Is it drafty in here?

I love how the front door turned out! I primed the whole assembly with white acrylic and then painted the front of the door with Robin’s Egg Blue from Jo-Ann Craft Essentials (left over from the mirror in the Newport hallway). The interior I left white.

But something seemed off to me…then I noticed the gaps all around the door.

To fix this problem, I cut strips of 1/16″ x 3/32″ bass wood to create an inner frame.

Could I have noticed this before I had the whole thing painted and sealed? No, that would have interfered with my master plan to do things the hard way. :D

I painted the inner frame white to match the rest of the door frame. Ah, much better…

For the record, this door was a bit damaged and rough when I bought it…but I didn’t repair it past sanding a bit. I wanted it to look weathered but in reasonably good shape as though it gets a fair amount of wear but the homeowners try to keep up with the painting. :]

Categories: Miniatures
May 21, 2011 | 0 comments

Dollhouse miniature ice cubes

There are so many creative people out there who are incredibly generous to share their ideas on homemade and often inexpensive minis. The first time I saw mini ice cubes made from suction cups on My Small Obsession, I was amazed at how realistic they looked.

So, I went to the dollar store and bought a pack of suction cups. I cut them into strips and then into tiny cubes. I didn’t measure or try to make them perfect. In fact, I used all but the thinnest edge of the cups and tried to vary the size and shape. I wanted them to look like full cubes, broken cubes and shards. This is the amount of ice two 1 5/8″ diameter suction cups made.

The ones I bought were a bit bluish in tone, and my ice cubes also turned out to be on the blue side. I worried that this might detract from their realism until I added a couple of mini beer bottles to a tub full of them. :D I think they look wonderful!

Categories: Miniatures
April 12, 2011 | 0 comments

Vintage crochet throw blanket

I am ever in awe of those who can crochet in miniature. I have the patience for needlework, but I don’t think I could wrap my mind around using sewing thread as yarn with a tiny crochet hook well enough to produce anything close to resembling the works of art Mary of Roslyn Treasures makes.

After admiring her work for close to a year, I bought myself an early Christmas present…one of her fabulous miniature crochet blankets, just like the ones my grandma and great grandma used to make (mom still has one of the life sized ones).

Mary does flawless work. Magnified, the stitches are indiscernible from a real life sized blanket.

And, her creations drape so realistically.

Categories: Miniatures
December 14, 2010 | 0 comments

Café shutters

This tutorial ran in the September 2010 Greenleaf Gazette. :D For those who missed it, here it is in its entirety.

For the master bathroom, the need for privacy while bathing was a must. In order to stick with the clean lines of the room so far, I decided to make some café shutters for the bottom halves of the windows.

I started with half scale window shutters from Houseworks. Each one measures approximately 1/2″ x 2 1/2″. Four of them lined up side by side are just about the right fit for the standard windows of the Newport. If you wanted the look of café shutters without the work of putting the hinges on them, you could paint them, glue them together along the edges and glue them as a single piece to the window frame.

I painted the shutters white, including the plain (non-louvered) backs. Once dry, I sanded them before putting on a second coat.

In order to make the shutters functional, I used eight very tiny hinges per window; they each measure 3/16″ square when open. They have incredibly tiny nails as well. I recommend working in an area where you won’t easily misplace them (spoken from experience). Cats get very curious about you when you are scrounging on the floor on all fours, but they are not much help. I did find the wayward nail, by the way…all four times!

Lining up two shutters with the louvers going the same direction, I marked the hinge placement 1/2″ from each end.

I used a tiny hand drill to make shallow pilot holes.

I cut out an indentation in the sides to allow for a recessed fit for each hinge, otherwise there would be gaps between the shutters and they would no longer fit the window width correctly.

Holding the two shutters side by side and aligned top to bottom (plain backs together, with louvers on the fronts going the same direction), I copied the indentations and nail placement onto the second shutter.

After putting a tiny dab of clear gel glue on each nail and inside the indentation, I pressed the nails into place using tweezers. Be careful not to mar the opposite side by squeezing too hard or at the wrong angle (also spoken from experience). But, that’s what spackle is for!

Attaching the hinges takes time and a lot of patience. I attached the first set of two shutters in one long sitting and then came back to the project the following night. Remarkably, it took considerably less time and effort for the second set. When doing the second set, make sure the louvers are going in the same direction as your first set.

After the hinges were in place on both sets, I touched up any imperfections in the finish. I finished the bathroom window inside and out. Your window may or may not need to be installed before attaching the shutters, depending on your structure. In my case, I was able to work on the window while separate from the house.

Next, the two outer hinges were attached using the same process as the inner hinges: pilot holes were drilled, notches were cut out, small dabs of glue were put on the nails and the nails were pressed in place.

I placed the hinged shutter assembly on the window with the non-hinged side lined up with the center of the window and the top edges of the shutters flush with the board across the middle of the window. If your window doesn’t have this feature, you may need to add one for stability.

I marked the nail holes for the hinges on the side pane. I drilled pilot holes for the nails and cut out a thin indentation to allow for better movement of the hinge.

After putting a tiny dab of glue on the nail, I attached the hinges to the pane using the end of the tweezers to press the nails in.

The assembly should open smoothly. These assemblies need to be treated gently – the hinges are tiny and can be easily bent.

Making sure the louvers of the second set were going the same direction as the first, I attached the outer hinges on the second set. After butting the center edges together, I marked the hinge placement on the pane. To keep the whole assembly from shifting, I pressed in the top and bottom nails first.

For the finishing hardware, I used laser cut brass hooks and eyes from The Ironworks (website appears to be defunct as of 2024). Closures can be fashioned from wire as well.

I bought extra hinges and one of them was bent on arrival – instant extra nails! I used one of those extra hinge nails to attach the hook, leaving a bit of slack so it would turn freely. I had to cut the eye pin short since its length was longer than my shutter thickness. I used the tip of an X-Acto blade to make an incision and then glued the eye in place.

Once the window was installed, I added the interior trim while making sure there would be ample room for the shutters to open and close.

And open…

Categories: Miniatures
October 17, 2010 | 0 comments

Hard wiring table lamps

For the usual light fixtures — wall lights and ceiling lights — the wires are usually easy to hide. Holes are drilled through boards and channels are made to hide the wires.

The same thing can be done with table lamps, but what about the times when there isn’t a piece of furniture to hide where the wire enters the wall? In the guest room, I had just this situation; the table next to the bed had a thin base. I could have pulled the wire behind the bed and hid it there, but where’s the fun in that? :D

So, I decided to make a mock outlet. First, I slipped a white bead onto the lamp wire; this will mimic a plug.

I cut a channel in the wall behind the table to feed the wire up the wall and through the ceiling (eventually, when the ceiling is put on).

I cut a small hole in the wallpaper where I want my outlet to be, making sure it was in line with the wire channel.

I used a small piece of bass wood painted gloss white to mimic the outlet cover. For the “open” outlet, I drew on the outline, indented it a bit with an X-Acto knife and then brushed a bit more paint over the drawing. On the other side, I made a hole to feed the lamp wire through.

I slipped the outlet onto the wire behind the bead and then fed the wire through the hole in the wallpaper.

I determined the length of cord I wanted and taped the wire into the channel in the wall.

I glued the wallpaper in place, glued the outlet in position on the wall and then moved the bead to sit flush against the outlet cover.

Categories: Miniatures, The Newport
September 11, 2010 | 0 comments