Christmas Wreaths

This month's miniature project involve dying wreaths

for the beach cottage's interior, and the exterior windows.

Stone Path

I've been working on the pink beach cottage the past couple of months.

{My first beach cottage entry is here.}

I never seem to have a big chunk of time
to just sit down and get a lot completed in one sitting.

But I'm excited to say,
I've managed to hang some wallpaper, paint the stairs, redo a bed, paint a room,

and make a stone path -- grabbing 15 minutes of time here and there.

This was my first time working with paper clay,

and I'm happy with my first attempt.

I just primed everything {you can see it is still drying}, 

and added a few tufts of grass growing between the stones.

Here is the placement of the path.

I found an old corkboard  to use as the base.

{I'm planning on putting grass where you see cork.}

The pumpkins were an extended project from some 18 inch doll holiday crafting.

They are my first attempt at 'miniature' food.

I'd don't know why, but for some reason, I'm intimidated by the tiny foods.
Anything smaller than 1:3 is completely new to me!

I'm enjoying this miniature building/collecting process.

I'm also so excited to have found so many resources for miniaturists --

clubs, magazines, tutorials, and on-line resources.

Impressive!

I'm hoping to make a few more entries 

before I put things on hold through the holiday season!

Cheers to miniatures! 

Mini Bookends

I'm working on the pink beach cottage.

I'm trying to be creative and use beach-themed items in the decorating.

I posted some of the signs I've been making here.

{I'm also trying to not spend too much money, and just use things in my stash.}

The bookends are made from wood squares and tiny shells.

After I glued the wood and shells together,

I spray painted them silver, then aged them a bit.

I'm still trying to figure out how to best photograph minis, 

but for an amateur, they turned out fine!

Beach Signs

I'm really having fun decorating this little bungalow.

I've been collecting a few graphics for inspiration over the last few days.

Here is what I ended up with are a few signs that will be hanging up inside.

Looking forward to finding some wallpapers and furniture this week!

Beach Bungalow Construction

A few years ago I acquired this pink bungalow. The inside is bare {although it came with a few pieces of furniture I might use}. I wasn't sure exactly what I wanted to do with -- but I knew it had to be a beach house of some kind. We've lived on the coast and have visited many coastal towns. I don't know why, but I can always find a least one little pink house, and those little pink houses always catch my attention.  You know, one of those little places you'd like to see inside and have a look around. Once I saw this amazing little beach cottage, I knew I had to turn this little pink dollhouse into a pink beach cottage of our own.

Here is a look at the front porch so far.

I put two parcels on the mini porch because I was so excited to get a REAL mini package 

in the mail today.

The hermit crabs are my absolute favorite!

{They were a purchase from Little Things by Anna's Etsy Shoppe.}

To-do list for this week:

- add doorknob

- add metal mailbox

- add a few plants

 - add house number

Findings

I have these metal tin drawers where I store my small collection of minis.

I can fit a lot of miniatures in each drawer!

Mini Fairy Garden

I post our yearly fairy gardens on our family blog,

but I thought it would be fun to show here.

Tiny little things for sure.

I spy a mini dog behind a swing,

and a mini camouflaged green bicycle.

In the Attic

I know I want this cottage to be a craft cottage of some sort,

but I still need to gather another table or two,
and a few cabinet/hutch pieces to fill with tiny treasures.
Aren't craft areas kind of busy like that?
Lots of flat surfaces to cover!?

I've started by placing what miscellaneous items
I do have in the attic.

These are all things I've been collecting the last few years --

photo frames, shutters, a mini quilt, a dress form, books,  etc.

...and a red bicycle!

The cottage has ceiling beams --
so I just added a small faux attic.  I like how it turned out.
I've mixed a few different wallpapers/papers to make the cottage
look like it has had many owners (and has yet to received a proper remodel).

Hoping to find/make some awesome furniture soon!

Walls

I've found a few neat graphics to add to the walls of the Charming Cottage.

I love this one.

The wallpaper is scrapbook paper I had in my stash.  

{I used a little yellow paint to 'age' the wallpaper in places.}

Shingles

Here is a look at my first mini project.

I bought the Charming Cottage shell kit from Miniatures.

After reading a few different posts about shingles,

I decided to dye my own.  I used 1/4 cup acrylic paint to 1/2-3/4 cup water.

I used two different colors of gray/grey.

For my first roofing job, I am very happy with how it turned out.