Hanging Around

Well, here's a lounge scene in my Kaleidoscope House, which I have not used in quite some time. I do so love this house. It's great fun to decorate, and I like the effect of the color panels on scenes, especially when I use the fluorescent lighting in my basement room.

My recent cleanup meant that I could have easy access to the house, including a clear perimeter, which is necessary when turning it around to get to your desired room. Before digging into my scene, though, I tried out the new replacement roof that I bought some time ago on eBay for $20. My original roof does not sit completely flush, as is the case with many of the houses. This one worked quite well, I am pleased to say!

Now on to the scene...I decided to travel upstairs to one of the bedrooms, and got started with the wallpaper. I chose a piece of scrapbook paper from my DCWV "Serenity" stack (JoAnn has them on sale for $9.99). I chose a bold lined paper, and meant to have the lines running vertically, but I cut it the wrong way while distracted doing something else (duh). Yup, I used it anyway!

The flooring is a cherry wood paper from the Paper Source. I love these specialty papers; they really add warmth and realism to a scene, and helped to offset the colors of the desk (makeshift combination of a brinca dada kitchen island and a vintage Brio office shelving).

Now for the lounging...I got the Reac cowhide chair from Toy Tokyo for $17, which is a great store in Manhattan chock full of "designer" toys, mini figures, and action figures. And, they have a small selection of Re-ment and usually some Reac chairs, all blind boxes. I got lucky on this one, and also got a black ball chair! By the way, it looks like Reac has come out with a new "Assorted" line, which includes a selection of existing chairs.

Photo courtesy of Reac Japan

I'd love it if they came out with new ones too. Although, I am still pining for a La Chaise...

Photo courtesy of Reac Japan

Dreamy...but I digress!

The lighting in this scene is the result of a little repurposing. I was in Lowes last week an saw these pull chains by Harbor Breeze in the lighting department. POW!

It was almost *too* easy to come across these, given they are sized so nicely for mini use, and are about $4 each. I looked forward to using them here, but quickly came to realize that I had no way to suspend them into the scene. I scrambled around and rigged them sloppily!

Yup, that's a piece of balsa wood and a binder clip!

Worked, though!

Speaking of hanging around, look what I found guarding the last of our garden tomatoes!

I'd not mess with her!

Miss spider is actually a nice segue to the end of this post: I wanted to remind you all that I have a great giveaway going on RIGHT NOW with Safari Ltd, which makes incredibly realistic replicas. While they are known for their animal replicas, I am offering two of their TOOBs that may appeal to you miniaturists out there: trains and buildings! To enter the giveaway, go to this post on my blog and leave a comment. The giveaway closes on September 15, so head on over there! GOOD LUCK!

Credits: Lounge chair is Reac; office chair, planter, and Asian shelf are Re-ment; desk is a brinca dada kitchen island and vintage Brio office shelving; lighting are pull chains by Harbor Breeze; ball clock is handmade by Pubdoll; wall art is a charm from Michaels; wallpaper is DCVW; flooring is the Paper Source. Accessories are Re-ment, AG Minis, doll house store finds, Gigi N Studio, handmade by the Shopping Sherpa, Playmobil, and made by my son (the origami crane on the top shelf)!

Re-ment: The green painter's palette is from Black Cat Italian Restaurant, #4, and is a bit large for 1:12, but works. See my Mini-Sizer wiki for more on Re-ment!

The time it took me: 1 hour, 5 minutes

Vintage Children's Book DIY

 

There's probably nothing I love more than a straightforward and easy DIY, especially when inspired by a charming vintage children's book.

One of my youngest son's favorite books is How to Make Flibbers, etc: A Book of Things to Make and Do, by Robert Lopshire (Random House, 1964).

The book is filled with easy crafts with simple materials -- mostly paper, scissors, and glue. It charmed me from the first read, and my son and I even shared some of the simple to-dos with his preschool class. But, the mini potential did not occur to me until recently, and I was able to give the "Limp Lamps" activity a go!

Here are the pages from the book for the lamp:

Super easy, right? I figured it would be simple to replicate this activity on a smaller scale (I chose to eliminate the handle), and indeed it is. Here is my mini tutorial (not that you need it!):

Choose a paper. I used origami paper with a pattern, like these sheets.

 

Cut the paper into a rectangle shape, measuring about 2-3/4" x  3-1/4", but feel free to experiment with different sizes

Fold in half and score

Cut strips from the score and stop just before the top

Unfold and glue at the tops, with the score oriented along the center

Voila!

I used other papers as well and tried out the activity in different sizes -- works!

The sofa is a new acquisition, purchased on my trip to Denver in July

I even used one of my flameless tea lights from Pottery Barn as a base -- neat!

Let me know if you do your own "Limp Lamps!"

Two other crafts from the book that have mini potential are these: "Party Mats" and "Stickit Picture"; I might try them next!

By the way, one of the reasons I was able to see this craft through was because I cleaned up my entire mini space. Remember my "struggle with clutter" post? Well, I just got in the right frame of mind and did it! We took some vacation time at home and I had a four-hour block of time to myself and just powered through. The only thing left to do is un-box and sort about 40 sets of Re-ment, purchased over the past two years! Yes, TWO years!

Here's some pics of my newly organized dollhouse room...hope it stays this way for a while.