Summer Garden

I have been wanting to make a summer vegetable garden for the dollhouse for some time.  I don't know why I get inspired and crank out several projects at once after weeks of doing nothing.  Tutorial as follows:

Get a scrap piece of wood or cardboard.  I used a 4 inch by 4 inch square that was unused from a previous dollhouse assembly.  It had a tab on it that I cut off and sanded.  Cardboard would probably be just as good.

This is my wood drawer!

I had this wooden fence that I bought with a bunch of other stuff from a garage sale. I knew I only wanted it on two sides so I hot glued it on with some little balsa wood posts in between.

I bought a couple of these packs of small aquarium plants to use for the foliage.  

So I pulled the branches off and cut some in half.  The long ones will be tomato plants and the short ones will be peppers. 

This plant looks perfect for a stalk of corn.  I glued a little raffia to the top.

 Next, I made the veggies from Sculpey clay and baked it in the oven.

Hot glue the vegetables to the leaves.  They are really starting to come together!

Here are the finished corn stalks put into place with clay just to see how they look.

Next, hot glue all the plants into place.  Corn in the back, then tomatoes, then bell peppers and hot peppers in front.  I was going to make some cabbages or something, but these turned out to be the easiest to make.

Paint on some white glue and sprinkle some dried used coffee grounds for the dirt.

Looks really cool!

 I was going to make a scarecrow, but it didn't work out this time.  The dolls need a rake, a shovel and maybe some garden hats or aprons.  More projects to come!

Shout Outs/Disclaimer

I just added some of my favorite dollhouse links.  These folks are the movers and shakers--the heavy hitters of the online miniature world in my opinion.  I'm sure they would notice tons of things I have directly copied from them!  I am really not all that creative.  I've just used the hard work and great ideas of many others!  Thanks to you all for your inspiration!

Springtime in the Dollhouse landscape

The dollies are busy gardening.  The wisteria, daffodils and irises are in full bloom.  I made the flowers, the tools, wheelbarrow (you'll probably recognize the side pieces that came from an unused spiral staircase from a kit dollhouse), watering can, bag of potting soil, and garden gloves.  I love posing the dolls doing different activities for the seasons.  

Laundry Room in a Detergent Box

I decided to try this project after seeing Chris P.'s on her website Chrispy Critters.  It is a gift for a friend of mine who just loves my dollhouses.   I pretty much copied a lot of what Chris did on hers except I used Arm and Hammer detergent.  I even had the same Michael's hutch that I bashed for the cabinets!  My friend loves blue so I gave it a blue tile floor, painted the cabinets blue, and used the blue check fabric on the ironing board.   The hardest part was the inside of the washer and dryer which are printies from Jim's Dollhouse Printables website.  I made the mop, bucket, ironing board, and the hanging lamp from stuff I had on hand. The other shelf was a trim piece off of another Michael's hutch. I hope she likes it!

Rapunzel, You're Driving Me Crazy!

Here is the progress on Rapunzel's tower.  I finished the interior.  Added shutters and a vinyl "wood" floor for the bedroom and also made a sweet little bed for her.  Finished the "stone" floor in the downstairs, but I am at a loss as to what to put in there.  A huge door?  A mammoth fireplace?  A cabinet with herbs?  A table?  Everything I've tried looks wrong.  I've never been stuck on a project like this before!

Things are coming along

Started adding the egg carton "bricks" with caulk

You need to paint a lighter color first for the grout lines then the darker color for the individual bricks.  I used a marbleizing technique with black, white, and dark gray to get the
 look of stone.

Yup. Magic!

I decided to go with what I know and forgo the fancy spray paints.  I am covering the castle with egg carton bricks and grouting with caulk.  Caulk is messy, but it adds nice texture for the stone blocks.  I used the same technique (I don't know if you can call it that) on a fireplace, chimney, and wishing well for my from scratch log cabin I built.  Can't wait to paint.  That's when the magic begins.

Day 2 of construction

Added the 2nd floor today.  Started cutting out "blocks" from egg cartons.  Went to Wal-Mart to get more foam board and (impulse buy) Fleck Stone Rustoleum spray paint.  I'm still not sure if I'll use it or just paint the blocks with craft paint.  Now that the floor is in, I can measure and cut out the window.  Must check to see if I have any wood scraps for shutters.