The Pumpkin House

 So after I finished the Chapel I decided to do something a little different. I had a pumpkin I'd bought around Halloween and I cut an opening in it and covered the inside with scrapbook paper, then gave it a wood floor.

I made a fireplace and wired it with some flickering bulbs.

Then I made a little room for the upstairs and extended the front of the pumpkin room with an addition of chipboard and foamcore board.

One layer of the baseboard added to close any gaps between the floor and walls. Then baseboards, crown molding and stairs. I went with Tudor glass windows.

I was able to wire the main room first and then the bedroom. I used jewelry findings as ceiling light fixtures.

I sided the bedroom and the lower level extension with wood siding and while all the glue was drying began to work on the furniture. 

The scale isn't 1:12 and its too big for 1:24 I had to make all of the furniture custom.

I was pretty pleased how it all turned out and it fits nicely into the house.

And after some trim to the rough edges of the walls I added my roof of leaves and wired the light switches into the chimney.

After I take a few measurements I'll probably list the house on my Etsy shop.

I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.  What do you think?

Stucco!

For some people Black Friday is when you go out at zero dark thirty to wait in line and get bargains.  That is so not me.  That will never be me.  As far as I'm concerned, this is a four day weekend that means I don't have to ever leave my house.  I should have gone and gotten my nails done and didn't because I was busy with the dollhouse.

Thanksgiving and Black Friday I used wood putty and plaster to fill in any little cracks and areas where the house wasn't quite structurally sound looking.

Then I used the Dollhouse Stucco to give the plaster and wood some texture.  I was really pleased with how it turned out. 

The texture isn't very easy to see here.

I like the contrast between the black around the windows and the off-white of the stucco and then the dark brown of the siding. 

I'm adding the trim around the garage and windows today and tomorrow.  Then it's back to the roof garden/patio and the details of the decorating.  And at some point I need to make a railing for the balcony.  That means another trip to Hobby Lobby for some wood or dowels.  I'm thinking squared posts and brass rails.  Simple so nothing looks too cluttered.

But that's for another day.  Happy Thanksgiving everybody.

The Master Bedroom and Bath

Well I think I'm doing okay on the house so far.  This week I've made some progress on the master suite.  The bathroom is just awaiting the tub and toilet and for the ceiling to be permanently fixed into place. 

I started working on it last week and you've all seen the walls with the little transom window I made to let some light in.



I'm still pleased with this wallpaper at least.

I installed the tile and got it grouted.  I really liked this tile when I bought it but I couldn't find more than one square foot of it.  So sad about that because it really is gorgeous.

It reminds me of mother of pearl

I also added the tile to one of the walls for the shower.



Grout and a lot of waiting for the grout to dry came next.  I swear half my life is waiting for something to dry. Glue, paint, grout...etc.

But then I had to make a little pony wall with the glass for the shower on top of it, and the shower enclosure itself.

I used some fixtures I bought from Elf Miniatures for the showerhead and drain.  I liked the idea of a double headed shower.

Can you see the control lever?

I built the shower enclosure out of wood and then varnished it and slid some thin plexiglass in for doors.  Not easy to see but here's a picture anyway.

I used another brad for the shower door handle. 

I've attached the sinks to the console and added the mirrors to the wall.  I'm pretty pleased with how it looks.  The sinks are also from Elf Miniatures.  The console is from ModPodMiniatures.  Love the modern furniture.  So beautiful.

I like the echoes of white from the grout to the porcelain.

The toilet will go behind the pony wall and the tub in the empty spot in the foreground.

The tricky part was getting the crown molding up.  It never wants to stay glued right away.

But it still looks pretty good

Speaking of bathrooms, here are a couple of shots of the finished half bath on the first floor.  The sink and washstand are both from Elf Miniatures.  I made the towels out of flannel and the mirror is from Ebay.

I like how it turned out.

One more.

It turned out pretty well. Small but nice.

Master bath mostly done I turned my attention to the bedroom.  First to the flooring and then to the trim.



A shot through the front windows to show off the cork floor, I need to dust I think.

It didn't help that the wall was trying to curve.

My sophisticated clamping technique.

 

Here's a shot of the window wall with the trim clamped on.



My very important glue bottle there.

Getting all the walls into place required some muscle and stubbornness to go with the glue but I finally got everything pushed and taped into place.

With all the trim and everything!

I'm still working on the curtains for the windows.  I'm not going to have working curtain rods, they'd never stay up. So I'm going to cheat and glue the curtains and some fake rods into place.

But the big thing for this room that I wanted was the bed.  I've seen some gorgeous modern beds out there with benches and night stands build right in.  So I wanted to do something along those lines.

I got a mattress from HBS Supply and used that to give me the approximate measurements.

Here's the start of the process, basswood and plywood.

Lots of glue!

Here's a shot about halfway along the whole thing.

Doesn't look like much does it?

And here we have the final product, minus the varnish and stain.  I'm thinking a dark base and natural wood for the top.

I'll take the tape off when its done drying.

A slightly different shot.

The mattress will sit in the middle where there's no trim

I'm pretty pleased with it so far.  Once I get the stain and the varnish on it'll look real nice.  Then the bedding and the bedroom will be halfway done.

I also was working on the ceilings for the rooms and got the plaster paper and lights on, but since I haven't done the curtains yet I don't want to glue it into place.

Here's a shot of what it'll look like completed. (Hopefully!)

I love a chandelier in the bathroom.  Very posh.

And because I can't have a flat surface without the building inspector coming by...

Tali isn't sure she approves.

One more look just to see...hmmm... No... Mom I won't fit in here. You'll have to start over.

Tali, the house is not for you.

So assuming the ceiling survives her 'help' I'll hopefully get the curtains in and then glue the ceiling down.  Then its just building a little set of walls around the top for the roof/patio area.

I also started to work on the siding for the curved portion of the house but its being held in place by several large heavy books so the siding doesn't curl up with the moisture of the glue and then stain.  With some luck I'll have pictures in a few days.

That's all for now folks.  See you soon I hope.






Slight Sense of Urgency

Reality hit last week when a fellow blogger mentioned there were only sixty six days until the Creatin' Contest due date.  (As a complete sidebar, I love saying fellow blogger because it makes me feel accomplished and like someday I might be on the level of say Otterine or Pepper over at MitchyMooMiniatures.)  Otterine has a countdown on her blog.  Today there are only 57 days left!

But that kinda lit a fire under my butt.  No more futzing (is that a real word?) around.  Time to actually figure out how to do some things and then get them done.  So... I worked.  And I made some mistakes but thankfully they're fixable.  And my husband gave me the coupon that came in the mail for twenty percent off my order at Miniatures.com so I got to order a few things I'd been wanting.

That really helped.  Shopping for miniatures always helps somehow.

But I'm pleased to say that I got the kitchen mostly finished and the second floor started.  (I actually nearly said completely finished on the kitchen before I remembered I haven't put in the baseboards yet.  Ooops.)

But the floor is in!  Yay floor!  See?

No grout just yet but you get the idea right?

That's my homemade light fixture there.  Ignore the flash reflected in the glass please.

I had to get the windows trimmed and framed in on the inside.  I love the natural wood look.

Here's a shot of the backdoor and the tiles grouted.  They still look a little streaky but I want to wait until its completely dry before I wipe them down anymore.

They're actually real glass tiles that you'd use for a floor in a bathroom or the backsplash in your kitchen.  I love how they look.  They're just about an inch square so they're kinda like real mini tiles.

You can also see where I need to touch up the edge of the door. 

Making that light fixture was an all weekend job last week.  First figuring out what I wanted, making it, reducing the length of the tubing and then getting the whole thing wired up in the little copper box fixture.  And when the ceiling was upside down it did not look too good.



See?  This was a whole long process

I love the colors though

See? Not graceful.

I also changed the 'glass' tulip shaped shades on the living room ceiling fixture to some more modern actual glass spheres.  I like the look better and Sticky Tacky glue is a wonderful thing.  That reminds me, I need to go get some more. 

Not actual size.

Oh, here's a better shot of the crown molding in the kitchen. 

And you can also see the other light fixtures.  I like the vintage look.

I didn't want a pure white ceiling so I got some beige and white.  I like how it looks.

Yeah, its pretty good.

But the big news is that I got the second floor installed, glued and screwed in.  And got one of the hollow walls for the bedroom wired and wallpapered.

I also got the bathroom wired and the walls papered.  Can you believe I've got everything I need for the bathroom except a toilet.  Yep. Nothing like forgetting the obvious.  I'm a genius like that.

So here's a progress shot of the bedroom.

We'll pretend there's extra insulation in the floor so the bedroom doesn't get cold over the garage.

My extremely technical method of holding the walls on until the glue dries.

And here we are with the floor and wallpaper.

The green is not really that bright.  It's the flash on my camera phone.  When I get the trim in we'll try it again.

Here's a shot of the bathroom.  The walls aren't permanent yet.  I need to get the wallpaper, trim and doors on before I glue.

It looks bigger than it is.

A slightly different angle.

I added a transom window near the ceiling to let in some natural light from the front windows.

A close up of the wallpaper.

The green matches the green of the bedroom.  I want a good neutral green and brown.

So now I only have a few odds and ends to show you.

The faucet for the kitchen sink, which is finally dry and safe to untape.



I love this faucet. I want it for my real house.

We have a doorknob on the front door now.  Yay.

Ignore the junk outside the house please.

And I refinished a shade for a lamp in the living room.

I think it'll go next to the couch.

And that's... it.  Yeah.  I don't think it feels like much.  But that's because I know how much more I have to do.  I'll do some more work tonight and have another update for you next week. 

See you soon!