Tuesday, November 30

Whittling Away

I thought I would try to make my own table legs. I don't have any fancy wood carving tools or a lathe. I'm using a razor blade. So far I still have all of my fingers intact. :D


I still need to sand this one. Then I'll try making three more like it. That will be the hard part.


As you can see I'm already having trouble! I could just buy some legs for my table, but if I can make them myself, why not try?

If you're wondering how to find the right scale for things you make, check out the Art of Miniatures Calculator. I've added it to my sidebar.

It's pouring rain here this morning so I added some rain songs to my playlist. :D

Hope you have a happy day!


Monday, November 29

Back to the Beach

Now that I had some rest and time to think about what to do next, I've decided to get back to work on my beach house.


The living room stairs have looked like this too long! Here are some projects that need to be finished.


I learned a lot while working on my teeny tiny house. My eyes have become more in tune to detail. I can see lots of things that need attention.

I'm going to add trim to the stairs and maybe a shelf on the bench wall? The plain white wall needs some art or a mirror? It will face the front door.

I may try to build a half round table to go there too? LOVE this one found at Coco Cozy!


I haven't really started on the kitchen. I bought the appliances on Ebay and am not sure I like them. I'm playing with ideas for the floor...


It's nice to be back to working in 1:12 scale again. :D

Hope your day is filled with inspiration and lovely little things!

Friday, November 26

Motivation

Things are at a stand still here. I'm not motivated to do anything. There are many ideas in my head but no energy to start any of them. Christmas is making me feel anxious.



I'm just wondering if anyone else feels this way? Do you need a rest after you've finished a big project? I had a whole day of rest today. I did absolutely nothing.

I did think of some new projects, but the thought of beginning any of them was just too much. Maybe I ate too much turkey and pie? Maybe I'll go eat some more.

Perhaps tomorrow will be more productive? We shall see...
I'm going back to bed.

Thursday, November 25

The Turkey is in the Oven


I'm baking my little turkey. :D



Thanks to Julie The Old Crow for the great tutorial!


Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving Day!



Wednesday, November 24

Giving Thanks

I just want to say "Thank You" to all of my followers and friends. You have filled my life with many many blessings! I am so inspired by your creativity. Thankful for all of the wonderful gifts I have received and for your friendship.

I enjoy my morning coffee visiting your blogs each day. I don't remember what life was like before I found my first dollhouse? I just know that now I wake up full of ideas, excitement and can't wait to see what you've accomplished!

I now have a hobby that I love, friends to share with and more blessings than I could ever have imagined.

I have pumpkin pies to bake this evening. I'll be using my Grandma Hardy's Pumpkin Pie recipe.


I don't remember who made my mini pumpkin pie, but the cookbook is from Grace at Tree Feathers Miniatures. I have a big one just like it. :D

I hope each of you has a wonderful Thanksgiving! I woke up smiling this morning. Hope you did too?




Tuesday, November 23

Two Tiny Rugs

My little rug is finally finished! I also made a braided rug for the bedroom. :D


Here they are in the house. Sorry for the blurry photo. . .


I think my camera has tired eyes too.


Hope you have a happy day!


Monday, November 22

I Know You've NEVER done THIS!

Here I was this morning with only seven stitches remaining to finish my teeny tiny rug. I made a mistake. I got a loop in my thread and had to pull the thread out of the needle to fix it.

That being done, I got out my handy dandy needle threader and proceeded to use it to re-thread my needle. I spent almost ten minutes (!) trying to do this! FINALLY I realized I was trying to put the needle threader in the WRONG end of the needle! NOT the one with the hole in it!



I am determined to finish this rug today!

My Christmas cactus needs a bit of a trim and maybe more flowers? At least I can SEE to do that!


Sunday, November 21

Tiny to Small

I'm TRYING to make a Christmas cactus in 1:12 scale. I figured it wasn't fair to send Ascension a kit for making one of these without making one myself. :D

I'm finding it hard to switch from teeny tiny to small! Here's what I've done so far.


I'm following Leslie's tutorial for the most part.
I made my flowers with individual petals instead of the fringed paper that Leslie uses. I tried that, but couldn't get the fringe to look right.

So now, I'm waiting for the glue to dry. Then I'll try to cut the leaves. Hopefully, it will look something like a Christmas cactus when I'm finished?

Then there is the matter of the house on my dining room table. Good thing we're have Thanksgiving dinner at my daughter's house!



I really can't wait to get started here. The plans are on paper. But that's all I've done.

Before I get distracted again, I'm going to start cleaning my REAL house. Nothing like knowing that family will be visiting soon to get me motivated. LOL

Hope you have a beautiful day!


Saturday, November 20

Give-A-Winner!

Toby wanted nothing to do with choosing my give-a-way winner. All he wanted to do was go outside. I had to find someone else to help me.


Henry was a bit more cooperative, but not much. I placed all of your names in my favorite glass. I mixed them up and waited and waited some more. Henry just sat there looking at me. I think he was disappointed that there was no cream or food in the glass.



I couldn't even get him to put his nose in the glass and point to a winner. He just lay down and acted like he was going back to sleep. So I closed my eyes and picked the winning name myself.



CONGRATULATIONS Ascension! I'm sorry I misspelled your name but I assure you, YOU are the winner! :D

Please email me with your address so I can get your gifts off to you soon. There are three House of Miniature furniture kits.



I also made up another kit for making Christmas cactus for your dollhouse. Everything you'll need is included. You can find instructions by Leslie Shepherd at About.com. I added some hand painted paper for you to use because I think it makes prettier plants.




I really want to thank everyone for joining in my House Warming Give-A-Way! I'm STILL working on my little rug and am making another one too. I don't know if my teeny house will ever be finished?! LOL

Hope you have a happy day and thanks again for all of your sweet comments!


Friday, November 19

Arrrrrrgh!

I have been attacked by Trojans! Nasty, nasty ones too. Don't worry though, I have my swashbuckling compter brain son sorting them all OUT OUT OUT!

I promise to do the drawing for my give-a-way tomorrow. I just might not be able to let you know who wins until later?

If you haven't entered to win, you have until tomorrow at 12 noon CST USA. Good luck! I can't wait to see who Toby picks as the winner! :D

I will introduce you to Toby later too.

Hope you have a nice, SAFE evening.

Update! It's SO nice to have a son in the computer business! Thank you Brian!!!!
I'm Baaaaaack! :D


Thursday, November 18

A Stitch and Time

I've been working on the little rug for Minnie's living room. I really can't see what I'm doing. It takes me about one minute to do each stitch!


I know it's not perfect, but I don't think my mistakes will be seen when it's inside my little house. I'm planning to just fill in the center with white and then I'll be done. I figure that will take me another day or two! LOL

I'm not sure how to finish it off around the edges? The rug is 1/2 inch square. Got any ideas?

Hope you have a lovely day!


Wednesday, November 17

Tiny Table

I know I said my little house was finished, but I keep thinking of more things to add. I can't help myself.

I just had to try to make a little half round table. It is sitting on a 1:12 scale table so you can see how tiny it is!


I'm still working on the rug for the living room. I'm frustrated because I can't SEE what I'm doing! Maybe I'll have to invest in a better magnifier lamp?

Thanks to everyone who commented on Saturday's post. You still have a few more days to enter my give-a-way. There is a little half round table there too. :D

Hope you have a happy day!


Tuesday, November 16

Beautiful Blue House!


This is the gorgeous Christmas ornament that Sherry sent me for Marsha's Christmas Ornament Exchange! I absolutely LOVE it! Just look at her perfect stitching! It is my favorite color too!

Thank you so much Sherry! This ornament will have a very special place on my Christmas tree every year!


Sunday, November 14

But You Promised!

Minnie is starting to sound a little bit like Tessie. The first thing I heard this morning was, "but you promised to show pictures of me and Mike too!"

She kept going on about how many pictures I've posted of her house and how few I've done of her. Then she told me that I had forgotten to put the gazing ball in the front yard too. She got Mike out there right away to do that. Guess she figured I was never going to get around to it?



When that was done, Minnie started whining. "You forgot to make my rug. You promised me a rug for the living room."

So, to try to keep the peace and fulfill my promise, I started working on Minnie's rug this morning.



It will be 1/2 inch square and fit nicely in front of the sofa. I'm using part of a pattern from this counted cross stitch book. 101 Tiny Houses by Linda Gillum. I love this book! It is filled with adorable little houses to stitch.

If I can get the needle threaded again, I'll get back to work. Hope you have a nice day!



Saturday, November 13

House Warming Give-A-Way - CLOSED

My teeny tiny house is finished! To celebrate, I'm having a house warming party and a give-a-way! (No, you won't be winning this little house. I couldn't bear to part with it!)


If you comment on THIS post by Saturday, November 20th, this is what you might win! There may be a little surprise tucked in too.

Three House of Miniature Furniture Kits
1:12 scale

They are WAY to big for my teeny house, plus it's already furnished. :D



I started building this house in September and it has taken me almost two months to complete! It began with inspiration from Nell Corkin, Pat Carlson, Tracy Topps and other miniaturists who make tiny houses. I truly admire the amazing work of these artists!

I'm sure I'll make another house in 1:144 scale someday. It was my most challenging project so far but also the most fun. Thank you for following my progress and encouraging me to keep going. I really appreciate the comments and suggestions you've made along the way.

I thought it would be fun to thank you by having a little give-a-way. I'm sure you noticed that the prize is NOTHING I've made. This time, it's something for YOU to make! I'm tired of making things right now! LOL

I'm going to get out the sawhorses, the jig saw and carpenter's square and start working on a much larger project next!

Hope you have a lovely day! Don't forget to comment here for a chance to win the give-a-way.


Friday, November 12

Almost Finished

My teeny house is almost finished! If I could only find those little chairs I made for the garden...
Things keep disappearing around here.



Thursday, November 11

Great News!

I'm going "home" for Christmas! Yes, that means I'm going to Florida! Yes, I will be staying at the beach!!!


My daughter and her husband are renting a place for us to stay and my son and his wife will be joining us there! I can't think of a better Christmas! I am SO excited!


Wednesday, November 10

Little Landscaping


I did a little landscaping on my teeny tiny house this morning. I need to add more flowers, leaves and branches to the crepe myrtle and place the flagstones. What do you think so far?

Suggestions? Maybe two little flower pots on each corner of the porch?


Tuesday, November 9

Ornament Exchange

Sherry at Blessings From Our Nest received my Christmas ornament yesterday so now I can show you what I made for her. :D


Sherry and I were partners for Marsha's Ornament Exchange.
Please visit Marsha's blog on December 1st. There will be a virtual Christmas tree showing all of the ornaments made for the exchange!

Marsha’s Musing & Sassy Mini Dolls


The idea for this ornament is not original. I found a photo of an angel ornament online and thought I would try to make one myself.


I really enjoyed making my little doll and trying to figure out how to get her inside this glass ornament!




I made the doll with a wooden bead head and body made out of stiffened cord. Her hair is embroidery floss, her dress is wired ribbon and parts of a silk flower. I made the halo with tiny seed beads and wire. The poinsettia she is holding was made with painted masking tape and is in a silver bead "vase."


Henrietta at Petalbelles is the person who made my inspiration ornament. I emailed Henrietta and asked her permission to share my ornament and her Etsy shop with you. She graciously agreed and was happy that her work inspired me. You must go visit her shop and see all of the beautiful angels and fairies Henrietta has made!

Thank you so much Henrietta for your inspiration! Your little dolls are amazing! I had so much fun making one for Sherry.

Thanks to Marsha too, for hosting this swap. I can't wait to see what everyone else has made!


Monday, November 8

Chairs for the Garden

Minnie came outside this morning to show you the little chairs I made for her garden.


I used a hole punch for the seats, part of a wooden fan (Thanks Casey for the idea!) and wire for the legs. They are not quite 1/2 inch tall and that's a bit too big!




Thanks for your suggestions about the slate stone sidewalk. I'll do that after I finish the landscaping.

Here's an aerial view so you can see the scale of this project. Teeny tiny!


PS. I have 558 hole punch reinforcements left if anyone needs ONE?

Hope you have fun making minis today! :D


Sunday, November 7

Tiny Palm Tree

You know I just couldn't make a house without adding a little palm tree. :D



I ordered some colored ground foam to finish the window boxes and landscaping. Not sure about the flagstones. Do you think they are too big?

Saturday, November 6

Only One

I only need ONE of these little things. Do you think I can find one anywhere in my house or my daughter's house? NO.



Guess I'll have to go to Office Depot tomorrow and buy a pack of 200! I really just need ONE.



Something must be done about this stained glass window. I'm just about finished with this little house. I have just a few more things to do. :D

I did finish my Christmas ornament for Sherry and put it in the mail. I'll show you some photos after she receives it. It was really fun to make and I learned some new techniques too.

I received my big box of half scale furniture from Gina today. Oh my goodness! So many little treasures! I'm not sure I can wait until next Christmas to get a house for these things? I think I like half scale minis almost as much as the "big" and "tiny" ones!

Hope you had a beautiful day!