Natural Swimming Hole for the Victorian Dollhouse

It's been a while, wow, make that a loooong while, since I eeked out a post. I miss "blog-dom" and I'm way behind on either of my daughters' dollhouses and any dollhouse miniature foods I've been dreaming of creating. It's the lupus. Always the lupus. :( Drat!! And this summer was no different. Hot weather = exhaustion. Mind numbing, OMG can't keep my eyes open, exhaustion. And the swelling and stiffness, in fingers, and feet. Flares make it impossible to spend any real amount of time working on my mini worlds.

So with the kids back in school since last week I'm looking longingly at my long neglected mini yards. Going to attempt something I saw online that appears to be all the rage in residential swimming pools in the U.K. (and starting to catch on over here in the U.S.) - natural swimming pools? They are really cool and beautiful as they fit right into the natural landscape. This would be perfect for the Victorian dollhouse. One, because the table my husband placed this dollhouse on is larger than the table under the Vermont Farmhouse Jr., so there's plenty of room, and two, since the little doll "family" that "lives" in the Victorian are doing some wonderful rehab with what could theoretically be a two hundred year-old home, I thought they would be the type of "homeowners" to tackle a natural pool project that will blend into what-will-someday-be a very naturally landscaped yard (hopefully with a Real Good Toys Gazebo - oh how we dream.) And besides, this natural pool creation will give us a great excuse to use up the sand, Styrofoam, and bags of mini-rocks we've had in the craft cupboard for years.

Now the really BIG question is, how long will it take me to finish this project? Ha ha, only the lupus knows. ;) And I'll probably get a hand or two from my kids when they are not swamped with sports or homework.

The nice thing about miniatures is that I can do what I can physically manage, if it's 15 minutes, only 5 minutes, or oh boy, maybe even a whole hour on a rare occasion...and when my fingers lock up and stiffen from the strain of the work I can put it down, push it all aside and rest until another day. No pressure. I just work on the projects as am I able.

Hope you all are having a wonderful mini-day! :)

Here are some photos to show the progress on the natural swimming "hole"....click on the photos to enlarge for better viewing. I had a LOT of help with cutting, gluing the rocks was easier, but we got the job done. Thanks so much for stopping by my blog. <3 <3 I love all your wonderful comments!

No "water" here yet, going to try "Magic Water." My brother-in-law does model railroads and he loves the stuff, so he is mailing me some. :)

This is how it all started. I'm not a "saver" by any means, I pick and choose stuff I want to save for crafts. Lucky this Styrofoam and rocks and sand were something I thought worthy of saving years ago. Anyway, I glued that outer ring to the larger piece of Styrofoam (the bottom of the pool), and waited till it dried.

Leftover artificial spring grass from Woodland Scenics came next. Hit it with a hair dryer on "hot" setting and it molds to the Styrofoam base. That huge rock to the left is something my now 16-year-old picked up when we were hiking in the mountains, about 10 YEARS ago...at least it reminds me that at one time I was able to hike. :) Good times, yes, good times. 

A little trick my brother-in-law taught me about making ponds - brush dark green and black paint into the parts you want to create the illusion of depth or slopes under water. And brushing the darker paints on the grass didn't require a steady hand either - a definite plus for my shaky twisty fingers. :)

And there's the huge rock my daughter found and carried home in her jacket pocket when she was about 6! That is going to be the waterfall. Of all the rocks she used to pick up on hikes and collect, this was the one I saved and found hiding in the corner of my desk. Kind of cool to incorporate it into her dollhouse swimming pool now. 

After gluing the rocks around the edge, we sprinkled some light sand so it would stick to the glue in between the rocks and give the appearance of some kind of mortar. We'll brush out the extra sand later when everything is securely dried together. 

Adding some plants because these are what actually help "filter" and clean natural swimming pools. These sprigs are all I have for now. When I get the energy to go to the craft store I'll see what else I can find that is good to use in this setting.

More rocks and sand will go around the outer edge of the pool, on top of the Styrofoam around the outer edge. Sort of like this real one I saw online, when I simply fell in love with this type of pool: Eco Lagoons

Happy blogging everyone! :)

4th of July at the Farmhouse

Thanks to Real Good Toys for making their high quality and easy-to-build dollhouse kits that helped us create this wonderful Vermont Jr. Farmhouse and its adorable additions. :) My health hasn't been the greatest lately...so I dropped out of "mini-world" again for a while for much needed rest. In the meantime my daughters helped put together some lovely decorations I just had to share with all my fellow bloggers.

Click on the pics to enlarge. Have a wonderful summer everyone!

 The "Ross" resin doll from the amazing Houseworks collection, available at Hobby Builder's Supply. The girls love these dolls, they said they aren't "scary" looking like some of the dollhouse dolls they've seen, LOL. They are very handsomely made and realistic. Awesome! The charcoal grill came from Hobby Builder's Supply too, and the Adirondack chairs came from Manor House Miniatures, so did the mini flags. The side tables were handmade, so was the blue bench along the wall. And of course, the mini barbecue food too!

This darling little lady doll doesn't exactly fit in with the time period, but she's so lovely we just had to include her. :) Isn't that garden hose terrific? Thanks Hobby Builder's Supply!

 Another wonderful outdoor chair - from Manor House Miniatures!

The handmade white porch swing - took 2 months to create and line up the links in the chain just right so the swing sat evenly. But we like the end result.

Wait for guests to arrive for the barbecue - more Houseworks collection resin dolls from Hobby Builder's Supply, helped create a welcoming front porch scene.

Handcrafted green porch chairs - some balsa wood strips and spray paint, and voila! Porch chairs!

Close ups of polymer clay mini foods - banana split sundaes, lemonade, and a salty margarita!

Food's almost done!

Happy 4th of July! Thanks for following! :D

Croquet Anyone?

I'm listening to the sounds of spring outside, birds are chirping, the sun is shining. Ah what lovely weather. And as soon as the temperature creeps up into the 70s and stays there a bit, I might be able to get out and enjoy some sunshine. My fingers and toes really suffer in cold and brisk weather and I can barely move them when it's cold. We had a run of 80 + degree temperatures a week or so ago, but sadly, those temperatures went straight back down into the 50s and 60s again. My joints definitely are not amused. 

But the promise of warmer days ahead has definitely inspired some new exterior work...would you believe we glued together this darling little croquet set from bits of scrap wood we had lying around, and some paper clips and polymer clay? And since my hands are limited to what they can do with tools like hand drills or mini saws, making a miniature birdhouse out of wood was out of the question. So I tried another medium - polymer clay! It might not look as realistic as a wooden birdhouse, but it sure was easier on my hands to make these little cuties. 

Click on the pictures to supersize. And thanks so much for following along! Please feel free to leave a comment at the end - I love comments, and try to respond back to everyone! :) Many mini hugs to all!!

Mixing it Up Some More

Hi everyone! It's finally starting to look like spring here in the U.S. Not only did we add a fabulous little mixer to our growing collection (it was white, but I painted it a fabulous bright orange), but there's lots of landscaping going on at the Vermont farm house. Pictures are worth a thousand words, so I just had to share. :)

Mixers mixers everywhere! We added the orange mixer, and, I found a darling unique antique looking hand crank mixer on eBay! See that red one in the back? A word about the orange mixer - this one is 1 1/4 inch tall, as compared to the ones that look exactly like this model, but are only 1 inch tall. I think the 1 1/4 inch tall mixers are much closer to 1:12 scale, so we're going to stick with those from now on.

Click on the pics to enlarge for detail. :)

And the tiny hand crank on the red one really turns the paddles! Awesome!!

The landscaping and the two-story and conservatory additions make this look like one heck of a hot property in Dollhouseville! :D Real Good Toys makes amazing dollhouse kits! And they're so simple to put together. The flowers in the flower boxes at the top windows are tiny flowers we stripped from larger silk flower bouquets and glued onto the boxes. The hanging baskets and the wreath on the door are made from polymer clay roses and seashells, glued onto clumps of Woodland Scenics artificial grass.

The fence is nothing more than balsa wood and craft sticks glued together and painted white. :) The gate works because we put 2 tiny hinges on it. You can find packs of these tiny brass hinges at Michael's Crafts.

The sidewalk is made from Premo granite polymer clay and Woodland Scenics white sand for filler. The tiny white stones that frame the sidewalk are also made from polymer clay - white granite Premo. All the little flowers tucked into the Woodland Scenics grass along the borders are made from polymer clay too.

What's a front door without a welcome mat? :) Thanks to Joanne's Minis amazing blog this door mat was a breeze! I modified it a little by using paint pens instead of rubber stamps, but the effect is almost as good. She makes amazing tutorials and uses really clever ideas to make awesome dollhouse minis. Check out her blog! The step by step videos are very cool.

The pots for the flowers are made from polymer clay too - Premo sweet potato color. ;)

One of my friends suggested we needed a bird feeder. I whipped this one up using a dollhouse drinking glass, odds and ends from leftover jewelry findings, and sprinkled some poppy seeds, sand, and crushed spices from the spice cabinet in our kitchen into the bowl of the bird feeder. Does it look like bird seed? Close enough?

Wind chimes! Nothing more than old jewelry beads and findings, and wire. :)

The bird bath is made from one of the same old jewelry findings we used for the bird feeder bowl. The post is made from some old scrap wood shapes, and spray painted white. Of course, our dollhouse birds are a little messy, they left little bits of bird seed and dirt behind. The water is hardened Triple Thick Gloss.

Polymer clay rocks, Woodland Scenics grass, and some hardened Triple Thick, and now we have a pond! With tiny orange polymer clay goldfish swimming around! :D

Future site of a raised bed vegetable garden - that will take a while to create. 

A happy home! 

Thanks so much for stopping by. :) I love reading your wonderful comments. Have a fantastic weekend everyone, and enjoy the weather if it's spring wherever you are.