Summer...

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!

Bathroom shelf

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!

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!

A dollhouse for my niece

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!)