NAME camping swaps

So one of my favorite things about my NAME membership is participating in the swaps.   You choose your scale (1", 1/2. 1/4 or 1/144) and then make as many items as participants.   

This summer's swap theme was "camping" because of the online "Dog Days of Summer" camping weekend event in August.  Luckily, right before the early July sign-up, I found an old Nutshell News issue (July 1997) with an article on how to make a hiker's backpack by Kitty Mackey!  And it seemed like something I could actually accomplish.  (Nutshell News noted the difficulty level as "easy.")

When I signed up on the last day, there were about 3 other people signed up for the 1 inch category on the swap database and I thought: "well, making 3 more backpacks is doable," but later that night, 3 others signed up.

So I spent many July evenings (we have some beautiful sunsets out in Long Island, New York) . . .

 . . .making hiking backpacks (and one for me and one more for my daughter - which is not pictured since I was still working on that one at the time of this picture)

I modified some of the instructions to use what I had on hand. 

I was super pleased with them, although they definitely look like they have been taken camping!  And off I sent them in the mail to the NAME swap coordinator. 

And then in August, I received my return swaps:

Everyone made such amazing things!  I think the water cooler (made out of soda bottle caps is particularly brilliantly done), but all the food looks professionally made as well. 

Someone also made this ladder ball game with such beautiful bright colors, the black grill with a top that is hinged, and a  green "food box" with food (apples, potatoes, star cookies and buns on a tray).

Next up: another camping scene - with the swap gifts!

Hope you are enjoying September!

NAME 'Dog Days of Summer" Camping Event

NAME (National Association of Miniature Enthusiasts) (although they also have over 100 international members) had a "Dog Days of Summer" Online Camping event in August where they provided instructions online on how to make these miniature tents and other things (picnic tables, grills, etc). 

 I made the tent and 2 matching sleeping bags,and then set up this scene outside.  

The maps, hiking sign and the green grill (in case you are wondering what that is) are printables from the Nutshell News July 1997 issue.   

Of course, I am not exactly sure how any mini people are going to be able to hike through that thicket behind them :)

Malibu dollhouse: Let sleeping babies lie!

I started playing around with my children's room in the Malibu dollhouse.

I was also making some printables for a National Association of Miniature Enthusiasts (NAME) swap, so I shrunk some drawings of my daughter (a drawing of a dog and a drawing of a cat)  and made little book covers.  Those are 2 of the finished books (not that you can really see the cat one - which is a picture of a cat sitting on a mushroom - but I thought it was a cat with a tutu so the book title is "A Tutu for Cat."  It's just as well as I could not have fit a title with "mushroom" on my mini book cover.)  I was about to title the dog book "Spot," but luckily, I asked my daughter the name of the dog before I titled the book. The dog's name turned out to be Brownie, so the book is titled "Brownie".   

 I bought the dinosaur puzzle as a kit at the Chicago Tom Bishop Show and, following the seller's example, painted the dinosaur green.  It's a real puzzle.  My children love puzzles so I wanted miniature puzzles for the children's room.

The green bear on the rocking horse and the little rabbit cover book on the bookshelf are from Hannah of Hannahsminiatyrer.

I made the little Sandra Boynton book.  The cat, the baby and the Winnie the Pooh books were all purchased on eBay.  The crib is from my childhood dollhouse. 

Thank you to Universe in miniature!

Thank you to Neen of Universe in Miniature. . .!  I won one of the book giveaways, and it arrived the other day along with extra goodies: a plate making kit and a $10 Amazon gift certificate (which were completely unnecessary - but I used it to buy better paper scissors as you can see below and some ribbon for a mini project).  So thank you Neen!

I am very excited about the Girl Mechanic because it actually has instructions for how to build an elevator in a dollhouse (although not the most explicit instructions - more of a diagram).  

So now I am thinking I may try again to build one in my children's dollhouse -- although I may also just use a sailing cleet for them to pull the elevator up to each floor and hold it there.  Anyway, it's back on the To Do List :)

First Bath in the Bathroom - Malibu Dollhouse

I decided to add some more accessories to the Malibu Dollhouse bathroom.

Some necessary supplies: 

The requisite toys in the bathtub:  

And a mommy giving the baby a bath:

Johnson's No Tears Shampoo (essential) is from Sue's Little Things on Ebay.

The little baby boy is by the eBay seller: Baloohallow.

My daughter said that this now looks like our house and she wants to see the neat version!

Legoland!

We are back from our brief holiday in Denmark visiting my husband's family.

We went to Legoland which we all loved!  Lots of minis, although unfortunately the dollhouse collection is not on view and has been moved to a museum which is not yet open.  (I guess we will have to visit Legoland again - we have to visit when my son is 7 so he can do the driving course (where kids drive little cars and have to do all the proper signals)!).

Nyhavn, Denmark made out of Lego:

Amsterdam out of Lego:

And a Lego dollhouse:

And I visited my favorite dollhouse shop in Denmark (located in Hillerod)!  (It is also the only one I know of.)  The owner is very nice and it is always a highlight of my trip!

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer so far!

Malibu Dollhouse bathroom - Finally finished!

And here it is:

The shower base, rain shower top and electric towel bar (and the toilet) are all from Dolls House Emporium.   I made the shower enclosure (see my post on 3/23/15).  The towels are made from baby wash cloths. The tissue box is from the Tiny Dollhouse in New York City (a great dollhouse shop - very dangerous!).   The soap and shower wash bottle is from the Etsy shop of SophiaMiniatures.  (I did look for how to make a mini shower wash bottle on the internet, but it seemed very complicated.)

The beautiful bathtub is from MIAIM Miniatures (also on Etsy).  Theoretically, that window should be looking out at the ocean.  

The dual sink vanity unit is from PRD Miniatures.  It was one of my first purchases from PRD Miniatures and it has been waiting a long time for a home.  

All the white resin bathroom accessories are from HBS/Miniatures.com.  The little yellow duck is from Stewart Dollhouse Creations from the NAME "Adopt a Duck" Contest.

Hope you enjoy it!  Thanks for visiting!