Thursday, October 15, 2009

The Orchid Bedroom

As with everything mini, this room is still work in progress. The pics don't hide the flaws very well! I'm one of those people who loves to know all the details on how people make the things they do so I'm going to share some details of my own:

The hanging wall shelf is a section of a Michael's hutch. I cut the trim from a different one to use as the scalloped detail on the bottom. The lace edging is just cut from a larger piece of lace. See the rug? It's scrapbook paper! I frayed the edge of a strip of fabric and glued in under the edge for the fringe. The complicated design on the trunk was a stamp from my scrapbooking supplies. After I stamped the design onto the wood, I used the end of a toothpick to touch in details of paint and when dry, stained over it. There are also 3 bead charms in the pictures: the silver box next to the chair, the mini teapot on the shelf and the scissors on the table.
The wood triangle over the bed is balsa wood and so is very soft. I bought it before I found out that basswood is the right wood to use for mini wood projects. Happily though, because it is so soft, I was able to use a $6 engraver from Walgreens which is usually used to write your name on electronics to "carve" into the soft piece of balsa. It burns right through the wood, creating those holes and engravings. Too fun!

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

The Kitchen

Here is the Orchid's kitchen. Don't mind the crooked curtains! Can you spot the Michael's hutches? There are three.

Monday, October 12, 2009

The Shoppe

Remember the Orchid I rehabbed? Here's a peek on the inside as it looks now. Inside The Sewing Room, home and business of a woman at the turn of the century.




A Beginning...

I love the little things in life that make it so precious... my family, nature, and dabbling in anthing creative! Since I was born a little late to experience the Little House on the Prairie era, what better way to explore my love of antiques and handcrafting than through miniatures? Minis aren't just houses for dolls, but a way to explore and learn about architecture and history, craft with wood and paint and paper and fabric; a world that we create in which everything is in order... What a marvelous stress reliever! Thanks for exploring it with me.

Here's the back story... When I was a little girl, my grandmother gave me a Greenleaf Beacon Hill dollhouse for Christmas. It was marvelous (check out their wonderful site!) and I spent hours sitting as close as I could to it so that I could imagine myself in those wonderful scenes. I grew up and forgot about miniatures until last Christmas. I started feeling sentimental and my wonderful husband took me to an antique store.

There sitting up on a shelf was a very neglected, gaudily painted
Orchid by Greenleaf. I rescued the little house and since then I've been hooked! During the painting process and ....after!
She's still a work in progress... more pics soon...

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