Raggedy Ann Room

Leilani from Wee Creations Yahoo Group writes:

I love turning trash into mini treasures.

One of the things I enjoy the most is going around the house searching for things I can turn into some kind of mini treasure. Hunting for a possible mini in something that isn't is really fun.

A couple of you asked me about the RA&A fabric. The RA&A fabric I used for these little treasures came in a 101 swap I had with a friend from Greece a while ago. I didn't know what to do with the fabric until I needed pillows.

The squares on the fabric are very small and I thought they would be just right for what I needed. The pillows look big in the photos but are really less than an inch in size. I had to hand sew tiny stitches and use a very small amount of padding to stuff them.

The pillows are also reversible. Some have plain fabric on the other side while others have RA&A pattern.

The red and white stripe fabric is just a piece of cleaning towel, the kind that come a few in a pack from the dollar store. They come in different colors. I just happen to have that one and I think I also have a green and white piece. Depending on what I'm working on I also use this fabric for underlying something that may need a little extra underneath.

I received two small pieces of RA&A fabric in the swap deal, enough for the little pillows. The pieces of fabric have the different prints you see on the pillows. It looks like a quilt with tiny squares.

The fabric for the little sofa is a piece of vinyl and since I couldn't find Bunka I twisted layers of sewing thread together to make the trim thickness I needed and I was glad it worked.

The sofa, swivel chair and the little bed all came from a bottle of Dawn dish washing detergent. I think it was a 12 oz bottle. I was surprised I could get all three pieces from one bottle.

The little bed is made from the bottom part of the bottle. The swivel chair is made from the top part of the bottle and the sofa is made from the center part of the bottle.

The little fireplace came out of a Dove bath soap box and I added broken egg shells for the stone look.

The top and bottom of the fireplace came from a cardboard egg carton and the base is made from a piece of cardboard as well.

As you can see everything is made from some kind of Trash that I turned into a mini treasure. ( T2T ).

I hope you enjoy my Wee Creations!

Duracraft Farmhouse 505

Raven Scott has completed this wonderful farmhouse and posted pictures to her album in the Little Roomers group.


What a charming project!

Higgins General Store

A new member, Raven Scott, posted pics to her general store in the group photo album.
This is a shot of the outside.

The sidewalk has moss growing in the cracks, and a gumball machine is at the front entrance.
On the right hand side you can see the notions department.

Inside there is a tempting selection of sewing needs.

This is the lower shelf:

This is the grocery section:

And you really must have a bathroom, so an extra room was built onto the back of the store.

An HBS nightstand was bashed to make the sink unit, and Sculpey clay used to make the sink and the bathroom mirror.
Of course, a general store must sell tools:

Note the weigh scale and paper bags!

Outside, to the right is a vegetable stand.


With vegetables

Lots of attention to detail here.

Cheesy!

*** Tanya has been so generous sharing all her projects, which has made us all so grateful.  It shouldn't be necessary to say this , but they are not for others to make and profit from! Please note they are for PERSONAL USE ONLY!!  If you wish to sell. please have the courtesy to contact her first.



Once again, Tanya has come up with a unique project!

Cheese Balls by Tanya McKibben
What you will need:

• Nail Polish Kit Party Favors – 4 Pack (found at Hobby Lobby)
• Cap from thingie found in pharmacy medicine bottles to keep medicine fresh (Top of canister) If you don’t have any of these you could probably use a large brad Gazz-It modeling beads – found at Dollar Tree Tacky
• Glue (to glue label and top to canister)
• Printer to print label for cheeseballs off the internet (Do a Google search for UTZ Cheeseballs)

Instructions:

1. Open polish bottle, cut the stem off with utility scissors. Empty contents out. You will have to stick some type of stick inside the bottle to get the polish flowing out. Run hot water inside the bottle until all contents is out and bottle is clear. Let bottle dry completely.
2. Open your container of Gazz-It beads and take out enough to fill the nail polish bottle. Put the Gazz-It beads on clean piece of cardstock or paper or whatever you choose.
3. Pour a small amount of orange paint onto the paper then take a paintbrush and cover the Gazz-It beads all over until completely covered in orange paint, let dry. Fill container up with the Gazz-It beads all the way to the top.
4. Paint the cap of your canister the same color as the real life product. I used a purple paint pen and the paint stuck very well to the plastic cap. Once it is dry glue the cap on the canister with Tacky Glue.
5. Once you have found your label on the internet via Google, copy and paste it to MS Word and resize it. If you can’t find the label I have it and can send it to you upon request. After you have resized your label and cut it out, glue it to your container of cheese balls and you are all done. If you decide to make one of these I would love to see pictures. If anything is not clear to you, please don’t hesitate to email me at teecrafty2000@ yahoo.com. Enjoy!

The Happy House Part 1

Posted on Wee Creations Yahoo Group by Sarah and Adam:
Most of you know that my brother Adam and I rescued a doll house that was going into the trash and we are trying to fix it and mom said it would be OK to show pics of the first room so you can see how it's coming along. The pics are of the dining room.
The hutch was made by Linda from a swap she had with my g-ma a while back.
The floor cover and table cloth are from another swap but I can't remember who made it. The three plates above the hutch are from a scrapbook section.
The picture on the wall Adam painted it. We both love to pain and so do mom and g-ma and my little brother Alex likes to scribble too so we might showcase one or more of his masterpieces in one of the rooms also. He is so cute!
The hanging lamp is from a living room fan chain g-ma had saved and a finding for the base.
The curtains are pieces of lace I put together. I will be gathering the curtains up in the center and adding a little bow or something to them on there.
The decoration on the stairs side Adam and I made.
The hanging plates were a gift from a friend in Greece. Thank you Lia.
The cake on the table was made using a small water bottle top and puff paints. It is on a button plate with a doily cut from a regular size larger one.

The table and chairs were just a lucky find because it was the only one left and they were hidden way back on a shelf. G-ma found it because she moved some other things out the way and looked behind the boxes.
Since we love Christmas we want to have a little bit of Christmas here and there throughout the house so you will see more touches of Christmas.
The other pic is of Linda Grady's hutch. We love this hutch and since we are making the dining room with a Christmas theme we thought it would look great in there and it does. We love the Poinsettia above the hutch also. Thank you Linda.

Thanks to everyone who swaps with g-ma because we have such pretty things for the dining room now. We learn so much from all who share tutorials, ideas and tips and we love TTT also.

Happy House painted

Inside papered

Sticky Business

Chris from Canada wrote:
Here's how I've done it in 1:12 for standard clear sticky tape used in offices, with adjustments for 1:24 in square brackets.

You'll need a round toothpick, a knitting needle or a large safety pin the same diameter as the toothpick - approx. 1/12" across [1:24= use a heavy sewing pin, not the super skinny type used for lace or silk, a hat pin or medium size safety pin], sharp scissors, small ruler, craft knife and cutting mat, craft glue or a glue stick, a small scrap of paper from a paper grocery bag, lunch bag, brown envelope or regular printer paper if you want a white core, and an inch or so of the tape you want to miniaturise.

1) Prepare the core- From your paper, cut a strip 1/16" wide [1:32"] and about 1 1/2" long (which leaves you lots of room for handling). Take your round tool and starting at one end of your strip wrap it twice around the tool. Add the teensiest bit of glue to the strip right where you stopped wrapping to secure the second wrap to the first. When that has set a bit, wrapping 4 [2] more times for a total of 6 [4] rounds, adding glue every round. Cut off the extra paper and glue the end securely. Carefully slide the core up and down the tools a bit to make sure it hasn't stuck to it, then slide the core off gently and set aside to dry. (NOTE: If you are making a wider tape such as masking tape or packaging tape, adjust the core width as well as the tape width in step 2.)

2) Prepare the tape- While the glue finishes drying on the core, take your length of tape and press it to the palm of your hand 2 or 3 times to remove about half of the adhesive. It should still be somewhat tacky when you're done, but have have lost its' 'death grasp', making the next part easier. Find a clean, dry spot on your cutting mat (or make one if your looks like mine does) and stick the tape lightly to the board. Using the ruler to keep your cut straight, cut off a strip 1/16" [1/32"] wide from the long edge of the tape. (See note in Step 1 for making wider tapes.)

3) Assemble- By now your core should be dry, so all you have to do is carefully peel the strip of tape from the cutting mat and roll it evenly around the core. (I find it easiest to hold the core at both ends between my thumb and first finger, and use a combination of tweezers and fingers to place the tape straight and smooth it down onto the core.) Cut any excess off (and if necessary hold the cut end in place with a micro-drop of glue) when the roll is no more than 1/4" [1/8"] wide for clear sticky tape (Scotch tape) or 1/2" [1/4"] for masking tape, Duck tape etc... If you need a larger roll, just cut another strip and keep wrapping. The join won't show as it will be covered by the extras wraps, but the 2 strips be exactly the same width unless you want it to look like a roll of tape left in the rear window of the car all summer.

And if you're really into tape, get out some Fimo and a cut-off straight pin (for the spindle) and make a desk-style tape holder where the roll actually turns around. Just don't bake the holder with the spindle in the grooves of the holder, or you may never get it out to put the tape on. And don't ask me why I have five empty tape holders and five rolls of tape in a little baggie somewhere, or I may have a mini breakdown. :-D

I hope t

Transparency in Paper

Chris from Canada wrote:
This is something my mother used to do with plain paper and a vegetable shortening like Crisco to make translucent paper backings for silhouette pictures for her Sunday School classes. This was back in the days when a scrapbook was folded newsprint paper stapled into a plain cover, into which you glued photos, newspaper clippings and the like, with hand-written comments: no fancy paper, stickers, miniature embellishments etc....

Technically this is not a trash project unless you happen to have saved some grease-spotted paper from the bottom of a donut box, but the basic principles of making a piece of opaque paper translucent are the same. All you do is rub some clear vegetable oil (canola, corn etc.) into a piece of bargain-priced paper (it's thinner than the good stuff) and put it on a rack to let the oils soak in. After 2-3 minutes you can check it by holding it up to a light, and touch up any spots you missed.

When you are satisfied with the overall transparency, use a paper towel to soak up any leftover oil, then lightly spray one side with a matte sealer, and when dry, spray the other side. Taa-dah! :-) A sheet of semi-translucent paper for Japanese screens and lanterns, window blinds and all sorts of things. Add colour with a thin wash, sparkles or anything else you can come up with and have fun, 'cause it's better (and cheaper) to make your own! :-)