Ethan Allen Room Box

Hello Everybody!
I thought I would put up another room box I made. For this one I copied a picture right out of the Ethan Allen Furniture catalog.
I built the box and used drywall compound for the plaster finish. Painted a base color and then worked in dots of color mixed with a glaze to keep it from drying out too quickly. My husband cut maple flooring for me. I built the windows so I would have deep sills.
I bought tin from Micro Mark to put into the pie safe. The little wooden basket on the floor is a copy of one I have in my room. My daughter painted the Chrysnbon rooster for me. I love it. I painted the tea set and the pot on the coffee table is made from paper! I copied the rug from the catalog and cross-stitched it freehand.
I found that was easier for me than to try and draw the design. The pot in the window with tulips is also made from paper. I painted the plates to match what was in the picture from the catalog. The basket on the bench is woven paper. I was taking a basket making class so I tried out what I learned in miniature. I made the garden clogs from green Fimo.
The fabric on the couch and chair have been miniaturized on the computer. I tried to find fabric that would kind of match the picture, then miniaturized it.
On the right wall is a hanging planter with ivy in it. My youngest daughter had given me a full size wall planter for Mother's Day. I loved it, so I made a miniature one to hang in this room box.
I cut the "paintings" out from a fine arts catalog.
I didn't make the striped bowl on the pie safe but I did try my hand at the apples.
I like to crochet and I made the little afghan for the arm of the couch and the doily on the coffee table.
The little candle holder is a modge-podge of bits and pieces. It starts with a Chrysnbon saucer, then I cut a cheap metal candle holder top off from the rest of it and then the top is a clear glass vase. The books on the table are photo copies of books about miniatures.
I made this room box when I didn't have alot of resources available and I had to depend on myself to figure out how to go about making something.
The only things I didn't make are: the tea set, the plates on the wall are Chrysnbon, the blue glass bottle in the left window, the clay flower pot in the left window, the bowl on the pie safe, the plate holding the candy on the end table and the Chrysnbon rooster.

Fig Newtons

Hi, I bought a package of Fig Newtons yesterday and they come in a new package. The bottom of the package would make some fine Tudor windows. It has a diamond pattern molded into it and we could paint or use permanent markers to make that look like leading. Look at the bottom of other cookie packaging for the diamond pattern. Good reason for buying cookies, "I just had to have the package for the windows in the new house I'm building! Munch, Munch."

In the produce department cherry tomatoes come in green plastic baskets. Some of them have a Gothic pointed arch pattern. They are good, too. They make good mullions for windows and if you are into building chairs, you can use parts of the pattern for the chair backs. The part between the sides and under the top rail.

Talk to you all later! Kris

Thomas' Liquid Stainless Steel Craft Kit

Hi Miniaturists!

I was at a beautiful paint and wallpaper store in Edwardsville, IL. Their wallpaper book section looked like a library! I love the little sample paint pots, don't you? On to the purpose of the post: Thomas's Liquid Stainless Steel Craft Kit. I saw this on the self and wished I had had this when I was making the kitchen for the corner cabinet. I used Rustoleum Stainless Spray Paint. Wasn't too happy with it, but I thought that was I had to choose from. The web site is: www.liquidstainlesssteel.com It shows how to do it. My store had a kit that would do a toaster size project, plenty for us. It makes me want to redo the kitchen, but I am having too much fun making the upholstered furniture!

Have to say "Hi" to Lotti, and thank you. Lotti is a miniaturist from Germany. She purchased the navy wing settee from the CDHM site.

My chicks are growing and will be making the transition to outside soon. They won't be laying eggs until late August or September. I cleaned out their pen today and I always put them into a big box to stay in while I clean. They don't stay in it very well anymore. They jump up onto the side and down onto the floor. Today I had about 5 walking around while the others were sitting on the edge of the box. Ginger, the bunny, got involved but wasn't impressed. They didn't care about him and wouldn't move when he nudged them. Then Zeus, my cat, jumped over the door and he was interested in all the movement. Oh, what fun. He was soon shoooed out.

Talk to you all later . . . . . . . . . Kris

Donkeys!

Hi everybody! I know I haven't put anything new up on the blog lately, sorry. My husband and I have adopted 2 donkeys from the Missouri Humane Society. We are getting them settled in. I am finishing an order and have 2 more to go. I have a project planned and I am trying to get that worked out in my head.

Just a little tip for the spring mini gardens: Use color photo-copies of leaves from seed and plant catalogs for your leaves. Scan them in and resize and print. You will have to color in the backs, but they look very good.

TTYL Kris

Sheer Fabric on the Pretty Pleater

Hello Mini People!
I have a tip for you for d.Anne Ruff's Pretty Pleater. Mary, my friend, needed to make some shears for her living room. She had some full size shears she picked up at her thrift store. I have to say here she is the best thrift store shopper, and she has the best thrift store, ever. I live in a little bigger town with more available and I can't find a thing! Anyway, she was having trouble with the pleats staying in and the iron interfacing wasn't going to work because it would show through. The fabric was definitely polyester, but I think this could work on other fabric's content. I would think twice about using it on silk, though.
First glue your hem in and be sure that you have enough fabric allowed for the length of the window. Spray the fabric with spray starch and lay the fabric, wrong side up onto the pleater and start making the pleats. Make sure all of the pleats stay in, use extra pieces of strip wood to keep them in. Iron with a dry iron. Leave the fabric in the pleater to dry. I wanted to spray the fabric with a varnish, a finish, something to sort of make a hard finish on the fabric to keep the pleats in. Mary had Krylon's mat finish so we used that. I would mask off the part of the pleater that doesn't have fabric on it. I don't know how the Krylon and a hot iron would react to each other. I suppose you could clean the pleater off, would paint thinner hurt the rubber? I sprayed a couple of light coats and let it dry. I carefully peeled off the Pretty Pleater, not the fabric, and the pleats stayed. They turned out beautifully. The Krylon didn't show through to the other side. Follow the Pretty Pleater instructions for the rest of the finishing for the curtains.
I hope this helps, I know I stayed away from doing shears because I couldn't get them to stay pleated. Sometimes when someone asks you about a problem you think about it a little harder and you find the answer.

TTYL Kris

Something New in Furniture

I have some new furniture to put up. I also make wooden furniture and wicker. I have some samples I have made and no place to put them so I thought I would sell them.









This is a little wall shelf, could be shabby chic or just old. The undercoat is a light green and is over painted with an antique white. The measurements are: 4 1/8" from tip to tip of crown moulding at top, 3 1/4" long, 7/8" out from the wall and the shelves are 1/2" deep. $15.00

















You can tell I've tried out the distressing techniques, can't you? The next piece is a buffet I made, the drawers work and you can replace the little curtains, they are just on wire. The undercoat is yellow and I overpainted with blue. Of course you could do your own painting on this. The measurements are: 5 1/8" long, 2 3/4" high and 1 5/8" deep. $15.00








































This is another trial for Mary. She needed something that looked like an iron bed. This is made from basket weaving reed and painted green. I've made a little mattress for it, too. You could repaint it any color you would want. The measurements are: 6" long, 3 1/2" wide, the headboard is 4 3/8" high and the mattress is 2 1/16" off the floor. $15.00.

I do charge for shipping, let me know what pieces you want and I package it up and take it to the post office and they weigh it and I e-mail you the total.

I am putting these on the CDHM site, too. TTYL Kris

Hello Out There!

Hi Guys,
I tore apart my workroom today. Since I am really just making upholstered furniture now, I needed to rearrange things and give me a little more space on the table. I have a 3 foot by 6 foot table my husband made for me and I had 2 table saws, a scroll saw, a router table with Dremel and a drill press with another Dremel in it, oh yes, and 2, 2 tier paint lazy susans. I work in a little space somewhere in there.
Moved the knitting machine, yes knitting machine. I used to do that, wrote a couple of books for it, wrote for a magazine, too. Loved doing that, until I found miniatures. I didn't want to move the knitting machine too far, I can make little afghans with it. Honestly, it takes more time to finish the little things than to actually do the knitting. Put a table where that was and put the drill press and scroll saw on it.
Moved more books over to the bookcase in the other end of the room to make more room for the Rubbermaid boxes of fabric I collect. I don't like having the books over there, but I needed the room. It does have a better flow, now.
I wanted to keep this blog non personal. Just techniques and tips. But I have made friends, really good friends, Katina, so sometimes, if you all don't mind I'll let you know what I am doing besides giving tips on miniatures.
Another thing you need to know is I have a friend in my work room, his name is Ginger. He's my rabbit. He was supposed to be a girl, but he turned out to be a boy, the name stayed, he's orange with a little black. I've been told he's a Harlequin rabbit, I don't know, he's my buddy. Ginger chases the cats out of the room, I let him run loose in the room during the day. The door to the room is sawed in half, horizontally, like a "Dutch Door". The cats jump over and then they jump back out. I'm sure they have issues with this since they also go outside and we live on five acres and they hunt rabbits. The outside rabbits don't chase them. He uses a litter box if you are wondering about that. Right now we have visitors in the work room, I am raising baby chicks to replenish my laying hens. A lot of peeping going on. Kinda like Easter everyday with chicks and a bunny!
TTYL Kris