Little family makeover

When I brought them home, Jenya said that when we were buying the doll house, this family was actually already in the house, but at that point I said I didn't want them because I didn't like the way they looked. It is interesting that they stayed in the store and we found them later and I ended up taking them back to their house.
But it is true - I didn't like the way they looked. The big hair the faded and stained clothes in crazy colors, and the father, according to Jenya, looked like he would be driving a minivan kidnapping little kids - in other words plain creepy.
So I gave them a great makeover, that actually involved shaving their heads - literally  because the mother's hair was so big, I had to shave it down before wigging her. I even performed plastic surgery on the father to shave his huge cheek bones down before hiding is crazy little teeth behind a mustache and a beard.
They are pretty happy with the way the look now, and so am I. I shopped around for another doll family and non of them looked the way I wanted them to, but these three are it!
I came up with some random names for them too.

Doll House - Kitchen

Three posts today! I guess with a week away from school, I have more to tell than with months in it... So this one is about something I did today - finally put floors and tile and the kitchen I renovated earlier in! There is much more to be done - adding food and island and maybe a rug, and some wall art, but it is definetelly exciting to have my first room completed! It is looking cozy and I am hopeful for the rest of the house to turn out good some day! For the lights in the kitchen I put two spotlights under the hood above the sink, I like the way it turned out!
Now my new obstacle is to figure out some kind of turning table for it - should I buy a pretty table for $150 or should I but a turning thing and look for a cheaper table... That is my dilemma at this point.

Antiquing with mom

My mommy is notorious for getting me to go shopping with her, and I am always up for that! She always encourages me by getting me things I really want, and who could say no to that?! Not this girl! Plus it is always so much fun to hang out with her!
This Saturday after church we stopped by an antique mall. This place is huge and filled with unending treasures of the past. This is the place my doll house came from. Now in this same place we found a family of dolls to happily reside in my not-so-finished-yet house. They need some pampering, may be some hair and new clothes would help, but I am excited to have them there - now there is someone to do all the light and shingles installing. Haha!
We also found a true treasure - a pair of dolls in traditional Russian costumes made in the 60s. These dolls probably came from Russia, because it is just hard to imagine that during 60s something like that would be made in the US. They also went home with me.
I will need to give a tour of the doll house some day to show some of the progress I have made, there is not much, but I will share as soon as I get to it.

Kitchen renovation progress (miniature)

Well, I did it. (You can see the before pictures and the plan here). Actually I did most of the work the first couple of days, but I was waiting for all the parts to come in to finish it. They came in yesterday, and today I put everything together. It is far from perfect, but I am delighted in the results! I used acrylic paint and a brush on most of the furniture, but the appliances were spray painted (I am in love with spray paint now! Lookout the world!) Now we just need to figure out how to cut the flooring without damaging the delicate little pieces, and the renovated kitchen can move in. The biggest part is still not started - wiring the house for electricity. But we take it one step at a time!
I received some lovely little bits and pieces along with the faucet, that was a gift from my brother - everything is so lovely! This house will truly be beautiful some day!

The photos are not the greatest quality, but I couldn't wait to share! I guess you get the idea, it is now white, black, and stainless steel. :) I will make sure I post photos of it once it is inside the house!

Kitchen renovation (miniature)

As I have mentioned before, my brother gave me a gift certificate to one of my favorite miniature online stores. Naturally I started looking through endless pages of items I could purchase for my lovely vintage miniature house that I talked about long time ago here, here, and here... It has been a while since I worked on it due to the fact that this hobby of mine requires somewhat big funds which I am reluctant to spend at the moment. So due to the lack of inspiration, I failed to look into even those items that I could make myself.
I usually need a little push to start doing something, especially on a project this big.
Since there are so many things undone in that little house of mine, I had a big choice of directions to take. My first pick was to invest my gift into a lighting kit for the house, but after an extensive research and consulting with my husband, I figured out that it is not that expensive and is not all that simple.
Next direction I was going to take is to buy a kitchen, simply because I found out that I have to work my way from the bottom floor up to arrange the lighting correctly, and the kitchen happens to be on the bottom floor. To my surprise I came to find out that the set of ugly yellow kitchen cabinets that were missing a few doors and needed some love, that came with the house were starting from $45 new, which made me reconsider throwing them away and taking another look at them. When I did, I decided that if I paint them white with black counter tops and replace the faucet and the burners on the gas range, and paint all the appliances stainless steel, they just might work.
So I ordered those parts and began working on what I already have. Here is my plan...

The work is already in progress, I started painting, but I want to wait until I get the stainless steel faucet and the range so that I can show the whole thing.
Before I started painting, I separated the counter top from the rest of the counters, so I can paint it black...

I was so excited to find a date inside the counters!

This kitchen came with the house, so it safe to assume that the house is over thirty years old! That is so amazing to me, that I can renovate something older than myself and maybe my children will play with it some day!
So this is what I am up to now. I am so glad to feel inspired to work on this house again! I also final visited Hobby Lobby, which has a little miniature section, and I got some flooring there and tiles for the kitchen! So hopefully soon, I will be able to produce a before and after...

Tiny toys

This weekend I was working on little toys for my little room, to put on my little bed. I drew a couple of ideas, but then had to stop myself from a couple reminding myself that it is going to be a room for a girl of about ten years of age. So dolls, bears, rabbits galore it is. I wanted to try a couple of different things: a doll is made from polymer and viscose for hair, a bear is made from wool felt and sewn like a big toy, even jointed, and a rabbit is made from miniature cotton and sewn as one piece (well sort of, because i wasn't able to turn the ears right side out after they were sewn, so i had to add them after the rest was done), and last but not least a doll bed from toothpicks and a tiny piece of carton board - yep I'm proud of that one. I plan to make more dolls and maybe even bears and of course a doll house (you can't have a miniature girl's room without a miniature doll house).

What happens when I have a weekend all to myself

Pies get made... This one is potato, mushroom, and chicken...

House gets cleaned...
And some of the projects get finished!
I started making this little doll house bed for a little girl last weekend. It is made out of jewelry wire of two thicknesses 20 and 25 gauge I think. I just drew what I liked in the size I liked and then bent all the parts.

My sweet man helped me weld it and painted it for me, but super glue can be used instead of welding...

Then my first quilt ever was made! It's not very straight, I know, but I am quite proud of it! It is about 5 3/4" long and 4 1/2" wide. The bed turned out 4"W x 3 3/4"H x 5 3/4" D.

I got to say, things happen that upset me sometimes... Friends neglect my friendship, people around me ruin their lives with their own hands and you can't help, school gets tougher and tougher choking me - God sands me these trials... But my sweet husband and my mom are my best friends, and they are always there for me, and I am blessed through them every day!
Anyways, here is what it looks like in the little girl's room. I think it's pretty sweet! There is a lot to do here, even just in this room...

Dream come true

About a month ago my mom and I stumbled upon a beautiful doll house in a vintage store down town. I immediately fell in love with it and the next day went with my husband and purchased it.

It's so big we barely have space for it, and it's definitely a long-term project, but man oh man is it fun! I have dreamt of a doll house when I was little and now that I got one, I realize how little I have matured - in my heart I am still a little kid. Which is not bad in most cases.
A doll house is a big investment, with all the light and furniture. I promised myself to make anything I can myself. Where I got stuck is lights in my pretty house. I researched it and apparently I have to wire my entire house BEFORE I begin changing wall paper and putting floors in. Good thing I didn't finish the first room I started working in, so I can still wire it. The problem is all the supplies to get it done are expensive and with our trip to Russia are kind of out of reach right now. So for now, when I feel enspired, I just make little baskets of flowers, carpets, or furniture. I can't wait to encorporate in the room and show before and after. I am really mot a profesional and just do whatever I want and that's what makes it fun!

I have geather a little board of inpirations in my pinterest, so many peopleare so talented, I am always in awe of their anilities and dedication...

And last but not least, if I am ever to tacle that crazy project of mine, this would be my next challenge! How cute is that?! My friend gave me a great idea! Make a little Christmas house that would be a christmas decoration! Oh God, give me patiense not tobegin it nefore I finish what I already began!

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