Merry Miniatures: Decorating My Wooden Dollhouse

Now, it's time for measuring time . . . miniature style. For this blog post, I created six different timekeeping devices, representing centuries of horological development. ("Horology" is my new word of the week. It refers to the art or science of making timepieces or measuring time.) I'll start with the simple analog clock shown below, featuring a white button and a small printed clock face with Arabic numerals.  Next is the digital clock with an LED (Light Emitting Diode) display. Using a red Sharpie marker, I inscribed the digit "5" three times in seven-segment font onto a tiny strip of paper, adding a colon between the first and second digits. Then, I inserted this strip into an empty matchbook. For the sundial, I first cut two circles out of cardboard, one measuring 8.0 cm in diameter and the other 4.5 cm. Next, I painted the circles in pale green and purple, respectively. Once the paint was dry, I added Roman numerals to the green circle and cardinal d...

When it comes to real gardening, my thumb is definitely more black than green. Thankfully, I'm much better at fake miniature gardening.    As you can see, the frame of the miniature flower bed features popsicle sticks. I glued them together using a hot glue gun, aiming for a square shape, but winding up with what looks more like a rhombus. (Oddly enough, reading the short story "Jaque mate en dos jugadas" ["Checkmate in Two Moves"] with one of my Spanish students reminded me of what a rhombus is — a diamond or tilted square.) For the soil, I considered multiple options: coffee grounds, construction paper, foam paper, even a sponge painted black. Ultimately, through lots of trial and error, I decided on brown yarn cut into 1-inch pieces. The paper leaves poking up through the soil are from a DIY miniature greenhouse kit.      I used popsicle sticks for the ladder, as well, adorned with more paper leaves from the same kit. Both the tomato plant and the soil in th...

Did you know that the phrase "luck of the Irish" refers to four-leaf clovers growing abundantly in Ireland? A relatively rare genetic mutation of the much more common three-leaf clover, the four-leaf clover symbolizes faith, hope, luck, and love . This year on St. Patrick's Day, I crafted three four-leaf clovers for my dollhouse, using three different materials: cardstock paper, pipe cleaners, and air dry clay. For the paper clover tucked inside the mail box, I used the base of a toothpick container to draw two circles, each with a diameter of 4.0 cm. After folding and stapling the circles together to create four leaves, I cut a thin strip (6.0 cm long and 0.5 cm wide) for the stem. Here's the YouTube Short that I followed: Next, slightly modifying the visual instructions provided below, I made the pipe cleaner clover sitting atop the light fixture. Maintaining a consistent size and shape for each leaf was quite the challenge. Good thing I purchased so many pipe clean...

Have you ever heard of a "trousseau" (pronounced/TROO-soh/)? According to Nicola Cornick of  The Word Wenches , a "trousseau" originally referred to a piece of furniture that stored the belongings of a bride or bride-to-be. Alternative, more Anglicanized versions of "trousseau" include "glory box," "hope chest," and "bottom drawer." I purchased my miniature trousseau online. It's actually a decorative jewelry box, measuring  approximately 4 inches tall, 4.75 inches long, and 3.5 inches deep. To knit the tops, I followed Melinda Worfolk's pattern  using size US 3 needles. The purple top (featuring Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool Aran yarn in the color Violet) is completely unmodified. I wasn't too happy with the garter stitch hemline, so for the ombre brown top, I knitted the final round instead of purling for a rolled edge. The featured yarn is Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Worsted in Cafe Au Lait.  For the green top, I ...

As a kid, I wasn't too fond of shopping for new clothes. Now, as an adult, I like it even less. However, making  new clothes has turned out to be quite fun — as long as the outfits are doll-sized. For the white poncho, I used US 3 knitting needles and Red Heart Super Saver yarn. The only modification I made to Joan K's pattern was replacing garter stitch with 2x2 ribbing for the hem and neckline. For the black sleeveless dress, I used US 1 and 3 needles with South West Trading Company Bamboo yarn. I modified Linda Mary's pattern by first working Row 2 as follows: k6, (kfb, k8) 3x, kfb, k4. Next, after Round 15, I worked 16 rounds in stockinette stitch, followed by 4 rounds in garter stitch. Finally, I omitted the button and wet blocked the finished project.  Undoubtedly, the pattern I modified the most—3 times for 3 different versions—was designed by Cheryl Niamath . (I'll skip the lengthy details here.) Both the green garter ridge dress and the pink lace dress featur...

♫ Up on the house top, reindeer pause. Out jumps good old Santa Claus. Down through the chimney — Uh-oh. Looks like St. Nick is stuck. Both his pants and boots are made of air dry clay. No hot glue gun required. Thankfully, his bag of toys is still intact. For the bag, I knitted a simple drawstring pouch with US 7 knitting needles and Lily Sugar'n Cream Solids & Denim yarn in the color Jute. The pattern is available for free on Ravelry here . For the toys, I simply gift wrapped a few small pieces of cardboard. Merry Christmas, everyone! Try not to get stuck in a chimney ... or in the snow ... or at the airport.

"D" for "dollhouse," of course. The piano actually came with my dollhouse.  Unfortunately, there was no piano bench to accompany it, so I decided to improvise. First, I tightly wrapped some yarn—Red Heart Super Saver in the color Coffee, to be exact—around the top of a small gift box to make the seat. Next, for the legs, I cut a wooden skewer into 4 equal pieces and superglued them to the seat.     Finally, for the sheet music, I visited Small Stuff's PrintMini . (Scroll down to the "Music and Games" section.) Do you play piano or any other instrument? If so, what's your favorite music to play? 

My favorite holiday has finally come (again), and with it my final set of Halloween decorations, shown below. All of the potions are handmade. I purchased the glass bottles from Hobby Lobby, ...   ... and the ceramic skulls from Michaels. Below, from left to right, are elixirs of poison ivy, snake venom, and mermaid fins. Each contains liquid glue, along with green food coloring and fake leaves for the poison ivy, yellow food coloring for the snake venom, and blue food coloring plus tiny pieces of aluminum foil for the mermaid fins. For the deadly nightshade, fairy tears, and graveyard dust, I used dried parsley flakes, Epsom salt, and ground black pepper, respectively. The last 3 potions feature mythological creatures, specifically unicorn horns (crushed eggshells), dragon blood (liquid glue mixed with red food coloring), and werewolf claws (coffee grounds).    Perhaps next year I'll make the following ingredients, as listed in "Song of the ...

My original plans for decorating the exterior of my dollhouse with something appropriate for the Fourth of July didn't quite turn out as expected. The miniature fireworks that I crafted out of pipe cleaners and placed inside the windows gave off a rather eerie vibe, which inspired me to make some window-crawling spiders for Halloween, using black pipe cleaners instead of red.   If you'd like to make your own, check out the YouTube video below. The instructions are quite easy to follow. Here's a close-up of one of my creations: I'm proud to report that these critters gave my husband quite a start as he walked into my office one day. I guess I forgot to mention to him my latest crafting project ... or did I? (Mwahahaha.)    

For years, my husband and I have talked about adding a real full-sized aquarium to our home, but until we've saved enough money to do so, a fake miniaturized version will have to suffice.  After watching the following YouTube video, ...  ... I decided to upgrade the aquarium featured in an earlier blog post.  For the container, I repurposed a glass jar that once held a homemade Mexican-style seasoning blend. (Needless to say, my first step was to give both it and the matching lid a thorough scrubbing.) For the artificial water, I used approximately half a bottle of LA Looks Extreme Sport hair gel, available at my local Walgreens store. Then, instead of displaying just 1 relatively large animal, I chose 8 smaller ones, specifically Hobby Lobby's "Coral Reef Good Luck Minis." Below are a few more photos of the finished product from different angles.   Unfortunately, not all of the animals are clearly visible, such as the seahorse and eel to the...