my son's minis

As most of you know I have 4 children. Abby is 15, James is 11, Zachary is 7 and our youngest Ethan is 5.
Ethan is not like the other children he drums to his own beat. Loves anything to do with cooking, baking,  and my miniatures. It got so bad that my hubby and I had to buy him his own house and family to live in it. Well that was last Christmas. So over the last year I have made him some furniture from tutorials on the web and little wooden furniture that i found at the dollarstore. This was all fine until he discovered that some of the blogs I read showed pictures of Callico Critters on them. Well that was that, we were on a mission to locate a bunny family that could live in his house. So while we were in Mississaugua for Ethan's yearly appointment for his eyes we went to Toys R Us and purchased his grey bunny family, but they did not have the baby, they only had the family of four (mom, dad, brother, sister bunnies). The good news came when I was in Toronto in October for the dollhouse show, I was able to locate a baby grey bunny complete with walker. So now his family is complete and all is good. He leaves my houses alone and now only raids the draw that houses all of the minis that I have as extras that are not currently being used.

here are his bunnies, when he was playing with them he said they were at bunny church that is why they were sitting so well

And the bunny house

I hope you enjoyed looking through the eyes of my sweet little 5 year old

flower stall complete

I have finished the flower stall completely. i added a few small bags of potting soil and some cans of bug stuff, I also found some magazines and a book on flowers/gardens. So it is all done. I think it looks cute.

So now I am back to making swap minis. I signed up for two swaps. A sewing/quilting swap and a bakery supplies swap. At least I have until the middle of January to get them done by.

I have decided I am going to leave all the stalls so they all have a uniform look to them. I think the natural wood looks the best, The stalls already have such vibrant colours showcased on them, so a natural look looks best.

flower stall

Well I have the flower stall put together, I have not decided on weither I want to paint it or not, the other stalls are not, I want a uniform look. I may decide to stain them all once I have everything done. If you have any suggestions please feel free to leave some. I do read all of your comments.

Here is what I have so far, the little wooden box on the stand is full of seed packages.

So now that I am caught up on all of my swaps, and the new ones are not due until Februry I have decided to get back to work on my mini market place. So most of you know I have been making mini flowers, I made a bunch on the weekend and I am in the middle of making a potting bench to disply them on. Thanks to Joanne Swanson for the wonderful tutorial about how to build a potting bench.

these are the plants I completed on the weekend. I still want to make some fresh flower boquets tht you see in your local grocery store wrapped in cellophane and I need to make a trip to Michael's to get some more pots so I can make some more flowers

So far this is what I have done for the market place. I have the fruit and veggie stand up, still need to make some more fruits and veggies, and I have the farm fresh egg stand done, both brown eggs and white eggs are available.

Mini flowers

Lately I have been working on flowers and I have been up to my ears in working on swaps. So I have finished the swaps that needed to be done and aare ready to be mailed off. With all of that out of the way I thought I would mke some flowers for the Willow, but i wanted flowers that can go outside. The willow does not have flower boxes so the flowers have to sit out beside the stairs. Anyway in one of my swaps I participated in I receieved a large white flower urn painted with polka dots ( it was a polka dot theme) and I found a picture of a Fushia plant, I have never seen a plant this pretty. So I made one. I was really pleased on how it turned out.

October swaps

While I was away in Toronto my October swaps arrived from my mini swap group that I belong too. I had signed up for the Halloween swap, The Hutch swap - we had to make items suitable to display in a hutch or china cabinet, and a book swap. Everybody sent some really neat gifts and they are all so very cute.

these are the really cute Halloween items. I am going to make a shadow box and set up a mini Halloween Party display.

dollhouse miniature store and show

Well some of you know that this weekend (october 13, 14) was the dollhouse miniature show and sale in Toronto, Ontario. This was my first time going and boy did I have fun. I flew in Thursday evening, leaving a foot of snow behind in the Sault. I am staying with my sister and her husband  and kitty cat. The last time I was in the dollhouse store was several years ago, and I was in a rush, well this time I was able to take my time and really look around. My main reason was I needed some gifts for some fellow swappers for the birthday swap I am signed up for. So I picked up them and a bunch of stuff for me.

I picked up some flower pots ( i cant get them where I live), a bathroom kit to make for Ethan's dollhouse, my red splatterware dishes, I picked up 2 flower kits (I should be able to make patterns from the flower pieces and make a bunch more) I picked up a wash basin I will use this for my halloween display. The store did not have the splatterware pots so I picked up a Chrysnbon cookware kit and I will paint the pots to my liking.

Now on to the show.This was the first time ever attending the Toronto show. It is a smaller show, busy mind you. Lots of very nice people. There was one item in perticular that I was going for. It is the Evelyn and Crabtree bath kits. I had found Martha (the kind lady who sells them) on the internet and fell in love with the kits, so I just had to get one. They were 12.00 a kit (you have to put them together). I purchased the lavendar kit for my bathroom. I also picked up a magazine rack kit ( I want to make a pattern from this so I can make a bunch), i also picked up a cute kitty cat, flower pots( I am big into making flowers right now), a pointsetta flower kit, some mini lace, a Golly Wog doll (my sister and I had them as kids, and I had to get one when I saw it, it was a big  hit with my sister), I also picked up a Chrysnbon clear jug with 4 glasses (have been looking for this item, I am going to make it into a pink lemonade set.


These are the items I bought at the dollhouse store.

 These are the items I bought at the dollhouse show

 This is my sister's Golly Wog doll with my mini one.

hanging basket

Here is the picture of the hanging basket I made. I cant seem to get my other picture to download.

I got Brave!!!!!!!!

The other day I got brave. For a while now I have wanted to try making miniature paper flowers. I have watched many tutorials, printed out instructions, followed instructions online many times, but never got up the nerve to try. I am not really sure why I was afraid to make them beaacuse they are not very hard to make. I started with painting a bunch of coffee filters in a variety of colours that I thought would be good, dug out my paper punches and went to work. I started with making tulips since they seemed fairly easy, and they were, then I made a couple of sunflowers, and then finally I made some smaller flowers, they kind of look like forget me nots, but I did them in pink and purple, and later once the light blue paint dries I will make some in blue.

So here is what I have done so far, now allI need is some flower pots to put them in. I also am trying to make a hanging flower basket, i have the moss glued on and waiting for that to dry, I still have to make the chains for that. But I am having fun.

Well I got the basket done as far as the structure goes, all it needs now is some pansies which I am trying to do.


For some reason blogger wont upload my photos, stupid computers. I will try tomorrow
 

Halloween Part 2

With the dolls taken care of I moved on to Jack-O-Lanturns. I have never made them before, so I thought I would give it a try. I first rolled up different size balls out of tinfoil, then I covered them with orange Fimo, added a green stem, and sketched on the lines. I added a little bit of chalk to make it look like a little bit of dirt, it also helped accent the lines on the pumpkin. Then I baked them for a couple of minutes you need them soft to be able to cut off the top and cut out the face. The tin foil came out fairly easily. I think they turned out pretty well for a first try. They were fun to make.

I have started setting up the scene, I moved the picnic table from my outdoor scene (it is not finished yet) and I covered it with orange and black tissue paper and added what halloween food that I had already. So now all I need to do is make some halloween candy, some party games and decorations. I think i will wait to do the decorations until I get my halloween swaps back so I can see what else I need to make. I want to make some sort of pin the tail on the donkey game and a bean bag game, I also want a bobbing for apple bucket.

Here is what I have done so far.

Halloween Prep part 1

Well we all know that Halloween is approaching and i thought this year I would have fun with it and throw a mini halloween party for my mini people. It also was helpful that I was able to participate in a halloween swap with my mini friends and my dear friend Diane sent me the most beautiful mini halloween  goodies. Also i recieved a nice surprise, my mother-in-law has purchased for me a one year magazine subscription to Dollhouse Miniatures and they sent me a downloadable mini project and it was to make halloween things for my mini people. So in between my swaps I am working on I am making things to set up for a mini Halloween party. So today I thought I would start with costumes or the dolls. The ghost and the little pumpkin costume came from the downloadable mini project from DH miniatures magazine, Kevin and Olivia are wearing costumes that  I made from scratch, no pattern, they are my creations. Kevin is sporting the Dino suit and Olivia is dressed as a beautiful butterfly. I think that the costumes turned out great. Tomorrow I will tackle making Jack-O-Lanturns, and start setting up a few things to see what I have. My halloween swaps should be back by the time I get back from the dollhouse show in Toronto on the 15th. The show is on the 13th, but that is another blog post.

Here is a picture of my mini dolls sporting their halloween costumes

Back to minis

Well now that all of the kids are back to school, and the renos are done on the house I can get back to minis and back to my blogging. So as many of you know I am in an online miniature swap group and every month we make minis. So the other day I got my september swaps back and theu are amazing as always. This month the group decided to put together a still life vignette. It turned out great, and it was so much fun. I have uploaded the latest  pictures of the swaps. Also I met this wonderful lady online, she makes beautiful miniatures and we decided to do a swap between the two of us. She made me the most beautiful halloween goodies out of clay I have ever seen.

This is the still life swap that the online swap group I am in. We all had to make some of the pieces. I had to make the crate that the veggies are in and the cobs of corn and tomatoes, as well as the pot holders and the garlic and chillies hanging on the door.

These are the beautiful halloween pieces that a friend of mine made for me.

 These are the kitchen counter swaps that I recieved back from my swap group.

 these are the toy swaps that I recieved back from my swap group.

There are some very talented ladies that belong to this group, We have so much fun making these minis every month.

One crazy Summer

Well, I am still here, in case you all thought I had disappeared. Well I have not. It just has been very busy around here. Let's see, our daughter graduated from grade 8 and we had family from out of town. Then once school finished we had 4 children to keep busy, We are in the middle of renovations (our landlord is converting our electric heat over to gas heat) what a mess! I have been working on minis all summer as well. I will try to take some pictures and post them later. I am in full swing with my mini swap group I am in. I will post a picture of the latest swa[p parcel I got back. The theme was Fun In the Sun.  I am waiting on a parcel, It should arrive monday or tuesday. It has 2 themes in it.

I have also sarted a new project that I am working on. I am making a Farmer's market complete with fresh fruit and veggies, butcher shop, fresh eggs, bread, cheeses, and fresh baked goods (pies, canning goods). It is turning out to be a fun project.

Hope you stay tuned.

mini swaps part 2

I finally was able to load a picture of the swaps that I sent out. the little purple thing on the bean bag chair is a pompom bunny and the little book is a curious george book. the two framed pictureas are the ones that I kept the ladies got different ones.

swap parcel arrived

I am so excited, my swap parcel arrived first thing this morning, and what a wonderful delight it was to open 27 little gifts from wonderful ladies. These minis are beautiful and are going to make wonderful additions to my houses.

Here is what I recieved.

This is what I received from the framed picture swap.

 this is what I received from the finishing touches swap.

This is what I recieved from the turquoise swap.

Tomorrow I will show you the pictures of the minis I made and sent in.

mini house picture

Here is the finished house.
I think I will add some more pictures on the walls, but at least the main job is done.

The other house I am going to turn into Santa's Christmas house. Another fun project. On payday I am going to order my mother's day gift. Greenleaf dollhouse company has a competition and I am going to enter. Check it out if you are interseted. I am going to make mine into a farmer's market. Lots of market stalls to make and lots of fimo foods. Good summer project.

talk to you later

tiny project finished

Well I finished the tiny little house, I think it turned out well. I am debating on the shingles, my step mom suggested that I either leave them the terra cotta colour they are or paint them hunter green. Also my first set of swap minis are on there way to Canada, so they should arrive in about 10 days. That will be exciting. I mailed 27 little miniatures in three categories, colour turquoise, finishing touches, and framed pictures. These swaps are really fun and I am glad I joined the group. For some reason the picture upload is having problems I will try later.

my little project

I have the main floor just about finished of the little house. I printed some little printies to make some pictures for the walls and I made a little TV or the living room. The kitchen furniture doesn't even look the same. I made a sink for the one counter. Here are the recent photos

awesome yard sale find

My dad and step mom went to a garage sale this morning and came home with a wonderful surprise. In a box was two small scale dollhouse with furniture and tiny tiny dishes and a little doll for the houses. I am so excited. The houses are a cream colour on the outside, but a blank canvas on the inside. No yucky wallpaper to tear down, no yucky paint colours to change. The only thing I have to do is repaint the roof shingles, which are in awesome shape. I think the scale is 1:48. If any of you out there in mini land know where I can get  tiny dolls (I am looking for a dad, baby, mom), I would love to hear from you.

 




I some how have fixed the camera, these photos turned out pretty well.

talk to you tomorrow, i am off to check out tiny wallpaper.

spring is here to stay

Well I think spring is here to stay, and to commerate the green grass and the warm air I thought that Kevin and Olivia would like to try out their new soccer balls that I just bought them. So I was at Michaels this morning picking up some stuff for a cake and as I was looking around I found these really cute mini soccer balls. They are really mini erasers, but they are the perfect size for toys for my little people. Since they had the balls now they needed a net to play with. So that is what I did this evening. The net was really easy, it is just some small wooden dowels and paint and netting from the chocolate easter eggs that you buy in the store. If you are wondering on size the net is 5 inches in height, 6 inches in length and 2 inches in depth. once the frame was together and painted I sewd on the netting. Kevin and Olivia seem to love it.

The soccer balls cost me a $1.50 an each and the net can be easily changed to fit the size of your dolls, Kevin and Olivia stand almost 4 inches in height.

I love how it all turned out. If these two keep going I am going to have make them a supply of Gatorade.

new minis

Hi, just in case you are wondering I have not fallen off the planet, just been busy.

Anyway, my sister was up visiting from Toronto and brought me some new minis for my shop.  She bought me some more wooden bowls and glass jars that I fill with candy for the candy shop, she bought me a cash register, a bubble gum machine that sits on a counter, a mini ice cream scoop, a  bottle of dish soap, and some faucet pieces so I can finish grandmas sink.

The other day I was looking around on mysmallobsession.com (I go there to look at her printable sites) and she had a new one listed. I found a mini printie of a box of kraft dinner, so I printed some and made a prep board for it.

Also I have joined a mini swap group on google. I made minis for three swaps that I have to mail out this week. So I can not show you what I made until I get mine back in the middle of may. I am so excited to be a part of this group. It is a great way to meet new people and make special little gifts for these people.

 

sorry for the fuzzy picture, my camera takes lousy photos, I think my kids have messed up a setting.

These are the minis that my sisiter bought me

My mini family have a new addition to their family. A mini Jack Russell  puppy named "Fudge". Kevin and Olivia are delighted by the new puppy. For my birthday this year my husband bought me my kitchen furniture for the Willow dollhouse. Four out of the pieces arrived, the stove is on back order. If I had wanted any other coloour than green, it would have not been a problem, I guess the green is a popular colour. I ordered them from the Dollhouse Emporium. So my mini family still can not cook yet. Hopefully it will not take long to come in.

here is  the kitchen in the Willow

i scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream

 Well now my mini dolls can have some wonderful ice cream to help cool off on a hot day. And if an ice cream cone isn't what they want then maybe an ice cream sandwich or a nice juicy popsicle. Can you guess what I have been making. Ice Cream. When I decided to add an ice cream counter to the shop I did not want to use tradional flavours (chocolate, vanilla, strawberry) that sort of thing. when I was young Laura Secord made thi ms different ice cream, it was called Superkid basically it is the 3 primary colours swirled together with a banana flavour to it. So I had to make a rainbow coloured ice cream since this was one of my favourite ice cream. The second kind of ice cream and it is still my most favourite today is mint chocolate chip. and lastly I made a chocolate ripple ice cream. Then I made some ice cream sandwiches and some popsicles in various flavours. My 15 year old thought that the ones that looked like rocket popsicl es were cool, and moms stuff is not that cool.
Besides ice cream I am making bags of cotton candy to sit in the white iron tea cart. Since the cotton candy they sell around here usually come in two colours I am choosing to do the same. Once they fully dry I will make them all fluffy and put into little bags tied with some ribbon.

more minis part 2

here are some more minis

minis, minis, and more minis

I have been busy making printable minis lately, I have tons of sheets that I have printed out. So I thought I would start putting some of them together. I will worn you, they can become addicting and since they do not take a lot of time to put together, you can actually accomplish quite a few completed in a short time period. My favourite sites are found on mysmallobsession.com. they are great for people who are on a limited budget and have no dollhouse stores available. Speaking of dollhouse stores. I have found a store located in Port Hope, Ontario (outside Toronto) that imports miniatures from England. The shop is called the Dollhouse and Train Emporium. If you have a catalogue from the Dollhouse Emporium this store will order any of their pieces for you. My  wonderful husband ordered a bunch of stuff from them for my birthday. Once I  recieve them I will post pictures.

This photo has to much light, on the shelves are boxes of my favourite chocolates and candies. They are Quality Street, Pot Of Gold, After Eight, Fruit Slices, Cadbury Chocolate Fingers.

progress

Well I am making progress with the daycare centre and the candy shop. The bed in grandma's apartment is done and made. She has a small rug beside her bed and I put together two tables one for beside her bed and a taller one for her to eat off of. I put up some of the posters and toys in the daycare centre. I need to make and buy more toys for this place.

happy new year

Happy New Year to all of you out in blogland.

Today I am working on Nana's chair for her apartment so that she can give Michelle hers back. She wants a white chair to match her existing furniture. I have not decided on a material colour, The carpet i am working on has blue, green and yellow with a bit of navy blue in the pattern, there is alot of blue in the wallpaper so I might go with a yellow or green. I also would like to cross stitch some throw pillows for the bedas well.
Here is the cottage so far. I finally was able to take a decent photo

Until next time