Stove and Refrigerator

 Here are a couple pictures of my stove and refrigerator for the house. I didn't really get any "in-process" photos so these will have to do. :)

Both are made out of matte board and some small pieces of wood. The burners are made out of snap pieces that I had laying around. I still need to attach the handles for the stove.

Cellar doors

Underneath the doors is the electric system of to the house. I decided to finish my cellar doors. I had worked on them awhile ago but got stuck on the hinges. I wanted to make them, but wasn't sure what to use. Then one day, I thought about Tim Holtz
Grunge board. It is very study, and doesn't tear easily  and you can cut it with scissors or a xacto knife.




I love how they turned out. ;) After I painted them black I let that dry and touched them with a rust color paint. After that all dried, I used gloss varnish. I also wanted the hinges to have nails in them. I have a thick black dimensional paint and used that and dabbed it on where the nails would be.  It added the dimension that I needed for it to look like nail heads.

Living Room Floor

Been trying to decide what kind of floor I wanted in the living room. I did some research and it seems that most old houses had wood floors. I like the looks of the old plank flooring. So, I decided that is what I would put in this house.

I cut my wood to size and then used an xacto knife to mark it up and trim off the sides of the "planks". Some of the boards broke when I cut them on the ends, so I kept it that way so it would look like there were holes in the floor. I remember one house we lived in that had several boards that had broke over the years and little chips were missing. One of the boards you could see straight down to the basement. During the winter it was cold there, you could feel the breeze blowing up from the basement. Brrr.....

I made my paper floor template and then added the wood planking. ;)  Once the glue was dry I drilled tiny holes in the boards to resemble nail holes. I tried to figure out what to put into the holes that would dry quickly and would look dark like a nail head. I decided to add a little bit of black and brown paint to some filler and it turned out great. Here is a picture of the flooring with all the holes covered. (a little messy)

 Once that was all dry I used stain all over the flooring, wiped it off and then dabbed some more stain in spots to create a few dark areas. 

I still need to sand the floor down a little bit to take the "new" look off. But, I love the way it turned out.

The beginning of the Dining Room

Worked on the dining room. Nothing fancy, I used some scrapbook paper that my friend gave me for the wallpaper and the flooring. I love how well it blends together. I thought both looked like it would fit into an old farmhouse. For the flooring I cut out a template of the floor and then glued on the paper, made some impressions in the paper to resemble linoleum squares. I used an antique gold paper for the outside border of the room. I then added some paint here and there and once that dried, I sanded the paper and paint. Need it to have that worn look. ;)  Finally I added a coating of matte varnish and sanded that some after it dried. I really like the looks of it. The kitchen is off to the left of the room, and the door goes out to the front porch. :)

An update of the Console Radio

Been working a bit more on my Console Radio.  Still have some details to add and then the fun stuff. ;) I wasn't sure about the painting at first. The first coat was a bright orange, then a chocolate color and then covering of burnt umber. I really like the coloring. After the paint has dried I did two coats of gloss varnish. Turned out pretty close to the actual color.

Another old radio but this time....

I have been busy with life but the other day I did get to go to Radio Shack and get some "goodies."  Lots and lots of electronic components to play with. LOL ;)

The idea of making something turn on or light up or move is fascinating me.

I began working on a new project last night. A 1937 Console Floor Radio. 












 I will put together a small tutorial if anyone would be interested. First I need to make sure everything works like it should in my head. :) I seem to work best hands on. So, I will be working on finishing this up today, and we will see what happens.







                                                                                                                              I plan on having a cheap mp3 player that I have taken apart inside the radio.






Thanks to Holly over at Greenleaf forum, for sharing her wonderful memories of sitting and listening at her Grandparents house to the radio shows. Times sure where different and I am sure in many ways nicer back then. I have some 1940's Radio shows and music on it. I am going to add a speaker to the mp3 and see about setting up a power button on the radio to work the player. Wish me luck.

Old working Radio

I made a working Radio. I made the radio from cardstock and matte board, it got me thinking about making it a working radio. So, I went to my local Radio Shack and got the components to make a circuit board that will record and play back some music. I want to make it record a little longer but here is a sample. :)

I think some Oldies playing in the Old Farmhouse will sound great!

(sorry for the background noise, our house is seldom quiet ;))

       Here is a close up. I got the design from Kris 

Made Gramma a rocker

Been experimenting with soldering. I have never soldered much, just a little to put lights into the dollhouses. I decided I wanted to try my hand at soldering a piece of furniture. I wrapped and cut the wire, then did the soldering. Nothing fancy, but I like the looks of it, for the first one.

After I took this picture I sanded the legs down a bit more. It was fun, I think I am going to work on some lights now. Hmmm... maybe a chandelier. ;)

 

 

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From new to old and well used

I purchased a bakers table. It looks nice as is, but not for my "old" farmhouse. LOL

 

So, I needed to dirty it up a bit. My daughter helped me scratch it up. ;)

 

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The beginning of a Fireplace

Here is the beginning of my fireplace. There is foam core under the wood. I found some scraps of miniature bricks.I LOVE these!!! I have never used them before, but feel in love with them. I have it painted with the distressing solution. This stuff is great!

I then covered it with crackle paint and then wicker white paint. I touched some of the paint in spots with a paper towel to lift it off. I bought the fire kit from Evans Model Trains This is the first time I have used their stuff. They are all LED's so they will not get hot. It comes with 3 colored LED's and a piece of cellophane, and it flashes.

Here is the end result. I used some pieces of sticks I found outside, I used gallery glass paint and painted on a piece of clear plastic, let it dry and then used pieces of that with the wood to create the fire look. It sparkles just like a real fire. Too bad it didn't have the crackling sounds... hmmm.....I... wonder........... ;) Might have to try a few things.

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Making molds and Castings

Been experimenting with making molds and casting. It is fun!!!  Part of what I love about this house is all the architectural details it has. But, that is also a problem as in miniature there is nothing like what this house has on it. So, I need to make my own doorway and window pediment, as I can not find anything like these.

I had some resin molding and used a small piece of that, cut several strips of card stock with decorative scissors and glued those together, then added a couple pieces of matte board and some brackets. It turned out pretty close to what is on the house.

I had to make the windows also. They are alittle bit bigger in length then what you can find in miniature. I love the looks of the pediment.

Here is what the molds look like and the first of each size casting.

Now I have all the castings done. They are so fun to make. I have found a new way to make the miniature things that I need and not have to buy all of it. I like that.

Vintage Sink

Been making a sink. First, I used some scraps of matte board and a couple small pieces of wood for the top part so I could sand that to make the ridges in it. I used a sauce container for the sink itself.

I then covered it with Gesso, sanded that and then a coating of white and a couple of coats of triple thick gloss.

Of course, I don't want it to be "new" looking so my friends at Greenleaf forum told me about using a combination of Indian ink and alcohol to create a blend to use on anything to make it look "old and grungy" ;) I love this stuff. Cheap and it makes wood look great!!!

 

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Vintage Pantry and Blogger apps

I am testing out some apps for my ipad and blogger. So far, haven't find any that I really love. This one isn't too bad but if the blog seems alittle "off" that is way. Hopefully I can find an app that works great with the ipad. If anybody has any suggestions I would love to hear them.

Here is a picture of my pantry. I love the look and feel of it. I can't wait to start filling it with all kinds of vintage items.

 

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Trying to make a LED candle

I have been playing with LED's. I would really like to make my lights for this house as I can not afford to purchase all of them, plus I like being able to make them myself. Unique and different. I had some "mini" friends recommend going here for some tutorials and to purchase of "parts" for my fixtures. Love this site, she has so many great things to use for lights and you don't usually find anything like what she has. Another lady has been working on LED's and using them for her house. Her blog is here and full of information as well. 

So, I had some chip LED's I had bought from Evan Designs. I decided to experiment a bit and dipped one of them into Triple Thick and hung it upside down to dry so it would get the appearance of a candle. After it was dry I dipped it again to get a little thick "flame", again hung that to dry upside down. After that was dry I dipped it into amber stained glass paint. Hang to dry again. While it was drying I cut a small piece of cardstock and rolled it with a toothpick to create the candle. Once the flame was dry I put the wires down inside the cardstock candle. Put that into a bead that I had added a globe too. I really like the realistic look of it. Now going to work at making a chandelier. 

Turning Cardboard into Clapboard Siding

Well, it's been a while since I posted, but I have been working on the house. Will update in the next few days. I have been working on using cardboard (soda and cereal boxes) for clapboard siding. I have seen so many other miniaturists use it and it turns out great! My first experiment was a FAIL!!! 

Second time turned out great. It will take a little longer to do, but I love the look. The trick seems to be to make sure both sides have equal amounts of something on them. i.e.glue on one side and paint on the other. I love how it turned out. Now to save lots of boxes. :)