Making Wall Sconces

Hmmmm, now what could be used to make these?
Take a push pin, a star acrylic bead, a small circle punched from paper, a round bead and a seed bead. Also, cut an oval from card.

Then put some Play Dough or something similar into one segment of the star bead and glue in place. This will provide a point of attachment to the wall.

Place the star bead on top of the push pin and glue in place.

 

The circle of card gets glued on top to make a platform for a candle.

Add the round bead and the seed bead to the bottom, 

Add the oval to the back. Paint the whole thing black.

Whole thing painted black

Cleaning up

Our group worked on a little cleaning caddy.
There is a tutorial from Joanne Swanson, with printies and a pattern for a dust pan. She suggests using a restaurant jelly container for the caddy.
http://joannswansondiyminiatures.blogspot.ca/2011/05/creative-minds-are-rarely-tidy.html

Trim the edging, then cut a strip of cardboard a little smaller than the length of the container.

Now, score a vertical line about 2 inches up the strip. Fold the strip over and trim the edges.

Measure how tall you wish the handle to be. (approximately 1/2 to 3/4 inches). Score this measurement on either side of the first fold

Fold along score lines.

 The strip should now look like this.

Glue the middle together.

Trim the tabs so they fit inside the jelly container.

Cut holes for the handle.

File the handle smooth and maybe file the corners.

Glue the cardboard to the jelly container. Gesso and paint. I used Patio paint.

Here is my finished caddy. 

The gloves are cut from paper, painted and podged.

Glassworks

Chris from Canada wrote:
Remember those glass serving plates and trays made from all different colours of glass put together that were so popular as wedding gifts in the 60's and 70's? Well, here's a way to duplicate that look using (what else) items most people trash.

Last spring I was looking at a photo album trying to get some ideas for something different and retro to make for swaps, when I noticed my 70's glass plates in use in a family photo from 1975. I was thinking about about attempting these in miniature using small chunks of plastic melted into a mold when I remembered as a small child having used torn squares of tissue paper glued to pickle jars to make vases. I also remembered how pretty they looked when the sun hit them, and so the plates came to be.

First I made a plate blank by brushing two thin, even layers of Sobo glue (used because it's clear, dries just a bit flexible and happened to be handy) onto a piece of plastic wrap. When that had dried, I sandwiched the plastic wrap between 2 layers of white paper, and used a large hole punch to make circles. Mine were 7/8" and 3/4" in diameter. (Scissors work too, but I'm lousy at cutting circles out by hand.) I then took the circles and placed them on a piece of craft foam with the plastic wrap side down and gave them another coat of glue. Then I pushed them down into the foam with the blunt end of a marker to make the plate shape and let them dry in the foam, as you do with mini rice paper flowers. (I let them dry overnight because by then it was nearly 11 pm, but I am sure they would have been dry in 10-20 minutes.)

The next day, I tore some scraps of 3 colours of tissue paper that had come wrapped around swap items into teensy pieces about 3/16" square. One piece at a time, I dipped them into a 50/50 water-glue solution then smoothed them (with the colours chosen randomly) onto the plate blanks, which were still in the foam, using a paintbrush and a wet pinkie finger to remove any wrinkles. The overlaps and odd shaped bits became part of the design. When they looked good, I let them dry for a few minutes, then removed each one in turn from the foam, trimmed off and smoother any ragged edges, and placed it back in the foam. Finally, I brushed on two (3?) coats of glue, and when everything was dry, removed them from the foam and peeled off the plastic wrap, revealing some really groovy retro glassware.

Bedded Down

The Dollhouse Miniprojects Group recently completed a canopy bed project. The directions were clear and easy to follow, and each member completed the project a little differently.

Dee planned and set the task, and this is her prototype bed. She is planning a Christmas bed, and the lace will be changed to green. She is also planning a dressing table for the group to accompany those completed beds.


Kaye Smith from Tasmania was first to finish her pretty Purple bed.


Then she went on to make pillows to round out the project

Doreen Playter adapted the prototype and used lace trim to simulate carved wood trim.
Doreen's bed even has linens underneath!
See her blog at Doreen's Miniatures and Memories

Marjorie from California wrote about her Tudor bed:
I used paper doilies to replicate carvings on the headboard and footboard. I used Minwax gel stain to do the wood as well as the paper doilies. I am happy with the way it turned out. The cross stitched coverlet I purchased along with the pillow at the Good Sam Show in 2010. I am going to remake the pillow - it is too large and stiff.

Here is Marjorie's finished bed.


Then Joyce Holland wrote a hilarious post about her bits of rubble! She had followed Dee's directions to the letter, and when she was trying to apply the rubber band as a clamp the whole thing fell apart! (The glue needs to set a bit and the band needs to be rather loose. Make a loop, insert a stick and tighten tourniquet style.)

Joyce is still working on her bed - pics to come!

This is Linda's bed. She cut a long strip of cardboard and wrapped it with a strip of fabric to create the striped trim.


Joyce Holland's bed is delicate and very feminine.


All so different, but started from the same basic plan.

Shower Power!

Tracey Flemming wrote in Canada Minis Group:

I made this shower stall with junk. It's an empty man's disposable razor package. I painted the outside of the package with white paint. It looks like my real shower stall because it's shiny on the inside.

I used

• Paper clip and Fimo for the shower head.
• Fimo and stitching floss for soap on rope.
  
• Part of a snap for drain and earring backs for taps.
  
• Scrap matte board and wood sticks to build the box to keep it standing upright.

What's in YOUR Genes?

Nancy Noble Day made this wonderful desk for her brother and commented:
"I scattered printie genealogy papers/forms and photos on the desk and in the slots. I may re-do it, my brother is probably more tidy than I am. I have a glass paperweight, if I can find it and I'm wondering if I need a pencil cup and pencils.
A glass paperweight and family photos. Using the 'print index' feature on Picture It, I edited small versions of photos of my grandmother, recently discovered photos of her father and my mother's father and printed them on photo paper. By trimming most of the background out, it made them more in scale. I glued a couple of the same photos, untrimmed, in the top drawer to surprise my brother."

Here is a closer look at the contents.


What an exceptional gift and so meaningful!

Get Crocked!

Tanya has made a crock pot from a CPVC cap found at her local hardware store. Check her Picturetrail site to see how she did it!
http://picturetrail.com/sfx/album/view/17115956

Office to the Max!

Doreen has been creating the last room in her dollhouse, a study room. In this blogpost, she discusses how she is fabricating the computer pieces the kids need.
The picture here is not the final outcome.

Look at the post in Doreen's blog:
http://doreensminiatures.blogspot.com/2010/01/computer-for-study-room.html

Also Fluffy Bricks has some electronics on her blog:
http://fluffybricks.blogspot.com/2009/11/some-modern-minis.html

Trashy Vanity Set

The vanity is made from mounting board from a friends framing shop, while the base (covered) is made from foam from my new toaster. The chair is made from a formula bottle top from my grandson, an old file and covered in material from a previous quilting project. The candle stick is an old bead with a painted toothpick and the feathers on the hat came from a friend's bird. About the only thing I bought was the trim around the vanity and chair!
Beth (inspecting trash in Cleveland)

Colour Choices

These are a few sites where you can plan different colour combinations.

http://www.colorschemer.com/schemes/
http://meyerweb.com/eric/tools/color-blend/
http://colorschemedesigner.com/
http://www.colormatters.com/colortheory.html

Lampshades - What Holds'em Up?

A circle of acetate was suggested with the comment made that having tabs on the sides of the acetate circle would make it easier to glue to the shade.
These patterns are for cutting the acetate out. They are sized for the blank patterns provided at Jim's Dollhouse pages
http://www.printmini.com/printables/lamps/shadesptn.shtml
Tape them to the acetate and cut out.




Another suggestion was to use an earring finding like this one.


Pat Carlson has a great tutorial on Custom Dolls, Houses and Miniatures, with instructions on how to make a harp, and a curved lampshade.
http://www.cdhm.org/tutorials/making-miniature-lampshade.html

It's Curtains for you!

The Greenleaf Blog has an entry all about windows and curtains.
http://www.greenleafdollhouses.com/dollhouse_news/JUL2009/dollhouse-window-treatments.html
Actually, in this picture, the ferns are the window covering!

Note the wicker furniture by Wenlaine
http://www.greenleafdollhouses.com/forum/index.php?showuser=34

Lampshades

This RL site has mady ideas for decorative shades.
ttp://www.lampsplus.com/Products/lamp-shades/Type_Pleated/


Mini-pleated shade
http://www.dukkehussiden.dk/dollhouse_miniature_lamp_shades_.htm

Chaise Longues, Ottomans, Chairs, Sofas

This RL furniture site will give you all sorts of ideas about style and design!
It even gives you the measurements!

http://www.thechaiselongueco.co.uk/products