Bathroom!

Hey guys!

So sorry for the length of times between posts. You know how it is with these things-sometimes it can be slow process.

ALSO, massive hello to my new followers!

Just to let you know where I am now with the Curiosity Shop. I've started on the bathroom! I purchased these lovely floor tiles from an ebay seller (called 'gugbug') a while back and over the Xmas holidays I'm going to start looking at laying them.





This is how it will look :) ^^

I think it creates a gorgeous effect. The tiles themselves are hardy enough, especially since they're plastic, not actual tile.

Anyway, I shall update you on my progess! Santa is also bringing me a few goodies for both the Curiosity Shop and Wentworth Court so I will show you those things too!

Actually, since it's nearly Xmas- I may post some pictures of my Wentworth Court as it's Xmas in there, too :P Although you will have to forgive my sloppiness- it was my first house and I rushed the decorating because I was so excited!

Post soon!

Jess

P.S I've already painted the ceiling in this room! Result!

I haven't left you!

Hey guys!

I'm still here, believe it or not!

Sorry I haven't posted anything DH related in such a long time! I'm back at uni- final year- which means the dreaded dissertation. Money has been tight in the lead up to Xmas, as ever, so less money available to spend on DH stuff! :( Bad time!

Here is what I have been up to:

Lemon cupcakes with lemon buttercream icing





Twilight cupcakes (chocolate cake and vanilla buttercream icing)



Post soon! Thanks for sticking around! :D

X

Drum Roll Please....

....

It's finished!! The flooring has been put in (although still needs sticking down and sanding at the front) but here we go!!

I am so, so pleased with the result! I got the flooring sheet from my favourite ebay shop 'Little Green Workshop' for a bargain price of £6.99. (Their website is: http://www.littlegreenworkshop.co.uk/) It came with the promise of ease of use and I can totally pass the promise on- it really does.


I didn't need anyone's assistance in this which goes to show that anyone can use it! Hahah. It cut very easily and sanded well. You can see from the picture below that once you've started to cut the wood, it just breaks off very easily.

The backing is just thick paper and I think it might be sticky back stuff but it's not peeling off well so I'm going to attempt to glue it straight down.

So you've got an idea of size, I took this photo with a 1p piece on:

It would fit most standard rooms I think.

Finally, I'm not really sure what it is, but Little Green Workshop sent me a freebie, which is always lovely! I think it's meant to be a pot for a tree or something but I will put it in the shop once it's decorated :)

Next project: BATHROOM!

Jess x

One (almost) down, four (ish) to go!

Hey guys! It's almost done! I only need to do the flooring and that room is 100% complete. We've tweaked bits here and there so here's a quick run-down:

Stairs

In my last post, I said that my grandad was going to cut a bit of the dado rail away to allow the stairs to sit perfectly against the wall- well, taaaadaaaa!

A word of warning

I honestly don't know where I'd be without my grandad (in life, as well as DIY). I thought it seemed odd that he hadn't measured the dado and skirting right up to the edge until he explained that if he had done, we wouldn't be able to shut the door! It had totally not occurred to me! Anyway, here's a photo so you can see what I mean:

Many apologies for the picture quality; I'm still using my phone!

Skirting

Ah, the chicken and egg scenario. What comes first- the flooring or the skirting? I posed that very question to the Dolls House Emporium message boards but went ahead and did my own thing before remembering to see what everyone had put. Naturally, 100% of replies stated flooring and what had I chosen to do? Yup, you guessed it. Skirting. Oh well, some things never change!

Almost Completed!

Yey!

50 FOLLOWERS!

Yey! I've hit 50 followers! Thank you so much for sticking around guys, and for the few that have joined since my last post! I'm so glad so many of you are enjoying what you're reading.


Since my last post, I transported my dolls house down to my grandparents as my Grandad is very interested in the house. I've been so busy at work (and I didn't think my DIY skills could stretch to it..) so Grandad very kindly did my coving and dado rail for me. And what an excellent job he has done!




He's left a gap at the top which will allow the stairs to slot in nicely:



As you can see, the close up has two little bits that have had to be cut from another piece as, rather typically, one piece wasn't quite long enough. It's hardly noticed when the stairs are in, though.

The dado rail needs to be amended to allow the stairs to sit flat against the wall- we (like that- 'we' haha) decided it would be easier to cut a little bit away once the stairs were put in properly.

Something I've also done in this house which I didn't in my Wentworth Court was to continue the wallpaper and details on to the door. I saw someone's dolls house done in this way once before and I thought it was a beautiful touch- it literally looked as though you'd opened the side of a real house.



As you can see, I'm still yet to add the skirting. I haven't actually stuck the skirting down yet as still working on the flooring. My fiance's dad works away a lot on business and every time he stops for coffee he grabs me a handful of stirers so I can create a wooden floor. Very nice of him :)

Almost finished one room! So excited to work on the next!

Jess x

Curtains!

Welcome to my newest followers, Andy and Raspberry! So glad you stopped by!

As you can see, today I made some curtains! It's my second attempt following the same instructions from Sue Heaser's book 'Dolls House Do-It-Yourself: Curtains' as the first time I used cotton fabric and it simply didn't fall right.

This time, I used beautiful dupion silk *apologies if it's spelt incorrectly* and they have hung perfectly. Don't you just love the green rod? haha. I didn't have any plain wood ones so my grandad kindly donated this one to me from his greenhouse supplies!

I'm going to make a matching pair for the other upstairs window and am planning to leave the bottom windows without curtains or blinds as most shops windows are bare (I think- please correct me otherwise!). I think for the top attic windows I shall make little curtains that just pull to the side rather than meet in the middle. I have tiny hoops left over from jewellery making which should come in useful for that! According to Sue Heaser's book, curtains in the Edwardian times were very plain (in style and print) so I thought this fabric would be perfect.

To make your own curtains:

Note...this will make curtains like mine :)

1. Measure the window and cut two pieces of fabric each as wide as the length of the window and the length of the drop required, plus 25mm (1inch). Ensure the fabric won't fray by running some PVA glue mixed with water along the material where you've cut it. Sew or glue a hem (I sewed) of 3mm along the sides of each curtain and a 13mm hem along the bottom edges.

2. Press down a 13mm hem at the top of each curtain. Sew a line of fine stitching 1.5mm from the raw edge of the hem. Place a skewer or dowelling in the resulting casing and push it against the stitching with the side of a ruler. Mark a line between the ruler and the skewer with the pencil. Remove the skewer and sew along the line to make a snug casing that fits the skewer.

3. Thread both curtains on to the skewer and push the sides of each together to gather them up to about one third of their original width.

4. The final stage involves starching the curtains and adding the finishing touches such as tiny little fimo clay knobs on both ends of the rod. I haven't done this section yet but I will.

^^ The above is taken from Sue Heaser's book as mentioned at the start of the post :)

I haven't done that little bit at the top of the curtains because I'd measured the drop incorrectly (typical of me, naturally) but I think they look ok like this!

Jess x


P.S The glue on the ivy did not work! Back to the drawing board!

A different kind of miniature!

Hello again!

Has anybody seen Angie Dudley's 'Cake Pops' book? I got mine at Christmas from Amazon.co.uk and it's fab!



The book is full of amazing things to bake and all very miniature, of course! Here's some examples of things I've made. (I didn't follow a project for these although were inspired by similar ones).



I made these ones for father's day and my dad loved them! The second cakes (below) were made for a birthday party:



Basically, you bake a standard cake and then once it's cooled, you crumble it into tiny pieces, like breadcrumbs. Then, it gets mixed with a frosting of your choice and it allows you to form little balls. They go in the freezer for 20 minutes to harden and then get dunked into melted chocolate. For the little cupcakes, I used a silicone mold with melted choccy (white, but dyed pink) and then once set, I peeled it away to leave a chocolate cake case! So everything you see is edible!

Sooo much fun! I can't recommend it enough (and I don't like cake!!!)

XXX