Nov 10, 2012

all lit up

If there is one thing I regret about the miniature rooms that I have made so far, it’s not installing them with lights. There are light kits available online (not in my city, boo) but I never really considered buying them when I purchased my dollhouse furniture.

Until, of course, I started making the haunted mini room. Eerie lighting is an integral part of a haunted place, miniature or life size. But since I couldn’t very well buy only lighting kits from other countries (shipping would be deadly, you see), I settled on finding decent LED tealight lamps here. The “legit” ones were pricey but one afternoon, while shopping for packaging materials downtown, we chanced upon cheaper versions of said lamps.

We got four and, the moment we got home, wasted about a couple of hours taking these photos:

Daylight photos HERE

These cheap LED tealight lamps are the types that change colors. While not very ideal for the miniature rooms above, they are perfect for the haunted mini room I’m trying to finish. Which leads me back to regretting not installing lights in these finished rooms and browsing lighting kits online with longing.

*sigh

Meream make - minis 3 DIY dollhouses, how to make miniature dollhouse, miniature dollhouses, minitures

Jul 12, 2012

i’ve got another confession to make

(I’m your fool.)

Heh.

The confession is that I buy cheap watches on eBay. I’m talking about brand new pieces from US stores (e.g. Kohl’s). They’re sold here for about $10 or so probably because they’re from several seasons ago. Purchasing these cheap watches is not my most sensible consumerist principle considering that they never last more than two years. But I don’t mind. Why? Because as soon as the battery of these watches conk out, I get to add “clocks” to my miniature stash.

You see, I have this plan to make a miniature room or store with walls covered in clocks.

And this was supposed to be that room/store:

This room box is made of popsicle sticks, an old frame, cardboard, and scrabble tile racks. I made the floor using the scrabble tile racks as foundation and then added the popscile sticks as flooring. I then glued the white plastic frame perpendicular to the floor. The back wall and ceiling are cardboard.

Structurally and aesthetically speaking, this looks like an acceptable clock store. With the ornate frame window display, Victorian wallpaper, and filigree-like chandelier, any merchant can sell clocks from this spot. The miniature drawer looks perfect in it, too.

Now you might wonder why I’m writing this as if I have already made other plans for this room. That’s because I have. I think. I was taking these photos and for no apparent reason, placed a miniature white swing in it. The boyfriend walks by and says, “That looks creepy.” Something clicked in my head and I began entertaining the the thought of turning this room box into a haunted room.

So right now, I’m leaning towards the haunted room idea. Besides, I still need a good number of eBay purchases to be able to achieve a wonderfully insane miniature clock store look.

Another confession: I love eBay shopping!

Meream make - minis 11 DIY dollhouse, DIY miniatures

Mar 19, 2012

the blue room II

I thought I would not be able to finish this mini room until the middle of April but here we are. When you have long accepted the fact that “procrastination” is one of your constant companions, you do not exactly question bursts of creativity. You go along with it. And wish that your good, old friend doesn’t sneak up on you one day and say “Oh, you did these? You were only dreaming, you know. It’s time to wake up and realize that you did NOTHING. BWAHAHAHA!”

So.

And now for the details I made myself or life-size items I used as decor elements for the mini room:

1) Bead as vase. 2) Illustration from a life-size pattern and used as yep, a pattern. 3) Stickers with vintage illustrations as sewing books. 4) Cabochon vase + paper doily as tea serving tray. 5) Fabric scraps + more books.

1) Scrabble tile sign. 2) Paper box lid covered with fabric as inspiration board. 3) Rolls of fabric. 4) Life-size thimble and spools of thread. 5) Meter stick end with wood dowels as hooks. 6) A surprise from the boyfriend. 7) Fabrics from fabric scraps. 8) Dress form made of Styrofoam and covered with paper tape.

1) Vintage pattern wall art. 2) View cut from a magazine + curtains made of paper and lace. 3) Lamp base from an embroidery hoop screw. 4) More spools of thread as decor.

You will probably notice by now that my design inclinations lean towards shabby-kitschy. You might wonder if this translates to real life. The short and best answer is YES. Our flat has more personality than me, the boyfriend, and our 3 cats combined. I said 3 because nothing can possibly have a bigger personality than Egg.

In the interest of creative pursuits, I shall try to make a modern or minimalist dollhouse next. Wish me luck!

= 0 =

LINKY LOVE: Skip to My Lou, The Girl Creative, CraftOManiac, Young and Crafty

Meream make - minis, nest 16 DIY dollhouse, DIY miniatures

Mar 17, 2012

The Hunger Games crafting

I have not been to the cinema in months, probably close to half a year. Reasons: I hate crowded places and movies are expensive. However, I am willing to be mature and watch The Hunger Games at the cinemas. Why?

Because (among many other awesome things) THIS:

While I wait for March 22 (we’ve bought tickets, yay!) and I try to keep my excitement to a minimum, I settle for gawking at some crafty Hunger Games-related stuff people have created and posted online.

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Here are my favorites:

This is all kinds of fantastic. Details HERE.