Vintage display cabinet

I was going to build a display cabinet, but with the projects still to be completed and the due date in just over a month, I started looking around for something ready-made. I stumbled across this vintage curio cabinet on etsy at Vintage Calico Garden. Perfect!

Here is it after a good cleaning. There are no maker or manufacturer markings as far as I can tell.

The piece is in excellent condition overall, though the shelves were a bit rough for what I needed.

Heather helped me by sending some scraps of paper for the Heritage bedroom, and she included some coordinating dark striped paper in the package. I used this striped paper to make liners for the shelves. I colored the edges for the top two shelves with a marker (not seen here), because the white paper edges would have shown through the front and side glass panels.

The cabinet needed a backer to complete it, so I cut a piece of spare Heritage plywood.

The wood backer just slides in place and is held straight by the shelves.

Knowing I would never be able to match the stain of the outside, I painted the backer Vintage White by Folk Art. The items I put in the cabinet will stand out nicely against the pale backdrop. Perhaps one or two of these things might stay in the cabinet, but I just filled it quickly with items I had around to take photos.

Update: Here it is after being filled with items appropriate for The Aero Squadron Lounge. It really is a lovely piece. :D

Categories: Furniture, The Aero Squadron Lounge
July 29, 2012 | 0 comments

Dogwood Tree

I am following the same DVD tutorial as I did for the Heritage tree: Master Miniaturists:
Landscaping Primer with Diane Myrick. This tree, however, is fuller, shorter and much less
knobby. Here’s the tree after adding the water putty and paint washes. The tree stands just under 11″ tall.

Who’s that there?  Looks like Grahame the badger has wandered over. :D

Instead of using the foliage techniques used in the DVD tutorial, I wanted to use a technique to make a dogwood tree that would allow for close-up photos. This is what the flowers look like on a real dogwood.

I decided to use scrapbooking punches to make flowers and leaves. I have just under 100 branch tips on my tree, so I punched out 400 white flowers using the mini Hydrangea punch by Punch Bunch and colored each of them individually with markers. I ended up dumping about 20 or so for bad marker wielding. :D

I had two leaf choices – both with multiple leaves from each punch. This is the small ash punch by Punch Bunch with flowers.

This is the small tri leaf punch by Punch Bunch with flowers.

Both leaf sprigs are 5/8″ high, but the tri leaf sprig seems to work better overall in scale and shape. I will shape these to add vein texture and then glue the flowers and leaf sprigs to the tree skeleton. I’m also planning to add some dimension to the flower centers.

I knew I needed lighter color leaves, but none of my markers were the right shade of green. I ended up painting the strips of paper which resulted in a slight variation of greens. I think that’s okay considering it might add to the dimensionality instead of having a uniform green as the backdrop for the flowers.

Here they are…165 leaf sprigs. I’m not sure if I will need more flowers and leaves, but it seemed a good place to start.

I colored each stem with a brown marker. With the green paint base color, it turned the stems greyish green…perfect for matching the trunk. I then added veins to each leaf on the sprigs with a ball stylus. I had a few leaf casualties, but I kept the sprigs and the loose leaves.

The middle of a dogwood flower is actually a cluster of smaller flowers. To add dimension to mimic these clusters, I glued landscaping material by Woodland Scenics to the centers of my shaped flowers.

I glued flowers to a leaf sprig and then glued that assembly to the tree branch using Aleene’s Fast Grab. I usually use Aleene’s Quick Dry for just about everything, but this is a thicker glue that does what it says…it grabs fast! :D

Okay…164 more to go!

I finished putting on as many leaves and flowers on the dogwood tree as I thought looked good. I have a bunch left over, which is fine since this tree may need touching up from time to time and I won’t have to start the process of making new leaves and flowers from scratch.

The bench is by Phoenix Models. The “kit” comes with two white metal bench ends that you can paint, and you supply the wood in whatever length you wish. It’s a perfect solution when you need a completely custom size bench. It’s a sturdy little piece once you manage to wrangle all the wood ends into place.

I used some leftover Dura-Craft trim wood for the seat slats and skinny sticks for the back rest, stained with Minwax English Chestnut. I cut the boards 3.25″ in length, so the seat ended up at 3″ wide — a perfect loveseat under a pretty tree. :D

From the back, the tree looks a little fuller since there are more branches on this side. I had made it sparse on the front since I planned to have a bench there from the beginning.

It looks fullest from an aerial view (and in person since you can walk around it at the right level).

Overall, I love the way it turned out. It’s full but still allows you to see the building behind it.

Categories: Flowers, plants, and trees, The Aero Squadron Lounge
July 19, 2012 | 0 comments

Farmhouse hutch reproduction, part 2

Continuing work on the farmhouse hutch I found on European Paint Finishes. With the hutch mostly built, I needed to stain the entire surface. I plan to paint all except the back and counter top, but I will sand that top layer down to show the stain color underneath. One of my favorite materials is Staining Antiquing Medium by Americana. It acts somewhat like a glaze, looks a little like an ointment, and makes acrylic paint behave like a liquid stain.

You can use any color you want and still have the wood grain show through. And, you don’t have to buy a whole can of stain every time you need just a little color. Here I’ve used Coffee Latte by Folk Art, which has a warm honey color.

The hutch looks rather rustic, though I will neither confirm nor deny if that is my intention. :D

I let the stain/paint dry overnight then sanded all the pieces smooth and reapplied the stain as needed.

I painted all of the pieces except the counter top and the hutch back boards Slate Green by Americana.

It’s close to the color used on the inspiration piece.

I sanded the pieces to reveal some of the stained wood underneath the top coat and then sealed with Delta Ceramcoat satin varnish. The knobs are clear flower-shaped beads held in place by silver pins. The faux drawer fronts look convincing, no?

I added the notched detail on the shelves. Fran suggested this might be for displaying spoons, and even though I don’t intend to display mini spoons, I liked the detailing. The lovely flowers are by Michelle from Little Rabbit Miniatures.

I moved the crown molding up slightly during final finishing, so the entire unit measures 6 1/4″ W x 7 5/8″ H x 1 1/16″ D.

I think it turned out very close to the original.  :D

Now to fill it. I won’t be using these items with it, but I wanted to show the relative size with some minis.

Basket by Lyssa. :D

Categories: Furniture, The Aero Squadron Lounge
July 15, 2012 | 0 comments

Ophelia

My relentless stalking has paid off! I now have a lovely kitty friend by *Reve*, the artist who made Grahame the badger.

This is Ophelia, a silver Maine Coon. Isn’t she a pretty kitty sitting on the porch on a fine autumn day? I love this photo!

Categories: Animals and birds
July 12, 2012 | 0 comments

Farmhouse hutch reproduction, part 1

I have started my miniature reproduction of a farmhouse hutch I found on European Paint Finishes. Here’s the original farmhouse hutch for reference.

I have the base assembled and ready for paint and stain. The counter top is separate since I plan to stain it and paint the rest.

The drawers in my version are not functional, so I’ve recessed the front portions for now. I will make faux fronts to “float” in these openings to make the drawers more convincing.

I used laser cut scallop trim from Heritage Laser Works, cutting every other scallop to a point to mimic the original. Mine has three complete scallops instead of four like the original to maintain the look of proper proportions.

Below is a more detailed shot of the original. The hutch is shown on a similarly colored wall, so at first I thought the bottom was enclosed on the back. It’s actually open between the back two square posts.

The front posts are Houseworks newel posts cut to fit. I may or may not add the bottom brackets. I have an idea how to make them, but they will be tiny and perhaps more trouble than they’re worth. I was trying to keep the height down on the overall piece and haven’t left much room for them.

This part of the hutch measures 5 3/4″ W x 3″ H x 1 1/16″ D.

I forgot to mention that Patie of minisx2, where I found that delightful and whimsical modern cabinet, sent me some Dura-Craft wood from my want ad and included two bundles of cut wood for projects. It’s very nice wood, unlike what I’ve been finding in the craft and hobby stores lately. I’ve used it for the counter top of the base and the back of the hutch top.

Very little of the top is glued since the back will be stained and the rest painted, so it’s being held together with magnets in my gluing jig. Here’s an approximation of what it will look like with lower portion. As you can see, I’ve cut the veneer inserts for the faux drawers.

My first measurement for the top had to be the scallop trim since I needed complete scallops all the way across. Having them uneven, with one chopped off on one side and another whole on the opposite side would have offended my sensibilities. ;D

I order wood trims and parts from Manchester Wood Works quite often, and they include a small sample bag of various wood trims. I use these samples all the time when I just need a little bit of something to add to a project.

To create the decorative bases for the side panels, I used 1 1/16″ tall baseboard trim – a sample from Manchester Wood Works. I am guessing this might be for play scale. I’ve used half scale and quarter scale items in my full scale builds before, too. I cut thin cross sections, then measured the depth I would need based on my side panels.

Now I have wonderfully decorative bases without having to carve them individually. This was the method I had planned to use to make the lower brackets, but the space is just too small. Until I delve into quarter scale building, cutting wood that small just eludes me. :D

The pegs on the upper trim are model ship belaying pins. Just a quick drilled pilot hole and some glue, and there you have it!

Here is a close up of the original hutch top.

I ended up with 1 1/4″ spaces between my shelves to accommodate what the hutch will eventually hold. I’ll cut sides for the crown molding on top after it is all painted, stained and assembled. Things have a way of shifting during the building process and I find it’s best to fit that final trim at the end. I still need to add the notched details on the shelves, but I’m taking a break from the project for now. I can fiddle with these things only so long.

The hutch top measures 5 1/2″ W (not including the crown molding) x 4 1/2″ H x5/8″ D (not including the decorative bases), making the total unit 6 1/4″ W (with the crown molding) x 7 1/2″ H x 1 1/16″ D.

Categories: Furniture, The Aero Squadron Lounge
July 7, 2012 | 0 comments