The making of a miniature boutique

In case  you are wondering about the picture to the left, it is a boutique I finished a few months ago save for a few finishing touches. Here is the progression of the making. It took a little over a year to complete working on it a little bit at a time.



Just starting out with the basics.
The dollhouse flooring was bought from eBay,  stained then painted with a gloss to give it a nice finish. Only half  of the floor will be hardwood flooring.

 

A close-up of the wallpaper I bought from eBay. The great part is the border is printed on it.





I wanted something a little different so i glazed the outside pink then added a bronze crackle finish.



 

The number disk is a sequin on which I used a hole punch. I don't even know what the pink shelving was before. LOL



The door is part of a decorative doodad dismantled and painted to match. It is wood so I realize now I should have sanded it first. I will also add a door frame for it.  The clothes rack is from a Dollar Tree doll set painted silver. I made the gold dress on the left.




The shoes come from various sources. I even have a pair that might fit Barbie. Feet come in all sizes right? :-) The hangers are from the same set as the clothes rack from Dollar Tree. I bought several of these shelves new from a thrift shop so don't be surprised if you see several of them in my "mall."



This is as far as I have gotten. My miniaturist friend Janet from NAME suggested a few plants. Once I decide  which ones I will use I will add them.
These are two of the dolls who will be in my future doll stories. The pocketbook images on the left wall are iron on patches. Stay tuned for the finished product!





Mini ha ha ha

Between having my grandchildren for a week and traveling the next I have not had much time to get into my minis or posting any blogs. I have some posts coming up very soon. But in the meantime, I thought you might enjoy a little mini humor. Take a look at these and enjoy. :-)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/food/big-food-little-people/2012/06/18/gJQAeAcIlV_gallery.html#photo=15

More Woodworking pictures

I thought I would try to get some more of the pictures from the field trip to Bills workshop. I actually had to use a different computer. But I was able to get these to you.
Here they are:

Here is a tiny claw and ball leg Bill made ready for a nice piece of furniture.





Look at some of my goodies I got to take home.
 There is pine, mahogany, basswood and some types of wood I never even heard of before!



Woodworking in miniature

Today was so exciting. Some time ago I found a group for woodworkers. I told my friend Vanessa at Van's doll treasures. She was so excited she joined right away. After I heard her stories and saw her projects, I knew I wanted to start too.
On my second visit, I met a man who just happened to mention he made mini furniture.
I was intrigued and asked a few questions. Turns out he has his own workshop and is not only a master carpenter, but a licensed contractor. So this man knows houses...big and little ones!

He invited me to his shop. OMG! What fun.

I saw some of the tools and other equipment he uses for minis.

OK here is what I saw:


A contraption he made to work with mini tools



Table made by Bill. Notice the details. The drawers have tiny dove tail joints.
The shell design on the front was done by hand!

 I even got a goody bag of various types of wood with which to practice. Yippie! 
 As soon as I solve some technical difficulties, I will add more pictures. Stay tuned!