Dollhouse Miniature Cinco de Mayo Gnomess Tutorial

 

Watch the video here.

I have another free pattern for you to download so you make the project. You can find the file here. In the download there are 3 files: a PDF for hand-cutting of the pieces, a PNG to use with your electronic cutting machine and a text file with handy hints and tips (and the sizing information) to use the PNG.

As with most of these projects I cut all the pieces from medium weight white card-stock, the kind used to make cards and such. This is way more economical than having to purchase a bunch of colors and in my experience the paint colors are a lot more stable than the paper colors. I rarely get noticeable fading with the painted projects.

You are free to use the pattern as many times as you wish and even to sell the finished project. But, please don’t give away or sell my patterns. I spend a lot of time creating them and the only compensation I get is from people watching the videos and checking out the blog post. I really want to keep offering these for free so please if someone else wants to make one send them to the video and blog so they can get their own copy of the pattern.

This time I decided to try creating a gnome with her arms extended out. I saw a few gnomes online for sale in a similar position and I thought they were really cute.

 

Just like we always do we start by gluing the individual pieces together to form the units that we will paint and then build our gnome from. Here are all of mine after this gluing step was completed.

After the glue has dried completely we can go ahead to the painting step. I find it is much easier to paint these small pieces if they are held down with some tape. It is really important that you give the glue plenty of time to get dry before you put the pieces on the tape. I have found out that if the paint is still damp the card-stock is much more apt to tear when it is pulled free from the tape later.

When I place my pieces on the tape I do my best to group them according to the color that I will be painting them. It makes the painting step go much faster. I just use craft paint for mine and I find that some colors are fine with just one coat and some need more coats to get the coverage of color I am looking for.

This time some of our pieces are painted in multiple colors and some have simple stripes or dots on them. I am sure yours will look better than mine since you will have a lot more time and not have to keep everything under camera while you work.

I really wanted to have the hat in kind of a lime green color but I didn’t have that color of paint so I mixed some green with a yellow to get the color I wanted.

 

 

Here are all the pieces and the colors of paint I used to paint them with.

After the base colors are dry go ahead and add any decorative painting you want to have on your gnome. This is where you can have lots of fun.

Let the paint dry completely, I have had issues with the paint running when it comes in contact with the glue if I was not completely dry.

 

 

Next we can build the head of our new friend. For that add the braids to the hat then add the nose and the brim of the hat. Allow this glue to set up for at least 5 or 10 minutes so that the pieces will stay in place when you add this part to the rest of the gnome.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once dry we can add the hat unit as well as the shoes and the maracas to our gnome.

 

 

 

 

Now the glue needs to dry so that any glue that is showing is dried clear. Then it is time to add a clear coat to finish her off. I use Satin Mod Podge but feel free to use your favorite clear finish.

 

 

 

 

 

Once the clear coat dries she is ready to display in your mini scene. I think she looks really happy on the porch with our other southwest inspired decorations.

As always I do want to sincerely thank all of you for watching my videos and reading my blog posts. It means so much to me that you are supporting me in this way. If I could ask you all to do just a bit more by subscribing to the channel and liking the videos and leaving comments. Those help more than you can imagine. Also if you could pass the links on to your friends I would appreciate it so much.

Dollhouse Miniature Flowers in a Vase

 

Watch the video here.

This week for our Midweek Tutorial I decided to use some of the small flowers and leaves from the Dollar Tree Floral stems I showed last week as well as the UV resin I got a while back and a large glass from one of the Blind Bags and make a vase of flowers.

I had planned to get a chance to play with the resin off camera but I never got around to it. I have to admit I was finding the entire idea of using the UV resin to be a bit intimidating. I have been looking at the bottle ever since I did the video when I showed it to you all. I just couldn’t seem to get over that fear of the unknown so I kept putting it off.

When I was looking at the flowers on those floral stems I decided it was time to bite the bullet and just do this.

Since I also have amassed a rather large collection from the blind bags of things I decided to pick something out of there to use as the vase.

To begin I cut some of the flowers and leaves free from the stems and kind of played around with them off camera to see what I thought would be the best arrangement. Once I had something I thought would work I turned on the camera so I could show what I was going to do.

I will say I am less than happy with the UV light I purchased and if I decide to really get into UV resin I will look for a different one. In the meantime this one is alright.

I decided to use the light lying on it’s side to cure the resin since I didn’t think the UV rays would be able to get through the flowers. The bottle said to cure for 2 to 4 minutes under a light. I left the light on for 4 minutes on one side of the vase then flipped it to the other side for another 2 just to be sure it was going to actually cure for me.

 

 

I am really pleased with how this turned out and now I am really excited to do more with the resin.

 

 

 

As always I do want to sincerely thank all of you for watching my videos and reading my blog posts. It means so much to me that you are supporting me in this way. If I could ask you all to do just a bit more by subscribing to the channel and liking the videos and leaving comments. Those help more than you can imagine. Also if you could pass the links on to your friends I would appreciate it so much.

Dollhouse Miniature Filled Planters

 

Watch the video here.

This week’s video is a short one I am afraid. I ran out of time to get it finished so I didn’t get around to filling all the plant pots that I had intended. I do plan to work on them off camera and I will share photos of them on the Facebook group. So keep an eye out for them over there.

I started the project by going through my bins of mini things I have on hand from previous videos. I found three pots we had made from polymer clay, the wooden one that hangs on the rail of the porch and two small plastic ones from blind bags. I also dug out a wooden plant pot that looks like a clay pot. I know I should have more plant pots on hand but I didn’t have time to look any more. I really need to organize my minis in the near future.

The first step was to fill all the pots with some foam. I picked up a block of foam from Dollar Tree to use this time. 

 

 

 

It is pretty easy to fill the pots, just cut the foam to fit in them and then use some glue to attach the foam. If you have a pot that is really lightweight and you are worried about it tipping over once filled add some weight to the bottom under the foam. You could use a metal washer or something similar. The glue holding the foam needs to dry before the next step.

 

 

Once the glue dries paint the top of the foam with any dark brown acrylic paint. This will help it to blend into our “dirt” that will be on top of it. This paint does need to dry completely before we move to the next step.

 

Now we get to add both the soil and the plants to each pot. I am using my normal dried coffee grounds for the soil part. We have done this many times on tutorials so I am not giving all the details on it this time. It is really important that you work on one pot at a time. What I mean is add a layer of glue, add the “soil” then add the plants to that pot. If you let the glue dry it will be very difficult to get the stems to go into the foam under the layer of glue.

You can use any combinations of greenery and plants In your pots that you wish. Just take small clippings off the stems and play with them.

I am using the floral stems that I showed in the recent Dollar Tree Floral Haul on the channel. I did purchase one more stem, this “onion grass” stem that looks like long thin leaves. I thought it would be a nice one to have on hand to add to pots of plants as well as other projects around the dollhouse.

I find it does usually help to have a pair of tweezers to help to hold the tiny stems of the pieces I am adding to the foam. Also have a toothpick handy to make some small holes to insert the stems into. I also like to dip the stems in some extra glue just to help them stay in place.

Once the glue holding everything together you can do any additional trimming to make the plants just the way you want them.

As always I do want to sincerely thank all of you for watching my videos and reading my blog posts. It means so much to me that you are supporting me in this way. If I could ask you all to do just a bit more by subscribing to the channel and liking the videos and leaving comments. Those help more than you can imagine. Also if you could pass the links on to your friends I would appreciate it so much.

Dollhouse Miniature Dollar Tree Floral Haul

 

 

Watch the video here.

 

I know I have been absent from YouTube and this blog for a while, I do apologize. Some stuff happened which I will cover briefly at the end of this post. Hopefully I will be able to maintain a consistent schedule going forward from this point.

So for today’s video I decided to do a bit of a haul video of some floral items I picked up recently at Dollar Tree. I do have a tutorial planned using at least some of the items I show today along with some of the planters we have made over the last couple of years on the channel. I hope to get that tutorial filmed and ready for this coming Sunday.

The Dollar Tree I shopped at for this video is brand new (as in I was shopping on the day they opened for the first time) and I found these floral stems in two areas of the store. I am assuming that some are seasonal and some will be regular stock. I don’t remember where in the store each stem came from.

 

 

The “spiky” purple and yellow stems I think will work really well to replicate those stems of blossoms like delphinium and such. I did have to look up the flowers I was thinking of when I filmed. I will need to look up what colors those come in also. I am also thinking that by dry brushing on some green paint over the yellow pieces I can create something that looks like hanging greenery.

 

 

 

 

Next up I showed you a stem of greenery that consists of what looks like a little mini plants with really tiny leaves. I think other than cutting them apart I won’t need to do much with them to get them to look like a real plant.

 

 

 

 

The next stem has both some very tiny pale yellow flowers that are in bunches on the stem. Those I think can be used as is or re-painted in other colors and used. The leaves on this stem should cut down nicely and the very tip of the purple part reminds me of the purple hyacinths I used to have in my flower beds. I know a lot of people grow those in pots also and I think I am going to try to use some of this stem this way.

 

 

 

 

The next stem has a bunch of little leaves, I picked it because the leaves are fairly small, kind of a medium size in 1:12 scale and they look very generic. They will make wonderful “filler” plants in pots or with some flowers added to make larger plants.

 

 

The last stem I almost passed by because the flowers are way too big to use in the dollhouse. However, the spiky part I think can be cut down to make a nice mini flower of some type. The leaves seem to be fabric and I think I will be able to cut them down to make small leaves to go in amongst the other pieces to create greenery “filler” in some of the pots.

 

 

So those are the stems I picked up. I might pick up a couple more before I film the tutorial to go with these. But whatever the case the next video I have planned is a tutorial using at least some of these pieces in some of the various pots and planters we have made on the channel over the last few years, as well as a couple of the pieces from blind bags and some found objects also.

As for where I have been. There was a family tragedy and we learned of the deaths of 2 members of the extended family. That in and of itself was bad but then because of the circumstances of the deaths both my adult kids and I had to watch it unfold in the media. The situation is not completely over as of yet but the worst of it and the shock of what happened has at least passed. I am finally feeling up to trying to get back to creating

As always I do want to sincerely thank all of you for watching my videos and reading my blog posts. It means so much to me that you are supporting me in this way. If I could ask you all to do just a bit more by subscribing to the channel and liking the videos and leaving comments. Those help more than you can imagine. Also if you could pass the links on to your friends I would appreciate it so much.