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!

In other doll house news...

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!

New Desk (and an office setting)

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!)

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

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!

New ReacJapan chairs?

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.

Tables, tables, everywhere

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

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.

After a break...

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!

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!

Other rooms

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

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.