A Little Spring Is In the Air

I think I'm getting sick of winter.  I've been busy trying to add a little touch of spring to my dollhouse miniatures to cheer things up a bit.  I haven't really had a good go at making flowers, so I thought I'd give it a try.  I think this is an art that takes practice.  I am pleased with my flowers and know now what I would do differently when I get in the flower making mood again.  I think they look so pretty and just want to put them in my own kitchen.   These blue flowers are supposed to be hydrangeas...which happens to be one of my favorite flowers.  

These flowers are supposed to be daisies.  I like how they turned out.  I need to come up with something better for the middle part of them though.

  

Some more Hydrangeas, although I smashed them a bit with my fingers too much.  They seem kinda squished. 

Some roses.  Roses are always fun.  I have to play around with the paper I used for them though.  I like them thinner.

I'm actually not sure what these are supposed to be.  I was just playing around with a new punch and wanted to see what I could create.  I'm not a flower expert and wouldn't know what to call these. 

Some more hydrangeas. 

And lastly, I finally put upholstery on my shabby chair in the shabby dollhouse.  I love how muted it is.  I think it softens the yellow of the chair quite a bit.  I made the rug for my Valentine's scene, but thought it looked nice in this room.     

Shabby Living Room

I am working away on the shabby living room.  I replaced the polka dot chair with the yellow one, even though I loved the polka dot one.  I'll find another place for it.  It just wasn't very shabby.  Anyway, I need to distress the yellow chair and upholster it with something shabby to tone it down.  I also added the shabby curtains.  It softens the room.

  

I made the mirror myself from a mold.  It turned out exactly how I was hoping.  I think the fire place needs a few more shabby things.  It's feeling rather bare.  

More Shabby Bedroom

The shabby house bedroom is coming along.  I love the wallpaper I found for it.  Just a few more molding pieces still need to be placed and it will be finished (structure wise).  I can then start adding furniture.  The only room left to work on is the bathroom next to it.  I will probably finish the attic too, but that shouldn't take very much work.

Bead Board Wall

I started work on the walls in the shabby house bedroom. I will most likely do a pastel yellow of some sort for the other two walls, and do the bead board only the bottom half. I like how it's turning out. I have to play a little with filling in the weird gaps around the ceiling. I'll probably use mat board.

This is my inspiration room.

Shabby Bed

I decided to try making a bed that I found a tutorial on at1 inch minis by Kris It took some time, and mine doesn't look nearly as good as hers ended up, but I'm pleased with the overall product. I still have to put a finish paint on it, sand it, and distress it a little (and make a mattress, which she also has a tutorial for), but I think it will definitely be a usable bed in my shabby chic house. Yea!

Shabby Couch

So, I made a shabby couch a few weeks back, but I didn't like how it turned out, so I didn't post about it. Needless to say, it has grown on me and I've decided it really isn't that bad. That means I can share a picture of it. I may re-do the ruffles at some future point (that's the part bugging me most, among other things), but until then, I think it's okay to display as a place holder until I possible find something better to replace it, or I adjust the things that bug me. Now to make some shabby pillows for it. :)

New Wallpaper

I think I found a winner for the shabby house living room wallpaper. The first picture is the old wallpaper and the other two pictures are the new. I liked the old wallpaper, but it just wasn't shabby enough. The new wallpaper should work better with the ideas I have in my head for the house. Yea!

My Secret Wish

Okay, I'm starting to realize how much I love mini furniture. And I think it's because I have a secret wish to create furniture in real life. If I had the means to do so, I think I'd be making all sorts of real size hutches and cabinets. But for now, doing it in mini will satisfy.

Again, I can't say I actually built this piece of furniture, but I did bring it from non-working to working...and painted it. So it sort of counts as me making it. The drawers were just a faux front before, and now they are working. I took the whole thing apart and then glued it back together except for the drawers. Then I separated the faux drawer into three parts and built boxes for them. It was a lot of fun actually. Anyway, I'm not sure where it will go, but for now it looks nice in this room.

My sweet hubby made me the little pink pitcher. It was his first try at making mini anything. I think it turned out pretty cute for a first try. I crocheted the little doily it's on, and I made the clock as well from a picture off the Internet. All rather shabby I think.
This is what I started with.




And this is what I ended with.

Another piece of Furniture!

Okay, so I'm loving painting furniture and making it look distressed and different. This particular piece was a pie safe with tin inserts. I took them out, papered the inside, and then painted and distressed the outside. I even added real glass to the windows. I love how it looks and wish I had one in real size. Why don't I have a blow up machine?

My First Piece of Furniture

Okay, so I didn't actually make this hutch, but I did do the paint job. I love Michael's hutches, but I think they stopped carrying them. At least at the Michael's by me. Anyway, I think it turned out rather shabby and it will go perfectly in the Cherry Cottage Boutique. I love the crystal knobs that I made out of swarovski crystals with pink paint in them. I also made the lotion jars on the hutch, out of beads and paint. They have mini little vintage lotion labels as well. I made the little boxes too, but I haven't labeled them. I have to come up with something to put in them first. The tinsel tree I also made, but I can't remember where I got the idea. I think I'll make it a little fuller though, next time around. I need more branches for cute ornaments. I've got plenty of space to fill in just this hutch. Better get to work.

This shows where it will be placed in the Cherry Cottage Boutique

The Linfield by Duracraft

The first on the list is the Linfield by Duracraft. This is the house that my parents gave to me and it sat in the box until after I was married. Well, that's actually not true. I did pull out all the pieces and looked at it for hours (dreaming), and even finished the base (stonework and all) before putting it back in the box and placing it under my bed for several years.


After I got married, the bottom of the house got smashed in a move and sat in the back of my husband's truck for quite some time, becoming subject to all sorts of weather. I revived it the best I could and began work on it again. I painted it the colors that are shown on the outside of the box, but ended up not liking it. So it got repainted as well. The point is, this house has been through a lot, so it's a miracle that it's still around.

This is my shabby chic house. I love shabby chic and knew one of my houses had to be dedicated to the style. That's why I re-painted it blue and white. I have the hardest time making decisions on colors and wallpapers. I love the colors I have picked for the outside, but I still can't decide on the inside. I'm not even sure I like the living room wallpaper, but this is the second time I've papered it and I'm not changing it for now. As you can see, the dining/kitchen is also being stripped of it's wallpaper. I haven't decided on the new paper yet. I'm thinking I'll keep with a rose theme for the walls. That's very shabby.



The floors look a lot better than this when they are clean. There is just a lot of construction debris on them right now. Time to clean house.



I had to include the first pitcher I ever made. It will most likely end up in this room. I got the tutorial from Marlies. I love the way it turned out. I'm not that great at making miniatures because I lack the patience, but I've loved everything I've made so far. Now I've got to learn to make flowers to fill the pitcher.




As you can see, there is still a lot to be done with this house. I like to imagine the tenants of each house as I build it, and this one I've decided belongs to a single girl (there's not much room for anyone else). She loves shabby chic style, and that's all I know about her right now.