Built-In Refrigerator

This is the first cabinet I'm working on for the kitchen. They will all be custom built.

Since Grandma doesn't do much baking, I thought she might like to store her mixer, cookie sheets, cake pans and cookbooks above the fridge.

Sure wish I could stay home today and finish this. Hope you have a nice day!

It's Best NOT to Ignore Grandpa

I really haven't been paying much attention to Grandpa lately. He watched the poll of projects and was really disappointed that I would not be working on his garage next.

So. He went shopping. On Ebay. I didn't know he knew my password.

Midwest Products Dinghy Boat Kit

When I asked him about his purchase, he said, "I need something to work on while you are in the kitchen."

I don't think he understands that this is just another "little" project to add to MY list. I've never built a boat before. I hope Grandpa knows how!

Maybe I should ask him to help me build the kitchen cabinets? I could use an extra pair of hands, however small they may be.

Designing the Kitchen

Thanks to everyone who voted for my next project! I've started designing the kitchen based on my inspiration photo from Country Living.

The first thing I did was get out the graph paper and start measuring. I found this very helpful web site that gives the measurements for standard kitchen cabinets. Changing them to 1:12 scale is not difficult using Jim's Dollhouse Scale Calculator.


Since I am a visual learner, I taped my ideas together to see what it might look like. I see a problem already. The upper cabinets are too far from the ceiling.

If you look closely at the inspiration kitchen you will see that the cabinets are set higher. My challenge is to make them the correct size and also have them be accessible to my dollhouse people.

I guess Grandma could use her little step stool to reach things?


I'm just not sure I want to take the chance of her falling and breaking her hip or something...

I'm going to go help Grandma down off the step stool and get back to measuring. Hope you have a great day!

The votes are coming in to help me decide what project to work on next. Thank you so much for voting. It's good to have help from my friends! :D

So far, the kitchen has almost 50% of the votes. The sewing room is in second place. This evening I will post the final results.

Since the kitchen is in the lead, I thought I would show you what I've done so far. This is what the kitchen looked like when I bought the house for $25 at a garage sale three years ago!


The first thing I did was remove the wallpaper. Then I added french doors.


The glass in the door cracked during the installation, but that's another story...


I bought these appliances a long time ago on Ebay. The more I look at them, the more I think they need to be BASHED. The kitchen has been sitting like this for over two years!


When I opened my box of kitchen accessories this morning, I realized I am going to need lots of counter space and storage! How about 12 feet of counter space?


Here is my inspiration!


The Waterfront kitchen at Country Living! This kitchen is SO beautiful and SO "beachy!"

If my little kitchen can look anything like this, I'll be very happy! :D

Thanks so much for voting! I hope you have a wonderful day!

What Next? Please Vote!

Now that Mike's little house is finished, I'm trying to decide what to do next? Will you help me?

These are some of the things I've collected to rebuild a house I found on Craig's List.

I plan to completely remodel this house. Think "Miami Modern" here. :D

The next item on the list of things to do is the beach house kitchen. I've really done nothing here yet. This is the last room in this house to finish.

Grandpa wants me to get back to work on his garage.

The outside deck and staircase are a real mess. This one could take a while!

Not to forget Grandma. She really wants her sewing room finished!



So what do YOU think? Which project should I work on next?

Please go to my sidebar and VOTE to help me decide! Thank you!

Mike's Mini Beach House

Mike's little beach house is finally finished! I love the light in the pool, courtesy of Evans Designs.



One more photo to show you the scale of the house.



I really enjoyed designing and building this project. Thank you for following along!

Around Back

This is the landscaping I've done on the back side of Mike's house.


The house is 4 inches tall and 3 1/2 inches wide. It is sitting on a 5" x 7" picture frame base. The wiring will be under the house with a switch so I can turn the lights on and off.


I'm going to add pilings around the sea wall and shorten the chimney. I guess it will be another day or so before I can say I'm finished.

I started this project on August 1st. I am proud to say that even with a few distractions it is almost complete! I can also say that everything you see was completely handmade. :D

I love this little 1:144 scale. It is so much fun to see how small you can make things. My next project will be quarter scale. I sure my eyes will appreciate working on something so BIG!

Almost Finished!

I'm almost finished with Mike's little house. I made him an awning so he can cook outside. I also built a boat dock so he can get to his sailboat.

Once I get the lights working again and landscape the back of the house, I'll be DONE! :D

Tomorrow maybe?

Sign In and Comments?

I have been having problems with Blogger. I know some of you have been unable to leave comments. I am having trouble staying signed in and leaving comments too.

Click here to go to Blogspot Help, a great website for baffled bloggers.

I don't know what the issue is but I did check Blogger Help. It seems like I am not the only one having this problem. I hope they fix it soon!

My son is going to log on to my computer later today to see what/if there is anything he can do? In the mean time, thanks for reading my blog and following along!

I really appreciate each and every one of you!

What if it Rains?

Mike got a new grill. He insisted that we move the kitchen under the second floor overhang. He was worried that it might rain while he was trying to cook.


I tried to tell him that it never rains at the beach... but he didn't believe me.

Hope the sun shines where you are today!

Outdoor Kitchen

Since there is no room inside Mike's house for a kitchen, he asked me to build one outside.


He's not quite happy with it yet. He really wants a granite counter top and a deeper sink. I guess I will have to try to comply with his wishes...

Hope you have a great Saturday!

Back at Mike's

Work has resumed on Mike's little house. The roofers still haven't shown up, but the hardscape has begun and the landscapers are ready to go.

Hope you have a nice day!

Table Hinge

Here is the hinge I made for Grandma's table. I could not have done this without the help of Peter Tucker at Musings on Modern Miniatures.




Thanks again, Peter!

Grandma's Ironing Board Table

I finally finished Grandma's ironing board table. :D


I want to thank Peter Tucker for his inspiration and for helping me figure out how to make the leaf support for my table!


This project really had me stumped and Peter graciously sent me photos of how he built the supports for his beautiful table.

Thanks to Peter's kindness, I was able to complete Grandma's table. Thank you Peter!


It will be so much fun to fill the cabinet with accessories. The pattern you see above is from Paper Minis. They have some really cute things. If you sign up for their mailing list you will get a new free project every month.

Now I just need to find Grandma's little iron... and clean up her sewing room. It looks worse than MY craft room right now!

A Little Something More!

Jill commented on my post yesterday and said there was a "little something more" inside the beach bag she made for me!




There was tissue paper in the bag and I didn't think to look inside! These darling little flip flops were hiding in there! What a great surprise!

Thanks again Jill! :D

Gifts from Jill

I forgot to show you what I received from Jill at Little Nest Studio. I was one of the winners of her Fabulous Mystery Gift give-a-way! Jill is so creative and sent me the most darling things!



I love the embroidered mermaid! The table and beach bag will be perfect for my beach house! The little white vase is precious!

Thank you so much Jill! I really love the things you made for me! :D

Kat the Hat Lady sent me a beautiful fall hat for Grandma too. Thanks Kat!

I haven't stopped making minis. Really. I just needed one little piece of wood to finish Mike's house. One tiny 1/16" square dowel. I can't believe I could not find one around here somewhere! A quick trip to Michaels today solved that problem.

I finished the egg shell patio. I just need to fix roof on Mike's house and then I can start putting the landscaping together. Hopefully, I'll finish this project soon and have photos to show you?

Hope you had a good weekend!

Spooky Playground

As promised, here are some photos of the Sloss Furnaces here in Birmingham. It is a playground for those who like to snoop around in old abandoned buildings.


You MUST be careful and watch your step.


Watch your head.


Beware of spiders.



Don't get lost or you might end up like THIS!




















On Halloween the furnaces are open for haunted tour. You can be SURE I will NOT be there!