Monday, November 26, 2012

The Building of the Indecisive Roombox - Part 1

I am an indecisive person. I mentioned in a previous post that it took 5 coats of paint for me to decide the perfect beige for our garage door. I take after my mother in that regard. Case in point—25 years ago, my mother and I started a 9-room Victorian dollhouse. The shell is still sitting in my mother's basement; furniture, wallpaper, and a myriad of findings all attest to the plan to finish the dollhouse. However our indecisiveness about color schemes, wallpaper, flooring, etc., prevented us from moving forward. Well, then came college, Mr. True2Scale, career, etc. (luckily I was decisive about those things!). But, the dollhouse was never finished. Now, it seems unlikely that the time and space needed to finish the house will ever be found.

That's why I've started this roombox for my mother. I'd like her to use some of the goodies that we've purchased over the years while we attended the many shows together. This seams like a simple idea, right? Well, until I decided to complicate it a bit...

The Indecisive Roombox
I think that it will be much more fun if my mother may change the rooms to fit her moods. If she's bored of looking at the parlor, she may slide a kitchen or a bedroom scene into place! The concept is simple enough, but the execution may prove a bit tricky!

Here is what I'm starting with, the Chateau Roombox from Goliath Miniatures. My mother picked it out when we were attending a miniature show in Chicago. At that time, it was to be her birthday present. However I'm hoping that I'll be able to give the completed roombox to her as a surprise Christmas gift.

The Chateau Roombox from Goliath Miniatures.


This is a really nice roombox to work with. It's very well built, and the plexiglass panel in front slides out for easy access to the inside.

A few hours of sunshine and unusually warm weather today allowed me to paint the inside and outside with a first coat of paint. The inside will obviously be covered, but I wanted to provide a nice surface for the tapewire to stick. My extensive collection of house paint came in handy for mixing the creamy color, which is comprised of: upstairs bathroom ceiling ivory, downstairs bathroom cabinets white, 3rd painting of garage door beige, and just a hint of front door chocolate brown. Keeping all of those cans of paint now seems almost justifiable!

Next step will be deciding on wall, floor and ceiling designs, and installing the LED lighting goodies that I've ordered from Carl at Creative Reproductions 2 Scale.


Other posts in this series:

Saturday, November 17, 2012

100 Miniature Christmas Tutorials




Following up on the original 50 Christmas tutorials that I posted in 2011 (see below), here are an additional 50 new tutorials. As always, reader suggestions are welcome! If you would like to share a link to a holiday theme tutorial, please leave a comment below.
  1. Fire surround Keith Walker
  2. Sleeping Santa Rita McVinnie via msatminidolls
  3. A Blessed Noel Cynthia Howe
  4. Santa ornament Cynthia Howe
  5. Christmas tree ornaments My Small Obsession
  6. Orange cane Daniela Nielsen via YouTube
  7. Angel tree topper Garden of Imagination via YouTube
  8. Roast and steak Garden of Imagination via YouTube
  9. Jar of jelly Garden of Imagination via YouTube
  10. Dollhouse for a dollhouse joannesminis via YouTube
  11. Toy train joannesminis via YouTube
  12. Toy truck joannesminis via YouTube
  13. Toy xylophone joannesminis via YouTube
  14. Doll's winter hat joannesminis via YouTube
  15. Christmas tree from pipe cleaners Smallwood Village Magazine
  16. Evergreen Tree anniesminis.com
  17. Molasses cookies and tea Cotton Ridge Create!
  18. Teddy bears from pipe cleaners Harvington Guides
  19. Bow making 1 Jan's Dollhouses and Miniatures
  20. Bow making 2 Jan's Dollhouses and Miniatures
  21. Meccano box Natalie Gayle Miniatures
  22. Needlework wreath pattern Dancing Violet Designs
  23. Fabric dollhouse for a child UK lass in US
  24. Felt stocking MsMiniLover via YouTube
  25. Cross stitch pillow chart The Dollar Store Dollhouse
  26. Sugar N' Spice baking scene Joann Swanson
  27. Lebkuken Jan Stuart via A Small World's Big Buzz
  28. Food tins lemondecratifdecatherine.blogspot.com
  29. 1:48 Candlesticks Anna-Carin Betzén
  30. Wrapped gifts Anna-Carin Betzén
  31. 1/144 scale angel tree topper Frances Armstrong
  32. 1:144 scale Georgian fireplace Anna-Carin Betzén
  33. 1:144 scale Christmas tree Anna-Carin Betzén
  34. 1:144 scale wreath and swag Anna-Carin Betzén
  35. 1:144 scale candlestick Anna-Carin Betzén
  36. Winter tree Blue Kitty Miniatures
  37. Braided door mat Miniatures & maisons de poupées
  38. Lantern mijnkleinewereld.piczo.com 
  39. Star shape cutout cookies Unoesadoce 
  40. Scissors My mini world
  41. Prawn Snowfern
  42. Panettone Simplystella's Sketchbook
  43. Doily made with liquid clay Christel Jensen
  44. Cinnamon rolls talty.deviantart.com
  45. Christmas crackers about.com
  46. Retro printable boxes howaboutorange.blogspot.com
  47. Beaded angel Wilhelmien's Poppenhuizen en Miniaturen
  48. Ice skates Ellen Boersma
  49. Sled Ellen Boersma
  50. Mistletoe kissing ball about.com
The 50 tutorials posted in 2011:
  1. Bow making Andrea Thieck
  2. Polymer clay candles My Small Obsession
  3. Ham Slices Daniela Nielsen via YouTube
  4. Turkey with garnish Julie Old Crow via The Mini Food Blog
  5. Oranges Angie Scarr
  6. Candy and caning Chrissy via CDHM
  7. AIM 2011 advent calendar (24 projects)
  8. AIM 2010 advent calendar (24 projects)
  9. AIM 2009 advent calendar (24 projects)
  10. Christmas tree Victoria Miniland
  11. Beaded Santa Victoria Minland
  12. Tiny snowman Victoria Miniland
  13. Fire for your fireplace Merry Jingle
  14. Gingerbread Stephanie Kilglast via CDHM
  15. Egg nog Mary Eccher
  16. Christmas pudding Mary Eccher
  17. Christmas punch Mary Eccher
  18. Hedgehog cake Todd Toys and Miniatures.com
  19. Wreath and candles Todd Toys and Miniatures.com
  20. Christmas cake Todd Toys and Miniatures.com
  21. Poinsettia Abby Benner via CDHM
  22. Leg of lamb Linda Cummings via CDHM
  23. Straw ornaments Miniatures & masions de poupées
  24. Mistletoe Miniatures & masions de poupées
  25. Christmas boxes True2Scale
  26. Christmas cactus about.com
  27. Needlepoint stocking about.com
  28. Swedish Christmas Joann Swanson
  29. Cookies Pine Studio
  30. Gingerbread house Pine Studio
  31. Ornaments Smallwood Village
  32. Toys in 1/144 scale Frances Armstrong
  33. Shopping bag and gift box On The Scene
  34. Christmas tree skirt pattern Laurel Wheeler
  35. Ornament box Christine Woolsey
  36. Printable sleigh about.com
  37. Toy soldiers box Natalie Gayle Miniatures
  38. Seashell angel Butterfly Dreams
  39. Printable wrapping paper 1 and 2 Jean Day
  40. Printable nativity scene Jean Day
  41. Printable micro Christmas room Jean Day
  42. Wrapping paper TreeFeathers
  43. Victorian Christmas cards TreeFeathers
  44. Sheet Music TreeFeathers
  45. Ornament boxes TreeFeathers
  46. Gift boxes 1 and 2 TreeFeathers
  47. Gift bags Treefeathers
  48. Tinsel tree Puchicollective
  49. Teapot from polymer clay Christel Jensen via YouTube
  50. Cheesecake Christel Jensen
Additional holiday tutorials shared by readers:

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Our Trip to the Dollshouse Nederland Show 2012

We were accompanied by a Stewart Little
(sans red car).
It was a week of much fun and much work! Our friends, Ruth and Dan Stewart, from Stewart Dollhouse Creations, accompanied us to the Netherlands and brought their adorable, young children, whom we've nicknamed the "Stewart Littles." Our first stop was Amsterdam, where we slept several nights on a houseboat and enjoyed walking around the city and sightseeing. The museums were fantastic and the food was delicious!
Hotel Abbekerk














We arrived in Apeldoorn and stayed in the charming Hotel Abbekerk. On Friday, we taught a workshop. Despite the fact that one of our students didn't speak English, the talented ladies were able to take home finished projects.

It was a lot of fun to see people with whom we've become acquainted with; and meet many new people as well!


Hindeloopen painting by Godelief Janssen (Wagon Mountain Studio).

Bas Middel's fantasy structure (more to come in a future post).

Ruth Stewart (Stewart Dollhouse Creations) at her first European show!