts the other day!  Someone came into his work and gave them these lovely mouse pads.  Of course you guys can see exactly what I see - dollhouse rugs!  The larger one is supposed to be a mousepad and the smaller one is a non-slip pad for your coffee cup.  I think the colors are lovely and I like the fringe on the sides.

The bottoms are super duper thick and both have a link to the company's website.  I checked out the site and they have some really cute prints, but of course they are much more expensive than a dollhouse rug, so I'll just have to be happy with my two freebies.  I guess the backing could be removed as it is so thick that they do sit very high.  But I may just leave them as it prevents the rug from moving even a tiny bit.

Happy Monday blogland!

More Halloween decorations!

These are a couple of my favorite Halloween decorations.  Not many people decorate their bathrooms, but I saw why not?

The white mat with bloody footprints came from amazon.  I have seen some posts floating around Facebook about a mat that turns colors when it gets wet and usually the picture that accompanies it is of this mat.  It's a neat idea, but this mat comes with the bloody footprints already painted on.  If you've never seen it before it would definitely catch you off guard.

The shower curtain also came from an amazon shop.  I can't remember the search terms I used, but it was probably something like "psycho shower curtain."  There are some other variations of it, but I liked this one the best.  Some of the others just show handprints pressed against the curtain, but I like the effect of a whole person standing back there.  Kind of creepy, huh?

There are other accessory items that I haven't gotten around to ordering yet.  There are bloody hand towels to match the mat and bloody silicone handprints that stick to your bathroom mirror.

Happy decorating!

1:12 Kitchenette - work on the upper cabinets

Here is an updated view of my top cabinets.  I decided that I wanted more color than just a white background, but not so yellow as to overwhelm.  I went with an antique white for the insides.  The right cabinet is missing a shelf for now as it is the one where I want to store cereal and other tall boxes.

And here we have the attached doors closed.  I have finally figured out a little about dollhouse hinges.  These doors open and shut nicely.  There is a gap between the doors and the cabinet when they are shut that doesn't look exactly realistic, but I think they still look nice.

This is a close up shot of the inside where my dishes and mugs will go.

Inside I put the tiny sugar bowl and my plates.  I used glue dots (the kind you can use for scrapbook pictures) which helps the plates to stand and not move around.

Here I was adding in my mugs to see how it looked.  I have thought about adding the tiny cream pitcher in the center, but the mugs kind of block it out and make it look a little crowded.  The cream pitcher may just sit on the counter or I may save it use in another mini scene.

And here we have the cabinet doors shut.  If I did this over (let's hope I don't) I would make the middle part a little bigger.  For now I am trying to fall in love with my mini imperfections.

And finally a pic to show scale.  The cream pitcher is there in the middle if you can see it.  I think I kind of like it, you?

The kitchen cabinets that won't die Part III

You had to see this coming, right?  I would imagine someone out there in blogland has a bet going that I'll never finish my kitchen cabinets.  I changed my mind about the trim on the sides and about the brown color.

Forgive the blurry pics that a few of my recent posts have had.  I usually only remember to snap a pic when I'm already halfway through a project.  Looks like a mess huh?

Above is another inspiration pic that I found while browsing pinterest.  I love the way the sides of the cabinets look.

So I decided to give it a go and see if I could recreate the look.  I used skinny sticks to cut a sort of picture frame border to outline the sides of my lower cabinets.  I also cut a piece of matboard to fill in the middle section.

And here is my semi-finished product.  The sides are done and for once I actually like it.  And even if I fall out of of love with this version I think I'm to the point where I don't want to redo it anymore.  I'm hoping the pale green color will bring out the tiny green accents in the wallpaper.  The yellow was just too much, and the white left no room for contrast with my dishes or the white countertop that I want.  The brown was just too dark and there is already so much pale brown in the wallpaper.  I decided not to go with blue either as there is so much blue in the painted part of the walls. Next I'll be working on my upper cabinets, a countertop, and then figuring out hinged doors.

Happy day blogland!

The kitchen cabinets that won't die Part II

And I'm back at it - again.  I fell out of love with the white inside cabinets and decided to try a light brown color that matches the pale brown in my wallpaper.  Above is a pic of still wet first coat.

And a pic showing the entire insides the new brown.

Above is an inspiration pic that I found at

http://www.paperdollminiatures.com/2013/10/kitchen-island-tutorial_29.html

This site has beautiful minis and some great tutorials.  I liked the accents that she added to her kitchen island and I thought I would try to add a little dimension to my cabinets as well.

Here I am adding some trim to the sides of the lower cabinets.

And here are both sides with everything painted green to match.

I also added some trim around the middle section.  Here you can see where a space has been cut so that the oven door will slide in.

And the other side with trim added around the bottom.

And another bright idea that I had while toying with the idea of trim.  I painted the inside pieces brown to match the inside of the upper cabinets.

Here you can see my fridge, oven, and sink added in.  I also added a faux drawer underneath the sink.  I've seen these in so many real kitchens and I had so much empty space above the hole where my lower cabinet door will go.  Even if it doesn't open (because there would be no room due the sink) I like the way it helps to bring the piece together.

The kitchen cabinets that won't die...

 

You're not going to believe this, but yes I reworked my kitchen cabinets yet again.  I just can't seem to get them to look like the perfect mini cabinets that are in my mind.  Ahhhh!  So anyway, above you see a new set, before the lower cabinet door has been cut out and also before the areas for the oven door and stovetop have been cut down.  And for some reason my counter looks a little uneven in this pic.  Another thing that I'm sort of embarrassed to mention is that I have been really undecided on color.  This particular piece has been various shades of white, yellow, brown, blue, and is now green.  Seriously you ask?  Yes there are a thousand coats of paint (including white primer between coats) on this tiny piece of wood that will someday be my kitchenette...

So I was searching around on pinterest to look for ways to add more dimension to my cabinets.  And also trying to figure out how to use mini hinges to make the doors more realistic.  I found an inspiration pic that I liked and modeled my cabinet doors after it.

And here they are painted green.  Also you may notice that they are not exactly the same size, but when they are added to the upper cabinets it is barely noticeable.

Here's another pic before they were painted.  I wanted at least one of the cabinets to have a higher shelf so that I could store tall cereal boxes underneath.  This is a 1:12 scale Fruity Pebbles box that I found as a printie to do a test fit with.  Also you can see that the cabinets were some shade of white at the time this pic was taken.

And here we have the cabinets with a green base color and white as the inside color.  I used the nail polish bottle to try and model where they might fit someday.  The oven has a hood that will hang underneath the left side of the cabinets so they will have to be high enough to allow room for that.  I need to stand one of my dolls up in the house though just to be sure that this isn't too high.  Either that or I need to find a tutorial for a mini step stool...

1:12 Scale Bathroom - finally starting to come together

Some more work has been done on the bathroom.  I decided to go with the same color scheme that my tiny bathroom had.  I did have to purchase another white tile panel from Hobby Lobby and thankfully the blue tile scrapbook page seems to be one that Michael's is still carrying for now.

And now the tile flooring matches the half walls nicely. 

Everything fits so well!  I just love the space now.  No more cramped bathroom!  Now I just have to figure out how to add a rounded shower curtain rod to cover the tub.  And of course add a medicine cabinet with a mirror over top of the sink.

It's hard to see in this picture, but I decided to add an extra row of tiling around the top of the white tiles.  It adds an extra element of dimension to the room. 

You can tell a little better in this picture that the top row of tile sticks out further.  I'm sure there is some technical home term for this border look, but I have no idea what that is!  Now I can't wait to see the room with all of the bathroom accessories added in :)

1:12 Scale Bathroom Expansion

So I finally gave in and decided that my bathroom had to be expanded.  I searched around online and found MDF lap siding from Houseworks that matches the outside of my country cottage.  It matches perfectly and I like that it is going to look like it was originally part of the house instead of just an addition.  The siding is very thin though so walls had to be built first to create the bigger room.  Then the lap siding squared up and added on.

Here I used tape to hold the walls up and make sure all of the pieces fit inside.  I added a section of flooring against the porch to widen the room.  Right now it looks pretty sloppy on the bottom, but that will all be covered up somehow.

I added a roof and right now it looks a little odd with the existing roof, but I have some ideas on how I will fix that later on.

I used lots of painter's tape to hold everything in place while the glue dried.  The top is slightly uneven because I couldn't find my level, but hopefully I'm the only person who will notice.

I started doing a dry fit of the lap siding just to see how well it matches up with the original house.  This is also when I decided that I may have to forgo a window in the bathroom.  Cutting through the flat wood was hard enough and I am afraid that I won't be able to cut through the siding without messing it all up.

Above I did a basecoat of white to prime the bathroom.

Here is a shot of the siding once the bathroom has been covered.  You can still see where the different pieces come together, but I am hoping after paint is added that it won't be quite so noticeable.

1:12 Scale Kitchenette - Attempt #3

And here we go again.  Have I ever mentioned that I'm rarely ever happy with the way my minis turn out?  Well my kitchenette is no different.  Once again I reworked my bottom kitchen cabinets.  I expanded them all the way around, making the counter deeper, allowing for more space around the oven door, and more space for an opening lower cabinet as well.  I added in all of my Houseworks parts and I like how everything fits.  A countertop will be added with a small lip that overhangs on the front and sides and also allows the sink and stove top to fit down into.

You can also see that I made my first attempt with mini hinges.  I am not exactly sure how to make this work.  I need to do some pinterest searching as I really do not like how visible the hinges are, but at least the cabinet door opens and closes.  The tiny nails are almost impossible to hold on to and are pretty much gone forever if you drop one.  I ended up using a piece of painter's tape to try and keep track of all the tiny pieces.  I can say that I am almost happy with the way these cabinets turned out and this may be the set that I keep.

1:12 Scale Kitchenette - Attempt #2

Today I'll show you what my 2nd attempt at lower kitchen cabinets looked like.  From a previous post you could see that my cabinets did not allow for very much space.  And one key part that I forgot to include was my adorable mini fridge!  This set was extended so that the fridge fit nicely underneath.  And also it allows me more room to put a dish drainer on top or maybe even a microwave.  This time I did cut out a space for the sink just to do a test fit.  I also tried to create an opening cabinet door, but unfortunately I failed again.  The door you see will actually open, but only the inside section and it looks really odd because at the time I had never tried dollhouse hinges before.  Also the space is kind of cramped and will be even more so once the oven door is added.

Another thing that this attempt didn't have was a countertop.  But as with most things practice makes perfect and hopefully I can only improve my technique with time!

1:12 Scale Bathroom - Attempt #1

Today I'll share some pics from my first attempt at adding a small bathroom.  I decided to use part of the outside porch area to build a new room.  You've seen in earlier posts how I added a bathroom door where an outside window used to be (after a horrible mishap where I first cut the door into the wrong wall!).  I bought a white tile panel from Hobby Lobby and I loved this blue tile scrapbook paper that I found at Michael's.

Here is a set of pics that I posted in my Greenleaf gallery.  I was asking everyone if they thought I should use the blue tile from floor to ceiling or add the white tile paneling in to make a half and half sort of look.  The votes were pretty much all for the two tile look.

Here you can see a mock up of my first bathroom.  The outside wall is actually just propped up in this pic.  One of the outside porch posts is still attached, but I did remove it eventually.  You can see just how cramped this space is going to be.  I had also decided to add in a window and Hobby Lobby had a cute octagon window that was frosted so it let in just enough light, but wouldn't really allow peeking eyes to see inside.  A hole has been cut in the wall showing where the window will go.

And once again, there is so much work to do!

1:12 Kitchenette Attempt #1

Today I'll show my first attempt at a kitchenette.  The Country Cottage is very short on space, but a kitchen area is a definite requirement for me.  I wanted something that included a sink, an oven, and a stove top.  I'd also like a cabinet door underneath the sink so you could open it and see water pipes and maybe cleaning supplies.  In a perfect mini world my sink would line up with the window at the back of the cottage.  There is a set of windows behind my Mother's double sink that looks out onto the backyard and I've always loved the natural light that they bring in.  As you can see I took measurements of the dimensions given for the Houseworks parts before I even got them in the mail.  This is definitely the shape that I want for the bottom cabinets, but I didn't exactly leave myself any space for a dish drainer or other necessary items that belong on the countertop.  

I also wanted upper cabinets.  I imagined them with two opening cabinet doors, one on each side.  In the middle I wanted to recreate something that I had seen in other minis.  I wanted an area to stand pretty dishes up on their sides and also a place to hang mugs.  If this cabinet were in my real house these would probably be the dishes that were only used on special occasions!

So here is a shot of where I imagined the kitchenette would line up in the cottage.  As you can see I went with a light yellow color, which was very similar to the vanilla color that the ceiling is painted with.  I wanted a nice glossy white countertop and I painted the trim on bottom to match.  One thing that you'll definitely notice is that my cabinets don't go over far enough to where my sink will line up with the window...

And this shot shows how I want the mugs to hang.  The tea set that I bought from Hobby Lobby has 6 cups so I don't know exactly how I will have them lined up, but right now 2 cups fit well on each stick (I have no idea what you would call these?). I also tried adding some ruffly looking fabric for the cabinet doors.  I love this fabric, but I don't know exactly how well this matches the rest of my colors.  Also I have no idea how to make opening cabinet doors so for now my cabinet doors are glued shut.