Author: Quandie

furnishing the main bedroom.

Published on by Quandie31 Comments

Now that the shiplap is in place, it’s time to furnish the main bedroom.

I’ve mentioned before that my in-laws had misplaced most of the dollhouse’s original contents.  But there was one piece of furniture still in the house, the bed from this room.

And that’s kind of cool because I still like this simple four poster canopy bed (most of the other original furniture is no longer my style).

The bedding however had gone missing.

But that’s OK because I purchased that sewing machine a few months back just so that I could create bedding and such for the dollhouse.

Well, as it turns out, I needn’t have bothered with a sewing machine.  Pretty much all of the tutorials for creating dollhouse bedding that I’ve found just use glue rather than a needle and thread.  Who knew?

I’ve also learned that the common kitchen sponge works well for creating a miniature mattress from watching YouTube videos.

So when I was in the grocery store the other day I picked up a pack of 4 for $1.99.  I didn’t notice that they had curved edges until I got them home.  But that’s OK, they were easy to cut and fit to a piece of cardboard that I was using as the base for my mattress.

After gluing the sponges to the cardboard with Tite Bond Quick and Thick, I then simply cut a piece of fabric with an inch or so extra around all four sides.  I wrapped that extra fabric around and glued it on the bottom using hot glue.

Speaking of fabric, I had a couple of remnants that I wanted to use on this bed.  I’d found a very small piece of brown and cream ticking at Hobby Lobby for .97, and I found some interesting horse hunt toile fabric while thrifting a while back for $2.

So I cut a piece of each of those fabrics to size, glued three edges together with the right side of the fabric facing in, and once the glue was dry I turned it right-side out.  Then I gave it a quick press with the iron to flatten it out a bit, and also folded in the remaining seam and gave it a quick shot with the iron.  Then I just glued that shut.

At this point I will say that I think I achieved a neater looking finish when I actually sewed the seams for the bedding on my previous project v. the glued seams on this one, mainly in the corners.  But technically it did work to glue them.

I placed the coverlet on the bed, folding the top edge over by about an inch so that the ticking striped underside was visible.

I then used hot glue to attach the bedding to each side of the bed itself.

I made a couple of pillows for the bed, also just using glue.  One is just simply made out of the ticking fabric, but for the 2nd one I used a scrap of drop cloth that I stamped using one of the I.O.D. Ephemeral Type stamps.

That one was a bit of an experiment.  I was just playing around trying to figure out how I could incorporate some of those stamps into dollhouse items.  I stamped the drop cloth, rolled it around a piece of foam, glued the edges without turning them in, and then trimmed the glued edges with pinking shears.  Easy peasy.

And that’s the bed done.

Next up, I ordered this armoire from Miniature Crush.

It opens up to reveal shelves.

After giving it a light sanding to smooth out any rough spots, I started by painting the interior in Dixie Belle’s Cottage Door.

Then I lined the back with more of Tim Holtz’ Worn Wallpaper Scraps.

I cut some small bits of fabric from an old piece of bark cloth and an old floral apron that I had in my stash.  Then I just folded them and dabbed some hot glue in each layer to make them lie somewhat flat.

Now, I’m aware that the pink interior doesn’t really work with the overall neutral color scheme in this room, but for the most part this armoire will just sit in place with the doors closed.  So I enjoyed adding a little pop of color inside.  Maybe it’s my secret little homage to the original pink color of the room.

Next up I painted the exterior of the armoire in Dixie Belle’s Dried Sage.  It was originally meant to be an undercoat, because I then put two coats of Drop Cloth over it.

But in the end, I didn’t love the Drop Cloth, so I went back over that with the Dried Sage.

After sanding to distress, I added two bees from one of re.design with prima’s knob transfers to the doors.

After sealing the piece with some of Dixie Belle’s Big Mama’s Butta, I used a small brush to apply some of the Dixie Belle Earth to the corners of each panel.

This is a powder pigment that you can use to add subtle shading to your painted pieces.

A little goes a long way, especially with miniatures.

But that bit of shading adds a lot of dimension to miniature pieces.

One last quick painting project for this room (for now) was the radiator.

My dad put a few plastic radiators into the dollhouse here and there, although not in every room.  This one was originally in the hallway, but I have another plan for that spot so I moved it into the main bedroom.

But first I painted it with Dixie Belle’s Bronze Patina Paint.  To give it a super realistic look, I dabbed just a tiny bit of the green activating spray onto the bleed valves.

And with that I’m calling the main bedroom ‘furnished for now’.

I salvaged a discarded vintage alarm clock face from my friend opK to hang over the fireplace.

By the way, normally that fireplace insert lights up and looks like it has glowing embers.  Unfortunately, I am now unable to get any of the electrical to work in the dollhouse.  Mr. Q suspects there is a short somewhere, but to fix that would require ripping out floors and/or ceilings to get to the wires, and that’s not going to happen.

So all of the lights are out for now, I’ll save that problem for another day.

The armoire is in place.

I moved the trunk, or blanket chest, from its temporary position in the dining room to the foot of the bed.

I also moved the dress form that I painted up a few months back into this room.

You’ll notice that I don’t have any bedside tables yet.  I have a plan to try and make a stack of miniature suitcases to use on at least one side of the bed, but that project will be a bit down the road.

I also have some battery operated bedside reading lights on order.

I definitely need some artwork for the walls too, but that’s the sort of thing that I can work on over time.

But for now, what do you think of the mostly completed room no. 2 of my dollhouse reno?  Leave a comment and let me know.

fiddly things.

Published on by Quandie15 Comments

I have to be honest, I thought there was a pretty good possibility that I’d get started on my dollhouse renovation and realize that working in miniature was just too fiddly for me.

And then the dollhouse would become one of those projects that gets shoved aside and never finished.

I think that’s partly why I gave it away in the first place.

But I’m beginning to realize that I can do fiddly things, so I decided to tackle adding some shiplap to the dollhouse.

I started by ordering some wood strips from Miniature Crush.  After they arrived, I gave them all a light sanding with 220 grit paper followed by two coats of Dixie Belle’s Drop Cloth.

When creating a faux shiplap wall you intentionally leave a tiny bit of space between each board, you don’t butt them up tightly together.  So you need to be sure that the edges of the boards are painted because it looks obvious if they aren’t.  Therefore, it’s easier to paint the boards before you install them.

Another important step before installing faux shiplap is to paint the wall first.  Because again, it might show through those tiny gaps in the planks of wood.  Especially if your wall has a color on it, or in this case, some floral wallpaper.

That brings me back to the ‘before’ photo of the dollhouse’s main bedroom, which is where I’m putting the shiplap.

Phew!  I really loved some horrible shades of mauve in the 90’s.

Yep, I definitely needed to cover that up first.  So I gave the walls, trim and ceiling two coats of Dixie Belle’s Drop Cloth.

Since I was only going to shiplap one wall, I decided I needed a little bit of contrast between the color on the other walls, the shiplap and all of the trim, so I added just a bit of Dixie Belle’s Dried Sage to some Drop Cloth to darken it up a bit and then added that on just the walls that would remain bare.

Then it was time to install the shiplap so I got out my tiny step ladder and my tiny hammers and got to work.

LOL, OK, the actual tool I used was one of these.

This is called a multi angle miter shear cutter, and it worked beautifully for cutting my shiplap.  I didn’t have to cut any fancy angles, just straight cuts.  But down the road I may need it for some angles.  You can find one of these for less than $20 on Amazon, FYI.

I also didn’t really use a tiny hammer and nails, I just used some Titebond Quick and Thick glue to attach my boards to the wall.

I shiplapped (not a real verb, but it works here) the back wall as well as the fireplace surround.

OK, I have to admit that the corner near the bottom is a bit wonky.  But that’s far more noticeable in this photo than it is in person.  Plus, to do this ‘right’, I should have removed the base board, added the shiplap, and then replaced the baseboard over it.  But ain’t nobody got time for that.

Plus, I’m a beginner.  Everything doesn’t have to be perfect, right?

Also, I should note that you can buy 1:12 scale shiplap paneling in sheets, but I think it would be more difficult to cut a full sheet of ‘paneling’ to fit an existing wall.  Whereas these strips were quite easy to cut using my new tool.  In addition, I think shiplap looks more legit when you have staggered seams like I’ve created on the back wall (although in real life you’re supposed to caulk those seams).

What do you think of my fiddly shiplap job?

Not too bad?

I want to encourage any of you who are thinking about tackling your own dollhouse renovation to consider starting with a shiplap wall or two.  It was fairly easy and a real confidence boost when you realize that you can do fiddly things after all!

Be sure to check back on Wednesday for the full reveal of the main bedroom.

another windfall of toolboxes.

Published on by Quandie16 Comments

To avoid suffering from serious garage sale withdrawal, my friend opK and I headed out to do some thrifting last week.

We stopped at a couple of Goodwill stores, where we found precisely nothing.  Why has Goodwill gotten so bad these days?  It seems like even when you do find something interesting, it’s priced too high to consider.

But we also stopped at a Habitat for Humanity ReStore and that’s where I found a windfall of toolboxes.

You may remember that back in May of last year my friend Kathy gave me an entire trunk full of metal boxes, so I decided that the collective noun for them must be ‘windfall’, you know, like a murder of crows or a school of fish.

Well, OK, this windfall of boxes wasn’t quite as big a score as that pile from Kathy, but it was pretty good for a frigid day in January.

I was quite happy to come across these because I’m down to only having smaller tackle boxes and lock boxes in my stash.  I’ve been wishing I had some larger toolboxes to work with, and now I do.

The blue one is probably in the worst shape.

It has quite a bit of rust both inside and out.  But I love the shape of it.

The Homak toolbox is in slightly better shape, and I like the metal handle (v. the plastic one on the blue toolbox).

Both of those were only $5, so right in my price range.

I generally like to pay $10 or less for my toolboxes, but I splurged on this last one at $15.

If my friend Neal is reading this post, he’s probably cringing a little inside at the thought of me painting this one.  It’s a vintage Craftsman toolbox and he says there are serious collectors of these out there.  But I will be painting it (sorry Neal).

A few of you have commented in the past that you can’t seem to find toolboxes where you are, so maybe check out a ReStore if there is one near you.

Aside from the toolboxes, I brought home just a few things from another thrift store we visited called Restored (not to be confused with the Habitat ReStore).

I grabbed this stool.

I definitely didn’t care for the 90’s country vibe, but I knew I could do something with it.  The sunflowers had to go, as did the forest green color.

After sanding off the sunflowers, and scuff sanding the rest of it, I gave it two coats of Dixie Belle’s Sawmill Gravy.  Then I went through my transfer stash and came across an old re.design with prima transfer, back when the I.O.D. sisters were designing for them.

This transfer originally had a lined border around it, but that didn’t fit my stool quite right.  I trimmed that border off and then did just a little re-arranging of some elements so that it would fit.

Once the transfer was applied, I sanded the edges to distress and then added a coat of Dixie Belle’s Big Mama’s Butta to protect the finish.

I couldn’t pass up this coat rack made from a drawer front from an old spoon carved dresser from the thrift shop either.  The price was right, the bones were good, so I just needed to give it a little bit of an update.

After removing the hooks, I scuff sanded the surface and then added two coats of Sawmill Gravy.

I went back to the old stash of transfers again and found some bits and pieces of the long retired Seeds transfer (also an old redesign with prima transfer).

This transfer hadn’t held up well in storage, so I had to discard some sections and then cobble together just the bits that were still usable.  But it worked out perfectly for this drawer front.  It always feels good to use up something that has been in the stash for a while, doesn’t it?

After applying the transfer, I added a topcoat of clear wax and then just added back two of the original 4 hooks.

Today’s q tip:  transfers deteriorate over time, especially if they are not in a sealed package.  They will dry out and either come loose from the transfer sheet (which is what happened here), or they will just become less sticky and more difficult to apply.  These older transfers came in a flimsy box rather than a tube or as a flat sheet like they do now and those boxes really allowed them to dry out.

I also purchased a handful of smaller items while thrifting over the last couple of weeks.

I’ve given most of them a makeover already.

I simply added one of the I.O.D. Traditional Pots transfers to the tall white pot.

That transfer set comes with white, black and blue transfers.  This is one of the blue ones.  I love adding the blue ones whenever I find a pot with a blue edge like this one.

The glass jar came with a kind of blah label (sorry, I didn’t get a photo of it), so I soaked it off and added a different label.

Well, technically that is not a label.  It’s from the Roycycled Label Masterboard decoupage paper.

I don’t do a lot of decoupage projects, but this paper was just too good to pass up.  Look at all of those fabulous labels.  I also put one of the labels on a bottle that I had on hand.

And then I put one on the square metal container from the thrift pile.

Unfortunately, I forgot to take into account the slightly transparent quality of the decoupage paper.  In hindsight I probably should have painted that container first.  What do you think?

The last item remaining from thrifting is this little ‘greenhouse’.

I plan to paint it, and will probably add wording of some kind to it, but first I have to deal with the broken finial (one finial is intact, one is broken off).  I need to find a replacement for that, so we’ll have to come back to that one.

Meanwhile I need to get back to my dollhouse project.  It’s taking up all of the space on my workbench (a.k.a. my baby grand piano), which makes it difficult to do other things … like paint toolboxes!

Here’s a sneak peek at the room that’s coming up next week.

So be sure to stay tuned!

mesmerized by miniatures.

Published on by Quandie20 Comments

In my ongoing search for all things dollhouse related, I’ve come across some really amazing artisans that I think are just too good not to share with you guys here.  I know some of you are as mesmerized by miniatures as I am, so you may want to check these out.

First up is Chris Toledo Miniatures.

Does that just leave you speechless or what?  Not only is his detail absolutely amazing, but I love his vintage style.

Here’s one of his bathrooms.

Click this link to see his full gallery, it’s amazing.

Next up, Craig Labenz.

The detail in his work is amazing.

You can check out more of it here.

He also offers classes that come with a kit for making specific items.  I don’t think I’m anywhere near ready to attempt something like that, but I’ll keep it in the back of my mind.

This next one is a YouTube channel called Min Makes.

Unfortunately there are only three videos (of 3 different rooms) available so far.

The videos show everything in that room being handmade.  Every single one of those butterflies was cut out by hand.  That’s definitely way more patience than I have, I struggled with cutting out three Shiny Brite boxes.

Speaking of YouTube videos, another channel I have been watching is hitsuji no ie. from Japan.

There is no voice over on this channel, background music plays as he/she is building.  But you’d be surprised just how much you can learn from just watching someone.  I’ve put several techniques from these videos to use already.

Lavender Belle Miniatures is another one that I stumbled upon.

She got her start renovating old dollhouses.  Hey, if she can start there maybe I can too?

Check out her Instagram page to see more examples of her work.

Unfortunately it looks like she took a break from miniatures in 2022 and hasn’t returned.

Finally, there is Mulvany & Rogers.

They’ve been creating miniatures for 30 years.

Honestly, their work goes beyond anything I could ever aspire to.

It’s not always dramatic and/or gilded, but even their more ‘plain’ rooms are stunning.

The details are so precise that you wouldn’t even guess this was miniature if I didn’t tell you.

Except when they give you clues …

Like a real sized garlic bulb in the kitchen.

Funny, Chris Toledo used that same prop in one of his kitchen room photos.

I wonder who started that trend?  I may have to copy it myself as well.

Although that would imply that I think my rooms are indistinguishable from the full sized versions in photos, and that’s definitely not the case.  So maybe I won’t copy that idea after all.

Either way, I certainly feel massively inspired after checking out these amazing artists and I hope you enjoy them as well!

 

les fleurs in the dead of winter.

Published on by Quandie22 Comments

I thought I’d break up my posts on the dollhouse renovations to bring you another do-over project.

As they say, if at first you don’t succeed …

try, try again.

I painted up this vintage lunchbox back in July 2024.  Initially I wasn’t planning to paint it.  It had a nice original cobalt blue paint job.

But I ran into a little trouble with the original paint wiping off when I tried to clean it, then I tried to seal it and that didn’t go so well either, so ultimately I painted it in Dixie Belle’s Bunker Hill Blue which came pretty close to the original color.

After adding a white I.O.D. transfer to the top, I put it in my Carriage House Sale last summer.  But it didn’t sell.  So then I brought it into Reclaiming Beautiful, and it still didn’t sell.

I have to admit, the white transfer didn’t really do a lot for me.

I mean, it’s not bad.  But it’s not spectacular either.  So I’m not surprised there weren’t any takers.  And you know, I have to admit that I must have become a bit jaded over transfers because there was a time when I would have thought this transfer was quite amazing.  I think I’ve been spoiled because there are just so many fantastic transfers to choose from these days.

For example, I painted this similar lunchbox back in January.

And it sold quite quickly.

That small version of the I.O.D. Seeds transfer fit it perfectly.

And I just love the look of those florals from the I.O.D. Floral Anthology transfer.

So even though it’s the dead of winter, I decided that a floral makeover was in order for the blue lunchbox.

But first, some prep.  I had added wax over that Bunker Hill Blue paint, so I needed to do a little more prep than usual to give my new paint job a better chance of sticking.  I started by sanding off the white transfer.  Then I scrubbed the lunchbox using Dawn dish soap.  Next, I used 150 grit sandpaper to somewhat vigorously sand the entire lunchbox.  I followed that up with another rinse with hot water.

I then started with the interior of the box.  I hadn’t painted or added any sort of wax to that previously.  It also didn’t have any rust to worry about.

So, after a good cleaning I simply gave the interior of the lunchbox two coats of Dixie Belle’s Apricot followed by two coats of their flat clear coat.

Just for fun I popped a vintage blue Atlas jar in the spot where the original thermos would have been.

Next I painted the outside in Dixie Belle’s Drop Cloth.  Once dry, I used 220 grit sandpaper to distress being careful to note whether or not I thought my paint was sticking well.  It was, so then I started applying some of the beautiful rose transfers from I.O.D.’s Rose Botanical set.

Those roses are so gorgeous, and even the foliage on these transfers is stunning.

The cursive writing between the two latches is also from the Rose Botanical transfer, while the ‘Les Fleurs’ is from my fresh new stash of the Label Ephemera transfer.

I did wrap just a little bit of the florals around the sides.

I also added some wording from an old Tim Holtz rub-on in the little label holder slot.

For those of us who swear we aren’t ‘collectors’, this lunchbox tells the true story 😉

I must admit, it felt good to pull out the pink florals in the dead of winter.

I finished off the exterior of the lunchbox with some of Dixie Belle’s clear wax.

Now I don’t know exactly what one would use this vintage lunchbox for.  Certainly you could even use it for its original purpose.  But I think it would make a lovely ‘gift box’, you could fill it with seed packets, flower frogs, and vintage garden tools.

Or you could use it in your craft room to hold art supplies.  You could also use it as a sewing box, just fill it with your threads, needles, scissors, etc.

There are so many possibilities.

What would you do with it?  And what do you think of the makeover?  Leave a comment and let me know.

never really done.

Published on by Quandie30 Comments

So far you’ve seen my dollhouse dining room table and chairs, and the rug I purchased for the room.

And you’ve also seen the sideboard that I painted up more recently.

As well as the extra two chairs for either side of the sideboard.

And that brings me to the room itself.

Here is how it looked before I gave the house to my in-laws.

My tastes have definitely changed.  I would count burgundy as one of my least favorite colors these days, but I sure used a lot of it in this room.  And that reddish stained furniture, ugh.

Here’s how the room looked when I got the dollhouse back from my in-laws, complete with some spooky cobwebs on the chandelier (and for those of you who don’t know this story, check out my post that explains it here).

As I mentioned, they had misplaced the box with all of the house’s contents.  There are a few items I wish I had, but for the most part I’m OK with starting over with furnishings.

I had originally planned to provide a little drama in the dining room with dark grey walls, and in fact I’d even painted the first coat on one wall back in September.

That would have been a striking look.  It would have set off the white paneling and trim work beautifully.

But then I ordered the I.O.D. Gloria paint inlay.  And now you’re probably wondering what in the world a Christmas themed paint inlay would have to do with a dollhouse and that’s a fair question.

Although some of the designs in the Gloria inlay are overtly Christmas-y, many of them are not.  And they are absolutely gorgeous.

As soon as I saw that flute playing cherub I thought it would make the perfect mural for the wall in the dollhouse dining room.

Unfortunately it was too big.

But then I saw this page …

And that Seal Engravers transfer on the bottom right was the perfect size for my wall.

I was a little nervous about the application process, but it worked out beautifully.  I just used my normal technique to apply it (for more detail on how to apply a paint inlay check out this how-to post).

Talk about drama!

Next up I painted all of the ‘woodwork’ and the ceiling in Dixie Belle’s Drop Cloth to give me a blank canvas.  Ultimately I then decided to paint just part of the ceiling in a pale blue green (much like my own ceilings).

Let me tell you, that was a tricky process.  First of all, I have the vision of a 61 year old.  Secondly, it has been incredibly dreary here over the past several weeks, so lighting wasn’t ideal.  Lastly, I was painting the ceiling in place, so craning my head around to try and get in there to both see it and paint it was challenging.

I ended up having to use a hand mirror to see what I was doing.

That other item in the photo is a light, which I turned off to take the photo.  But it did help to blast a spot light onto the ceiling while I was painting.  As for painting while looking in a mirror … well … I’m going to have to get a lot more practice before that works well.  I was constantly moving my brush in the wrong direction.

But ultimately I got the ceiling painted.

That color is a mix of about 25% Dixie Belle’s Tide Pool and 75% Endless Shore.

I am finding that colors look a lot darker in these small dollhouse rooms than they do on larger objects.  So even with 75% warm white added to it, this Tide Pool looks darker than I expected it to.  Full disclosure, I did paint it first with a 50/50 mix, and then went back over it with the 25/75 and decided to call it good.

My ceiling paint job is definitely less detailed than the original, but my dad had the advantage of painting it as he was putting it together.  He didn’t have to use a mirror 😉

For one last touch, I applied Dixie Belle’s Gold gilding wax to the plaster medallion around the chandelier.

That brings me to the electrical.  I have to admit, I have no idea how I’m going to tackle that.  I know nothing about wiring, and thus I have no idea how to replace any of the hard-wired light fixtures throughout the house like this chandelier.  Not to mention that of course the wiring was done as the house was being built, so I can’t really get to most of it.

None of the lights on the first floor are currently working, including this dining room chandelier, but most of the lights on the upper two floors are still working.  So do I replace the dining room chandelier with a more attractive, but non-functioning version?  Do I attempt to fix the wiring somehow, and re-wire a new light?  That’s a problem for another day.

**Update:  since I originally took the photos for this post, handyman/neighbor Ken came over and he suggested I play around with the fuse box.

Yes, the dollhouse has a fuse box!

And as it turned out, one of those tiny 8 switches on the upper right side was flipped down.  So we flipped it back up and voila!

The lights on the first floor are on.  For the most part anyway, there are a couple of burnt out bulbs.

So, to recap, one wall in the dining room has the paint inlay, sideboard and two chairs.

On the opposite wall I’ve hung a trio of military panoramic photos that I purchased from The Curated Farmhouse on Etsy.

I’ve placed the trunk below them, but I’ll be on the lookout for something else for that spot that feels more ‘dining room’ to me.  This trunk is most likely going to end up in the principle bedroom.

The rug, dining table and chairs are in place.

So for now I’m calling the dining room ‘done’.

Down the road I’d like to find small details to add to the room, like a nice floral centerpiece for the table, and maybe some dishes, etc.  At some point I need to deal with both the front foyer and the stairwell that are visible behind this room.

But for the most part, one room down, eight to go.  Plus that stairwell and foyer, plus the exterior.

I don’t want to rush things though.  I’m having way too much fun with this project!  Also, I’m sure that over time I’ll be adding things, and taking things away.  Much like with any sort of decorating, things can continually be evolving and you’re never really ‘done’, right?

Be sure to leave a comment and let me know what you think of the new and improved dining room.

get it right the first time.

Published on by Quandie15 Comments

Billy Joel says you have to get it right the first time, that’s the main thing.  But I beg to differ.  Sometimes it takes several tries before I get it right.

Such was the case with this 1:12 scale trunk.

Now, what I should have done is take photos of each attempt so that I could share them with you, but I didn’t do that.  Drat!

But I can tell you that I initially painted this trunk in Dixie Belle’s Drop Cloth, which was a bit boring.  But it was intended to work as a bed side table in the guest room of the dollhouse, and both the bed and the armoire already have a lot of detail to them.

But when I put the trunk in the room, it was both too plain, and too ‘matchy’ since both the bed and the armoire are also painted in Drop Cloth.

So then I thought it might be fun to decoupage one of the Tim Holtz Worn Wallpaper Scraps around the outside of the trunk.  So I picked one out, and used Mod Podge to apply it.  And then I put the trunk back in the room, and realized that the floral wallpaper was too much.  It overpowered the more subtle transfers on the bed and armoire.

So I used warm water to help me scrape that paper back off the trunk, and then I painted it in Dixie Belle’s Sawmill Gravy.  I thought maybe that would be enough of a color difference to work next to the Drop Cloth pieces.

That would have worked OK, but it didn’t wow me.

So that’s when I decided that maybe the trunk just wasn’t going to work in that room, and I should just do whatever I wanted with it not knowing where it would end up.

So I painted it in Dixie Belle’s Dried Sage.  Then I used my super skinny tape to mask off some grain sack stripes that I painted in Drop Cloth.  Once everything was dry, I sanded to distress and then added one of the re.design with prima knob transfers.

I finished off the outside with some of Dixie Belle’s Big Mama’s Butta.

As for the inside, I left that painted in the Sawmill Gravy, and I used one of those Worn Wallpaper Scraps to line the bottom.

Sweet.  But probably no one will ever actually see the inside of the trunk.

While I had my paint out, I also painted up two more chairs for the dining room.  I decided that I wanted two extra chairs to sit on either side of the sideboard, as well as four chairs for around the table.

In case you don’t remember, here is what the original set of 4 dining room chairs look like.

Unfortunately, I used up the last of that particular re.design with prima knob transfer on that set.

But I decided that I could paint up two more chairs in the same colors and style (here are the full details on that project), and then add a different knob transfer and they would still work.

I have to confess, I got a bit sloppy with those grain sack stripes this time around.

But that’s OK, that transfer helps disguise them a bit.  And these chairs will be tucked under the table for the most part.

Speaking of which, on Friday I’m going to share the reveal of the full dining room makeover!  So be sure to check back!

the sideboard.

Published on by Quandie26 Comments

I needed a sideboard for the dining room of my dollhouse, so I did a bit of searching online.  I wanted something that would fit in with my French country cottage style.

So many of the sideboard/buffet pieces out there have more of a Victorian vibe.

But eventually I decided on this one from Miniature Crush.

It came with drawer pulls in that classic Colonial style that I don’t really love.

If you’ve followed me for long, you know that I used to take these off full sized furniture too.  They just aren’t my favorite look.

To help make the sideboard look a bit more cottage-y, I ordered some cup pulls to use on the drawers instead.

OK, they are really teeny tiny and I struggled to get a good photo of them.  Just hang on for a minute and you’ll see them in place.

I first gave the piece a light sanding with some 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out some of the edges.  I’m finding that most of these unfinished dollhouse pieces have some rough spots.

Next I gave it two quick coats of Dixie Belle’s Gravel Road.

Once the paint was dry, I lightly sanded the edges to distress them.  Then I used some super glue to attach the new cup pulls.

I then mixed some of Dixie Belle’s brown wax with some of their Big Mama’s Butta to make the wax more spreadable and applied that as my top coat.  There are two ways I like to use the brown wax; I either add it after first applying a coat of clear wax, or I mix it with the Butta like I did here.  Otherwise brown wax over a chalk style paint can sometimes appear a bit heavy handed.

I do like the way the brown wax both deepens and warms up the color of the Gravel Road.

I cut some liners for the drawers with some Worn Wallpaper Scraps by Tim Holtz (purchased at Hobby Lobby).

For the most part I tried to keep this piece fairly simple.

You’ll understand why when you see it in place in the dollhouse dining room, and that post is coming up soon.

Now that I’ve worked with these pulls, I’m thinking about going back and changing out the hardware on some of my other pieces.  I may just have to order a few more of them.

Meanwhile, what do you think of the sideboard?  Leave a comment and let me know.

a clean up job.

Published on by Quandie24 Comments

I thought it would be fun to start the new year with a toolbox makeover!

If you’ve been following me for a while, then you know that I sometimes struggle with the decision to paint (or not paint) something.

Such was the case with today’s project, this toolbox that I picked up at a garage sale in September.

After all, it’s pretty much already the color of my favorite neutral white, Dixie Belle’s Drop Cloth.  It also has some good authentic distressing.

However, it was quite grungy, and there was some sort of sticky stuff on the top.  In addition, whoever painted it last time got a little overspray on the leather handle.

The handle also had come apart a bit at the ends, I’m going to call those ends a ‘hanging chad’ 😉

I ended up deciding that it wouldn’t hurt to try cleaning it up to see where that got me.

So, I gave it a good scrub with some TSP substitute and a Magic Eraser, then I gave it an all over sanding with some 220 grit sandpaper to knock off any loose bits.  I then rinsed it with clean water.

Next up I simply snipped off the hanging chads on the handle, and then gave the leather one coat of Dixie Belle’s Coffee Bean.  I sealed the Coffee Bean with some of DB’s clear wax.  That gave the handle a much tidier look, without making it look too ‘new’.

Then I took a step back and re-evaluated.

Not bad.  And since I knew I was going to be adding a lot of floral transfers to it, I felt like it didn’t need a new paint job.

Well … on the outside that is.  The inside definitely needed a new paint job!

So after a good cleaning on the inside, I gave it two coats of Dixie Belle’s Holy Guacamole, followed by their flat clear coat.

In this case, I didn’t bother with using Bonding Boss before the paint for two reasons.  First, there was no rust to worry about.  Second, it already had a coat of paint that had some sort of texture to it and I knew my Dixie Belle chalk mineral style paint would adhere quite well to it without needing that extra step of Bonding Boss.

Next I added a quick transfer to the inside lid.

This one is from the I.O.D. Brocante transfer set.  Once applied, I went over it with another coat of clear flat sealer.

Back to the outside, I first applied florals from the I.O.D. Floral Anthology transfer.

The bee is also from the I.O.D. Brocante transfer.

Next I added some wording from their Label Ephemera transfer to the top of the toolbox.

You may remember that I’ve been complaining that this particular transfer, which has always been a favorite of mine, is retired, and has been getting more and more difficult to find.  I even found one on Etsy selling for $80!  As if.

But then one of my readers reached out to tell me that she found someone on eBay who had two of them left, and would likely accept an offer of $35 each (thanks again for that Melissa).  I made the offer, and it was accepted.  But as she was getting ready to ship them to me, the seller realized that she only had one after all.  One is better than none though, so I still bought it.

Then I ended up stopping by a brick and mortar shop near me (Liza Jane Designs in Afton, MN), and she mentioned that she had a secret stash of Label Ephemera that she’d been saving for herself, but she’d be willing to part with a couple of them.

So when it rains, it pours!

And now I have a stash of three brand new Label Ephemera transfer sets.  Yee haw!

I also added that same segment of the Brocante transfer that I used inside the lid to the top of the lid.  Unfortunately, as I was attempting to place it in exactly the right spot, I got too close to the surface and wham!  it was stuck.  So, it’s not perfectly centered where I wanted it.  But it will do.

You probably didn’t even notice the tiny little detail of a number ’46’ at the bottom of that transfer (you can see it on the version inside the lid), but it didn’t fit in the position it ended up in on the top of the lid so I cut it off and added it to the latch.

Once I had all of the transfers in place, I went over the exterior of the toolbox with some of Dixie Belle’s clear wax to seal them.

With that, it was done.

Personally I’m glad that I went with a clean up job on the exterior rather than painting over that original patina.  Well, semi-original patina.  Obviously this toolbox had been spray painted sometime in the past so this wasn’t its original look.  But, I think there is an authentically aged feel to my final look.

What do you think?  Leave a comment and let me know.

This toolbox is for sale locally.  Check out my ‘available for local sale‘ page for more details.

the year in review.

Published on by Quandie15 Comments

Happy New Year!

At the close of each year I typically like to put together a blog post sort of summarizing the year.

Unfortunately, I suspect that it comes across as one of those annoying holiday letters that some people send out.  You know, the ones where they talk about all of the trips they went on, and how great their kids are doing, and how much they love their new winter place in Aspen.

You know what I mean, right?

But in all honesty, this particular blog post is more for me than for you.

I like to have a summary of the year to look back on later.  I often go back and read  previous year’s posts to remind myself of things that I have done from year to year.  There is a common theme to all of these year end review posts; that I feel like I haven’t really accomplished much this year, but discover upon review that I actually have.

So if you’re annoyed by those holiday letters you may want to stop reading here and just come back later in the week for a less boring post.

But if you’re sticking with me, let’s review 2024 starting with the elephant in the room … a.k.a. furniture painting.  Yep, in the beginning this blog was mainly about furniture painting.  But I have been moving away from that for a while now.  I did do a few furniture pieces in 2024 though.

Well, OK, literally just a few … or well … like maybe 4.

I’ll admit, I mainly did this one because I wanted to use that gorgeous transfer from I.O.D.

I did a couple of other very simple makeovers of pieces that I found really cheap (and/or free) at garage sales, like this bookcase.

But overall 2024 was not the year for furniture makeovers for me, unless you count the miniature ones.

I have been having way too much fun with those.

There is much less heavy lifting involved in painting dollhouse furniture.

I also retrieved my dollhouse from the in-laws, and gave it a makeover on the outside (plan to see more of the inside in 2025).

Once again, 2024 saw lots of toolbox refurbs with the northern grown toolbox being one of my favorites.

I also really loved how the duchesse’s toolbox turned out.

And just to prove I don’t always paint everything in Dixie Belle’s Drop Cloth, I went green with the st. patty’s toolbox.

I have to admit, 2024 wasn’t a spectacular year for garage sale finds.

I did bring home a few goodies here and there though, including this haul from the Tangletown sales.

That little mirrored cupboard was one of my favorite makeovers in 2024.

And remember this guy from the Bryn Mawr sales?

He was an awesome find.

But speaking of sales, 2024 saw the return of the Carriage House Sale!

That was a biggie.  It had been 8 years since my last sale.

It went rather well, so I’m tentatively planning to have another sale in 2025.  This time I want to schedule it a little earlier in the season, late May possibly.  Don’t hold me to that though, we’ll have to see whether or not I can find enough inventory by then.

I did manage a few home improvement projects in 2024 starting with redecorating the q branch.

In May, I painted the shed …

and the fence.

I’m still quite happy with my decision to go with a black stain on the fence.  It does exactly what I want it to do, which is recede into the background and become nearly unnoticeable.

It was lucky that I got both of those projects done early in the season, because the summer ended up being so rainy that I was barely able to find three sunny days in a row to recoat the sealer on our deck.

On a rainy morning in July I finally got around to painting the sections of wall in the dining room that I’d stripped the wallpaper from more than a year ago.

Speaking of all that rain, 2024 ended up being a tough year in the garden.  It started out great.  Things were looking really good.

I initially thought the rain was a good thing for my plants.

I never had to water anything.

But then there was a hail storm.

It did a fair amount of damage, especially to the hostas.

Then the wet weather started to cause other problems like the leaf spot fungus on my lilacs, and a massive earwig infestation on the hostas.

The super wet summer also led to a jumping worm population explosion that I’m going to have to figure out how to control going forward.

And then there was the loss of my neighbor/handyman Ken’s tree.

I’m not gonna lie, I’m struggling with this one.  I can totally blame this loss on the rain as well.  We had numerous storms that led to trees coming down all over in our area, and Ken was worried that his tree would be next.  So he had it cut down instead.

I’m still not over it, and I don’t want to talk about it so let’s move on.

It did lead to me planting a hedge of Quick Fire Fab hydrangeas though, so it will be fun to see how that turns out (hopefully better than my lilac hedge).

Although I did manage to go on a few trips in 2024, they were mostly repeats.  My sister and I went to Disneyworld for the Festival of the Arts back in February.

I visited my mom in Las Vegas in March, but didn’t find anything fabulous at her local Goodwill.

Then I went back again in April with my sister …

and again in October with both my sister and my niece when the three of us also took a side trip to Disneyland.

And we visited the Clark Co. Museum for the first time.

Finally, I also went to Mexico with my neighbor nnK’s family in early December.

Mr. Q and I plan to visit a couple of places that are new to us in 2025, so be sure to stay tuned for that later in the year.

Once again writing this annual post has reminded me that I did get a few things done in 2024.

I totally recommend this exercise for all of you too.  Rather than making a list of New Year’s Resolutions for 2025, take some time to acknowledge the things you’ve already accomplished.  Just get out a pad of paper and make a list of everything you got done in 2024.  You might also be surprised to see just how long that list is.