Dylan

This is my #1 canine companion, Dylan. He was a spontaneous puppy purchase at a flea market booth 13 years ago. He is AKC registered by the name "Dylan Vaughan Hendrix." A true rock star!

He has grown up to be a beautiful dog and my best friend. Every night he sleeps right next to me under the covers, along with Nugget. They both like to give Henry cat a bath when he needs one. See how they all love each other? So cute! They loved Toby too...

Yesterday I took Dylan to the vet because he has a rather large lump on the right side of his chest that seems to be growing at an alarming rate. He is not in pain and is acting like his normal adorable self.

I wasn't surprised when the Doc said he was concerned. I am too. He recommended that we biopsy the lump and send the specimen off to the veterinary pathology department at Auburn University here in Alabama. Because of the holidays, they are closed until after New Year's Day.

Next week I will take Dylan back in to Dr. Weber for the biopsy to be done. Then we wait. Doc said it will take about 4-5 days to get the results. After that, he said, we will need to remove the lump.

We discussed Dylan's future. What would be best for him? I asked Dr. Weber what he would do if Dylan was his dog? He didn't hesitate and said, "Dylan is one of the most healthy older dogs he has seen. If he were my dog, I would remove the lump right away."  "Regardless of whether it is benign or malignant", he said, "it needs to come out as soon as possible."

Dr. Weber is a down to earth older country vet. No nonsense. No frills. He doesn't take appointments other than for surgery. People just bring in their animals, then sit and wait their turn to see him.

I've come to trust Dr. Weber. He saved Dylan's life last year when he was sick. I hope he can do it again. I asked how much the surgery would cost? I nearly cried when he said it will only be $150!  Most veterinarians charge thousands of dollars for surgeries! Dr. Weber is a precious man with a caring heart, a love for animals AND their owners!

In the mean time Dylan is going to be treated like the king of his castle! He will have steak for dinner and as many treats as he wants! I will keep you posted on his condition.

I will try to get back to mini-making soon. Right now, I am caring for my little furry family. :D

Merry Christmas!

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

Toby

This is Toby. He is the big yellow cat that I always wanted when I was a little girl. He died in my arms this morning.

He will be greatly missed. Not only by me, but by his best friend Dylan, my daschund. They always slept together. In Dylan's dog bed or under the covers in my bed. 

We'll all miss you Toby. You were so beautiful and we loved you dearly. Sienna, Kaya, Brandy and Kiana are waiting for you at the end of the Rainbow Bridge. Someday we'll see you again. 

Garden Center Rug and Chair

I made a rug and started a little chair for the garden center library today.  I found this gorgeous fabric on Etsy. I have a whole yard of it to play with...

I'm using white paper clips for the frame of the chair. I still haven't quite figured out how to make the legs?

Hope you have a great day!

One Fish, Blue Fish

I bought a fish the other day. A blue betta fish. It was an impulse purchase. I like fish. I would rather see them swimming free in the ocean but this fish looked lonely. So I brought him home.

These photos are not mine. I found them here.

He came in a vase like this with a peace lily plant on the top. He didn't look happy in there but at least he was alive. How could I resist those sad eyes? He has been in the vase in the dining room for three days. Who knows how long he had been at the store? I keep checking on him. He's okay so far. The cats haven't found him yet.

This morning I was thinking about my new fish and how sad he looks in that vase. I mean how can he possibly breathe in there? What does he eat?  I read somewhere that he could nibble on the roots of the plant. Not so. Betta fish eat insects and worms. I bought some freeze dried worms and beta fish food.

Then I remembered the Fish House I bought in March. It is still in the box it came in. I do that a lot. Buy things then stash them somewhere until some inspiration comes along. My little blue fish has inspired me. I won't be able to stash him anywhere. I have another mouth to feed now!

Remember the Fisher Price dollhouse furniture I purchased on Ebay a while ago? It is still in a box too.

Now I'm thinking of furnishing my blue fish's house with the Fisher Price furniture. :D I need to find out what kind of harmless glue to use to stick the furniture where I want it.

I even bought some "betta fish water" today. Two, one liter bottles. That should be enough for Blue Fish to swim in for a while...

 If my fish survives until his new home is finished I will show you a picture of him.

See how easily I get distracted? I really need to start my Christmas shopping!

Ice, Ice Baby Ice

This is my next project. It is still in the planning and measuring phase. I'm making a glass block window for the garden center bathroom.

I found these clear textured glass tiles at the Stained Glass Lizard shop on Etsy. They are 1/2 inch square.

Go see all of the wonderful glass this shop has to offer. I found exactly what I needed. I love these tiles too!

More on this later...

Hope you have a beautiful day!

600+ Followers Give-A-Way Winner!

Today is the day to announce the winner of my 600 Followers Give-A-Way. The winning name was chosen from the 51 comments left on my give-a-way post. The winner is #6 chosen by a random number generator.

So who is she? What did she win?

A $25 gift certificate to Carol's True2Scale's Etsy shop
A tiny Christmas village scene
A pretty mirror for her dollhouse

Some little books and cards

An unfinished Michael's hutch to decorate.

Congratulations go to Mari from Sabadell, near Barcelona, Spain. Her blog is Mundo 1/12. Hope you will visit her and say hello!

Please email me with your address Mari. Congratulations! I hope you like the little things I've made. ♥

Thank you to everyone who entered my give-a-way! I really appreciate each and every one of you!

A Little Mess

I know it's a mess right now...

But I can assure you that Santa is working feverishly on another little gift for my give-a-way. :D

One For You and One For Me

Thanks to everyone who has entered my Give-A-Way!  In addition to the gift certificate, I will include this little one inch mirror.

I will polish it up and fix a couple of things but it's almost finished. Here is how I made it.

I started with this video by Stacy Hofman at Creating Dollhouse Miniaures, My first attempts, as seen in this post, were not so good so I tried again.

This time I used picture hanging wire. It is much less expensive than beading wire. If you twist the wires apart you end up with seven very fine wires. I've had this wire for years and it has stayed bright and shiny.

This wire is much more delicate than what I used before. I learned the hard way NOT to use tools/pliers to do the twisting. Use your fingers instead or the wire will break!

I added some tiny seed beads as I went along to make flowers. This is the mirror I'm making for my garden center bathroom.

I filled in the leaves with clear tacky glue tinted with one drop of DecoArt Metallics Festive Green paint.

A tip here if you are making one of these. Let the paint on the leaves dry for several hours before you pick them up! I used super glue to attach the flower spray to the mirror.

I hope you like the little extra gift I've made. I may add a couple of other things too? You have until Monday to enter.  :D

600 Followers Give-A-Way!

I want thank all of my wonderful followers! Who knew in such a short time there would be 600 of you! To celebrate, I am having a very special Give-A-Way!

I have been following and admiring Carol at True2Scale for a long, long time. I have learned so much from her tutorials and LOVE her Etsy shop. There are so many precious little things there. :D

In honor of you, my new and faithful followers, I am giving a $25 gift certificate to Carol's Etsy shop!

All you have to do is be a follower of Beautiful Mini Blessings and comment on this post to enter. I would also like to know what you would select from Carol's shop if you win?

I will draw the winning name on Monday, December 10th.

Thank you Carol for your great blog and fabulous shop! I can't wait to see who wins!

A Tiny Angel Tutorial

You might remember the little angel I made last year for my 450 followers give-a-way? Yesterday I made an even smaller angel.  :D

This is how I did it.

2 strands of stiffened ivory embroidery floss - for her arms and legs
1 small seed bead - for the head
3 strands of yellow embroidery floss - for her hair
Small piece of tissue paper and a small flower punch for her dress

First I folded the stiffened embroidery floss in half and inserted it into the bead. Then I pushed the fold up and added hair in the loop above the bead. I did a little wigging cross to style her hair.

Here is my finished little angel. Hope you like her. If you poke the photo you can see her better. My camera just doesn't take good pictures of things this small!

True2Scale has shared 100 Miniature Christmas tutorials! If only I had more time! :D

Kikka and Julia, don't despair! I'm mailing your gifts today!

PS. As of this morning there are 600 Followers of my little blog! Wow! Welcome everyone! This calls for another give-a-way! Stay tuned!  :D

Helping Hands

I was fiddling with something very tedious and very, very tiny this afternoon. I thought to myself, "I could use another pair of hands, smaller ones!"

Then I remembered the little gizmo I had purchased at Harbor Freight. Helping Hands with LED Light. Maybe it will help?

Of course there is some assembly required. I started reading the instructions. Yes, sometimes I do read the instructions.

When I got to the part that said, "Do not assemble this tool when you are tired," I had to stop. I don't think I've ever read that particular warning in any other instructions I've read? I am tired, so I had to stop.

I'm almost finished with my gifts for Faby's Christmas Swap. I know I'm late. I just keep thinking of more little things to make.

I promise to get up bright and early, assemble my helping hands, and get back to work! Promise.

Hope everyone had a great weekend! I did. I made minis for four days!  :D

Chilly Morning

It's chilly here this morning so I thought I would build a little fire.

Close up photos are a good thing. I see a few corrections I need to make. Maybe I should go put in my contacts. That might help...

Hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving Day. Will you be shopping today or making minis?  

I won't be going anywhere except to visit my grand dogs and grand cats. I'm sure they are hungry right now!

We Need A Little Christmas

Yes! We need a little Christmas. Right this very minute! We need a little Christmas NOW!

I can't tell you where these will go. But I can tell you, they were a lot of fun to make!  :D

Playing For Keeps

I've been playing with my mini retro ranch house all weekend. This one I'm going to keep!

I started cutting out the house on Friday evening. I put a piece of plywood on my lap then laid my cutting mat on top of that. That way I could watch TV as I worked. With two dogs very close by, I cut all of the frame and window openings. I estimate that this took a little over two hours. I cut out two houses. :D

Saturday I decided that my little house would not be a Christmas house. I want it to look more like a real retro modern house. I painted the house using Folk Art Coffee Latte. I also added my siding and brick.

Today I added tissue paper to the windows inside. I scored all of the tabs and glued the house to a 2 inch by 6 1/2 inch base.

Now I'm working on the roof. I plan to add a light inside. I want to make a new front door too. I'm not happy with this one. I also plan to add some landscaping around the house. That will be fun. :D

I think this little house is going to be so cute. I may make the second house with clear glass windows and decorate the inside too?

I want to thank Kate at RetroRenovation for sharing her pattern and tutorial!

Mini Retro Ranch

When I found this little house at RetroRenovation.com I just had to try to make one! 

I re-sized Kate's pattern to approximately 1:144 scale. Then I went to Jennifer's Printables and found all of these cool paper printies. I shrunk them too.

Guess I will be cutting a pasting for a while!?  All I have to share with you today are lots of links and lots of little pieces of paper.

Hope you have a happy day!

Maybe?

I thought I would try to make a little glass block window. I'm using some acrylic "blocks" that are meant for scattering on wedding tables or filling vases.

I built a frame the size I wanted out of 1/8 inch wooden trim. I also emailed MicroMark this morning to ask them to add a 1/4 inch grid to the bottom of their gluing jig. That would really help line things up and keep them square!

I wallpapered two walls of the bathroom this morning. I can't do the rest of the room until I decide about this window. Two steps forward. One step back.

Somewhere around here I have some real 1/2 inch glass tiles. If I can find them, I will try those too. Finding things here right now is next to impossible!

Hope you have a nice day!

Morning Mission

My mission this morning was to finish several projects. All at the same time! I had painting going on in the kitchen. Painting going on my work table. More painting on my desk.

This is what was accomplished since I woke up at 3 AM.  :D

✔  Applied second coat of peanut butter glaze on ceiling beams

✔  Painted third coat of pineapple upside down paint on upstairs ceiling

✔  Spackled downstairs ceiling where needed

✔  Finished bathroom basket weave tile. Applied first, second and third coat of spray varnish

✔  Finished palm pendant light

✔  Painted first coat of pistachio green on downstairs ceiling

Now I have to get ready to go to work. Real work.

Hope you have a productive day!

Basket Weaving

I love the tile I found at This Old House. I'm working on the floor for the garden center restroom.

I'm not sure why this is taking so long? Maybe because I need to take a basket weaving class?

I'm also making a pendant lamp. This will also go in the restroom. It's not finished, but coming along nicely.  :D

Hope your day is filled with happy mini making!