Happy Halloween!

It's been a busy week preparing for Halloween (both in real life and in the mini-town.)

The baker has been busy baking Halloween treats.

My 6 year old daughter and I made these orange spider web cakes based on the American Miniatures Dollhouse magazine issue #138 article by Natalia Antonelli on how to bake a wicked webbed cake.  We simplified it a lot (because we were also playing with Playdoh with my 2 year old at the same time), but we are still pleased with our first attempt.  We used orange and black Fimo clay and then painted it with Clay Charm polish for a glossy look.  We have to work on our making of the little spiders - they're very tricky. :)

Here is my daughter's Halloween party scene in her dollhouse with the cakes (she used black and orange construction paper to set the scene):

And here are my witches having a Halloween party:

The littlest witch has performed a spell making a rather large rat.  The mouse is trying to escape.

And here is the party food with the magically pouring tea:

Happy Halloween!

Lekker Hagelslag - Delicious Dutch Chocolate Sprinkles on Toast for Breakfast

A big thanks to Josje from A Beautiful World blog (http://josje-bouwt.blogspot.com)

who sent me printouts of Dutch hagelslag boxes so I could make my own.  So thrilled!  Here is a very happy little girl about to eat her hagelslag on toast :) And many thanks to Debora at http://petitpunt.blogspot.com/ who was also willing to help me find the Dutch vendor of these boxes.  

In the meantime, I also am still working on my little office area in Waterside Way.  Here is Penelope working at her desk. I made her a dress in orange.  I made the little file folders in the bookshelf from the Dollhouse Magazine (UK) issue 187 (the Christmas issue) as well as the black binders from cutouts in an old Dolls  House World magazine.

A Dutch Hotel Scene

I started building a Dutch hotel lobby and breakfast scene in a shelf to satiate my travel longings.

My father was Dutch, and so we used to travel to Holland once a year, but we haven't been in years because my children are still small.  (We went once when my daughter was almost one.  I think we spent most of the day sleeping in the hotel room because she was up all night with jet lag, so it didn't end up being quite the trip I had planned, although I still got to catch up with my friends there).  

I am planning to build a canal doll house hotel eventually (but that is going to take some time still and more importantly, I need to find some space).   I think a hotel will be fun because I can decorate the rooms in different styles (and maybe even different color backgrounds (like The William Hotel in Manhattan, which I've seen only in pictures).)

Here is the entrance lobby.

I saw the Bespaq hotel lobby key and mail cubby hole cabinet on ebay, but I thought it was too expensive,  Then suddenly, one of my favorite eBay sellers posted this hutch for sale, and I realized that I could just write the room numbers below the key/mailboxes in chalk and it would have a similar effect.  

Of course, it needed a map of Amsterdam in the background (and tulips).   The reception desk is a PRD miniatures table.  And I bought the pink luggage set at the NAME online houseparty in April from one of my virtual tablemates:   Sheila Seme. They are so adorable with the little luggage tags.  The blue luggage is Japan Yujin toys, and I highly recommend them because they open.  My daughter loves to try to pack in them (and so far, they have not broken.)  The luggage stands are from Dolls House Emporium (does anyone have their new catalogue?  do they have a lot of new products?  I wish they still sent out the catalogue for free, or at least free shipping.)

And then here is the breakfast room - I love fancy Dutch hotel buffet breakfasts.   This has been Americanized (with the bagels etc).   I am still looking to add a miniature box of Hagelslag (chocolate sprinkles that are put on toast for breakfast) and other specifically Dutch products.   

I won the Amanda Phillips' toast and jam set from the American Miniaturist contest - which was a huge surprise.  But I was so happy because I had wanted it for this scene.  

The watercolor art is from my friend Anne-Marie Ambelli's art show catalogue . I still have to make some frames for them.  I was happy to find the miniature Nutella on Ebay (as well as most of the other food). 

Hope you enjoy!

Happy Easter!

 

Happy Easter!  Luckily the kids left their toys out in the living room, so there was plenty of places to hide Easter eggs.

 

I made the two baskets on the table from wooden coffee stir sticks.  I cut them with a scissor and glued the pieces to a thick piece of cardboard. I then cut a thin strip from paint color samples (lots of pastel colors available) to create the basket handle.  I painted the one on the left white and purple.  I got the idea from a shabby chic Easter basket that was on sale on Ebay, but went too high for me.  The chocolate bunnies were made by Megan's Minis.  

    Hope you can find the 6 "hidden" eggs! 

 

Happy Easter!!

Credits: bunnies by Megan's Minis; cat and couch by DollsHouse Emporium; coffeetable by minimodernistas; pillows by me; truck and flowers from NAME swaps/auctions; cupcakes from miniatures.com; and the rest is Ebay finds.

Malibu Beach Dollhouse: a white kitchen

I first started building the Dolls House Emporium Malibu dollshouse, but I still have yet to finish. So many pieces and so much painting!  But I did finish the kitchen.  So I started decorating that (although there is more to do).  I've always been tempted to have a white kitchen in real life, but worried that it might be too sterile, so instead I am playing with it in mini (although I don't have a white oven wall unit). 

 

Of course, you need the lemons for proper "staging."

 

 

Credits:  the table is minimodernistas; the tulip chairs are reac; the blue lamp is Heidi Ott; the central white kitchen counter with sink and range is PRD Miniatures; the range  hood is Elf Miniatures; the sink is from my childhood dollhouse (with an updated faucet).

 

And then I thought maybe it needed some more life

 

And so I added the leeks on top of the refrigerator (which I just love - from beautifullyhandmade on eBay, dishtowel (from CariAd Miniatures) and Scruffy the dog and Audrey the cat. 

Hope you enjoy!

 

Waterside Way - Second Floor - Blue Painting

Currently, the second floor is a bit more traditional - except for the living room.  I love the blue painting.  I bought it on Ebay.  The artist name that was given was AK. 

I have always loved the work of Rothko and Miro, and when I moved into my first apartment, I went looking for an abstract blue painting.  The search, similar to the treasure hunt for miniatures, was in itself fun, because you meet so many interesting people along the way.  (I did find my blue painting eventually - by pure chance.  I liked the expressive brush stroke of an artist that I saw at the NY Affordable Art Fair, but I felt I couldn't spend any more during that show, so I just took down the artist's contact information, and later I sent him an email. And then he wrote me that he was having a show in NY in a church basement later that year.  So I went to see the show, and there on the wall was the blue painting I had been looking for!  Which I still love. )  

 

But it is a lot cheaper to buy miniature paintings :) 

 

I am going to try to take a better picture, though, of it, and the room.

 

The Goods:  The couch is from Streets Ahead; most of the accessories are from NAME swaps, and the Keep Calm pillow is a complimentary gift from Mad for Mod.  The table and the plant are from DHE.   

The traveling bellabox - thanks to the Shopping Sherpa!

Some time ago, I entered the Shopping Sherpa's giveaway and won the bellabox!  And here it is:

 

 

It is a really beautiful box.  It came wrapped in wrapping paper as well, so it looked like a present.  Here are the contents at first glance - so excited to have one of the Shopping Sherpa's pouffes and rugs!

 

 

And then of course I had to immediately play with the contents, and so I created this scene:

 

 

 

The purple pouffe, purple rug, wall pictures, pink flowers, green compiled table and green ornament on the table are all courtesy of the Shopping Sherpa. (thanks again!)  The red couches are from my childhood dollhouse - made by my mom.  And the orange table is from Miniatures by Avalon on Etsy.  

 

But now the bellabox has to travel again. . . (although it will take me some time to fill it up with goodies).