Renovation rescue - way behind schedule!

I can't believe it's 25 January already! - and I still haven't finished the dollhouse renovation that I'd planned to complete by Christmas!

When I found out that the little girls who will be the new owners of this house would be out of town for Christmas, and several weeks afterwards, there was no pressure to finish it so quickly.   This also meant that I could take more time and make it look better than if I had to hurry. 

Click here to read how I found this house and rescued it from the garbage truck.

Progress so far...

The bathroom will be inaccessible when the front bathroom wall and the roof go on, but it will be able to be seen well enough through the doorway.  I bought the little table in a discount store for $2, painted it and added the basin, tap, etc.  The basin is a bit of packaging from a box of chocolates, the faucet is made of covered wire.  The toilet bowl is made from a laundry powder scoop.  The shower head is made from covered wire and a couple of buttons.  The shower screen is plastic sheeting with the blue plastic covering left on one side so that it looks like coloured glass.  The shiny white wall and floor surface is high gloss photo print paper.

The basic furniture for the other  rooms is all ready to go in when the renovation is complete - which it nearly is.  More on the completion of this project later.

Giveaway coming soon!! - please wait for details!!

I haven't forgotten I promised a giveaway in January - please wait a few days for me to post the details and then you can enter :)   Thanks for your patience!

Christmas Presents - big and little

How lucky am I??  Lamina (@ do a bit) made me these gorgeous cushions for Christmas - the 'human size' ones are her own screen printed designs, and the 1:12 little cuties are inkjet computer printed copies.  She's a very clever, very creative - and generous - gal :)  Thank you Lamina!!

Click here to visit Lamina's blog to see more of her creative projects.

Photo credit : Lamina @ 'do a bit'

Guest post: by Lamina from "do a bit... everyday" - printed cushions from original designs

Hi there everyone, my name is Lamina from "do a bit... everyday"!

I am thrilled that Norma asked me to do a guest post about my mini cushion makeover here at make mine mini :)

It's been a busy couple of weeks for me, leading up to Christmas ... I bought this really cute little dolls house furniture set for my sister's little girl, but I wasn't really loving the cushions that came with it! So I decided, in the midst of all the craziness last week, that I would give the cushions a makeover... Yes I am slightly insane! Not sure how I found the time but I did!

:: cushion makeover - before

I prepared the fabric by soaking it in bubble jet set 2000, ironed the fabric onto freezer paper and then using my ink jet printer, printed my little designs onto it and then sewed them up into cushions... it was very easy!

:: cushion makeover - printing

:: cushion makeover - sewing

Voila... new cute little cushions!!!

:: cushion makeover - after :)

And when you turn the cushions over...

:: cushion makeover - after

I printed different images on each side of the cushion so she can mix and match! I used my own designs... rainbow cloud, home sweet home and the cupcake designs which I had screen printed on kids tops, cushions and tea towels. It was so much fun doing this little project.  I'm so please with how they look, they are so cute and my sisters little girl absolutely loved them :)

Thank you Norma for giving me the opportunity to show off my cute little cushions on your gorgeous little blog... it was great fun!

Hope you are all having a wonderful day!

Cheers,
Lamina
do a bit... everyday

The treestump house

At last some pics - I finally found my camera (safely hidden in a box on my workbench).  I'm just going to show you the finished piece today, I'll do a post on some of the process later on.  


Nice of you to visit, please come on in.

Please join the daddy and the little boy for a cup of tea while I relax upstairs.




It's such a lovely view ...




Perfect pattern for a treehouse bed don't you think?  We don't have any jungle animals around here though ...



Perhaps you'd like to take a stroll outside and meet some of our neighbourhood creatures...

Mind the step!



The little frog seems to be a bit reluctant to jump into the pond.



One of the bunnies is missing a bit of his ear, it could have something to do with jumping head-first out of the bedroom window...

I hope you enjoyed your tour, won't you come back again?
It's fun to play together.

Giveaway postponed until January - and another 'secret' project

I've decided to postpone my 500 Followers and Blog Anniversary giveaway until January, I think we've all got quite enough on with Christmas just around the corner and it'll be a bit of fun to look forward to after Christmas. 

I expect to have photos of the treestump house next week - it's all finished but I can't find my camera - no doubt it will turn up when I'm looking for something else. 

And now I'm frantically working on another 'secret' project - I'm not sure whether to call it  'Renovation Rescue' or 'Restoration Madness!'. 

A couple of weeks ago it was our local council annual cleanup where you get to put out all the big stuff that isn't allowed in the normal garbage collection.  Near my house I spotted a dollhouse amidst a pile of other stuff discarded at the roadside waiting for the compacting truck to come along (it's the kind of thing that you throw a big old wardrobe in and it crunches it into matchsticks).  It looked like it had been badly neglected for quite a long time but had the potential to be a nice play dollhouse for a couple of little girls in my neighbourhood - after a good scrub and a coat of paint - and I couldn't bear the thought of it getting crunched in the back of the garbage truck. 

After a good scrubbing and a bit of paint it did look better, but I decided not good enough.  That's when the madness set in!  It now has two new sides, a replaced ground floor partition, an additional partition upstairs to create a space for a bathroom, the sizing of the doorways has been heightened and narrowed ready for doors to be hung, it also needs a new base because the house had been sitting on the curbside grass during at least one overnight rainstorm.   There will also be a lot of basic furniture making in the next 2 weeks because I'm hoping to deliver it to the girls around Christmas.  Fortunately I also have some bits and pieces in my stash that I can use but it's still going to be a fairly tight schedule.  More on this project later.  Now back to the workshop ...

                                              

I won Lidi's basket!! (and mention of a couple of other things)

Recently Lidi Stroud, miniature basket maker extraordinaire, at Basketcase Miniatures offered this gorgeous shopping basket in her 100 Followers giveaway and I won it!!  I'm so excited about it, it's going to be so perfect for Emily to take to the market every day (you can read about Emily here).  The detail and perfection of Lidi's tiny baskets is just incredible.  I was lucky enough to receive one last year on my birthday and I just love it, I'm super lucky to now have another.  Thank you so much Lidi for your generousity, I'll truly treasure this little basket - it's going to give a real 'slice of life' to my French project.

Click here visit Lidi's Etsy store - maybe a little basket is just the treat you deserve for Christmas...

On another subject ... you're probably wondering if the little tree-stump house is ever going to be finished - well there has been a bit of lull in the proceedings because I'm recovering from surgery - I'm doing just fine but it's holding me back from getting busy in the workshop.  However, it won't be too long now and it should be finished ready for playtime.    And I'm just busting to get back to Emily's apartment above the brocante. 

Also a big welcome to a number of new Followers, always nice to see new faces, thanks for stopping by. 

And yes, I have noticed the number has gone a little over the 500, plus it was my 2nd Blog anniversary a few days ago, so some kind of giveaway celebration is appropriate - so many things to think about!  Will it happen before Christmas?  Let's wait and see...

My "secret" treehouse project

Study is all over for another year so as promised here are a couple of  preview photos of  my  "secret" project - a mini treehouse for my grandson to play with when he comes over. 

I hope he's going to like it!  He's a young man (not yet 3) with very strong opinions about what he does and doesn't like. I can't imagine where he gets that from, although there have been a few suggestions ;)

Come on in

and take a seat

The main idea is to make it strong and simple, appropriate for a child's play, but with enough character to satisfy me at least a little.  I have some little wood and pipe cleaner people, and a few 'woodland' creatures to live in and around it.  I hope it will stimulate some imaginative play. 

There's still a lot of work to do yet though so I'd better get back to the "workshop"!   

Great news! - we can now Follow Lea Frisoni on Blogger

Are you excited about this? I am!!!!!

Click here to go on over and join up to Follow

A note on the fly...

I'm nearly done - only a couple of tasks to complete and submit and then I'll be able to come out and play!!  No more classes - no more books - for 4 whole months!! Yippee!!   See you in the playground soon!!

A new mini blogger with fairy dust on her fingers

Even the most diligent student (me!!) needs some 'time out' now and then and mine is normally spent wandering around Blogland.  I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw this TINY tatting at a new Australian mini blog The Needlework Butterfly a few days ago...

It's not only exquisite, it's exquisitely perfect.  How this is humanly possible is beyond my comprehension.   The talented mini-artisan is IGMA member Beverley-Anne Miles (she has kindly given me permission to post her photos and mention her here). 

Bev is no 'one trick pony' - her other accomplishments include tiny crochet, knitting, cross-stitch, petitpoint, filet lace and beading some of which you can see on  her website Miniature Needlework  (you can read her interesting profile here.)

As for myself, well my new work area is finally useable and I have made a start on a little secret project ...  no, I can't tell you about it yet because then it wouldn't be a secret any more!!  All I can say is that it has something to do with a tree and it's for a certain very short person who calls me "Grandma'" :)