N.A.M.E. Holiday Swap 2020

 I love participating in the N.A.M.E. holiday swap because I love receiving minis as gifts. It's so much fun to open the swap package. 

The theme was the holidays from Thanksgiving to New Year. Ten of us signed up so we had to make nine gifts. 

I made two items: a platter of holiday cookies:

Here's a close-up:

And gingerbread dough for cookies in progress:

Here's a picture of my making the first cookie tray in progress:

Figuring out how to arrange the cookies

The molds are from The Mouse Market on Etsy. I really like her molds. 

And here are my swap gifts back: 

I can't wait to use them in a scene. They're all so impressive. At first, I wondered, "why is there a scissor attached to this wreath?" and then I realized it was a candy wreath and my mini person is supposed to cut off the candy. 

Anyway, we make gingerbread cookies every year, so here are our real-life ones (already quickly disappearing):

Happy Holidays!

Christmas in the World of Penelope's Dollhouses

 Here are some more pictures of Christmas in the world of Penelope's Dollhouses. :)

Yesterday I had time to play (in the calm before the storm of Christmas Eve dinner) and so I made some scenes.

The golden retriever is by Ines Angelon (Tigrorso on eBay).

A more detailed shot of the children making a Gingerbread house. 

The plate of sugar cookies in Christmas tree shapes is by PuppenStuebchen. I bought it at the Chicago show. The gingerbread reindeer are by Caroline's minis and the assorted gingerbread cookies are by TinyArtMiniatures on Etsy. I made the gingerbread house and the icing bag. 

Some pies for Christmas dinner (bought on Etsy):

The strawberry tart is by TinyAppetities on Etsy. It makes me wish I had a real one to eat. The miniature fruit tart with kiwi is by Hobbymini on Etsy.

And the bakery is baking sugar cookies:

This cookie dough set was made by Sue Ayers from her shop Sue'sLittleThings on Ebay.

And a little girl is making her Xmas present. 

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Getting ready for Christmas in the loft

 We are getting ready for Christmas in the HBS loft. I had previously made this into a bar/dance place for the 2012 #HBS #creatincontest . Ah, the days when we danced together. 

Anyway, now it's an apartment. The real estate agent has left flowers. 

Here is a close-up of the flowers.

And someone has started to move in.

And wrap presents for Christmas:

Hope you are all still enjoying the holiday season!

Happy Thanksgiving 2020!

 Happy Thanksgiving!

Our family has made it to the dessert stage and we have basically a pie or cake each (not counting the kids' cupcakes)!

Wait and See

Checking the election results. All anxious but still hopeful.

Hope all my fellow mini lovers are doing well. I've been busy with remote schooling and work. 

 

 

And the Porch is Almost Finished!

I've made a lot of progress on my porch. It's one of my favorite Big Apple Miniaturists projects. I can't believe it has taken me this long since we started it (in this post). Thank you everybody who encouraged me to continue!

 I planted the flower beds in the front and the side. I still have to complete the other side.

The front flowers are all made from kits by Artistic Florals.

The peach poppies are from the estate of Helen David. They were unfinished. I mixed them in with a yellow poppies kit from Etsy. I love how they came out. The daisy kit was from Artistic Florals

I finished shingling the roof. I am going to paint it a washed-out grey.


And then I made the grass. I wanted to replicate what we had done to make the grass in the Theresa Layman class making the garden cottage. We used a static grass applicator--the electrical current makes the flock stand up in the glue. And so I bought the static grass applicator three (3!) years ago on eBay.

Unfortunately, it did not work as well for me this time. I don't know if it's the machine (I never tested it when it arrived) or me or both. I think maybe I needed to make the glue more watery.  Anyway, I am still happy with my grass. I think it partially stood up. And I will go watch some more train videos on electro-static flocking to find out to improve. Lol.

Here are some cats fighting that I bought on Etsy before the pandemic and which finally arrived safely. 

Have a great weekend!

The Restaurant Kitchen and a Range Hood tutorial for the non-perfectionist

Range by TYA Kitchen, Pot filler by paperdollminiatures
and Chinese food by TwinheartMini

I have been working on my restaurant kitchen. I worked on the floor. I had copied this picture of blue tiles that I liked and I glued them all down. I added the white subway tile paper and gluing in the pot filler. (Quite happy that I managed not to lose it since I bought it/spray painted it.) I glued in the fruit tile picture I'd found and I glued in a shelf. 

I also worked on the other wall, adding another subway tile on one side. (I had bought several different versions, but I was happiest with the one on the wall above.) And the shipboard on the other side (seen).  And I added the swinging door.  I haven't yet glued the wall in. 

 Because the range from TYA kitchen is large, as befits a restaurant, the range hoods available for purchase are too small. So I decided to make one. But I am trying not to shop for supplies, so I used what was around (but I am well-stocked):

Range Hood Tutorial

-cardboard

-3V battery lights from Evan's Designs

-mesh from clementines bag

-silver paint

-aluminum paper

-aluminum sheets

-cardboard box

-glue

-magnets

I actually made this twice. In the end, my original version, which I took apart, was, maybe, the better version. Oh well. 

I first put two pieces of cardboard together in the length of the range hood.  Then I drilled two holes in the cardboard where I wanted the lights to go. I put the lights in those holes. 

I painted the mesh bag silver. It came out GREAT. I was really pleased with this result. I painted it on top of the cardboard, which gave the cardboard a silver bottom. I then first covered the cardboard in the aluminum paper, creating a slit where the light wires emerged.

Silver paint on the mesh bag

With the aluminum paper - smoother over the edge

My friend suggested I use the aluminum sheets. I had forgotten I had the aluminum sheets, and I thought that they would look better. So I took apart the original one and re-did it.  Apparently, the trick for getting the edges is to score it first with a knife, although you may end up cutting through your aluminum. As my friend told me after she saw my latest creation. Lol. So that's the pro tip for anyone trying to make this from this tutorial. 

I did not do that. 

I just bent it around the cardboard and then I ended up denting it and giving it all sorts of weird angles. 

Looking good at this point

Then I attached it to the ceiling with magnets because I want to be able to remove it for pictures.  Anyway, I am still pleased with it. Apparently, it's a well-loved, much used range hood. And I love my lights!

And here is the kitchen now:

I still need to make a small refrigerator covered by a counter, glue in that wall and add potentially more shelves. Oh and paint the ceiling white.

Hope you are all doing well and #stayingsafe!

My Miniature Garden is Growing

So now we have tulips, hydrangeas, and daffodils. All the kits are from Artistic Florals.

 I took out all the parts of the Big Apple Miniaturists kit, which I last worked on in 2017! I will be excited if I finish this club project. 

I thought I just had to glue the pieces together, but apparently there is still some measuring and cutting involved.  But I did it. And it made me very happy.

Unfortunately, I can't find where I placed the screen door, so that is still to be found.

And then I couldn't decide whether I should go for it and add a light in the ceiling. We had shingled to allow for lights. My friend suggested just the light by the door. I ordered one from Miniatures.com, but it is on back-order. And I am impatient. (Apparently after 3 years of waiting. Lol.)  And this really had the perfect space for a light with that groove in the middle of the roof to hide the wire. I ordered lights from Evan's Design.

And VOILA! Light!

The hard part is going to be committing to where I place the flowers.

And I can't decide if I should add the additional poles to place in the front to hold up the roof, since there is such a long roof overhang.

Hope everyone is doing well and #stayingsafe!

A belated Happy Easter!

Hope everyone had a happy Easter and happy Passover!

We had a lot of egg hunts inside our apartment with plastic eggs. I was able to get two chocolate bunnies and M&Ms delivered for the Easter basket, but that was it. I even tried to look for their old Halloween/Valentine's Day candy, but they'd eaten it. :)

I did an outdoor dollhouse egg hunt scene--in my unfinished porch. This was a club project from 2017 (time passes quickly!).

Can you find 6 hidden eggs?

And then my son hid even more eggs for you to find. 

How  many eggs can you find in these 2 pictures?

 I should try to finish this porch, but I haven't had much mini time, between work, homeschooling and cooking meals.

We also made Easter cookies, so I made this little scene, which needs light. 

For more Easter scenes, check out last year's Easter post. 

Hope everyone is doing well!

The Denver "little" Show

Several asked if I had a romantic Valentine's Day as pictured in my last post, and I have to say that I didn't, but instead I went to the Denver "little" show on Saturday with my sister-in-law, so that was even better for me!

Do you think my human will finish this deck while #stayinghome?

I hope everyone is doing well. We live in NYC and we are on Day 15 of being in our apartment. We have a small balcony, so we soak up sun out there. It is hardest on the kids who miss seeing their friends and doing sports. But we are healthy and lucky. I worry about the medical workers who are on the front line, the grocery, postal & delivery workers, the people working in warehouses, and those who are financially struggling now. We did the 7 p.m. clap tonight to honor their work, and that was very moving to hear everyone clapping and yelling.

But back to minis. I have enough mini projects to last me months in quarantine.

Here are some of my purchases from the Denver "mini" show.

 I bought this beautiful afghan.

I bought another starter room. 

It even comes with the plexiglass case

From the same vendor table, which has three different miniaturists selling:

This workout set from Genuine Imitations

These Christmas tree ornaments and cookie tray from David's Dollhouse

These cute little bears, the amazing wallet with money, a little beachy tray

Some more amazing finds:

And a mini castle kit, a dragon shield for the castle and Halloween bags from Genuine Imitations: 

I bought these blue folding chairs in the #DMMDT auction to support the Denver Museum of Miniatures, Dolls, and Toys: 

The bookstore will be ready for a book talk when it reopens.

And then I also bought these items from the Denver Mini Doll Toy Museum:

The soap/towels found a home in my children's dollhouse bathroom

And the flowers found a place outside the flower store:

They also had a crafting table so my sister-in-law and I spent some time crafting with beads and glue:

This show feels like a long time ago.

Wishing everyone well. 

I hope you are all healthy. 

 If you are in an area that is not yet #staying home,  I recommend staying home as much as possible and stocking up.  We can't get flour and yeast right now, because everyone is stress-baking (me too).