Merry Miniatures: Decorating My Wooden Dollhouse

Did you know that ... "despite its significance as a Christian holy day, many of the traditions and symbols that play a key role in Easter observances actually have roots in pagan celebrations—particularly the pagan goddess Eostre—and in the Jewish holiday of Passover?" (Click  here  to read the full article.) I kept this in mind while decorating the upstairs patio of my dollhouse for the upcoming weekend. The basket featured above is a slightly modified version of Marianna Mel's  "Sweet Little Easter Baskets"  pattern. I used US 6 knitting needles and Red Heart Super Saver Solids yarn in the color Pale Pink. For the grass, I first made a large pompom using Lily Sugar'n Cream Solids & Denim yarn in the color Sage Green and placed it inside the basket. Then I topped the pompom with a pinch or two of yarn clippings.  The eggs are made of air dry clay, in the colors yellow, light blue, and lavender. Finally, for the bunny, I used white clay to shape t...

Because I tutor students virtually, I'm required to use my phone, tablet, and laptop every day. Why not add miniaturized versions of these electronic devices to my dollhouse? The iPhone ... ... iPad ... ... and MacBook ... ... are all online purchases through Amazon. As an exclusive PC and Android user, this is as close as I'm going to get to owning any Apple products. (No offense to iOS users.) The yarn I used to knit the blanket and pillow is a bit of a mystery; it was given to me by a friend who long ago lost the yarn label. What I can say for certain is that it is a bulky weight yarn and that I paired it with size US 9 needles.  The stitch pattern I used is called Linen Stitch. Below are the project instructions that I made up as I went along.  Linen Stitch Blanket CO 46 sts. R1 (RS):(k1, sl1wyif)   R2: (p1, s1wyib) Repeat R1 and R2 for 84 rows total.  BO. Linen Stitch Pillow CO 30 sts, leaving long tail, join in the round. Work 1x1 twisted rib for 2 ro...

Until now, the only cooking appliance in my dollhouse was a microwave. Happily, that's no longer the case.  All of the miniature items in the next 3 photos I purchased through Amazon. For the range itself, I started with the cardboard box that once housed my mini white noise machine. I removed part of the lid to make it look less like a folding carton and more like an oven door. Then I attached 2 magnetic dots to the back of the door and 2 more to the frame behind it, allowing the door to open and close. The oven racks proved to be far more of a challenge. My first strategy was to cut slots into the sides of the oven with an X-Acto knife and then insert a few carefully measured pieces of gray foam sheet into the slots. Unfortunately, this resulted in the sides almost ripping in half, hence the strips of black electrical tape to cover the tears. Sigh. Back to the drawing board! This time, I took a completely different approach, creating an arch with one of the foam pi...

As much as I've come to like working with non-dry modeling clay, specifically GO CREATE EZ Shape Non-Dry Modeling Clay, there are a few drawbacks. For me, the most significant is having to use Mod Podge or another kind of sealer once you're done shaping the clay to prevent any dust from sticking to it. It's not the easiest medium to apply with a paintbrush, especially when you're dealing with multiple curves or indentations in the clay. One alternative that bypasses this requirement is air dry clay, which you can purchase pre-made or make yourself with a few simple ingredients. I opted for the latter option to create the mourning doves and eggs shown below.    First, I followed the instructions for the salt dough clay recipe featured in the following video (see timestamp 00:20), but because I needed significantly less clay for this project, I cut the respective amounts of flour, water, and salt in half.    Here's the first dove: And here's the second: To craft y...

 When daytime highs barely rise above freezing and lows drop into the single digits, as they do where I live, hats and scarves can seem less like fashion accessories and more like clothing necessities. But why can't they be both? Nothing quite compares to spreading holiday cheer while simultaneously preventing frostbite.  For the hat rack, I first cut a few wooden skewers into 7 pieces of various sizes and glued the shorter pieces to the longest one. Easy enough. The second step was a bit harder. I wanted the rack to be freestanding, so I figured I needed a base of sorts. I flattened a small piece of air dry clay and gently pressed into its center the bottom of the rack. Unfortunately, this did not provide the stability I had hoped for, even after I hot glued the 2 pieces together. As soon as I stopped holding the rack upright with my fingers, it would lean this way and that, taunting me with its elusive center of gravity. Something else must be used for the base ......

Just because it's too cold outside to gather comfortably around a campfire doesn't mean you can't enjoy that sweet treat that's hard to beat: a chocolate, graham cracker, & toasted marshmallow sandwich, otherwise known as a s'more. Simply pull up a chair to the nearest fireplace, light the logs, and start roasting. You'll be wiping sticky marshmallow glue off your face in no time.   The rocking chair shown below is actually a Christmas tree ornament that I purchased from Hobby Lobby.  The chocolate bars were also purchased, as part of a set of miniature foods. The skewered marshmallows, on the other hand, were made by hand. I cut a cotton ball into 2 tiny squares and inserted a toothpick dipped in superglue into the bottom center of each square.  I also made the graham crackers, using leftover cardboard packaging and a drawing pen, ... ... as well as the tree, which features green craft foam shaped into a cone, red and white craft foam ho...

Pablo Picasso once claimed that "the purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls." This quote inspired me to create the following art studio. Here's a close-up of 1 of the 3 easels I made, using just 5 popsicle sticks and a hot glue gun.  Next, using superglue, a toothpick, and several bristles from a 1:1 scale paintbrush, I carefully (and painstakingly) put together this 1:6 scale paintbrush. Accompanying the paintbrush is a paint palette made of air dry modeling clay, which I purchased through Amazon. After shaping a bit of light brown clay into a small flat disc, I attached to the surface of the disc 9 tiny balls featuring all the colors of the rainbow, plus white and black. Then, I added some texture to each ball with a toothpick, to make them appear more like blobs of paint. The miniature cutouts displayed on the easels are from Creative Coloring Inspirations: Art Activity Pages to Relax and Enjoy! by Valentina Harper.  What kind of...

News flash: Halloween is now only 10 days away. If you're planning on handing out candy to trick-or-treaters this year, as I am, decorating the front entrance to your home is highly recommended. I believe the same goes for dollhouses.  To make the paper ghost lantern, I watched the following YouTube video, ...  ... replacing the LED tealight candle with the porch light on the upstairs patio. Here's a close-up of the lantern by itself: For the front door, I used orange and black craft foam, the latter of which I cut into 2 jagged pieces to frame the top and bottom. For the wreath, I cut out a circular base of white foam, wrapped around it a strand of black yarn (South West Trading Company Bamboo in the color Black), and glued to the top a rubber eraser bat that one of my students gave to me years ago. From some DIY salt dough clay I made this snake which, unfortunately, broke in half after drying. Superglue to the rescue!   The ceramic pumpkins I p...

For tonight's macabre meal in the dollhouse dining room, I implemented a new, more fitting color scheme. (Can you spot it?)  I began by making a double-sided bat chandelier, ... ... the design for which came from the following YouTube video (see timestamp 5:46): I also made a new tablecloth ... ... and centerpiece, using construction paper and modeling clay, respectively. So, what's for dinner? I think I'll serve each guest a small basket o' batwings, followed by roast beast & gravy with a side of refried brains, and for dessert, a slice of poisonberry pie. But first, a bowl of eyeball soup, à la that served in  Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Who's hungry?

What goes bump in the night? Why, more miniature Halloween decorations, of course! For the comforter, I simply wrapped around the bedframe and mattress a black ribbon with orange polka dots I had purchased from my local Big Lots store. I did the same for the pillow. I made the pumpkins out of orange and green construction paper, ... ... following most of the instructions in this YouTube video: The owl, bat, and skull erasers are also purchases from Big Lots, ...  ... while the skeletons come from Spirit Halloween. Using white, orange, and black craft foam, I made miniature cookies in the shapes of ghosts, pumpkins, and witch's hats, respectively. Finally, following the instructions in this second video (see timestamp 12:47), ... ... I crafted the hanging paper bats: And now for a comforting bedtime poem, "From the Haunted Wood" by Isaac McLellan:  It is said that the Spirits of buried men Oft come to this wicked world again; That the churchyard tu...