Merry Miniatures: Decorating My Wooden Dollhouse

Dining at home on cafeteria-style trays may not be the most romantic idea for a date night, but sometimes, you have to made do with what's currently in your fridge or pantry before it expires. At least you can spruce up the dining room a bit with some interesting decor. For the tablecloth, I used Becky Greene's "Confusticate These Dwarves!" pattern, along with US 7 knitting needles and South West Trading Company Bamboo yarn in the color Navy.  I also made the chandelier, using thick scrapbooking paper instead of printer paper for greater durability.  The remaining items I purchased through Amazon. I'm honestly not quite sure what the following entree is supposed to represent. A slice of meatloaf topped with gravy and pureed peas? Or a slice of bread topped with chicken pâté and wasabi?     The second entree is just as mysterious as the first. My best guess is a spoonful of macaroni and cheese and two small pickles on top of a baked potato.   To e...

In my 1:1 scale life, I use just 1 purse all the time (until it inevitably needs replacing), but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to make 3 for my 1:6 scale dollhouse. To me, binder clips resemble miniature purses all by themselves, so most of the work is already done. Hurray! For each purse, I first removed the metal wire loops of the binder clip, leaving just the triangular prism base to work with. Then, after prying open the top, I attached a short piece of yarn using Loctite Super Glue Liquid to create the handles, and with GO CREATE EZ Shape Non-Dry Modeling Clay, I made matching shapes to decorate the body. The next step was to apply Mod Podge gloss to the right side of each decoration. Finally, once the gloss finished drying, I glued the wrong sides to the front and back of the base. The large purse features clay hearts and Loops & Threads Charisma Big! Solids yarn in the color Cornflower. After rolling out a piece of clay, I used a toothpick to trace the outlines of 4...

British novelist Shirley Conran once said, "I make no secret of the fact that I would rather lie on a sofa than sweep beneath it." To that I add, "I would rather make miniature cleaning supplies than actually clean." So last weekend, instead of vacuuming the carpet in my human house, I crafted 6 janitorial items for my dollhouse. It was twice the work but also twice the fun. Actually, make that quadruple the fun; vacuuming sucks. (Pun intended.)  Below are the visual instructions I followed to make the bucket, paper towel roll, and mop. (See timestamps 0:50, 3:00, and 5:32, respectively.) For the bucket, I used the cap of a hairspray bottle instead of a yogurt cup and a plain steel paper clip instead of one coated in plastic. As a finishing touch, I added soap bubbles in the form of cotton stuffing. The paper towel roll turned out rather well, on the first try, no less.  The mop was a different story. On my first attempt, I used too much of the wrong kind of yar...

This post marks my first time working with modeling clay. Having never taken a ceramics class in high school or college, I was a bit nervous, at first, but also excited. Using GO CREATE EZ Shape Non-Dry Modeling Clay and Mod Podge gloss, I made a bathtub mat and rubber duckie to further accessorize the upstairs bathroom.  The mat required almost the entire stick of purple clay included in the 20-color pack. With the top of a hairspray bottle, I rolled the clay flat against a sheet of parchment paper. Then I used a paisley embossed wooden rolling pin, a gift from my mother-in-law, to create a textured floral print. (Thank you, Vickie!) With both my fingers and a toothpick, I trimmed the edges of the print into a roughly oval shape that would fit the bottom of the bathtub. And then I started the whole process over. A few times, actually. Finally, once I was (mostly) satisfied with the end result, I applied a thin coat of Mod Podge gloss to seal the clay and prevent any dust...

As Vern McLellan once said, "What the new year brings to you will depend a great deal on what you bring to the new year." With that in mind, here's my first contribution to 2023: The ornament hanging from the ceiling is actually a pair of turquoise earrings that I hooked together. I sculpted the numbers below using air dry clay in 4 different shades of blue. Finally, I put together a rather tongue-in-cheek "New Year's Resolutions" list, because who wants to do the same old things, year after year, like "lose weight" and "make new friends"?   Happy New Year, everyone!