No House is an Island


Well, here's an interpretation of the well-known John Donne quote "no man is an island." I know I cannot thrive without my houses and they likely would miss me too, so...I arranged some of my vintage mini homes in my Citadel and enjoyed playing with them again. I showed some of them in this post back in 2010 and was reminded how fun they can be to photograph. I got most of these from US and German sellers on eBay and always keep my eyes open for them. They were mostly made for railroad scenes, and are HO scale (1:87).



See me in the reflection??








The coffee table is vintage LISA!

This is from a Paper Source 2012 mini calendar -- it's the month of July :)

Incredible detail in the long windows





The fantastic lemon yellow midcentury couch was purchased from Patricia, who is now selling her wonderful German room box; see the photos linked here on the Call of the Small Facebook page. The room box folds and is really lovely.



Pat is the original owner and hates to see it go, but she'd love to find a nice collector's home for it. If you are interested in the house and the remaining furnishings, email me at call-small(at)call-small(dot)com.

In addition to the awesome vintage LISA coffee table (love the pattern!), another new piece making its debut is the round table in the middle:



The table is from an eBay seller based in Israel, Avi of abm.models. His pieces are quite nice and affordable. I will be watching his work!

Alert: Keep your eyes peeled on this space for an awesome giveaway from Safari Ltd! 



I know I have some blogging pals out there who have grooved on TOOBS and other mini replicas by Safari. Their products are high quality and super fun and the nice folks at Safari will be giving away a few goodies to my readers! Stay tuned!!!!

Credits: Couch is vintage German; coffee table is vintage LISA; arc lamp is an eBay find; Barcelona chair and Eames elephant are Reac; plant is AG Minis; all mini homes are vintage eBay finds; bike is Maisto; round table is by abm.models on eBay; carpeting is scrapbook paper from Michaels. Accessories are handmade by The Shopping Sherpa, Miniatures by Annina, and eBay finds.

The time it took me: 52 minutes

Dog Digs and DIY


While I did not intend for this mini environment to be for canines, it all came together as such once the grass "carpeting" made it onto the floor of my IKEA Lekman room box. This Schleich puppy seems quite content in his doggy pad. We now have a (real) doggy, a four-year-old PBGV named Layla, and she is definitely a loving little couch potato.



One of her favorite poses!
Cute, right?

The benches here are my form of DIY. I am always amazed by those out there who offer wonderful tutorials on their mini creations--such as MitchyMoo, Otterine, Meagan, and so many others--and do great things with their hands. My DIY is *way* simpler and does not merit a tutorial, but rather a series of simple photos that hopefully tell the story!

In this case, the benches are metal tissue holders from CB2, purchased at my Crate & Barrel outlet for $7 each. I used some cool grey crosshatch fabric from Jo Ann Fabrics, and wrapped it around a foam insert from a recent box delivery. I cut the foam to size, sealed the fabric together with a little fabric glue and stapled it down. Nothing to it.





My sister-in-law gave me these amazing Dragonfly scissors for cutting fabric


A little Fabric Fusion goes a long way



The lamp is made of craft store Styrofoam balls, stuck onto a memo clip (with the clip removed), also from my Crate & Barrel outlet. It's space age and fit for this doggie's pad, no?




The coffee table is a puzzle box, and the profile works with these low benches. See that magazine and carved elephant on the table? They are from Rosa of Minismodernas, as a thank you for entering their anniversary contest. Megan of Modern Mini Houses took home the prize for her awesome setup. Congrats to her, and thanks to Rosa for her sweet gesture!






I chose the back wallpaper from the "Serenity Stack" by DCWV. This one looked like a dog collar or chain, so up it went!


By the way, if you think this pad is fancy for a dog, you should check out some of the custom dog abodes featured in a recent New York Times article. Bow WOW.
Courtesy of the New York Times website

Credits: Benches are DIY tissue holders, foam, and fabric; table is a puzzle box; chair is Reac; plants are vintage TOMY; round side table is Mighty World; lamp is a DIY memo clip and Styrofoam balls; flooring and wallpaper are from scrapbook paper stacks. Accessories are mini gifts and Michael's.

The time it took me: 1 hour, 15 minutes, including DIY