Gnome & Fairy Doors

I have had these pictures on my camera for a while - I apologize for the quality in advance.  The shop was kind of dark with accent lamps in all the wrong places for photography!

 A local floral shop had these miniature resin doors for sale.

They are about 6 - 8 inches tall and very detailed

They are to place around the garden, or attach to a tree.  I even came across one story online where the homeowner stuck it on the wall next to the front door.

I googled "fairy door" and "gnome door" and came up with 100's of results.  They may not be new to you, but they were to me.  Very Clever!

Random Pictures

 I have a confession to make.  Ever since I got an iphone with a pretty decent camera, I have been taking all kinds of pictures.  Some of the pictures actually have to do with  miniatures and are the inspiration for some of my projects.

I came across this light fixture at Bass Pro Shop a while back.  I would like to model the light fixtures in the master bedroom of my cabin project after these.

These night lights were also at Bass Pro Shop.  I was considering some silhouette like this for the light fixtures I made for the stairs.

I cam across this light fixture at Outback Steak House.  I liked the look of it too and wondered if something like this would look good in my cabin project.

 These two tile mosaics are in the library near my daughters dance studio in Tulsa.  They are great inspiration.

I came across this loft on one of my lunch time estate sale runs.  I would like to incorporate something like this in one of my projects if not my next house !

These wall sconces are at a local mexican restraunt.  I was considering a victorian version in my victorian house ?

The ceiling was at another sale house.  ( I think this was the sale where I bought the small rocking horse ornament that I used on my glass bead Christmas Tree project)  I like the way that it was applied to the ceiling.

You guessed it - another estate sale find.  

This was hand painted on the door in an old house.

 This is the mural above the kitchen at The Cheesecake Factory.  It is huge - maybe 12' tall and 50' long.  I like the use of the bright colors.

This stair banister was also at an estate sale.  I didn't buy anything at this house, but I was truly inspired by this banister.  It was beautiful.  I could re-create this pretty easily in miniature with an autoCad drawing and a laser cutter.  

Pinewood Derby 2013

I have been working on a different kind of miniature the past couple of weeks with my son.  

Tonight he competed with 27 other cars at the Cub Scout Pinewood Derby.

 We had to add some additional weight for the finals tonight.  Although he was not the fastest car there, he was awarded a certificate for "Most Attention to Detail"  It was a fun event and we went out for a hamburger afterward!

Breaking News !

Two great things to report this week.  The first is that I have been selected to receive the Rosetta Stone Award!  It is an honor and humbling to be held in such high esteem by my colleagues.  Thank you.

The Rosetta Stone
Award

The Rosetta Stone award was created by a committee on My Realitty's blog. CM explained the creation of the award in this way.... "As we all know dollhouses were originally the hobby of the rich or tools to teach children how to keep house. Today people all over the world are interested in them. Note the number of bloggers and how dollhouse blogs are a world unto themselves. Though these houses may have started as toys and may have led a perilous life, once they are in the safe harbor of the collector they have a story to tell. This award is to acknowledge the sleuthing it takes to discover that story."

Previous winners have been collectors of great knowledge and generosity, and authors of some of my very favorite blogs. Check out their latest posts..... Rebecca's Collections ... from Australia, diePuppenstubensammlerin ...from Germany, A Home for Dolly ...from Ohio, USA, and Florine at My-vintage-dollhouses ... from Arizona and most recently Susan's Mini Homes: Dollhouses and More

The Second big piece of news is that I surpassed 200 followers on my blog.

I posted my first blog back in February of 2010.  I have learned so much and made so many friends since then.  I appreciate your support and look forward to many more years and many more friends to come!  Thank you Susan.  This made my day.

Recent Acquisitions

I thought I would share a few recent finds.  For those of you who follow my blog, you know I like to spend my lunch hour out of the office at estate sales or antique malls or garage sales.  This week, although very cold outside was no different.  I purchased a ziplock bag of everything shown above ( minus the dresser and night stand) at a local antique mall for $5.  It was labeled Charm Bracelet or dollhouse items" I especially liked the little harmonica ( near the base of the violin) the little tea pots on the dresser are pretty neat too. There is a purse on the night stand and covered wagon lower left. Everything in the baggie was metal except the plastic violin and the small broom.

The dresser and night stand with working drawers were ebay finds and are manufactured by Halls Lifetime Toys in the 1970's.

To see the rest of my Hall's collection click HERE.  

They will go nicely with the Hall's canopy bed in my Walmar house - HERE.

I came across this Christmas tree ornament today at an estate sale.  It is a pair of metal skis and poles.  I think once the bow is removed and the bells, it will be a nice accessory for my Cozy Cabin project.

These items were at another antique mall in town.  The silver mirror is great so is the little round silver box next to it with a removable lid.  The grinder is really neat and actually has working parts.  My grandmother had one just like it that we would clamp to the kitchen table and crush up dried corn at Thanksgiving when I was little.  My Great Grandma Ellen had a picture of Blue Boy hanging over her couch.  I have acquired quite an array of ceramic pieces.  I am thinking of putting them in a room box as a china shop.

Fisher Price House

My mother-in-law was doing some spring cleaning, and came across a few of my wife's old toys.  Ironically, we both owned the Fisher Price Play Family House #952 when we were kids.  I guess it is safe to say that was my first miniature house.  I think I got mine around 1972.

The house was produced in the 1960's and 1970's and has great graphics.   The body is made from masonite board and and a hard durable plastic. There are some great features, like the working doorbell and that looks like a light fixture in the living room.  The styling is very 70's.  It is interesting to compare this house to the Bliss dollhouses that were produced a century earlier,

Another great design feature was the handle on the roof that kept the house closed when the handle was in the upright position.  

Part of the graphics show everything from a roaring fire in the fireplace and all kinds of toys upstairs in the nursery.  The dormer windows are another great feature.

I always thought that the fireplace and double ovens in the kitchen were very cool.  It reminded me of the kitchen on The Brady Bunch.  Its kind of fun to have one back in my possession.  It brings back a lot of memories.  I have to admit my wife kept hers in much better condition than I did.  I ended up doing a little "remodeling" on mine.

What did you play with when you were a child ?

Cozy Cabin Lights Cont.

 I had a little time this evening so I wired the lights and glued them in place.

  They are pretty bright!

I may have to put some opaque filter between the light and the 'glass'   

Whats next ?   

There is still a long list of items on the cabin:

The living room fireplace

The Master Bedroom fireplace

The dining room light fixture

The Master Bedroom light fixture

Finish the shingles on the roof

Build the front door

build the side door and install the screen door

create window treatments 

create bedspreads for both bedrooms

Finish the front porch

upholster the living room furniture

Put rocks around the base of the house

and of course keep my eyes out for more accessories. :)

I guess the list isn't that long!

Cozy Cabin Stair Lights

These are the lights that I am working on for the newel posts on my stairs.

The base and the top are both made from jewelry pieces that I found at the local hobby store.  The glass part is made from an inexpensive plastic storage tube that was also in the jewelry section.  They also had some tiny firefly pieces that I am considering adding.

This was my first experience with paint-on stained glass treatment.  I was using the large color picture as a kind of go-by for the glass.

Here are the 3 pieces placed together, not glued yet.

I am using a standard 12 Volt single bulb in each one from Houseworks

I still need to feed the light ( shown on the floor) through the post.  I want to sand the newel post a little smoother before I glue everything into place.

Cozy Cabin Stair Railing

I had some time after the holidays to make a little progress on the stairs in my cabin.  After much research, I decided on rustic logs for a top rail and bottom rail and a plain dowel for the baluster.  The plain dowel actually matches the floor.

I have kept a bucket of wood for this project from a tree in our back yard that we lost in an ice storm a few years back.  I first selected the pieces for the newel posts and cut them to size and trimmed the branches back.

I decided to drill holes through the newel posts because I want to put either a finial or a light on each one.  More on that later.

It was rather tricky trying to even space holes on a curved rustic piece of wood and the holes to line up and then get it to line up with the holes on the branch.  This took several tries.

Here was my first attempt.  I am a little bothered by the different colored wood, but I think I will touch it up a little with some paint.

Here is the view from the front.

This was dry fitting the right side rail

I put it in place with a little glue while I ponder it. 

more to follow.