The bed was made from a House of Miniatures single low post bed kit. I left off the fancy post tops for a more rustic look. The mini bedside table is also from a House of Miniatures kit, from a set of two side tables. I stained both with IKEA antique pine stain and then weathered with Antiquing Medium by Folk Art and a slight wash of black and brown paint.
The mattress was made from fabric that had an old, stained look to it, stuffed with four layers of a felt-like batting and quilted. I love the way the bed looks with the ropes exposed, but I wanted the option to show it either empty or fully dressed.
The washboard was made from a pattern in Thirties & Forties Miniatures in 1:12 Scale by Jane Harrop. Here are the pieces, cut and weathered with a wash of black and brown paint.
The parts are all fixed in place, but I love this piece. It turned out better than I had hoped. The metal is the same material I used for the roof, run through a Fiskars crimper.
I found a lot of great images online for old time mail, bank notes, newspapers and pharmacy items. I printed the majority of my minis for this project on parchment paper. The newspapers ended up in the attic, the letter on the dresser and the bank notes in a drawer unseen.
The horse painting is Horse with Wagon at Hitching Post by Edward Lamson Henry. I sharpened the image a bit and then printed it on Art Canvas, a specialty paper by The Crafty PC. I made the frame from strip wood. There’s no particular significance to the painting – I just liked it. :]
There are a few artisan-made knives with leather sheaths on the market, but I decided to give it a try myself. I started out with a kitchen knife with a red handle.
I painted the handle black and then made a sheath with a belt loop out of scrapbook paper called Buckskin Brown by The Paper Company. I used a bit of black paint to age the paper once the glue was dry. The blanket is a folded piece of felt pressed into shape with an iron.
The dresser with the mirror was made from a pattern in Thirties & Forties Miniatures in 1:12 Scale by Jane Harrop. This project was labeled advanced, and though it was a real bear cutting all the pieces precisely, I love the way it turned out. I stained all of the pieces with IKEA antique pine stain before assembly and then aged it with Antiquing Medium by Folk Art after it was built.
The mirror is made from plastic mirror sheet by Darice. This material was great to work with. The finish was pristine when I pulled it from the package, so I had to beat it up a bit for it to blend with the old dresser. I used an X-Acto knife to scrape some of the backing away.
This created spots in the reflection.
Using the same process as I had for the windows, I brushed on some Gloss Varnish by Delta Ceramcoat and then wiped away the excess. I painted the wood backer black as well. Now it looks like an old weathered mirror.
The apothecary items were made from a glass bottle and an unpainted metal miniature. I used brown paint to dirty the glass and painted the metal bottle with acrylics. I then glued on tiny antique medicine labels I found online. I crinkled the label on the metal bottle before gluing it since the bottle itself seemed a bit beat up. The razor and shaving mug were unpainted metal minis that I detailed. The shelf was made using pieces from my scrap wood bag.
I’m a big fan of hidden elements, so while I didn’t make any actual miniature clothing, I did place some folded fabric scraps in the drawers. :D
A couple of more personal details I included are the photographs of my own ancestors. The young woman on the mirror is my great grandmother Mary Jane Bartlett (nee Watson) in her graduation photo. She was born in 1900 and passed away in 2005 just shy of her 105th birthday. She was young at heart and lived on her own until a few months before she passed. She wasn’t even hard of hearing; she cooked her own meals and cleaned her own home. She was a remarkable woman with a terrific laugh, and I am lucky to have known her well into my adult life.
The second photo is that of her grandparents: Augustus Samuel Watson (1827-1901) and Mary Jane Cameron (1827-1900). That would make them my great, great, great grandparents.
My reproductions might be a bit large for proper 1:12 scale, but I wanted them to show well in the room.
