Dollhouse Miniature- Fruits for the Cheese Board

Watch the video here.

This week I am going to make just a couple of simple fruits to add our cheese boards we started a few weeks ago. Next week we will be doing the assembly of the cheese board and bringing all the elements together.

I started with grapes, mainly because the are fun to make and really easy. The real secret to the grapes is to use a lot more translucent clay than your colored clay. In the case of the ones shown on the video I used Sculpey III in Plum.

Off camera I also made some green grapes and for those I used a mixture of a leafy green (Sculpey III in Leaf Green) and a yellow (Fimo Sunflower)

For the grapes start by making the core that we will build on and some loose grapes. Then bake those. While it is possible to do this without pre-baking the components it is much harder. By pre-baking and using some TLS to stick the parts together we get much better control and don't have to worry about smashing our tiny pieces.

I like to add grapes to the core then bake and repeat. I do this as many times as necessary to get the bunch to look as full as I want it to be. Depending on how the grapes will be displayed I sometimes fill in the flat bottom of the bunch too. This time since I am going to be attaching them to the marble board I decided to leave the bottom flat to make that attachment easier.

For the last baking I usually bake the grape bunch for a full 10 minutes to ensure that the TLS is completely cured.

For the apple slice again we are using mostly translucent clay with just a touch of colored clay. Since most of the apples I have recently purchased have been of the red variety that is what I made for the dolls. For these red apples I mixed a touch of yellow (Fimo Sunflower) into just a bit of white clay. Since this particular yellow is so strong I ended up adding more white and only using a portion of what I mixed.

If you want to add some green apples to your display substitute a leafy green for the yellow . Mix that with a bit of white and proceed just as I did on the video. Use a pretty apple-ly (I know not really a word LOL) green color of chalk to corm your apple peel.

Since I wasn't concerned with the apple slices squishing a bit while slicing so I didn't chill the clay. If you want to have your apples more consistent in shape feel free to freeze the cane for a while to get it hard so you can slice without squishing. 

Dollhouse Miniature Cheese

Watch the video here.

This week we are going to make some cheese to go on that cheese board we are working on. This time we are making 4 of my favorites both in real life and to make in mini.

One of the beauties of making mini cheese is that the shapes are pretty simple so once you mix your colors of clay together the forming of the clay to get the end result it fairly easy.

Before we talk about the individual cheeses and what clays to use I want to say that I have been working on the color mixtures for a long time, I don't even remember where I got the clay “recipes” from in the first place. Depending on the brands of clay and the exact colors I use I almost always have to fiddle with the proportions each time. That is where baking off a sample of the clay mixtures will save you both clay and time in the long run. On the mixture I was using for the Swiss and Gouda cheeses I showed an example the value of this step. I do bake off samples on most of the projects I show you but I don't always tell you about it. This time I wanted to use it as a part of the tutorial.

Also before we get to the individual “recipes” for the cheeses I want to talk about the measuring system. You can make as much or as little of these mixtures as you want. Simply pick an amount to represent 1 part. For me this was based on how much clay I had left in a block of white clay I wanted to use up. I knew I needed 8 parts of white for two different mixtures today so I cut the amount I had in half and then one of those halves into 8 pieces. That amount became my “1 part” you could use any measurement you want as long as you keep the that measurement the same throughout the project.

First up is cheddar, I figured most of us are very familiar with this one so it is a good place to start. Now I know that cheddar from different areas can be vary a bit in color. This is the color that works for what I buy, you can add or subtract clay to get the color you want. My mix today was:

8 parts Fimo White

2 parts Fimo Sunflower yellow

1 part Tangerine orange

For my cheddar I just wanted to form a block or brick of the cheese and to make some slices for display.

Next we made a clay mixture for two varieties of cheese the Swiss and the Gouda. For this one my mix was (this is corrected one that I used in the end)

8 parts Premo Translucent

2 parts White (this one had no label it was another leftover bit)

1 part Fimo Sunflower yellow

Today I made the Swiss into a wheel shape but just as often I make a brick of it also. I used a ¾” round clay cutter for the wheel.

The Gouda uses some of the scraps of the clay left from the Swiss. Simply form some clay into a small ball and cover it with a very thin layer of red clay (I used Fimo Indian Red) You could also change out the color of this outer “wax” coating to fit your brand of cheese.

Lastly we made a round of Brie. Just form a slab of clay and cut it into a circle with another cutter, I used the 1” one.

Now before we can go on that clay needs to be firmer and to accomplish this we are going to freeze it. It doesn't hurt the clay to freeze it and it makes it a lot easier to work with. I wanted some of these pretty solid so I froze mine for 30 minutes. You want it firm but not totally frozen hard.

Once the clay is frozen to the point of being firm we can go ahead and do any cutting without worrying about distorting the shape of our cheese.

When you are happy with how you have cut the clay let it come back to room temperature and do the final work on shaping on the cheeses that need it.

For the Swiss we need to add the holes. Super simple to do with a ball stylus or two. Add as many holes as you want.

Since I like my Brie on the runny side that is how I make it in miniature too. For that just mix a bit of the clay that we cut out of the wedge with some TLS and add it to the cut edges.

When you are happy with the way your cheese looks go ahead and bake the cheese and allow to cool.

Now the only step left for today is to paint the rind onto the outside of the Brie. Just be careful not to get the paint on the cut area.

I hope you enjoyed today's project. I would love to see pictures if you make any on my projects. 

Dollhouse Miniature Crackers

Watch the video here.

First off I wanted to let you all know why the “Sunday” tutorial did not show up until Thursday this week. I had a really busy week last week because my oldest son got married on Saturday. I was busy making my dress to wear (yeah, I put it off until the last minute) and I have to admit I was a bit on edge worrying about everything coming off on time and with no major problems. I am very happy to report that the day was wonderful and even the weather was perfect!

So on to our project for this week. Originally I was going to make the cheese before I made the crackers but at the last minute I decided to do the crackers first. For one thing they are a bit easier and quicker to do. For the crackers we are building on some of the skills I have shown you in the past.

The next tutorial will be the cheeses, I am currently planning for 4 types. After the cheese I am thinking we will want some fruit for the dolls to eat with the cheese and crackers. Then I will show you how to put the cheese board together.

I made 3 basic types of crackers this time but by taking my methods and changing out the colors of clay and the shapes of the crackers you make any crackers you want. I purposely made my crackers in the video to not reproduce any specific real cracker, at least none that I am familiar with. I wanted to leave it up to your imagination what ones you make.

The basic clay mix of equal parts white and beige clays is the place to start for just about any cracker you can think of. The brands of clay don't really matter in this project. Today the clays I used were a white from Premo and beige from Sculpey, mostly because those were the ones that I found first in the correct colors.

The first cracker is a simple round shape with 4 larger holes in the top. Super simple to make. For this one I used a brown chalk to dust over the top.

For the second one I added just a touch of Fimo Sunflower yellow to the base mix, not enough to make the clay really yellow, just a hint of color. To shape this one I rolled the clay very thin and used the teardrop Kemper cutter. Use whatever shape cutter you have that is about the same size (3/16”) Remember crackers come in all kinds of shapes.

For the last example I added just a touch of Premo Burnt Umber to the base mix. This made a light brown. For this one I just cut the clay into a series of tiny squares. See you don't need to have any fancy cutters to do this project.

I did brush each variety of cracker with a different color of chalk. The chalk does two things (at least 2) it highlights the texture you have given you crackers and it makes them looked more baked.

So pull out your polymer clay and have some fun making crackers. And be sure to show me what you are working on. 

Dollhouse Miniature Marble Cutting Board

Watch the video here.

I was looking through a cookbook a while back and came across a photo of a really pretty cheese board display. It was set on a beautiful marble cutting and was so pretty I decided I needed to replicate it in miniature size. This week we are going to create the cutting board. Of course this cutting board could go into many scenes with or without the cheeses we will be making in future weeks.

I love to make marble with polymer clay because it never turns out exactly the same two times. Every time I make it I get something just a bit different. And watching it develop is just fascinating.

I am making a typical white marble with gray tones. You can obviously switch up the colors to make whatever type of marble you wish. This one just happens to be my favorite and I feel it lets the foods stand out too.

I like to start with mostly a white/translucent clay mixture. (2 parts white to 1 part translucent)This is the clay that I use the most of and it can be any brand of clay. Today I think both of these happen to be Premo (I used what was already out on my clay table)

Next as far as the amount of clay used is a gray, and I was so happy when gray clay came back to some of the clay lines. Today I am using Sculpey Elephant Gray, I love this gray color because it is slightly cooler in color and but still very neutral so it goes with almost any other color.

Color number 3 is Fimo Pearl White, I like to use this because it just adds a tiny bit of glow to the project. I can't say it sparkles but it just looks so pretty in a marble as long as you don't over do it. A small amount goes a long way.

And lastly I like to use just a tiny bit of black. It will blend out to almost nothing, really it usually becomes a dark gray but I always feel something is missing without it. This time I decided to use some Premo in Twinkle, Twinkle. It has some wonderful gold and silver glitter running through it. I was a bit nervous about it but my gut told me it would be wonderful and I was right! I love the tiny sparkle it gives. Not enough that you notice it all the time just a when the finished board is moved a certain way you see it for a second.

Marbling is fun but you do need to patient. Just take your time and work slowly. You don't want to blend the colors together you want they to still be streaks of their own colors, like the veins in the real marble.

After baking you have the option of buffing the top surface to give a gentle sheen. This is totally optional but I felt it was worth the time. The little piece that I did as an example took me about 20 minutes to get the way I wanted it. I did that while watching a Youtube video so the time felt like it went pretty quickly.

Dollhouse Miniature- Dressing the Bed

Watch the video here.

This week we are finishing up our little bed project. I asked you all if you wanted to see me dress this bed and the overwhelming response was a huge YES!! So this week we dress our bed.

So the first and probably the most important part of this part of the project actually didn't take place on camera, it was the shopping for the fabric. So I am going to start the blog with that very important step.

I went to the fabric store with a couple of things in mind but I was fairly open to getting what I could find. The things I knew I wanted were:

1. a fabric that was lightweight so I could get it to drape correctly.
2. I knew I wanted a muted color scheme, preferably in a brown, green, type of color.
3. I wanted the design to be subtle and not frilly. I was actually hoping for either a stripe or a plaid.
4. Whatever the design it had to be in scale

One thing I probably should say right here is that I have been sewing for over half a century, (yikes when did that happen??) My mom and grandmas taught me to sew by hand long before I started school. And my mom taught me to use her sewing machine when I was about 8 years old. So for me a fabric store is someplace I am very at home.

Other than those points I really didn't care what the fabric was. So I started my hunt as I always do in the remnant bins. I love the deals that can be found there but sadly nothing that would work for this project was on hand.

My next stop was the aisle with the “special purchase” fabrics. I love this area because I never know what I will find. And believe me when I say I have found some real treasures in this area sometimes. And this is where I struck gold so to speak. The piece of fabric I got was actually the second one I found, the first was almost right but the design was just a hair too large for my taste.

So how does this fabric fit into my requirements I listed above? Well, although it was labeled as a taffeta, it is very thin and lightweight. The only problem with that part is being a taffeta it is a bit stiffer than I was hoping for. The color is exactly what I was mentally picturing as I created the bed. It is a stripe, which is what I was hoping for, And as for scale, this stripe is soooo tiny. I absolutely love this fabric and I have a feeling it will use all of it over the next couple of years. I can picture it on a mini couch too.

So the only real drawback to the fabric for this project was that I knew going in it would be stiff. How stiff I wasn't sure of until I got home and played with it a bit. Since I have been sewing for so long I do have few tricks up my sleeve when it comes to handling fabric.

So the first thing I tried to decrease the stiffness of the fabric was to simply get it wet and dry it. Many times this step will do the trick because the manufacturers put a finish on some fabric to make them appear more polished in the store. Once you remove this finish you can see what you are working with. With our fabric today this did help a lot.

Another challenge with any woven fabric is that the edges will fray if you don't seal them in some way. I really was hoping to not have to add a hem because that would have made the cover a bit more difficult to work with. I was lucky in that Fray Check was able to seal the edge and not leave too much of an obvious line. This product is always the first thing I try. If it hadn't worked I would have probably just sewn a narrow hem on my sewing machine.

Since I didn't need a hem I was able to cut my fabric to the exact size I wanted it to be. If you have to add a hem to your fabric you need to cut your fabric big enough to allow for this.

Since the bed it made of foam I was able to pin the cover onto the bed. I always try to make just a spritz of water work to make the fabric lay down. With many fabrics it will work. Our taffeta was just a bit too stiff still for that to work.

You have several options when water alone doesn't hold the fabric. Hair spray and spray starch are both good choices and I did use them often. This time I just had a feeling the taffeta was a bit too unruly for either of them to work so I went the the other option and used glue. Since I already had my hot glue gun ready for attaching the headboard to the bed that was what I used. The big advantage to hot glue is not drying time, once it cools you are good to go. The drawback to any glue is it makes it harder to change the bedding later. Also you need to be very careful not to get glue where it will show or allow it to soak through the fabric.

So there is the how and the why of our bed.

Now as I promised here is a link to the bed I dressed in a previous video. This one is much more frilly with lots of pillows.

Be sure to send me pictures if you make a bed, I love to see what you make from my tutorials.

Dollhouse Miniature Bed

Watch the video here.

This week we are finally getting the bed made to go with the headboard I made last time. Sorry for not getting this done last week, but real life took over.

I like to keep this part really simple and I like to use what is on hand. We aren't going to see most of this when we are done so keep that in mind. The basic shape is made of a layer of foam core and a layer of builder's foam. Builder's foam is a sturdy foam insulation that can be found at home improvement stores. I got my 8' by 4' sheet of it several years ago. I have made a ton of projects from it and I am trying really hard to use up the last of it. I have also made beds using regular Styrofoam and the softer foam that is sold in fabric stores for real furniture. As long as you have the sturdy foam core on the bottom any of those will work. I personally like the builder's foam a bit more than the other options but use what you have (or have access to)

I cut both the foam core and the builder's foam to 3 ¾” by 6 ½” and then glued them together. This glue needs to dry completely before we go on to the next step.

After our layers are glued together we need to cover the “mattress” I like to use white craft felt squares for this. The weight is really good for covering, it will give us a neutral base under whatever material we decide to dress our bed with, the edges won't fray, and it gives a fantastic surface to work on because the fabrics we layer over it won't slide around while we are working on the dressing step.

I used 2 felt squares (they measured 9” by 12”)

I cut one into 2 pieces 9” by 6” and the other one I cut off two pieces 1 ¼” by 12”

Then we just need to glue the felt on. I started out with my normal white glue but it was taking way too long so I switched to the dreaded hot glue gun to finish up. I really prefer to use liquid glue.

For feet I like to use 4 regular push pins like you would use in a bulletin board. I thought for sure I had some white ones but couldn't find them so I used 4 clear ones. You can use whatever color will go with the finished bed you are making. 

Dollhouse Miniature Headboard

Watch the video here.

This week's project is not the one I thought I would be posting today. It is not the one I had been working on last week, it isn't even one I had planned to work on. I thought I was going to be finishing up the project I was working on last week. That project unfortunately is now at the bottom of my trash can. I haven't decided if I will be leaving it there, if I will pull it out and try to fix it, if I will attempt to re-do it or if that one is just a total wash. I think all of us have those projects from time to time.

So after I threw what I had been working on for over a week in the trash I had to come up with something else. I thumbed through one of my many mini-related books for some inspiration and saw several really nice beds. I do love to dress beds, they are a lot of fun to do, and I have done at least a couple of videos on them in the past. Then I got to thinking as much fun as beds are to dress, the beds themselves, especially the headboards are even more fun.

I sat down with a very loose idea of what I was going to do. I knew a few things I wanted to make this headboard with items that are inexpensive and easy to get. I didn't go out of my house to get anything to make this. So look around your craft room (and through the recycling bin) and see what you can come up with.

The headboard we are making today would fit a twin/single size bed. If you want to make a larger size just make it wider. You might have to use something other than the craft sticks in that case.

Start by cutting two layers of paperboard (cereal box) to about the size you want your headboard to be. Then glue the two layers together with the plain side out.

Now just build your design on this base. I used the craft sticks because I have a bunch of them. You can use what you have. I decided to use the wall patch fabric because I love the texture of it. I use in a lot in my card-making and in art journaling for the same reason. As a bonus it takes paint really well.

I used the skinny sticks to frame the texture piece both to help anchor it down and to add another decorative element.

The only thing needed at this point was to finish off the side and top edges for a more finished look.

At this point you could go in many directions as far as painting. I wanted a rustic, shabby chic type of look but you could go more polished at this point too.

If you don't have the materials I used look at what you have and make something with those things. That is the fun of projects like this.

Next week we will add a bed to the headboard. And I will show you a simple way to dress the bed.