Door Frames AND Window Frames

My to-do list for the Undersized Urbanite is reduced to three items: working lamps, Moroccan rug, and the newly added item of window shades.  The deadline is in a week and a day.  I can't believe that I am so nearly done.  Of course, dollhouses are never "done", and I will be changing things up after the deadline I'm sure.

I wanted to make door frames to hide the edges of the wallpaper.  I forgot to frame the front door!  But, the inner door frames are now trimmed, and, since I realized how nice this finishing touch looked, I then made window trim.  The pictures below also show a new corner bookcase in the master bedroom, as well as the Chinoiserie plaster sakura wall art in the dining room.

Untimely Demise of Sprinkle Six - That's All I'll Say About It

Now it looks like sprinkle poo.
 

I shall not name names.  But it wasn't me.  And Tootie Pie is too short to reach the freezer.  That narrows it down to Snowflake, our pet mouse, or...

As I am posting this, the mini spinach quiche bites are baking.  I made six in the shape of hearts, just for fun.  So, I only have left to make:

• Balloon Hello Kitties
• Corn dog bites
• Chicken Taco Cups
• Peanut Butter and Jelly sushi (just rolled up in a flour tortilla - not as fancy as it sounds)
• Fruit pops
• CD favors

Hmmm...it seems like more when I write it all down like that.  Better get on it!

A Textural Mini Side Table

My tiny version cost
one jeweler saw blade
and two sprays of
Chrome paint

Post trim, pre
paint

 Another item I covet, and yet do not have the cash nor the space for, is a silvered or gilded tree trunk side table.  You know, the pretentious photo shoots all sport them, along with chevron patterns, metallic poufs, and flokati rugs.  Well, imagine my surprise when, on a recent hike, a unique stick screamed at me from the ground: "Make me an miniature occasional table".  Such a strange thing for a stick to scream!  But, when inanimate objects speak to me, I oblige.  A quick trim with my miter box, and a spray of chrome paint is all it took to turn it into a showstopping decor element.   I will make another, this time gold.  What do you think?  It's pretty much free for the dollhouse, 1K for your house.  I think I'm going to need one of those "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids" machines to live in Little Land.  Full-sized land is a rip-off.

Full scale cost: $1K!!!

Just breath-taking
in full scale.  The
ebony floors, peak
of life orchid and
immaculately framed
artwork don't hurt.
Is that a flokati?

A Very, Very Modern House

This is my first modern miniature home.  I made it with dowels and foam core.  I may add clear or frosted windows, although I'm not sure.  I love it.  I will most likely sell this.  I just wanted to see how it would come out.  And it came out pretty great!

Goodie Bags, Sprinkle Six, and Prizes Done

Can we guess which one will
be set aside for the birthday girl?
(Hint: it's bigger)

She did a great job coloring these in and
gluing!

We received the prizes, courtesy of Ebay, for Tootie Pie's birthday party in the mail today.  It fit in nicely with her Earth Day lessons, since it is "Reusing".  No sense in giving away new plastic trinkets encased in plastic, when someone wants to get rid of their old plastic trinkets, right?  The prizes will be selected from our Musical Chairs takeoff, called Musical Dress-Up.  We will pass around boas, tiaras, fairy wings, fur wraps, silly glasses and other goofy items, and when the music stops, the person holding the accessory will put it on.  In the end, the person wearing the least dress-up clothing will pick a Hello! Kitty prize.  We might have someone judge the most ridiculously dressed, as well, who will also pick a prize.  I guess the rest of the prizes will be selected in order from the next least items of clothing to the most.  The goodie bags will be filled by the party-goers from the pinata.  I sketched kitties and cut out the bows, and Tootie Pie colored in the eyes, nose and whiskers and glued on the bows. 

Obviously, the sprinkle six is to the right
on this picture.  The other six was a backup.

We also completed the sprinkle six.  I made rice crispie treats, rolled them into snakes, and formed the number six.  Then, I took white chocolate, melted it (the new microwave has a "melt" option which made this so easy!), drizzled it over the number, and then coated in sprinkles.  It is huge, so, if the party day is at all warm, it should be reduced to a dye-laden blob in under three minutes. 

I feel like we are pretty well on schedule here.  I will save the last week to make the cake, and on the day of the party I will create the flower-fruit-kabobs and make the lemonade, which will either be homemade, or, depending on how overwhelmed I feel, will simply be store bought with some lemon slices, or just juice boxes.  They'll probably prefer the juice boxes in the end.

Face in Hole Minus the Hole

Tootie Pie and her mouse (inside
ball).  She helped with the
glitterification on kitty.

The Face in Hole is completed.  If you are astute, you may have noticed the lack of a hole in the Face in Hole.  I forgot to put the hole into the Face in Hole!  So, now I am planning on having a dress-up area and the girls can have their picture taken with Hello! Kitty.  Maybe midway through the party I'll cut a hole, or maybe that would be like removing the face of a beloved and kind kitten - not the proper tone for a six-year-old's celebration.  Not sure.  I also made one finger food for the party and froze it.  I figure, if I make a few things a week, I'll be able to just reheat everything the day of.  Today's item was the carrot, apple and cheddar cheese puffs.  We split three amongst ourselves today and they were yummy.  And the best part is, when I take them out of the freezer before the party, I will have forgotten what I made, and it will be a surprise again!

A Miter Box Makes Me Happy

One item that has been languishing on my Undersized Urbanite To-Do List is trim for the interior doors.  My house has only two doors to frame, which makes four sides to trim, which equals 12 pieces of wood to cut.  Since I teach middle school math and have taught the use of a protractor to hundreds of children, I figured I could eyeball 45 degrees pretty closely by hand.  Turns out, 43⁰ or 48.5⁰ degrees makes a huge difference when trying to match up pieces of teeny tiny wood.  So, I invested in a miter box.  This little doohickey makes cutting angles a snap.  Now, I just need to learn how to apply wood glue so that it doesn't turn into a complete gloppy mess.  For now, I will turn the glue side inwards, but it should be something I can master.

As for the hanging flashlights that have been placeholders for the awesome lighting fixtures, I am avoiding that task as well.  The mini light bulbs that I ordered stated their size as 2mm, which would have fit inside the holes in my glass beads, but when they arrived they came enclosed in a plastic casing that was wider than 2mm.  I tried filing down the plastic, but I ruined one bulb.  So, I need to sand the glass bead openings wider.  And, of course, one bead broke in the process.  My coping technique for frustration is to avoid the source of frustration.  So, the lights are in danger of not being completed on time unless I start to put things into hyperoverdrive.

I have these grandiose ideas in my head that I will become the preeminent dollhouse modern lighting purveyor, or that I will create heirloom quality mini furniture, or become an artisan creator of little, stylish rugs.  Then, the process becomes hard.  And the end product turns out poorly.  My dream of quitting my day job, with flair á la the flight attendant who told the passengers off and then left via the emergency inflatable slide, are being pushed further and further off into the future.  My aim of creating masterpieces in my home, and then travelling to miniature events in exotic locales will need to wait until I learn how to assembly line quality pieces.  But at least I'm learning the true value of craftmanship.  So, expect my prices to be unreasonable.