Kitchen Table & Chairs

Must be on a roll this week...two posts in as many days!

I bought a whitewood unfinished table at a fair a couple of years ago and did nothing with it...until now! It was sanded, painted, sanded, stained, distressed and finally polished before I was happy with it.

The chairs were also in my stash and, other than dusting, only needed cushions to finish them off. I had a tiny scrap of this pretty blue fabric left so made a couple of chair cushions trimmed with some pale blue bunka.

I think I'll turn my attention to the outside of the house for a while as the siding I ordered has finally arrived..woohoo!!!

Sink unit is finished!

After a few false starts I have finally finished the sink unit for The Orchid dollshouse. (Must think up a name for this house soon!!!!)

Again the top is made from Fimo, the framework is made from mountboard. The same red gingham curtain keeps things looking tidy.

The tap is made from a piece of thick wire and a couple of little beads so we know which is cold and which is hot.

Off now to think about a kitchen table and chairs.

Take care x

New Year! New Project!

Yes, I know I already have several projects on the go but one more won't hurt, will it?

Over a year ago I started putting together an Orchid dolls house by Corona Concepts, a sister company to Greenleaf. The plywood proved to be a bit of a pain and after much anguish the dolls house was put to one side. I don't even have a name for it yet but over the Christmas holidays I had a sudden surge of mini-madness and started working on it again. I've not yet decided how the exterior should look so I started on the inside while I thought about the outside. First thing I did was remove the dividing walls as they made the rooms so small they were practically unusable. Next I found that standard 12th scale furniture I had in my stash looked a bit too big, hmm? So what's a girl to do but to make a custom-fit kitchen!!

Using my favoured mountboard, glue and plenty of paint I created a range cooker, cupboards and shelving. Here's one end of the kitchen, I couldn't help but start to 'accessorise' but no doubt things will change in time...

The wall tiles are also made of dark grey mountboard. I measured out a grid of 1cm squares and using a very sharp craft knife scored along the grid lines twice with a little gap in between each line. Then using the tip of your knife you can lift the coloured top layer of paper to reveal a pale background which becomes the grout lines. I picked out some random tiles and painted them blue and white to match the colour scheme and then painted over it all with an acrylic gloss varnish. I was so pleased with how they turned out!

I had some red gingham fabric in my cupboard that I bought long ago which was perfect for the curtain in front of the shelving.

I would love granite worktops for my RL kitchen but can't afford them so having them in my dolls house is the next best thing. These are made from Fimo in 'Granite' and I like them soooo much!

So that's where we're at .... back with some more soon x

Seasonal Catch-up!

Hi Everyone! I've had no time to be on my computer over the holidays due to a gas leak, water leaks, boiler and lighting problems - happy days!!!- so it's most enjoyable to be catching up with you all. I hope everyone had a happy and peaceful Christmas and are looking forward to 2011 and all that it will bring.

Despite the problems at home I took some time out to catch up with some miniatures (and calm myself down!!!) I was asked to make some more crocheted bags for a friend in the US so they're finished. A dolls house that has been sitting like a wreck for more than a year has been started - more on that in the New Year! And a good sort through of the miniatures I've collected revealed some lovely items I forgot I had - it was like Christmas all over again!

As usual I've also had another crafty project on the side to dip in and out of. I found a tutorial for crocheted snowflakes (and loads of other crafty crocheted things) on Attic24's blog (well worth a look if you're interested in learning to crochet!). After a shoogly start I got well away and found these to be so addictive!

They were pinned to shape and starched. Then sewn onto a length of ribbon and draped around our Christmas tree - aren't they pretty?

May I wish everyone all the best for the New Year and hope 2011 brings you everything you wish for

xxx