Cute mini find

Yesterday, my fiancé and I drove around the area. We stopped at 10 Thousand Villages, which is a shop that sells fair trade goods from all over the world. They have a lot of locations and are worth checking out! They have great fair trade coffee and chocolates, too!

Anyway, while there, I found a little woven pouch with six tiny dolls inside. They are perfect for mini scale stuff. Here's the pouch:

Here are two of the dolls on the bedroom mantle in the Glencroft:

And the rest in the herb shop:

They are really cute and perfect for both scenes!

And while I was in the herb shop, I pulled out the little chest I had in the center of the shop and put it in the historical society. It fits nicely in there, I think:

Now I just need to add some items on top of it. :)

Glencroft bathroom

So I took today to work on some finer details. I am going to go room by room as I do this (to focus my energy on one thing at a time and to not distract myself too much!). So today I worked on the bathroom. Here's what it looks like now:

You can compare this with my post from a couple days ago here.

Highlights include: new sink, repainted bathtub, new bath mats, towels, and a new screen.

First, the sink:

How I did it:
Well, I wanted a modern sink that matched the bathtub that I also made (with a Japanese flair), so I looked through my stash to see what I had. Luckily, I had been to a Tuesday Morning recently and grabbed one of these Tim Holtz Configurations boxes (for $4.99!). As you can see, it's one big box with a bunch of little boxes inside that you can use for multimedia projects. I wrapped one of those smaller boxes (that had just the right dimensions for a sink - these are lovely "to scale" pieces) in masking tape. Then I painted it in an acrylic color called "Transparent Red Oxide" which gives that great reddish tint. I had done the same to the bathtub too.
I poked a hole close to the open side of the box to fit a bent paper clip through for the faucet. The bowl of the sink is a wooden mini bowl painted with white acrylic and glossed with varnish until it shines. The "drain" is a piece of brass metal tape that I cut out with a hole punch. I drew in the lines around the drain with an artist marker. As you can see the open side of the box is against the wall. If you wanted, you could add a door or shelves and leave that part exposed. Perhaps even a little curtain across the front could work too, depending on your decor style.
I also added a little towel bar on the side, too. :)

As you can see I did make some towels for the bathroom. I had some linen napkins in my stash that I had found at an antique store and cut one into the correct dimensions for a towel, hand towel and washcloth. I edged the bath and hand towels with some cute ribbon I had on hand.

I also made a bath mat and toilet rug:

Those were simple as I cut up an old kitchen towel we had, but no longer use. It gave that "shaggy" texture that, to me at least, seems right to scale.

Also, as you can see above, I replaced the Asian screen with a lighter, smaller screen that fits in well. I loved the other one, but with the sink installed, it didn't fit in the room. I will definitely be using it in another room or another project.

And, yes, I finally gave this house a door! :) You can see the results below - indoors and out. :)

(PS: I am sorry I didn't post pictures of the sink as I went. :) I really wasn't sure how it was going to turn out. But if anyone is interested, perhaps I could make a photo/video tutorial.)

Furnishing and decorating the Glencroft

Here are pictures of the interior of the Glencroft. There's a lot more to add (e.g., a sink in the bathroom), but I like how it's coming together. :)

Living room - the pillows on the couch just came in the mail today from miniatures.com - they had a 50% sale a couple days ago for their Modern Mini Design line. I couldn't resist these as they were the *perfect* color scheme. The coffee table is Bespaq and came from a wonderful little shop in Salisbury, Massachusetts called Divided House gifts. The black couch and armchair were obtained from a second-hand shop in Peterborough, New Hampshire called Murray's Home Again.

Clearly, I need to stock the shelves a little better in the kitchen, but that will happen little by little. What is there is a  little tray of food from Reutter Porcelain and a Key Lime Pie I made from Sculpey.

A wine rack sits on the fridge and needs to be filled! There is a wine country theme to this kitchen (the wallpaper is all wine labels), so I have a few more things to add for the theme including a wine tray I will make from a kit.

This toilet came today from Miniatures.com, too. The lid and seat lift up, too! I wasn't going to make this a full bath, but I decided to include a toilet and a sink (which I am going to build from scratch to match the Japanese-style bathtub in the background).

I love this screen, but I am not sure if it's going to stay here. The sink is going to go against the wall where the screen is now.

The wall decorations are beads from the craft store. The tiny cat shelf came from Earth and Tree in Amherst, NH.

As you can see, I still need to put on the front door! It's a little drafty in there! I am going to clean my own house first and put the Glencroft on display in the foyer. Then I am going to make the door and attach it soon - maybe tomorrow? We'll see. :) But I am excited with getting this done. Now I can work on all of the tiny details... :)

Some progress in shingling...

Snow day today so I worked from home, then spent some time researching for inspiration and doing some crafty stuff. I have taken the momentum I've been feeling lately and pulled the Glencroft out of the bedroom and continued with the shingling. I didn't get too terribly far, but I made progress. I want to get this part DONE so I can decorate the house and display it. (And to move on to other things, too!)

I also set up another scene in the roombox which was a lot of fun. Here are some pics. :)
 

New items in the Herb Shop

Well, we have some new stock in the herb shop for the discerning seeker of rare and mystical goods. ;)

First, we have some new gazing balls, for those looking to the future for answers.

Next we have some lovely table-top stands, which one may use for small altars or for display tables for one of the gazing balls, or perhaps some statuary.

 Last, we have some pottery carved with mysterious and possibly ancient symbols.

 

Where I found everything:

The bases of the crystal balls (marbles) and the pottery are beads found at Michael's. They actually said "Ancient Beads" on the package and they were inexpensive. I still have quite a few more to use for other items - I see potential for lamp bases, candles, and vases.

The altar tables are some mozaic tiles I found (also at Michael's) with runelike carvings on them, and I attached some findings from my stash as a base. I did put one of the gazing balls on top and the tables proved to be pretty stable. :) I will probably make more. I can see these used for all kinds of purposes. :)