Sunny Flowers Tutorial- How to Make Mini Paper Flowers

I've got sunshine on a cloudy day! Actually, I'm in Florida so we rarely have those days, but for those of you who do, you can bring a little sunshine to your miniature scenes with some little pretty yellow flowers. The picture below is the finished product that I made today:Jolee's by You is a brand of 3 dimensional stickers for scrapbooking that have lots of mini uses. They even have the right scale fabric dresses, football uniforms, the works! The picture below is how my yellow flowers came packaged; flat and 1 color, but just right in size!
Flat just will not do! It's time to get out the round tipped stylus and add some dimension to bring these pretty flowers to life! Here's how it's done:

1. First, you will need a stylus (or something rounded like it) that you can press into the paper without tearing it.
2. Then you will need to have a soft surface that has a little "give" to it so that when you press the paper, it will cup into the surface. I used a scrap of craft foam but an old mouse pad is great for this!
3. Flip the flower upside down and press into the back of each petal. Play around with this step to get just the right amount of bend in each petal. Flip it over and your petals are beginning to take shape!

Before............................ After

Next you will want to add color. (You can do this earlier, if you like.) I really played around with this step. I found that paint was too wet and changed the texture of the paper. Chalk pastels were too dry and didn't add much. But wet chalk pastels? They were just right! I dipped my tiny paintbrush in water, rubbed it on a chalk and got a sort of a water color texture that wasn't too wet. See how messy the bottom flower looks? That's from the paint... not good.
The petals were still just a bit flat still, so out came my trusty stylus again. This time I pressed it right in the middle and made a tight circle motion, swirling around several times right in the center. As I did this, the layers of petals started to separate and lift and became (I thought) more real.
Time to make the centers of the flowers. Flashy gold foil centers weren't going to cut it for me. :) I wanted the centers to be dimensional and a little fuzzy so I looked around my work area and found green felt. I didn't mind a little green showing but I pounced some red and yellow paint on it to change the color to my liking. I then took out my hole punch from scrapbooking and punched out holes in the green-now-reddish felt to make my centers. A little dab of tacky glue completed that step.
Last, it was time to add stems and leaves. I know some talented people in blog land that are wonderful at using floral tape and wire; I am NOT one of those people! In my local craft store I found a fake floral arrangement that had leaves like the ones below. I simply cut it apart into sections, snipping just below each pair of leaves. That gave me 2 leaves and a length of stem above it! Wow, that was easy! I trimmed the leaf length a little, put a dab of glue at the top of the stem and put the flower on top.
Voila! Easy flowers and a little sunshine for my mini house. Have a wonderful day!

Blinking Blog

If this blog is changing designs right before your eyes, there is nothing wrong with your vision! I had to change my background because of changes at Shabby Blogs, but I am having huge issues! Please forgive the random changes and unfortunate colors while I try to figure this out.

Log Cabin Christmas

My mom has always wanted to live in a log cabin and so I decided to give her one for Christmas... a mini roombox version, of course! I tried to fill it with personal touches that would make the perfect place to retire, full of family pictures, her hobbies and love of the guitar, music, crocheting and knitting and mementos of places she has visited. She also loves blue so I tried to add touches of it wherever possible. Here are pics of when this roombox was almost complete. I'll follow up with a post or two of some of the particular tricks and tips relating to making this box. If you see something you want to know more about, leave a comment and I'll share whatever I can. Don't forget to click on the pics for details. :)

Many Mini Projects with Michael's Hutches!

I've been working on a top-secret mini project (it is nearly Christmas after all!) but I've missed posting for you all! In the US, we have a craft store named Michaels that sells these little wooden hutches that are just a little smaller than 1:12 scale but can be bashed into SO many things! I used to just paint or stain them but then I found out that if you just warm them a little (seconds) in the microwave, that you can just pull them to pieces and create something new. That same principle works really well with almost any mini furniture that is glued together! Here are some pics of things I've made using those wonderful, $1 hutches. Happy bashing!

Shabby Chair & Screened Armoire

I'm still in a shabby state of mind! I crackled the (formerly) red mahogany chair below with an undercoat of black paint and paired it with a soft cream and sage checked fabric. At first I wasn't sure if that color combination would be too strong but I like it. The rusty wreath was inspired by Susanna of http://miniaturedreams.blogspot.com/. She makes the loveliest things! Thanks for sharing, Susanna!

This is the first time I've used screening in an armoire to imitate a chicken wire effect. They are pieces from a screen repair kit! It pays to keep your eyes open at the hardware store!
There are some very subtle baby pink details along the bottom and on the molding around the doors. Paperclips make great hangers. Click on the pics to see a little closer if you'd like :)

Shabby Chic Shelving Tutorial

I've heard other miniature artists talk about how they use graph paper to make their designs and they won me over once I tried it for myself. Since I can't ever seem to cut on a straight line, using paper that takes care of that for me sounded perfect! The fence that I turned into shabby shelving in my Orange Blossom was created using the technique below.

First, I got out my paper, double sided tape and some wonderful shaped cocktail sticks that I once found in a dollar store. I then drew the curve for the top of the fence section on my paper. since the graph paper is marked in quarter inch increments, I could guarantee I was making it the exact size I wanted. I also used those marks to evenly space the fence posts. Two strips of double sided tape across that paper made sure everything stayed just how I placed it!
I wasn't worried about the bottom of each post not lining up; I simply drew a line using the graph paper as a guideline. I waited to cut the posts until after gluing the cross pieces but that was a mistake! So awkward to cut. Next time I will cut first and glue second. Below you can see that I created different size sections because originally they were to be fence sections for a particular area. I like them so much better for shabby chic shelving!
With a little paint and weathering, the were just right! Not bad for cocktail sticks, double stick tape, and a sheet of graph paper. :)

A Tale of Two Chairs

Sometimes two aren't better than one! I got these two little chairs for a dollar in a bargain bin at a craft store. Cute but dull and the flowers weren't quite my style. While looking at them side by side, I thought that they would make a cute little child bench for the children's nursery in my Beacon Hill. First I worked to the saw to try to cut off the legs that would be touching but that was just too much work! So...
7 seconds in the microwave did the trick! The heat made it easy to pull the chairs apart. If you do this, PLEASE stay close and only do it a couple seconds at a time. Minis aren't worth a fire or burnt fingers! I finished with my saw again, used glue and bits of molding and dowels and finished my shabby little bench.
Here it is, rather rough and unfinished but I love it :) I'll scrape off the extra bits of glue and paint the whole thing again, but this shabby look is perfect for now. I even love that it is a little "bottom heavy." I think it adds to the childish feel, just perfect for the kids' room.