Treasures

I made this cross stitch for my mother many years ago. All of the shells you see were collected on Sanibel Island Florida. After I had finished the stitching, we worked together to cut the mat, arrange the shells and frame it. As you can see, my mother liked tiny things too. :D

I've had this hanging in my bathroom and it shows signs of moisture damage. I really don't want to take it apart to fix the wrinkles in the fabric so I'll just leave it as it is. Wrinkles are just a part of the aging process, right?

I really miss my mother and every time I look at this I think of her. She would love to see what I've been doing with miniatures. Sometimes I feel her looking over my shoulder and see her smiling.

My mother was so creative! One of these days I'll show you some of the beautiful shell art and paintings that she did. They are real treasures to me.

Do you have someone in your life who inspires you? I'm sure you do.

Found On The Floor

I went to WalMart this weekend to get one of those wooden fans that Casey is using for her Russian Cottage. As I was walking to the register, I looked down on the floor and saw these!


They were clearing out their fall decorations, wreaths and such. These tiny balls must have fallen off some of the wreaths. I thought they looked like little pumpkins so I picked some up.

I don't know if anyone saw me crawling around on the floor and I don't care. Maybe you will see me on the WalMart shoppers website! LOL

You never know where you might find minis!

Do Overs and Leftovers

This is my desktop right now. I made a new roof for my little house because the first one didn't have the same number of rows of shingles on each side. They weren't lined up quite straight either.


I also had to make new flooring for the upstairs bathroom and bedroom. The plan for the middle floor has changed (again). The lampshade I made looked too big, so I'm going to do that over too. The next one will be 1/2" x 1/4" tall. I'll do that when I have more patience!


See that little black tube thingy taped to the paper at the bottom of this photo? That's all I can find of the shrink tubing I got with my light kit. I have no idea where the rest of it is?

Sherry at Evans Designs is going to send me more tubing and also replace the two lights that I broke. Free of charge! She told me that I hadn't needed to buy more lights. They are all 100% guaranteed! Great customer service!

Right now I'm feeling very frustrated with this little house. I'm tired of working on it, tired of thinking about it and just plain tired!

Do you ever get so aggravated with something that you're ready to toss it in the trash?! Don't worry. I won't do that. I've spent a month of Sundays working on this and I'm not about to give up now!

Maybe my leftover Olive Garden dinner will help me feel better? Sometimes I get so engrossed in my mini making that I forget to eat! Looks good, doesn't it? :D


I just noticed that my computer mouse needs a good cleaning again. Even that is starting to bug me! Wonder if there's anything good on TV tonight?

I need a hug,
Kathi

"No Giving Up"

This is what Brae at Otterine said about the lights in my teeny tiny house. "No giving up. It's not allowed!"

I'm not so sure about that after fiddling with this all morning. What a mess!
I did get both lights working again. I just can't seem to get the floor "sandwich" to go together right.

I would like to make a ceiling light for the kitchen (left downstairs) but I need to keep the LED flat so I may just use a medallion there. I hammered a little silver jewelry finding flat and that might work?

The house will sit on a 5 x 6 inch photo frame so I can do some landscaping around it. I may need to do that before I place the house on the board. So many things to think about! I'm getting tired of all of this thinking!!!


Here is the battery and switch underneath the house. If I put them here they won't be seen and I can replace the battery and work on the lights later if I need to do that.


I'm NOT going to give up but I AM going to go do something else for a while!

It's a beautiful sunny day here! I may take the "modern house" outside for some TLC and fresh air later? Right now I need a nap! LOL

Hope YOU have a beautiful day!



Thoughts after the nap: I'm going get a 3 x 5 inch frame so I won't need to do so much landscaping. Also, I'm going to try to make the middle floor from wood instead of card stock. I can always add some trim on the edge to hide the wiring.

I Am NOT An Architect

I've been doing some "architectural" drawings this morning. I thought it would be a good idea to do this BEFORE I start sawing away at the house! They are not to scale just yet.


I like the larger windows on the first and second floor. They would go around the sides of the house too. Some square wooden dowels would add some dimension to the exterior. The patio and garden areas would be covered and extend out on the front.

I used my favorite tool, my eraser, and did this second drawing. I may like this one better?


These are some ideas I found while Googling. Too many ideas!


















While I was at Home Depot the other day I found this copper switch plate cover that can be cut to size. I didn't buy one, but I thought it would be nice to use somewhere on the house?
Here I am thinking about finishes and paint. Guess I should settle on the design first!

Nugget woke me up at 3:30 this morning to go outside. I think I'm going to be very very tired by 3 o'clock this afternoon! He will probably sleep the entire day!

Do NOT, I repeat! Do NOT enter Casey's 500+ followers give-a-way! I want to WIN! :D

Hope you have a good day!

A Modern House

Well, would you just look at this!

A Modern House in Montauk: 57 Startop Drive | materialicious

Be sure and click on the slide show. Amazing!

Lunch is over, back to work for me.

New Roof and Trim Ideas

I ripped the roof off the house this morning so I could put the new one on. There was some bloodshed but nothing serious. This house just didn't want to give up!

Home Depot cut a piece of lauan plywood for me for the new roof. I also had them cut a small piece of 3/4" plywood to raise the conservatory a bit. Then I found some clear plexiglass that I'll use for another part of the roof.

I also got some stain and paint sample cards. This weekend I will give the house some love and sand/prime it. Then maybe I'll be able to decide what color it will be?



I'm still trying to figure out what to do with the windows. I'd like them to match the conservatory. Before I go cutting more holes in the house I need to decide how large to make them and how to add some trim. Right now they are one inch taller than the ones in the conservatory.

This is all I had time for right now. Things usually have to get worse before they get better!

I need to go buy some bandaids too! Can you believe a nurse couldn't find ONE bandaid in her house this morning?!

Hope you have a good day!

Lamp Works

I've been working on the wiring for my tiny house. I got the lamp to work in the bedroom but the ceiling light in the kitchen went out.

If I hadn't decided to put lights in this little place I would be finished by now!

Hope you have a lovely day,

Moving To Miami?

I've been looking at my hurricane house all day. It's starting to speak to me again after what I've done to it.

I'm thinking maybe this house wants to move to Miami? Not to the crazy Art Deco District, but in a quieter area, still close to the beach. You know I can't be too far from the beach!

Maybe it is the front door that's doing the talking? If you really stretch your imagination can you see a little art deco there? A little Miami modern?


I think the color may be giving me some hints too. I do like the pink and I have all of these flamingos, you know. They really need somewhere to live!

I'm still planning to use the conservatory on the roof. I think if I raise it on a 3/4" board it will look more in proportion. Then I could even add a swimming pool up there too! An infinity pool would be awesome!



Most dollhouses come with plans and instructions. This one doesn't. I'll just have to keep listening and I'm sure it will tell me what to do. Thanks for listening to me dream. :D

Just Propped Up

What you see here are parts of my conservatory kit propped up on the roof of my bashed house. I never got around to building the conservatory and now I'm glad. It may just make a nice third floor addition to this house?


I was surprised the the dimensions of the conservatory are the same as the house except for the ceiling height. I'll need to do something about that. Some trim should take care of the difference on the exterior.

I'm also thinking that I'd like to expand the windows of the house so that they go around the corners. Like this beautiful house designed by Robin Chell Designs.


It was a bold move for me to tear this house apart. I hope you don't hate me for doing it? If you have any suggestions I would love to hear them! :D

I'll be working on my little cottage again today and let the modern house rest for a while.

What projects are you working on today?

House In Design

I woke up from a nap this afternoon and thought, I really don't know what to do with that colonial house. You know, the one that was going to be the Flamingo Inn, the Flamingo Bar and Grill, the church...


I decided I really wanted to do something different with it. SO. I started taking it apart!


I removed the columns and the roof. I tore off the shutters and pulled out the window "glass." Now it looks like a house that went through a hurricane! LOL

I've decided I'm going to completely remodel this house and make it a contemporary house. No teeny tiny modern house for me. I want a big one! There really aren't too many modern dollhouses out there and they are so expensive.

I found lots of ideas over at House In Design. Like this one posted Thursday!


Oese and Call of the Small and Mini Modern will love this site. If you want more inspiration, visit their blogs!

Right now my house is just a box with holes in it. I need to draw up my plans and get my little jigsaw going again. I have no idea how it will turn out?! It can only get better! LOL

Stay tuned!

Minnie, Sandy and a Little Lamp

Casey asked me how big (?) my little Minnie doll was. Here's a photo of her with Sandy. Sandy is six inches tall. Minnie is just 5/8".

Here is the tiny lamp I've been working on. I used one of my mini lights, a jewelry finding and made the shade out of parchment paper. You can't see it, but there is a harp under the shade to hold it in place. :D


Now you can see why my eyes get so tired!

Hope you have a great day!

Completely Furnished

Upstairs and down!

Just a few more touch ups and then I'll glue everything in place.

I have the lights working again. I decided to try to make a little lamp for the bedroom. I'll show you that later...

Hope you have a wonderful day!

What If?

What if I had been bitten by the mini mini bug and suddenly am seeing everything in microscopic size? What if I wanted to build a thoroughly modern teeny tiny house? What if I found this website and THIS house!?


What if I just couldn't get it out of my mind? AM I out of my mind?

I WILL finish my little cottage first. The "electrician" has finally arrived to repair the damage I did to one of the lights. Yes, I broke one while I was fiddling around with it. They are very very small and very very delicate.

I taking the rest of the evening off to rest my eyes. Tomorrow morning it will back to work!

Hope you have a great evening!

Matchbox Moving

Mini Mike borrowed his friend's old beat up well loved truck to move some of the furniture for the house.

Guess he will have to make a second trip to get the appliances.

Hope you are having fun today too?! :D

Mini Lights

I just had to try this mini light kit by Evans Designs. I bought it from Model Train Software. There are two little LED lights in this kit. It uses a tiny watch battery and there is a switch for turning the lights on and off.

They also have more kits with more lights. You can add lights too. They even have one to make a fire!

I installed one to see how it might look. I think they will be perfect for my little house!This is one of my best finds EVER! You should get one too! :D

Sweet dreams, and don't forget to turn off the lights when you leave!

Easy Bake?

I went to my favorite thrift store yesterday and found an Easy Bake Oven for $1.99. They had another one for $2.99 but I liked the color of this one. Plus, I am always looking for a bargain!


I was pleasantly surprised that it worked when I plugged it in!


I thought it would be great for baking my little appliances and bathroom fixtures.

Good thing I tried it out first with some pieces of leftover clay!

After five minutes in the oven I got chocolate donuts in Barbie scale! LOL

Maybe I should use a lower watt light bulb (?) or turn on the big oven? I don't want chocolate appliances!

Minnie's New Living Room

Minnie likes her new living room furniture. She likes her new friend too. :D

Hope you have a beautiful day!

Tee Hee Hee

My first "Mini ME!"

She is 5/8" tall, has BIG blue eyes (LOL) and can't wait for her little house to be finished! :D