One Project Ends, Another Begins

I finished the final rug.  I think that might have set a land speed record for me.  The big rug took around five months.  This one (which is considerably smaller) took two weeks.  It's not an exact match to the original, but I think it's close enough.

You can see it in place in the photo below.  It just fits!

Now that it's truly finished, the library has moved to a bookshelf.  The shelf it's on is almost perfectly at eye level, which makes peeking into the room a delightful experience.  😊

So happy with my little treasure.

And now it’s on to other projects.  As promised, I have gone back to the Fairfield to finish a few things.  I've started with the kitchen garden, since what I most felt like doing was making miniature plants.  Isn’t it wonderful how making miniatures involves so many different skills and elements?  If you get tired of doing one thing, you can just do something else for a while.  Anyway, here is the start of my garden.

I made a set of steps patterned on the front steps to the Fairfield (although not quite as wide).  They will fit in the gap I left in the foundation.  They have been attached to a piece of bass wood cut to fit in the "L" of the Fairfield, although it is a bit deeper and will extend somewhat beyond the right side.  I had to have enough space for a decent garden, after all.  The wood has been painted brown and covered with dried coffee grounds as soil.  I still have a lot of the egg carton stone I used on the foundation, so I put some of it to work to make a little walkway.  Mostly I just filled in between the stones with coffee grounds, but I also added a bit of moss made from flock.  The chickens are so excited!  They are looking for bugs and seeds, although I'm afraid they won't find either.  (Keep your eyes peeled, though, when I post pictures of the finished garden.)   I’ve started making some vegetables, and guess whose tutorial I found on the Web? Our own Jodi of My Miniature Madness has a great, simple tutorial for a vegetable garden that I’ve been adapting to work in half scale!

I’ll provide information on how I made the various vegetables when I post the finished garden, but for now, I’ll leave you with some pictures that will give you a hint as to some of the things I’m “planting.” ;-)

Have a great mini week, everyone!

The Fairfield

This is another Throwback Thursday post.  My next house, after the RGT Bungalow, was the Fairfield by Greenleaf.  It seems to be a rite of passage for all half-scale builders, and I really liked the L-shaped layout of the house.  However (and I know this is heresy), I did not enjoy building it.  The wood was poor quality and rough; pieces had to be punched out of stamped sheets; slots and tabs didn't align, requiring much filing, trimming and sanding; and there were warpage issues.  Honestly, if this had been the first house I built, it would also have been my last. 

Nevertheless, I persevered, and, in the end, I had a house that didn't turn out too badly. In many ways, it was never truly finished, though.  I think I was so frustrated by some aspects of it that my heart wasn't really in it (plus, I was very anxious to get to my next project).  As I've been putting together this tour, I've been seeing things I'd like to redo, fix, or complete, and I've been making a list.  

I did buy the upgrade kit for the windows and doors, which I think was a great improvement.  I also added a stairway from the first to the second floor; turned the porch roof into a balcony, which included swapping out a window for a door; and closed off the second exterior door from the kitchen to give me more wall space.

Someday, I intend to put steps down from the kitchen to a little kitchen garden, with chickens pecking happily in it. 

I think the kitchen was my favorite room to do.  Its era is probably a little older than the era of the house, but I had been having fun studying Victorian kitchens, and really wanted to reproduce the feel.

This adorable dry sink is made from a kit by AlphaStamps.  Unfortunately, I don't think they sell it anymore.  All of their kits are chipboard, so I veneered it with wood scrapbook paper, painted the sink, and added some little "hinges" (the doors don't work) made from painted heavy-duty aluminum foil.  The pump is a Phoenix Models kit.  The wash tub was made from cardstock and thread, and the soap bubbles are clear microbeads.

The veneering worked so well that I built my own little ice box from mat board and veneered it.  Only the top piece and legs are solid wood.  Again, the doors don't open, but I made little hinges and latches from painted aluminum foil and wire, and there are ice tongs made from wire and a tube bead hanging on the side.

Cupboards were uncommon in Victorian times, so I added shelves and a set of hooks for hanging pots and utensils.  (In the most recent picture, you can see that I have trimmed the shelves with laser lace from Stewart Dollhouse Creations.)  I made the little coffee grinder and box grater myself; the meat grinder is a charm I found on eBay.  Its handle really cranks.

Below you can see a close-up of the coffee grinder and a little flat iron I made from mat board, wire and a tube bead.  Because there was no way I could write "Coffee" that small, I used a  freezer-paper transfer technique  to stencil the "Coffee" onto the front.

The stove is a die-cast pencil sharpener (painted) with a thick bendy straw for the stove pipe and a washer for the wall flange.  

The kitchen is rounded out with a kitchen table kit by Jane Harrop, a spice rack and rocking chair from Mini Etchers, the shelf that came with the dry sink (hung over the ice box), and various kitchen items, mostly from A Trifle Small. 

I'd love to add a braided rug someday.  That's an item on the to-do list.

The dining room has more Bradbury & Bradbury wallpaper and an Eastlake dining room table and chairs from Mini-Etchers kits.  Although it's a little hard to see, the painting on the back wall is a real painting by MikeUK (for those familiar with his work on Greenleaf).

The sideboard was a kit from Karen Benson miniatures.  It was the first time I made my "Chippendale" drawer pulls from chain links.  It's topped with a lace doily from Stewart Dollhouse Creations and a toast rack, covered dish and silver coffee set from A Trifle Small.

The rug was taken from this pattern that I found on the Web and painstakingly graphed in Word.  I got rid of the border and changed the background to blue to work better in my dining room.  It is worked on 36-count Evenweave.

I also wanted a Wardian case.  I was inspired by the miniature terrariums by Lady Jane, but they are too big and definitely out of my price range.  So I made my own with the 1:12 scale greenhouse lantern kit from Mini Etchers, a bit of left-over trim, and some cabriole legs from SDK Miniatures (unfortunately, she only sells them in quarter-scale now).  Inside, I put some moss, some floral tape ferns, an orchid made with paper punches, and a tiny shell.

Here it is in the dining room.  A Bespaq shelf I picked up at a miniature show has little painted tea cups made from grommets.

On the mantel are plates I picked up at the Good Sam show and a metal clock I painted.  There is really not much I would change in this room.

Both the dining room and living room have openings for fireplaces.  Inspired by this post, I decided to try to make my own Victorian mantels. 

Although they ended up being a little different than my original design, they were constructed from mat board, strip wood, resin roses, silver branch charms, a rubber gasket, some bead-like chain, cardstock cut with a craft punch, and metal jewelry plaques.  They don't look very impressive pre-paint, but after they were given a coat of oil-rubbed bronze spray paint, I think they don't look too bad.  The two upstairs fireplaces were painted white.

The living room fireplace is flanked with two china fireside dogs from A Trifle Small.

Here is the rest of the living room.

The rug is actually a quarter-scale rug meant to be worked on 48-count gauze, but I worked it on 28-count Evenweave, and it's not bad in the space.

Most of the furniture is from the Eastlake collection by Mini-Etchers.  Most of the upholstery came from men's ties, with the exception of the (blue) printed petit point chair.

The exceptions are the coffee table, which kit came from Melissa's Mini Wereld, and the curio cabinet, which is from the Greenleaf living room set.  On the coffee table are a candy dish, a silver teapot, and, of course, a half-scale Godey's Ladies Book.  I have filled the curio cabinet with the kind of items Victorians liked to collect—an egg made from polymer clay, butterflies under cloche domes made from gel caps, a bird's nest that is actually a charm with painted eggs, shells, and real crystals.  The door isn't actually hinged; it just attaches with museum wax, to hold it in place but allow me to remove it when I want to change something out.

The bird cage is the same kind of charm I used in the little greenhouse; they came two to an order.  I had to poke my paintbrush through the bars to paint the bird, then painted the outside cage.

In this room, I kind of feel like I might be able to do better on the furniture.  Now that I've made my own tables and chairs, I'm considering replacing some of the furniture in this room with something I make myself.

In the foyer is the Victorian hall stand from Karen Benson, with painted umbrella charms.

Upstairs, the bedroom (which I think of as the Rose Room) has the Mini-Etchers Victorian bed and a night stand from Melissa's Mini Wereld.  Once again, the bedspread and valance are made from a man's tie.  (I find them essential for miniature upholstery.)  The rug is simply printed on velvet paper.  I prefer not to cross-stitch rugs for my bedrooms, because it's a lot of work for something that gets mostly covered up by furniture.  I added a non-working Reuter porcelain lamp, a crocheted throw and pillows, and some boots made from charms.  It's annoying, but I can't find these charms anywhere now.  I got them at a swap meet in Arizona—five charms for a dollar.  I think they're riding boots, but I painted them and added black microbeads for buttons.  As you know, I have a thing for shoes in a build, and these make such perfect half-scale, high-button boots.

Along the back wall is the Victorian armoire kit from Scale Designs, with a little surprise inside.  I simply couldn't resist.  😉

On the right-hand side is a fireplace in white, along with the mirrored Eastlake dresser kit from Mini Etchers.

The upstairs fireplace inserts are an ornate gold metal scrapbooking embellishment/frame cut in half (one half for each fireplace) and spray-painted oil-rubbed bronze.  I swiped this idea from someone else's blog, but I cannot remember whose.  I could have sworn it was Emily's, but I don't see it there.  I'm sorry I can't give attribution, because I love the elegance of the inserts.  The fire screens were plain metal minis that I painted.

Rather than have two bedrooms, I turned the second upstairs room into a lady's sitting room.

There is a little teatable from SDK Miniatures, topped with a Reuter porcelain tea set.  The treats are a combination of goodies from Sue's Little Things and Life of Riley.

The day bed from SDK Miniatures is a very nice day bed, but I think it is too large for the room and doesn't really go.  It is one of the things I'd like to replace.  The table next to it was a white plastic table from AlphaStamps.  I gave it a coat of gloss white spray paint, then picked out details in gold to give it a more elegant look.  While I also love the etagere from Karen Benson Miniatures,  I think the pots need to be replaced with something a bit more in keeping with the rest of the room. 

The little desk in the back of the room was made from Cassidy Creations Lady's Desk kit (CC5022).  I was lucky enough to find one at Dollhouses, Trains and More, but you can keep an eye out on eBay.  They do come up from time to time.  I love the tiny pigeonholes (which were a pain to do, but worth it), and the desk actually opens and closes.

The sitting room rug pattern came from the Internet.  The wonderful thing about making your own rugs is that you can choose the colors.  I went to Joann's with my wallpaper (Brodnax Papillon in peach)  in order to match the colors as closely as possible.

In the hallway, there is a grandfather clock from SDK Miniatures.

Now here is my secret shame—the bathroom.  It has a tub from Mini-Etchers, a pedestal sink from Cassidy Creations, a high-tank toilet from a set of minis I picked up at a miniature show, and nothing else.  No curtains, no rugs, no mirror, no toiletries.  I really do need to go back and finish this room!

On the third floor is the attic.  Some people partition their attics to make more rooms, but I chose to go with a true attic.  I had wanted some old, worn-out furniture up here, but there is no room! Part of the attic is filled with toys, collected from a variety of sources.  The train set is by SDK Miniatures.  The doll carriage is from Karen Benson.  The Alice in Wonderland doll and the mold for the baby doll head both came from Margaret's Mini Bears.  You may recognize the toy xylophone; the popper push toy and Raggedy Ann doll are also from swaps.

The sweet little bookshelf, which fits so perfectly in the space next to the chimney, I received in a swap, along with the doll bed and toy trucks.  The bookshelf is filled with some adorable toys from A Trifle Small, a few Peruvian ceramic beads, and, of course, some readable children's books, including a Kate Greenaway Mother Goose. 

The maid's room, with a simple iron bedstead, a washstand, and a chest of drawers, is on the left.  I want to do the washstand over—it did not turn out as well as I'd hoped.  It looks a little chunky.  I also need to paint the little chest of drawers.  See what I mean about so many unfinished projects?

For me, an attic would not be complete without a trunk, so I made up the Cat's Paw Small Jenny Lind trunk (1:24 scale) (which, unfortunately, seems to be out of stock everywhere).  Everything came with it, including the tiny hardware and the lining paper.

The final room is the tower room.  Did I say the kitchen was my favorite room?  Hmm.  Maybe it's the tower room instead.  😊  Because there is no access to the tower room, I felt it had to be somewhat magical, so I made it into a sorcerer's room with a bit of steampunk thrown in.  (Hey, if you can get to Narnia through the bedroom wardrobe. . . .)

For Doctor Who fans, do you recognize what's on the wallpaper?

I can't remember who made the kit for the desk.  The chair is a spare Victorian chair from Mini-Etchers, with some copper paint, black upholstery and watch parts.  (It was supposed to have wheels, but they kept falling off, and I finally gave up on them.)  I added a small table with a watch face for the top; a potion bottle; tiny steampunk books (with Latin titles, of course); a telescope made from a miniature spy glass, toothpicks and watch parts; and Phineas T. Corvis, the steampunk crow.

I love his little monocle and top hat with feather trim, both made from watch parts.

The front porch has a floor made from coffee stirrers and a porch swing.  I have always loved porch swings; I couldn't build a front porch without one.

Upstairs on the balcony are the round table and chairs from Alpha Stamps.  They aren't truly wrought iron, but they are a good size for the space.

The beautiful railings are Duval by Heritage Laser Works.  The fish-scale siding is made from the chipboard shingles from Alpha Stamps.  As with the other siding, I painted them both before and after gluing them in place.

The color scheme is based, in part, on a very well-known apartment building at 400 Duboce in San Francisco.  I used to live about a block away from it.  I've seen it many colors over the years, including mustard yellow and bright purple, but I think its current color scheme is a lot more sophisticated.

Outside the front door is a swan planter from Timber Ridge Studios.  It needs to be filled with flowers.  In fact, the whole exterior needs more flowers and a bit more gingerbread.

So I guess my next project may be revisiting this house.  Part of the reason I never quite finished it was that I was so anxious to get started on the half-scale Merrimack. Now that is a house I truly loved doing.  But before that one, I'm going to tell you about the half-scale porch I made for my mom.