Dollhouse Miniature Valentine Garden Flag

 

Watch the video here.

Like always we are starting with a strip of plain white, 100% cotton fabric. I use bleached muslin for my flags, you should be able to find this fabric in any fabric store/department especially if they carry any fabrics geared to quilters. For our flag we need a strip that measures 1” by 3”.

The other item we will need to begin is some paper backed fusible web. This is basically a fabric glue that is heat activated and comes on a sheet of paper making it very easy to use. I prefer the Heat 'N Bond brand. There are other brands in stores and you can use whatever brand you can find. I do recommend you pick one that is designed to hold without sewing. Mine is labeled “Ultra-Hold” this way you won't need to worry about your flag coming apart later. You will need a 1” square of the paper-backed fusible web.

Follow the directions on your fusible web product to form your flag.

Before we begin the decorating process I want to talk just a bit about what I was going for in this one. Like I often do I searched for ideas online by looking at pictures of real garden flags. I found a couple that I loved one in particular had a pink background with a top and bottom band in a coordinating pink/white mottled design. It had letters spelling out LOVE on the main area. There were thin white borders between the main part of the flag and the borders. Another flag I liked had the same lettering on a black background and letters were outlined in white. I decided to combine the two designs in what we are making today.

So let’s make this shall we?

 

 

Start by painting the entire flag on both sides with a medium pink color paint. And allow to dry.

 

 

 

Now use a pencil to lightly draw lines where your borders will be and your letters. If you go as light as you can it will be easier to cover with the paint. My lines were a bit hard to cover but I drew them so that you could see them to see what I wanted you do do.

Once you have the lines where you want them. Get out some of the same pink paint along with a bit of white paint. Use a dotting tool (or something similar) to pick up just a bit of the paint and pounce it on the flag. Try to get some of both colors of paint each time. Wipe off the dotting tool as needed while you work. Allow to dry.

 

Now use a small amount of the same white paint mixed with just a bit of water to slightly thin it out and using a smaller dotting tool outline the borders and the letters. Allow to dry.

 

 

Now if you made any mistakes neaten everything up with a bit more of the paints on a dotting tool to cover any mistakes.

Once dry you can hang your flag on the dollhouse for a Valentine’s Day tough.

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 Valentine Teapot

 

Watch the video here.

For today’s tutorial I decided to make a Valentine themed teapot. The one I came up could actually be out all year round in the right kitchen though since it is just red with white dots. While I was looking for inspiration for today’s project I kept running into red teapots with simple white dots. They really got my attention and I found myself really drawn to them. So that is why this was the choice for today.

The first task was to pick a red color. I had hoped to not have to pain the red part but in the end I did need to. However, since I started with a red clay in the color I wanted I was able to just do a light coat of a matching red. More about that part later. I dug through my clay stash and although I did have a bit of a red that I loved I was afraid there wasn’t enough of it. Then I looked at the Red Hot Red from Sculpey III. I have plenty of it but wanted a cooler red and Red Hot Red has a definite orange hue to it. I did have a good amount of Pearl Red (also by Sculpey III) but I was not looking to do this in a pearl finish. I decided to mix equal parts of the two colors and I do love the color I came up with. I have a lot left over too so that went into a labeled bag in with my other reds.

I wanted the bottom of the teapot to have what looked like a base on it. So I had thought about just squishing a ball of clay to make it but ten I decided to use my drill gauge to make the resulting disk of clay look a little neater. I think it was the perfect way to form this but if you don’t have a drill gauge just squishing the ball of clay will work too. This was then baked at the temperature recommended for my clay for 10 minutes. This step will set the shape and size so that it will not get messed up in later steps. Allow to cool to room temperature.

 

 

Now for the main part of the teapot, I used a ½” ball of clay and a drop of liquid Sculpey to attach it to the top of the disk shape. 

 

 

 

 

This was then baked for 20 minutes since the ball is on the bigger size. I did want the clay to cure all the way to the middle of the ball. Allow to cool again.

 

 

 

 

 

Now I wanted to add some shape to the top of the teapot. I used some more liquid clay to attach a small ball of clay to the top of the teapot then I shaped ti to achieve the look I was after. Really work with the edges of the clay where it meets the cured clay to smooth it as much as possible. Make sure the very top is nice and flat. Once you are happy with the shape bake again for another 10 minutes and allow to cool.

 

 

Next I added another small, flattened ball of clay to the top with liquid clay to form the lid of the teapot and a tiny ball for the handle on the lid. I did end up having to add a drop of liquid clay to keep the handle on the top. Bake and cool as above.

 

 

 

 

Now for the spout, make a ball of clay and then make it into a cone shape. Then using liquid clay attach to the front of the teapot. Shape as desired and make a “hole” in the spout for tea to come out, when you are happy bake and cool again.

 

 

 

Now use a thin shake of clay to form the handle and attach with more liquid clay. Bake and cool.

 

 

 

 

 

 

At this point I decided to give my teapot a very light coat of a red craft paint since there were some areas where the liquid clay I used could be seen. Just one thing coat evened everything out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now for the optional step of a coat of Mat Mod Podge. This will seal the surface (either the clay or the paint) before we start adding the white dots. This way if a dot is placed in a spot you don’t like you can easily wipe it away. Without sealing the white paint could cause a stain that would have to be painted over.

Once the Mod Podge was dry I used a couple of small dotting tools to add some random white dots with craft paint. I only placed them on the main body of the teapot avoiding the base, handle, lid, and spout. I find it easier to work on one side at a time and give it plenty of drying time before trying to work on the second side. Allow to dry completely before going on to the next step.

Once the white dots are dry add a thin, even coat of Satin Mod Podge to the entire teapot and allow to dry completely.

And there you have a fun teapot for the dollhouse kitchen.

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 Chocolate Covered Strawberries

 

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This week for our Saturday food related tutorial we are making some chocolate covered strawberries. Since Valentine’s Day is coming up next month I thought these would be a fun project and also we are going to need some of them for next Saturday’s project. So be sure to make enough to have at least 4 or 5 for that.

The basic strawberry I am using is just a simplified version of the ones I made way back when I was making the farm stand. You can find that tutorial here. Since these are going to be mostly covered I am skipping the texturing of the berry and I used different colors of clay since I didn’t have the same colors on hand that I had used back then.

 

To begin make a snake of your red clay (I’m using Pomegranate by Premo) that is about 1/8” in diameter. Then cut into segments that about 1/8” long. You don’t need to be exact just in the ball park on these. Cut one piece for each strawberry you want to make.

 

 

 

 

Now roll the pieces into balls.

 

 

 

Then shape them into teardrop shapes. I start by using a finger tip on the edge of the ball. Then I slip it onto my pointy tool and refine the shape a bit more. You will need that hole in the top so don’t skip this step. Now bake at the temperature recommended for your clay for 10 minutes and allow to coll to room temperature.

While the clay is cooling go ahead and mix up a small amount of liquid clay with just a bit of green oil paint. I didn’t have a green that I loved so I mixed the two greens in my set of paints (emerald green and Viridian green) with a touch of yellow ocher to get a green that wasn’t too bright.

Now is also a good time to get your green clay ready. If you have a nice leaf green color that is perfect. I didn’t see any in my stash so I mixed a couple of greens to get something that was leafy colored.

 

Once the strawberries are cooled add a tiny drop of the green tinted liquid clay to the area where we made the hole in the top.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then add a very tiny bit of the green clay.

 

 

Then using a pointy tool texture that green bit into a bit of a fluffy batch of “leaves” they don’t have to be perfect. Just give the illusion that there are leaves on the top of the strawberries. Now bake again for 10 minutes and cool to room temperature.

 

 

Now we get to mix up some "chocolate” since I am using just a dark “chocolate” for my project that is what I will explain. You can vary the colors to get the type your dolls want. For dark chocolate mix a bit of burnt umber oil paint with a tiny bit of black oil paint. Then mix this into some liquid clay. I highly recommend baking off just a tiny bit of this mixture to test both the final color and to be sure that you haven’t added too much oil paint. The color will shift a bit while it bakes and too much paint will cause the liquid clay to not cure correctly. When the test bit is cooled you will be able to see if it cured or not.

 

Now let’s coat those berries in chocolate. First on a piece of parchment paper place a dot of your chocolate mixture for each berry. I find a dotting tool works really well for this. Then place the berries carefully onto those dots. Then bake for 10 minutes and allow to cool to room temperature.

 

 

 

Now using a small tool, again I used a tiny dotting tool “paint’ the chocolate onto the strawberries leaving the tops clear. When you are happy bake for a final 10 minutes.

 

 

 

Now you are ready to display your chocolate dipped strawberries in you next mini scene.

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 Blind Bags January 2023

 

Watch the video here.

I have another batch of blind bags for you guys today. I hope you are not getting bored with these yet because I am still loving them. This time I have a batch of the glassware items. I do try to order two batches at a time when I do order and I usually order one of these that has the glassware and one other one.

I order all my blind bags from eBay and they come from China. They are really inexpensive and I did a blog post about how I find them (complete with screenshots to guide you) that you can find here.

This batch of blind bags I ordered on November28th and I received them on December 19. The cost was around $2.50.

I took pictures of each item as well as pictures of Mrs. Doll holding them so you can see the scale of the items.

Since I have gotten this set before I am collecting a large batch of repeat items and with these I am totally okay with that. After all, we do tend to purchase these items in real life in sets. Also this way I will have more items that I can use in tutorials.

So let’s look at what was in this batch.

 

 

Bag 1: a stemmed glass with a square bottom. I really enjoy getting the various stemmed glassware and this one looks pretty good. I know I have gotten this style at least once before.

 

 

 

 

Bag 2: we got a bonus with this bag because somehow there were 2 pieces inside the bag. One was a clear mug, I don’t remember it I’ve gotten one exactly like this in the past or not. I’ll show the pictures of it here. There was also a stemmed glass with a blue foot. Since we got another on of these in a later bag I’ll highlight it in a moment.

Bag 3 & 5: both of these bags contained the same beer mug/stein. These are the ones with a design that looks like cut glass and I think they will look wonderful later when I start using them in projects. I think I have several of these now and I love that fact.

 

Bags 4 & 6: I’ll call these a tall stein. for lack of another idea. They are a bit on the large size as you can see in the pic of Mrs Doll holding one of them. However, I have been wanting to try to make this style over into a pitcher since I have gotten them in past batches. Since I added two more to the collection I think I am going to try a few ideas to see what works best.

Bag 7 & 10: “cut glass” glasses. I love these and I have gotten them before in sets of the blind bags. I think these are becoming my favorite overall from the bags. They look like the clear glasses that we can find in so many real size kitchens around the at leas the US and maybe the around the world. These are going to come in really handy and I hope to get a lot more of them in future sets.

 

 

 

Bag 8: a tall stemmed glass. Maybe a champagne glass, I do love how this one looks being held by the doll and I think it will look wonderful either filled or on a shelf in the dollhouse.

 

 

 

Bags 9 (and bag 2): the stemmed glasses with the blue bottoms. Since there were two items in bag 2 I decided to handle these at this point in the discussion. I think these are really cute glasses and I don’t think I’ve gotten them before. I do hope to see more in future sets though. Like the small size and I am thinking they might look good with a dessert of some kind in them as well as for beverages.

So those are the items from this set of blind bags. I am very happy with what I got and I will be placing another order very soon.

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 Planner

 

Watch the video here.

I actually thought a lot about what to do for today’s tutorial, after all it is the first day of a new year. I wanted to come into the new year on a positive foot and also to have a project for you that was “right’ for a new year. I got to thinking about the fact that a lot of us try to get organized in the new year and I thought the dolls in the dollhouse might want to do the same.

I do keep a planner (multiple ones actually) in real life and I love it. I am one of those people that sits down every week and decorates my planner for the next week. I love having that ritual and it does help to keep me on track (most of the time anyway)

So our project for today was born. I created a pattern for you to make your planner and you can find it here. You will find both the PNG files to cut yours with an electronic cutting machine like the ones from Cricut and also PDFs do you can hand-cut your pieces. This time there are three PNGs/PDF pages so that you can use different papers to make your planner fun. For the cover you can pick a fun color or fun small design, for the inside pick a color that co-ordinates with the cover paper, and finally for the pages use a sheet of 20 lb (75 g/m) weight paper.

Once your pieces are cut glue the outside cover pieces to the inside cover pieces to make the cover a bit heavier and pretty on both sides. I used a glue stick for this which is a glue I seldom use. Be sure to have the holes along the edges lined up.

 

 

 

 Once the glue has dried cover the cover with some packing tape. This will make it look like it is laminated like a lot of the real planner covers are. You can use a push pin to create the holes in the tape layer of the cover.

 

 

Now carefully stack your book. In the following order;

1-front cover

2- first divider

3- 3 pages

4- 2^nd divider

5- 3 pages

6- 3^rd divider

7- 3 pages

8- 4^th divider

9- 3 pages

10- back cover

Be sure you have the covers placed so that your pretty sides are facing out. Also keep track of the dividers and line the tabs up so they all show.

Line everything up so that the holes match up and use a binder clip to hold the book in place.

Now it is time to add the “rings” I had planned to use some jewelry jump rings but I didn’t have enough to do this. So I looked through my stash of stuff and tried several things with varying degrees of success. Then I tried some embroidery floss on a needle that was laying on my desk from repairing something. It worked really well. I used 3 strands of floss and it makes a good in scale “ring” Be sure to use a secure knot and add glue. Once the glue is dry trim the floss fairly flush with the knot and you are done.

I hope the dolls in your dollhouse can use this planner to stay organized in the new year.

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.