my miniature adventure!

Decorating... Real World Style

2010-08-17T15:06:00.003-04:00

It's been such a long time... but a ton has happened! We bought our first house, and picked out grown up furniture and paint colors. Unfortunately, this has taken a toll on creative endeavors. However, soon I look forward to having a dedicated arts and crafts space (for now, the unfinished basement next to the washer and dryer).

Anyway, here are some pictures of my real life home design (mind you, we're still about 50% in boxes); it seems miniatures have inspired my real life paint and furniture choices.

First: this are still in boxes, but my Pottery Barn knock off living room tables. We got them in black:

Secondly, we bought this sofa in brown with a matching loveseat from Macy's. I love the mid century-ness of it. I also bought a fun accent chair, pictures to come later.

Our dining room set, a bit classic with a bit contemporary, also sitting partially in boxes. I can't wait to see my Fiesta Ware in the hutch!

A real life picture of our bedroom. I love the lime green, it's less neon in real life and is quite cheerful. Notice the lack of window treatments!

And a quick shot of our tiny guest room. I could have had this room as a craft room, but I'd rather have a guest room. I also need the extra clothing storage... I love the yellow.

Anyway, keep an eye out for me, I'll be back to crafting in no time! Until then, enjoy the summer!

Happy Holidays!

2009-12-30T14:11:00.004-05:00

above : The new Blythes with my CA Blythe.

above: Christmas presents from my boyfriend! (Yes, that is a Snuggie!)

below: My CA Blythe in a holiday dress I made for her, hanging out with the presents under the tree. And a Chewbacca ornament.

Hope everyone had a nice holiday, and has some great plans for New Years Eve. I have the perfect party dress (J.Crew espresso brown taffeta halter dress), but it's going to be so so cold. I think I'll just wear it with tights and a cardigan and suck it up, though.

Anyway, for Christmas by boyfriend bought me some new Blythes! So, here are Simply Peppermint and Simply Lilac! They are so cute, I cannot wait to make them some clothes... because he also bought me a sewing machine! Mind you, I haven't used a sewing machine since 8th grade sewing class... so it's going to be an experience.

I also am eager to reinvigorate my miniatures/dollhouse hobby. It's just so messy. I think I might start working on some of my HOM kits. Maybe I'll add that to my resolutions (which include 1. be better to others 2. eat healthier 3. read 1 classic book a month ~ I'm reading The French Lieutenant's Woman right now, which is very cool, structurally.)

So, enjoy the dolly pics and Happy New Year!!!

Sew-mania, and dollhouse shopping!

2009-11-10T14:37:00.006-05:00

So, it's been a while, but don't doubt that I have been busy with crafting and real life (stupid work, stupid cleaning the apartment, planning a halloween party, eating brunch...)

A few weeks ago, the annual Greensburg (near Pittsburgh) dollhouse show was held, and I had a really fun time this year... I didn't drink the night before so I was perfectly prepared for shopping! And shop I did... these pictures are kind of cruddy, but they give you an idea of the cool things I bought. I was in a holiday mood (I'd love to do a Halloween or Christmas themed mini store or house, even, someday).

Below are a few of the purchases I made... The first pic shows a cool Bodo Henig manger scene. Also, a pumpkin pail filled with candy, a fiesta-style pitcher (I have a real life one in kelly green), and an adorable bloody mary tray with cocktails and trimmings.

Here is a ginerbread house, a pumpkin, and a fiesta style holder full of kitchen utensils.

A purple dollhouse to go inside of my nieces purple dollhouse, some rococo-style porcelain wall hanging things (for the Emerson Row boho house), and a bunch of HOM kits (I got 6 for like $40!)

Here is the whole haul. including a red step up chair that I see sold everywhere, but love. It reminds me of a chair my grandparents had in their kitchen when I was little.

Also, a washer and dryer for the Emerson Row basement!

Okay, so much for those poor quality pictures. Here are some pictures of sewing type things I've been doing lately. The first is the beginning of the teen bedroom for the Emerson Row. The bed and shelves are Daisy House kits I bought heavily marked down on Ebay. I made the bedding, curtains, pillows, and stool thing. The stool is an empty thread spool covered with batting and then I glued on some fabric. It was cheap, easy, and I think it came out pretty cute. One day this room will have a floor!

I finally made bedding for the girl's bed for my nieces dollhouse. Here it is in the E.R. basement just for photo's sake. Making these doll comforters is a good way to practice sewing by hand, and also easy to do while watching tv on dvd!

The E.R. master bed is also dressed in this awesome brocade pattern fabric (it is sitting in the E.R. living room for now!)

Finally, I've been trying out more involved Blythe patterns, and I'm getting a bit better at sleeves and collars. This is one of my favorite outfits so far, even if it is a little Little House. It's even got bust darts! Woot! With cheap fat quarters and a little practice, anyone, even me (who has been sewing for like maybe 4 months now) can create some cool dollhouse textiles, or a Blythe wardrobe. Since the dolls cost so much, who wants to spend a lot more on pricey dolly clothes - I'd rather hit up a J Crew sale for myself!

As always, thanks for reading! Hope everyone is having a great fall!

A Lot Of Re-ment!

2009-10-05T20:53:00.003-04:00

This weekend, my boyfriend bought me the Re-Ment shop shelves (I've been wanting something to display my massive amount of Re-ment sweets). It's really great, and perfect for displaying all sorts of things, and it is the absolute perfect size for Blythe. Unfortunately, I need another because I ran out of room for cakes!

Activist Blythe!

2009-09-23T19:08:00.003-04:00

Well, Pittsburgh is abuzz with the G-20 summit, and the next few days are going to be awful with traffic and protesters and blocked streets, etc, etc so a few days ago my boyfriend and I started quoting PCU (a great '90s movie) to each other, "We're not going to protest! We're not going to protest!"

In honor of that, here is my lovely Blythe with her sign, protesting the protests... if only she could find me a way home tommorrow since pretty much every way will be blocked...

Back from Vacay-- Also, anyone want to trade Re-Ment?

2009-09-13T09:51:00.002-04:00

UPDATE: in case anyone wants to swap, still, the chocolate set and fairy tale dishes set are spoken for! thanks!

Hello, there! Well, we just got back from our vacation to the shore... where it rained everyday except for the day we left and the sun peeked through the clouds for like 5 minutes the whole week. Of course, now we are back in Pittsburgh and Voila! The sun is out, it's blue skies all around, and pleasantly warm.

Anyway, I took my Blythe with me, and was afraid to take her out until the last day because of the rain. But here are a few pics of her hanging out on the beach. I made her dress from an XOXOBlythe.com pattern.

Anyway, what I really wanted to talk about was trading Re-Ment. I have a few doubles and actually like buying blind boxes but don't want to have to go the whole selling route. I would love to trade for your doubles, sets you don't really like but that I don't have, any dollhouse miniatures that fit my style, or anything Blythe related. Maybe even for leftover fabric/ trim or craft supplies? If anyone is interested, here are the doubles I have right now:

IS DINNER READY, SET 2 BENTO BOX

This set has a lot of little pieces, but the best one is the plaid thermos with removable top... it's very cute and would look great with a Blythe or a Barbie.

KAWAII KITCHEN, SET 4 GELATTO SET

This set has a cute box filled with wafers, 2 gelatto bowls, and gelatto in a pan. I like the wafers and box, especially.

FAIRYTALE TABLEWARE, SET 8 LITTLE RIDING HOOD DISHES

I actually bought this set on purpose, and then got it in a blind box like 2 weeks later. It's so cute! It comes with 5 plates and plate stands that tell the story of Riding Hood. Great for display in a Blythe or Barbie house, or maybe even as over sized decorative pieces in a 1/12 house!

Lastly:

LOVELY CHOCOLATE, SET 9 "RELAX CHOCOLATE TIME"

A very nice set that will make you crave chocolate just looking at it! Comes with a tray, and cup of cocoa and a saucer, a plate with removable ice cream and a separate lava cake with fudge. Also comes with fork and teaspoon. Oh, and little tiny decorative raspberry garnishes. Seriously a nicely detailed set.

So, if anyone is interested in trade, please contact me via the blog and then we can trade emails or whatever! See you soon!

More Blythe!

2009-08-05T19:28:00.005-04:00

I've been having so much fun with my new doll (says the 29 year old!) and I've been trying to learn how to sew. Back in my younger days when we were forced to take sewing and cooking class, I really hated them and preferred wood shop and metal shop (we had to take all of them different years in middle school). I thought sewing and cooking were too girly, too stereotypical or something... now I love to bake and wish so much that I could sew. Blythe has inspired me to be creative and crafty, which I haven't felt in a while.

I went to Michael's and found a plain hat for her big head, and decorated it with fun flowers and ribbons. I wish I could wear big flower hats like some kind of crazy Golden Girl and not be looked at funny!

I went out and bought a Re-Ment hutch and now all of the Re-Ment I keep in shoe boxes has an owner:

I used some of my dollhouse fabric for the bohemian dollhouse (which I've ignored for about 4 months now!) and tried to glue together a dress for her, which looked OK:

But finally, I got the nerve and found some needles and thread and downloaded an awesome free pattern online (puchicollective.com) and I actually sewed this dress with cruddy, crooked stitches... but it fits, and it looks OK! Maybe there is hope for me yet?

P.S. It's even lined, and it has Velcro in the back! Doesn't she look sharp?

I'm around here somewhere!

2009-07-30T23:10:00.002-04:00

Well, the weather this summer has been pretty awful, huh? I've actually gone to the pool when it was like 74 degrees and cloudy just to get my money's worth out of my season pass! It's been so un-summerlike that I didn't even have my first funnel cake until a week ago! And now I know it's almost fall because I just had my birthday, which is always symbolic of autumn for me b/c as a child and even a teenager, I always got back to school stuff as presents!

Anyway, as the nights are getting a little bit longer, I can feel my urge to mini start to bubble up again. I've been collecting Re-Ment a ton now that I found a store in Pittsburgh that actually sells them (blind-boxed, though). I've wanted a Blythe doll for a few years now, and my sweet boyfriend bought me one as a present for the b-day (guess I'm too old for back to school clothes!) and I love her... I took some pics with little bits of Re-Ment.

So, hope everyone is having a nice summer and having lots of adventures and funnel cakes! Talk to you soon!

Summer...

2009-05-26T19:21:00.004-04:00

I haven't been doing as many mini related things lately because it's the brief part of the year the weather in Pittsburgh is actually delightful! This weekend we went out with friends for brunch and sat outside and I drank a frozen mimosa (sounds strange but very very tasty!). With the summer coming up, many free days are taken up by Sandcastle (water park with a bar!) and all sorts of only-in-summer things. Also, the Sims 3 is coming out in a few weeks, and I'm really excited for a new video game!

Here are some of the things I bought/ made recently.

This is my Lorne (from the TV show Angel) action figure I found at this cool store in the mall. He came with some great 1/12 accessories, too, like a microphone and stand, speaker, vodka, and cocktail glass. The Buffy/ Angel action figures always come with some fun accessories!
This is what I got in the mail today (oops! and when I got home I ordered a bathing suit and sandals from J.Crew!). The Bozart set with shipping was $20, the unfinished but built kitchen cabinets retail in the HBS catalog for around $10-$15 each and I got them for $5 each (2 wall cabinets and 2 standing ones) and the HOM bed kit was less than $10. I buy these kits when they are cheap. I think I can make some of the dresser kits into more contemporary looking furniture.

A close up of the Bozart kitchen set outside of packaging. So cute! The little tumblers are perfect! Some of the best modern mini dishes I have seen.

Also, here are the bed (Daisy House kit) and end table (HOM kit) I built for my niece's dollhouse. I still have to glue together some bedding, but it's pretty cute. I wanted it to be more "shabby chic" than pure blinding white. The night table has scrapbook paper lining the shelf, and also lining the inside of the drawer.

Also, in case you didn't think I had other hobbies (or, daresay, a life?!) here is a picture of some real life sugar cookies I made last week (it was still on my camera when I downloaded these pics). The colors were meant to be spring like. They were really good, alas, I should have been thinking about bathing suit season.

I am also trying to build a mini tulip table out of a dowel, some circle woodsies, and paperclay, but I got frustrated with it and took a break! I hope to see and talk to you all soon! Enjoy these first fabulous weeks of summer!

In other doll house news...

2009-05-05T18:52:00.004-04:00

Working on the Kylie dollhouse was fun, but since it had time constraints, it got to be like a chore sometimes (especially in the end, rushing to finish the floors and furniture). However, in the last few months I've still been trying to keep up with other mini things.

My modern dollhouse is a mess right now, but I ordered a few more designer chairs (this lot of 4 cost 99 cents plus $11 shipping... $3 a chair is a steal!). I also ordered the laptop and TV from a seller in Hong Kong. The computer came with a perfect little cell phone and the TV has a remote. They are very cute and realistic. I also ordered the modern style vacuum from HBS with my last order (though I'm sure the people in my dollhouse hate vacuuming as much as I do!)

The Emerson Row is currently holding a lot of craft supplies. The poor thing is a mess.

However, I did assemble and stain the bed (an HOM kit) which I plan to make bedding for sometime soon, probably in cream and white with some blue trim.

Lastly, a few months ago we were killing some time before meeting some friends before brunch when I decided to visit a store here in Pittsburgh called Kawaii. They had a bunch of Re-Ment for sale there, and it lead to a new Ebay obsession! Here are my little Re-Ment all in a shoe box. It kind of makes me want to build a play-scale house or buy a ridiculously priced Blythe doll and give her a weird name!

I entered a contest on the Re-Ment USA website and won a free, supposedly rare set called something birthday cake which is too cute. It has a red and white polka dot tea set, all sorts of little desserts, and a cake with candles.

See you soon!

Bathroom shelf

2009-05-04T15:11:00.003-04:00

Just wanted to add some pictures of the bathroom and the bathroom hutch from Kylie's dollhouse. The hutch is one of those $1 Michael's things. I ripped off the doors, painted it tan, applied crackle medium, painted white, sanded a little and modge-podged. The shelves are lined with cool scrapbook paper and the edges are thin ribbon. All together, if you already have paint, crackle medium, and modge podge this is a very cheap and fun and easy project and it looks pretty good. $1 for the hutch, 50 cents for the ribbon, and probably like 70 cents for the paper.

Baby Present Accomplished!

2009-05-01T17:57:00.006-04:00

I finally finished my niece's dollhouse this week after an emergency order from HBS for some "hard wood" flooring (their shipping was so fast, as it generally is, and I had 22 bonus dollars to spend...). We are leaving for the drive across PA in about an hour, but here are some pictures of the finished house.

I still have things I'd like to buy/ make for it, but it turned out to be a big project to accomplish in 2 months (considering almost everything in the house is made from kits or handmade). I still want to make family photos, etc.. and it needs some kitchen things.

The pictures are in no particular order, mostly because I am lazy and still have to pack.

The whole back of the house:

The porch with some hanging plants (bought from HBS):

The whole front of the house:

The couch, built from a vintage Realife Living Room kit bought in a lot of mini stuff from Craiglist:

The whole living room, complete with House of Miniatures clock kit & end table, Realife couch, coffee table, side table, and chair, and poorly homemade curtains & pillows:

Picture in kitchen from catalog with Chrysnbon frame:

Future kitchen with House of Miniature chairs, cool tile wall and floor, and lace curtain (made by gluing a piece of lace to a painted stick and gluing it to the window!):

Detail of homemade bedding, and homemade frame and catalog cutout picture in bedroom. Furniture from vintage Realife bedroom kit bought from Craiglist (got 2 Realife kits, Chrysbon kit, bathroom set, and a dollhouse kit for $20)

Michaels $1 hutch painted and decorated with scrapbook paper in the room which will be the little girls room one day (I have some more kits arriving):

View of whole little girls room with homemade curtain:

Upstairs hallway with H.O.M. table kit and homemade painting (from a catalog, with a "matte" made from a paint color sample from Loews!):

Whole bedroom, homemade curtains, bedding, Realife kit furniture, Chrysnbon kit chair, rug I accidentally bought 2 of, and a hat I received in a grab bag decorated with scrap ribbon and lace:

Office room with cool adhesive ribbon trim on walls, chair from kit bought from HBS, desk and shelf (can be separated) from Realife Living Room kit, vases are little wood bits from Michaels:

Me with the dollhouse in our messy living room... I call our decor, contemporary clutter!

The bathroom pictures didn't attach, but bf is getting eager to begin our 5 hour odyssey! I'll attach them soon, just because the hutch in that room is very cute! Anway, see you next time!

New Desk (and an office setting)

2009-04-01T20:56:00.003-04:00

In the last few weeks during my tax-return fueled spend-quest, I bought 2 great pieces of Paris Renfroe furniture, a table/desk and a coffee table. Here are some pictures of the desk in an office setting. Thought it looks great as a desk, I would like to use it as a dining table in a future house (besides, I've been eying up like 3 desks at Elf Miniatures!)

As always, forgive my awful picture taking ability. I was doing this in between trips to the laundry room...

Notice the Prismacolor pencil box and the watercolor notepad... those were made from free internet printies. Also, notice the Chia Pet because it is awesome.

A lot of the stuff on this desk are made from printies, too, including the how to draw book, the Spanish for Dummies book, the legal paper, the post card, and the money (which is kind of hidden but looks pretty great!)

HBS 40% April Fools Sale!

2009-04-01T10:06:00.003-04:00

What did you buy from miniatures.com for the 40% sale? Last year I bought RGT's 333 Franklin Street Townhome (still in a box!) which I can't wait to build some day. This year I bought the Bay Window Shop by Houseworks and it was about $50 with shipping (I was tempted to buy either a Lily dollhouse kit, or a Brookwood... but I think I want something smaller and less messy to work on next).

These shops are fun and easy to build, and a great way to try out new things. I never would have put craft stick floors or paperclay in my $300 dollhouse, but in a smaller shop, it is easier to try and less disasterous if the attempt goes wrong. Plus, they come with the cute windows and doors and trim. I'm thinking I might try to get my boyfriend involved with this one, and maybe make a Pittsburgh tourist shop complete with sports team merchandise, local books, gift baskets, etc. Alot of the stuff could made with a computer and a printer. But who knows, plans always have a way of changing!

Miniature chairs taking over! (and a new action figure!)

2009-03-25T20:43:00.006-04:00

I've been buying a ton of mini stuff lately, which I guess is ok, because I haven't been buying clothes (I tend to get really lazy and buy new clothes when I don't feel like doing laundry.) Here are just a few of the things I bought...
A modern style tv from HBS. Flowers from a store we visited on fake vacation.
Colorful dishes from Ebay, lots of kitchen implements from HBS and Manor House.

New coffee table, tv, food, water, basket, vase.

Beer, tankards, Xander.

Not all of these are new, but this is my entire mini chair collection. I bought 3 of these on Ebay in the last few weeks.

There are more items not in the pictures. More stuff coming in the mail. More stuff all over my living room! More stuff I am "watching" in My Ebay. More stuff I envy on other blogs! Argh!

A dollhouse for my niece

2009-03-25T20:22:00.004-04:00

My brother and his wife are having a baby girl, she is due to be born in June and her name will be Kylie. I know that everyone will be getting all kinds of baby clothes and stuff like that, so I am making her a dollhouse. Here is my progress so far (I've been working on it about 3 nights a week!)

It's not really my style, but my brother has like a dark wood dining room table and goes white water rafting. (In RL, my bf and I have a vintage formica dining room table and my outdoor activities pretty much end with drinking baybreezes at a local water park-- which has a bar, so... you know, two birds, one stone). The address on the house is their address, and I have all kinds of furniture kits to build. I figure, this way, she could play with it growing up, and every year for special occasions I can buy her something new for her little house. I want to miniaturize some family photos, especially of family members who she will never get to meet, but would have loved to have known her. Maybe I will include some dorky pictures of my brother when my mom dressed him up in toddler Miami Vice gear (he had some incredible height on his spiked hair!)

Buffy is wasted!

2009-03-17T19:40:00.002-04:00

Buffy lives in the Georgetown house, with her mom and Dawn (Dawn currently resides in the bathtub because she is so annoying). After a hard day of slaying vampires, she enjoys several bottles of liquor and hanging out with her weapons.

One day I'd like more Buffy action figures (I'd love to have Angel and Spike work at the coffee shop, and Giles to live in the Emerson Row!)

New ReacJapan chairs?

2009-03-16T16:53:00.003-04:00

While perusing the internets for some bargains on those glorious little ReacJapan modern chairs, I stumbled across this...Another series of designer chairs! Look at the Barcelona lounger! Anyway, the Reac website seems to be down at the moment, but the link for the pre-order for these is http://www.etradersplace.com/osc/dollhouse-miniature-designer-chairs-p-1212.html?osCsid=8d5fc6f00bea49bc36f6cbe4d259c85c

Maybe they still will come out with more one day? And maybe expand their line to include other furniture-- the one mini thing I want so much more than anything is a tulip table.

Emerson Row bedroom

2009-03-09T02:27:00.003-04:00

Just a few pics of the ER bedroom now that it has a wall to separate it from the other room. I suck with sawing a straight line, so instead of trying to saw a doorway, I made a fake door out of some molding and fun foam. I also suck at mitering crown molding, so I used little blocks in the corners to cover that up (hey, people do that in real life, too!)
Just an artsy picture!

Tables, tables, everywhere

2009-03-09T00:43:00.004-04:00

Had a 20% of coupon for an entire purchase at Michaels, and combined with an annoying week at work, and voila- retail therapy...

Wandering through the wood aisles, I noticed these 3 inch candle stick holders (2.99 for a pack of 4) and these 3 inch circle cutouts (2 or 3 dollars for a pack of 6). I cut off a little from the candle holders and glued on the circles and now I have some tables for the coffee shop. They are painted and everything (forgot to take a picture). Also, the cut off bit could be a planter or a vase of some sort.
I ordered 2 Daisy House kits from Ebay from a going out of business miniatures store, and put them together. They were very easy, and seem to be very adaptable to different styles (much more so than the HOM kits). In the below picture is the plant stand kit from Daisy House, as well as the unfinished table now finished from the Manor House sale, and some little cute bird pictures I made from square woodsies, some paint chips, and cutouts from a Posters.com catalog.

Here are the Daisy kits finished, painted black and modge podged in gloss. They remind me of IKEA Lack tables, with straight and simple Parsons-y lines. I'm going to squeeze them in the Georgetown with my modern decor.

Also, here is another weird grab bag I ordered, this time from Ebay. I think I'm going to stay away from grab bags for a while, because I get such strange things. The usable stuff included a gum ball machine, a little log holder for fireplaces, and a tiny Almond Joy candy bar. The other stuff, not so much. I guess maybe I have a little bit of a gambler in me... maybe next time I'll just buy a dollar scratch off ticket, because it would be cheaper and less disappointing!

Until next time...

Tax Return Shopping Relief & Emerson Row Kitchen

2009-03-04T00:36:00.005-05:00

So, this is the ER kitchen so far (no kitchen furniture, sorry!). I cut this paper wonkier than usual, but had left over ceilings, so I used it with the wall and it looks pretty nice. The floor is made from Greenleaf peel and stick tiles. This picture is without flash.

This picture is with flash so it's a little washed out, but it gives you an idea of how the room is shaped. Don't laugh at my window seat cushion, I can't sew! It's just fabric glued to a shape covered by fun foam.

Also, I did my taxes early. Usually, I save half of it and spend the other half on fun stuff. I bought my boyfriend his birthday present (we are going on a mini vacation to a town close by and staying in a nice hotel and going to do funny, cheesy touristy stuff). Also, I ordered a bunch of stuff from Manor House Miniatures.

I ordered 2 ReacJapan chairs (she has really good prices on these, too, and 2.95 shipping on any size order, so if you find ones you like, it's a lot cheaper than bidding on Ebay and paying like 12.50 shipping per item), 2 unfinished wood pieces for the Emerson Row, and a bunch of fun little things, like milk and juice containers and cakes (I always order a cake, even if I've started making my own) and little vases and all kinds of things for the kitchen.

Here is a closer view of some of the stuff... I love the little teaspoons and bundt pans. The beer tankards are for my dream of having a sweet bar in the Georgetown.

Also, there were grab bags up for offer, at 7.99 a pop. I ordered 3, and though they were kind of hit or miss, there were some fun surprises.

This one came it a bunch of little things. I like the books (who can't use some more mini books?), the brooms, and the little silver angels.

This one came with some nice cut out printie type things, which I've mostly put together and some sponge brushes, which are always useful. I also really like the holiday decorations, the stack of newspapers, and the head statue thing.

This bag had a bunch of curtains and a bedding set in it. I have been trying to get my mom into minis and have been toying with the idea of starting her a house... these things could be saved for that. I like the lamp.

Every one of these came with lady bugs and a bunch of Dollshouse Emporium plates. I'm wondering if I can paint over the designs on the plates somehow... that way I can use them. Also every bag came with a little kitten and Halloween puzzle. Weird. All in all, they were fun.

Emerson Row Progress (kind of) & More Kits

2009-02-27T00:00:00.004-05:00

Here is where the Emerson Row is right now: the roof is finally on! My boyfriend said tonight that it is finally starting to look like something resembling a house :( but I think he just gets upset because 1. I'm so messy and 2. I get engrossed when I'm in the dollhouse zone and kind of ignore him. Hey, he gets the same way when his Wii or the Steelers are involved.
The roof will be shingled, sometime hopefully in the next year, and there is trim getting ready for the eaves. There are also bits of stairs somewhere in the lving room.

I love the paperclay foundation, especially now that it is painted. It was easy and cheap to do. All you have to do if you would like something like this is roll out some paperclay, carve it in your shape, beat it up a little bit with bristles or anything to give it some texture, and let it dry. I roll it onto the house directly, but put a thin layer of tacky glue on first.

The painting job was achieved by mixing 50/50 cheap acrylic and water. I used 3 washes, a darker brown, a lighter brown, and a grey.

This will be a bedroom. I know the pattern is big, but it is kind of cool and modern, get girly. There will be trim to cover up my poor cutting skills.

This will be the office/ den sort of area. I think I might carpet it.

Here are some recent kit boxes from Ebay.

The mirror, however, is a lost cause (b/c I broke all of the fancy trim... now it will be just a plain mirror.)

Here are the lyre back chairs, the sideboard, the bedstand, and a footstool (came in a group lot, and it is so easy to build, so I kept it.) The handles are glued on clearance beads.

Sorry for being so long winded tonight!

Coffee Shop Additions

2009-02-26T23:49:00.002-05:00

Last time I could drag my boyfriend to take me to the craft store, I found these cute little wooden chalk boards in the wood craft aisle for about $2 for a pack of three. They are perfect for menu chalk boards for the coffee shop! I just wrote really small with a white Prismacolor pencil and voila, menus for the coffee shop. Super cheap, easy, and cute.

Here they are hanging in the coffee shop, along with some cool coffee shop stickers I found when I was buying stuff online. They were on sale! Also, in this picture, I made the apples on the counter.

Just a view of the front currently!

Here is another nice view of the coffee shop. Next time I'm working on it, I'll take some better pictures of the pastries in the counters. Now, I'm just trying some small cafe style tables. And a fridge that fits in.

More Kit Goodness!

2009-02-17T01:07:00.005-05:00

Oh, Ebay...

Oh, well... at least these kits were bargains, and for the most part super fun. I think they turned out to be pretty unique. It would have been pretty cool if they continued to make these in all sorts of styles (modern kits would be pretty sweet). I have 6 more kits on the way.

Below is a line up of: the Houseworks kitchen cabinet (from the HBS catalog, it is the sink/stove unit with a different sink in it and a counterop made of natural stone looking scrapbook paper), the tilt-top table kit, the something cabinet or cupboard kit, and the half circle table kit from before. This room will one day be the kitchen by the way, I love this wallpaper so much (40% off a whole book of paper from Michaels with coupon!)

This is the triple tiered server thing and the wing chair. The chair was a pain, but it looks ok. I think the server will be cool in the office, with all sorts of supplies on it.

Close up of bathroom cabinet.

Close up of wallpaper/ half moon table.

These kits were some sort of side chairs and some sort of tea table (maybe?) kit.

I love the couch! Cheap fabric, cheap couch, and I didn't F it up really! The footstool is another kit.

This is a shop sign kit from HBS for the coffee shop. It is decorated with some cool coffee neon stickers I found.
Lastly, not a kit, but here are some pillows I attempted to make from scraps and ribbon, and some curtains and the window seat I made. All in all I think most of these came out pretty girly and fun!

House of Miniatures Kit attempt #1

2009-01-29T23:27:00.004-05:00

So, last weekend it snowed alot... so I shopped on Ebay.

I won this kit for like $3. It's kind of traditional for my liking, but for a bohemian chic house, it could work.

It was super easy to build and only needed sandpaper, glue, and paint.

I painted the first coat cream, then added crackle medium, and then a light coat of aqua paint. After the crackle finsihed, I sanded to make it look more aged and went over the whole thing with a thin wash of brown paint to dirty it up a bit. After that all dried, I applied some matte Modge Podge and Voila! Once again, due to my sucktastic picture taking, you don't really get the details, but it looks great and I'd recommend these kits to anyone (you can always find some on Ebay).

Polymer Clay Miniatures

2009-01-29T23:20:00.005-05:00

So, after a really long time, I decided to try polymer clay again... I've been reading a bunch of tutorials and stuff, and here is what I came up with.

Not perfect (and my picutre taking sucks) but everythng is pretty identifiable. There's donuts, croissants, cookies, eclairs, bread, cinnamon rolls, some fruit pastries, and some candles. The candles are really cute and were super easy to make. I just rolled some yellow and translucent Premo clay together, formed into a log, cut to about 1/2 inch, squashed a little, and made some thinner rolls for the waxy melty bits. The wick is just black clay rolled really tiny and inserted into a hole in the top. After I baked, I coated in matte sealer. I'm going to make a bunch because I decided that the Emerson Row is going to be bohemian chic.

D.I.Y. ?

2009-01-26T22:44:00.004-05:00

January in Pittsburgh has been pretty much full of two things: freezing cold weather and Steeler-mania. For me, of course, this means my boyfriend spends Sundays on the couch drinking beer, and even if he didn't, it's so F'ing cold outside that I just want to stay in here making a mess, gluing tiny little things together while watching the latest and greatest VH1 reality dating show.

Anyway, I've been trying to make the Emerson Row a little more funky, bohemian, and kind of more personal than my Georgetown. I'm trying to make some more stuff or modify stuff that I buy.

So far, this is the living room. The wallpaper is scrapbook paper I bought when I was visiting my parents and the ceiling is one of those common white ones painted with metallic copper paint. I love it so far! I also made the window seat cushion with some fabric I found randomly while looking for ribbon, and some thin batting and cardboard.

This just shows more of the ceilings. I ran out of decent glue so the ceiling lamps are kind of just floating. These ceilings are metallic silver and blackened bronze metallic paint.

I painted this Chrysnbon chair kit cream, then pink with copper accents for the coffee shop. It came out really cute.

I've also been experimenting with printies. The sketch book and the watercolor books have pages with little tiny sketches and paintings on them.

Here are some floors I've been working on for the Emerson, using Greenleaf peel and stick tiles and wood:

And the finsihed wood floor (it looks really cool and old in person, I'd highly recommend these wood strips, they are cheaper than the normal wood flooring sheets and seem more sturdy and versatile)

Emerson Row progress

2009-01-18T19:42:00.002-05:00

Hello! It's been a while, again... I'm lazy with the blogging, I suppose. With the holidays, travelling to visit my family, party planning, work, and now playoffs (ha), it's been kind of busy. Luckilly, now, things seem to be slowing down a bit. The Emerson Row has siding on it now, and is seeing little bits of progress every week. I think the colors look great together.

Anyway, Michael's is having a pretty sweet clearance sale, so I have about 30 pieces of scrapbook paper... if only I could decide exactly how I want the inside!

Coffee Shop

2008-11-06T23:06:00.001-05:00

In the last few months, I've started buying a few things here and there for the coffee shop, including a pay phone, and some sweets. I love the carrot cake because I've made real life carrot cupcakes with little carrots on the top (I love to bake and eat anything sugary). The walls will one day be full of fliers and ads and a menu, of course, but all that is up now is a picture I cut out from an Allposters catalog urging the patrons to "drink coffee". I also put the sign up and named the coffee shop. It's called the 71A cafe, after a coffee shop near my house called the 61C cafe. The 61C is named for a bus route which I take every day. The 71A is a different bus route in the part of Pittsburgh I used to live in, which is cooler and has a "hipper" vibe, and this coffee shop is somewhat inspired by the one near my old apartment, so it is named for that bus which I loved to hate for 5 years.

Soon, for Christmas, I will be visiting my parents in eastern PA. They have an A.C. Moore there and I'd love to get another one of these Houseworks shops because they are so easy and fun to build. I told my boyfriend that maybe we would make a Steelers/ Pittsburgh sports team store and it would be all black and gold and that would be really easy to fill because we could print off alot of stuff from the internet (giant Big Ben cardboard cut- outs and the like!). I'd also like to make a bar, because I am part of the time a bartender.

Emerson Row

2008-11-06T22:45:00.001-05:00

A while ago, I found the apparently much sought after Emerson Row dollhouse on my local Craigslist for $20! Luckilly, though I wasn't the first to email about it, I was the first to pay, so the house was mine.

A nearly 30 year old kit is kind of a pain. All of the pieces were there, however, a 1/8" plywood kit and a 3/8" MDF kit are completely different things. Early in the building process I cut my finger with an Exacto, bled allover my parquet floors, and kind of put it off for a while. As soon as it got cooler out, though, I started to work like crazy!

The kit box:
My "work" area (which is mostly the floor!)

The shell, so far (and you would not believe how long it took to get this wood to cooperate!)

My attempt at paperclay stone for a foundation (still needs to be painted):

My attempt at paperclay bricks (still need to be grouted/ aged):

I'm still not quite sure what the inside will be furnished like, though it will be contemporary. I have a wealth of ideas but not really any other wealth so I'm trying to be kind of frugal with this one.

I'm back!

2008-11-06T22:27:00.000-05:00

After a break from mini-ing (moving, then summer, and vacation, and getting back to being busy and responsible at work) now that it is fall, I can't stop. We went to the Pittsburgh dollhouse show last month, and ever since then I've been spending a few hours a week on mini things. First, I finally got columns for my Georgetown, which were super difficult to find (finally got a bunch from England) and put up my corbel brackets from forever ago.

Then I painted the edges between th rooms on the back of the house to make the whole thing neater. And then I "varnished" (i.e. modge-podged) the wood floors to make them a little bit shiny. Then I put in all of my new goodies (I got a lap-top, a little bonsai, some food... and my favorite, a stand mixer for the kitchen.)

See the stand mixer? It came white, but I painted it teal to give it that $400 Kitchen-Aid look. In the foreground you can see my espresso machine (from a suggestion from Mini MC).Christmas is coming up! Like my invisible dollhouse people, I had better get shopping!

The bathroom finally has towel racks :

See my new lap top?
A great bonsai plant in the living room and a coffee table stand in until I get a real one (this is the back of some case, but hey, it works for modern decor, right?)

Moving time!

2008-05-28T22:51:00.000-04:00

So, this weekend is the big move, and I'm only about 30% packed... which is why I am on the internet, reading stupid things on Wikipedia, and drinking fruit punch.

Anyway, in dollhouse news, I've made a few exciting purchases. I won a couple new ReacJapan chairs on Ebay for a super good price, also, I won some of the smaller-sized Re-Ment items (cute little office-y type things). Also, on my local Pittsburgh Craigslist, I found an old Greenleaf house for $20. It's a house no longer made called the Emerson Row, which I think will look just perfect as a rented city house for some young 20 something types or college students. No pictures, because all of that stuff actually is packed. I'd love to find a really cool, Parsons-esque desk (really straight lines) and some miniature computers that don't look clumpy.

Maybe I should pack my internet and Buffy dvds so I can finally pay attention and pack everything else?

After a break...

2008-04-27T12:51:00.000-04:00

So... I got busy at work... busy watching tv on dvd (who ever knew Charmed could be as addictive as nicotine)... busy drinking after work... busy worried about being busy moving next month... busy reading stupid stuff on the internet and playing video games...

ANYWAY... finally, this week I made a little progress with both projects. This is currently the Georgetown kind of decorated, inhabited by one Christmas treasure troll, 2 free reindeer from DollsHouse Emporium, and a free milkman doll (?) also from DHE.

This reindeer enjoys sitting on the futon in the future home office, watching the tv. His favorite pieces of furniture are the Noguchi table (thanks, Mom) and the entertainment unit from Ebay. The other reindeer enjoys the improvements brought to the bathroom by the Chyrsnbon bathroom accessories kit. I especially like the toilet paper and holder and the little soap dishes. Weirdly enough, platinum nail polish makes a really good brushed steel effect on these plastic kit pieces.

This is an old postcard I had hanging in my kitchen, I think from one of those Dover postcard packs. (The Dover catalogs are really good for this kind of stuff, they're really cute if you group them in painted Ikea frames. I have the Erte fashion designs in my rl living room). Anyway, I love Stuart Davis, and I always liked this painting, so it will be the focal piece of one of the rooms. I have a Kandinsky one I got at the Guggenheim in NYC a while ago that I'll frame, as well. The coffee shop is somewhat progressing. At a show, I got some little fixtures (the soda machine and the syrup/ sauce holders). I finished the Chrynsbon chair kits. They purposely don't match.

This is the milkman chilling in the living room. This room has an awful configuration for furniture... which is pretty true to life in this kind of old house, I guess. I love the mirrors grouped on the wall ($2 from Michaels). The trim in this room is kind of crooked, but it's an old house, right? I still like the juxtaposition of stripey wallpaper and duo-toned walls. This room still calls out for some sweet panel curtains and a shag area rug, but at least it's got trim now.
The hallway got some trim and doors. The stairs are only tentatively in, bc of a mistake I made when building the structure originally. They don't fit in the slot! I'm going to tape and hide the wire behind some sort of large floor plant.
The kitchen got a fridge and some more fiesta ware and a strawberry shortcake. I love this fiesta ware, it is so delicate and pretty. The cake is really pretty, too. The fridge is a new design from one of the major mass produced lines, but it's sleek and moden. They make stoves, dishwashers, and laundry to match.

The bedroom got a little chia pet! It's on the bookshelf. Still needs a lot of books, art, and, of course, a dresser. And shoes.
Also, I got a RGT 333 Franklin Street Kit which I won't start working on until this house is done (HBS half off sale!), but this whole process will make that house even better. I don't know if I will bother wiring that one at all considering how finicky my lights are and how the tape is so difficult to even slightly conceal. But I have all kinds of cool ideas for it ( a modern- baroquey type thing with patterned walls and mismatched, updated antique furniture and very boho.) I know I definitely want "tin" ceilings.

Anyway... until next time.

New stuff!

2008-03-20T15:28:00.000-04:00

A new set of bar chairs and a table for what will one day be the game room in the Georgetown... can't you just see it with some cocktail glasses?
An etertainment set I won off of Ebay, complete with a light up television. This is for the home office/ guest room.
See- now guests can sleep on the futon and wake up to watch the morning weather.
Some cakes I made out of polymer clay, a shelving unit from HBS, and a refrigerator magnet/ mini cappuccino maker (I know it's a bit big, but it still works)
Some Chrysnbon kits, the chairs are for the coffee shop and will be really mismatched and beaten down. The bathroom fixtures are for the Georgetown. Hopefully, these plastic kits will go together well (I even bought the right glue for them!)

I also got a bunch of trim (crown, baseboard, and chair rail) and some doors/ doorknobs to finish up the Georgetown interior.

Hopefully, I'll be able to get to work on both projects soon!

Even more store progress!

2008-02-24T20:02:00.000-05:00

While I bake some more clay, here are some pictures of my progress on the coffee shop this week:

The floor is done with cheap, $2.99 a bag skinny craft sticks and some left over varnish. I like how it kind of looks worn out. The stones in the front are paper clay (I've started painting them tonight) and the walls are now embelished with left over trim from my dollhouse and some sale ribbon. The wainscoting on the back wall is made from popsickle style thick craft sticks painted deep purple, then coated with crackle, and painted light greyish-white.

The good news is I finished my taxes today, so I feel a shopping excursion coming on. I am searching still for mini cappucino/ espresso makers. I bid on a fridge magnet that's slightly bigger than scale but detailed and sleek looking. I may even try out the Re-Ment coffee makers, since they look modern (even if they are bigger). If anyone has any other suggestions... please PLEASE write me!

Store progress (Houseworks Street of Shops)

2008-02-20T00:24:00.001-05:00

I had a field day at Michael's today (lots of good bargains) and worked a little on the shop after work. The outside is now aged (with a wash of brown paint, crackle medium, and sanding) and I've begun working on the inside walls.

Also, all polymer clay 2 ounce packs were on sale for 99 cents, so I've begun experimenting with it. So far, I suck, and that's ok, but at least you can tell that my coffee mugs are coffee mugs... at least I hope so!

Another project!

2008-02-17T20:43:00.000-05:00

So, we went on a little roadtrip this weekend and had a great time... incidently, we happened to be near an AC Moore store (none of this in Pittsburgh). I printed out one of their coupons and got a Houseworks shop kit (the 2 window store) and a bunch of paints.

My plan for this is an artistic, city coffee house with a bulletin board, tasty treats, mismatched bohemian style furniture, and maybe a microphone and a guitar.

I'd love to find an espresso or cappucino machine in 1/12 scale, which is so far not happening. I'd also like a commercial style refirgerator with a clear door for displaying sodas and the like.

So far, the front has a coat of paint which I want to grime up a bit... oooh, maybe with some graffiti or something. Anyway, here is what I have so far.

Other rooms

2008-02-14T13:21:00.001-05:00

The house has 2 other rooms. The plum room is going to be a game room/ bar (I think the mini liquor bottles are so cute) and the orangish room is going to be a home office/ guest room.

For the guest room, I have a mini futon that I bought from HBS. It's so cute and it really folds out into a bed. I think this room will look really great with a mess of books and papers, perhaps a little tv... Maybe I should start working on my taxes so I can go shopping with my tax return!

Hallways

2008-02-14T13:10:00.000-05:00

This house has a hallway on every floor, right in the middle of the rooms. Each of the hallways is painted in a khaki color and has hardwood floors stained in mocha.

The foyer is something I've been working on. I love the flagstone, unfortunately I can't cut straight lines for anything, but I think with the trim it looks ok. The flagstone is part of a sheet from HBS that was all white. I painted it with washes of acrylic and put a little chalk into the mix. The red light is also from HBS. It had an accident when I was placing the walls and the wires were ripped out of the ceiling. This is as good as I can get it to look right now.

The second floor landing has its bannisters up. I bought a pre-assembled set which was a big sanity-saver.

The top floor landing is going to be a hallway/art studio. My mom got me the little art table, and I made the bookshelves out of balsa, scrapbook paper, and paint.

The bedroom

2008-02-11T23:37:00.000-05:00

This is the bedroom so far, I love the bright green walls (I want to paint my real life bedroom this color!). I actually made the bedding with some clearance and sale fabrics from JOanns, and I don't even sew. You can accomplish alot with ribbon and glue. The comforter is actually padded like a real comforter; I glued flat makeup spnges to a piece of magazine paper and glued the fabric around it. Most of the items are once again from Dollshouse Emporium (they have reasonably priced modern miniatures and the best selection of modern lamps out there). The purple chair is from Ebay, it is a Raine Rake A Seat chair. I need to do a great deal of decorating in here, including some wall decor and a dresser of some sort. The issue with these rooms are that they are all longish and narrow, so the dresser is going to have to be pretty small.

The beginnings of a living room

2008-02-11T22:01:00.001-05:00

So far, the living room is kind of a mess. The blue tape blob is a light I hardwired when I was learning how to tape wire the house, so I kind of had to paint around it. The room still needs all of its trim. There isn't alot of space, so I don't know if I can fit everything that I'd like to fit.

The walls are 3 different colors (tan, fuschia, and a striped and glossified piece of scrapbook paper). The couch and ceiling light are from Dollshouse Emporium, the fireplace is a cheap wooden one that I painted and added some mosaic stones for the hearth and a painted brick latex sheet to the interior walls. The mantle is covered with marble effect paint chips from Lowes which were then coated with decoupage gloss. The cow print chair is from ReacJapan, bought on Ebay (can't say enough about the Designer Miniature collection!) The floor is a Houseworks wooden sheet stained with a mocha wood stain. I've started stiching some toss pillows, and I'd love some black and white photos on the wall and a shag area rug. Just wait until you see the lamps for this room.

The kitchen, so far

2008-02-11T21:50:00.000-05:00

Ok, so maybe the kitchen looks a little more 70s than modern, but perhaps we can pretend that it was redesigned 30 years ago and it's imaginiary inhabitants really dig the green and gold grooviness of the whole thing.

The patterned wall is a pice of Martha Stewart scrapbook paper, the fixtures were a Christmas gift from my lovely boyfriend (from Dollshouse Emporium). The chairs are Bozart, and the various little things were either gifts or bought at the dollhouse show we attended in October. I particularly love the mini Fiesta-ware type dishes (thanks, Mom) and the little liquor bottles set out on the breakfast table. The floor is a clear vinyl sheet with a 3D pattern you can paint any which way you like (puffy paint works well for grout with its pointed tip). The sheets (it took 2 of them) were from HBS. I still need a fridge, and a wall phone. And lots of food.

The bathroom, so far.

2008-02-11T21:40:00.000-05:00

The bathroom is on the top floor, and has since acquired a door. The modern bathroom fixtures are from Dollshouse Emporium, including the silver lights. The ceiling light is from Ebay, I think. The platform is made out of a corner from a chocolate box covered in one of those vinyl sheets. The mirror is from Michaels (like one dollar for 2 mirrors.) The ceiling was made from DAP lightweight spackling and textured with a sponge and painted white. It really hides wiring mistakes!

I'd like to add some towel racks and lots of toiletries. I also plan on making some little Mark Rothko-esque paintings and framing them.

RGT's Georgetown Dollhouse... the beginning.... A Modern Dollhouse Voyage

2008-02-11T21:02:00.002-05:00

Perhaps I'm a dork, or living out some sort of strange second childhood, but late last summer I decided I needed to build a dollhouse, complete with working lights, tiny food, and all sorts of fun, little things.

I bought a Real Good Toys Georgetown kit from my local dollhouse store, and had my boyfriend lug the 60 pund box up my steps where I left it in the box for at least a month, confused by the instuctions.

I had big ideas for this house, though.

There are 2 things I wanted to accomplish. The first was I wanted it to look like a house in my neighborhood, a sort of run down area of Pittsburgh that was once a fancy, city suburb. The houses are all brick, with long porches and columns.

The other thing I wanted to do was make the house modern, or at least contemporary on the inside. I love all kinds of 20th century design, and I wanted my dollhouse to reflect how I might furnish my dream house now. Unfortunately, modern and contemporary miniature items are few and far between.

The following pictures are just some of the steps I took when finally constructing the house. Each one of my bricks in painted individually (which I did while watching seasons one through 6 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer). Dying the shingles dyed my hands for about 3 days (even though I wore gloves) and eventually I decided to ditch the original porch posts and some of the railings because they came out so crooked.

Finally, after months of work (don't even get me started on wiring the @#$%ing thing!) the house currently looks like this on the outside:

Except now it has some porch lights. Anyway, next time I'll show what I've done to the inside.