Now that the lights are done, I secured all the wires this morning. I still have to hide them but I have a plan and will work on that next week. In the meantime I want to move onto decorating for Halloween. I cut out some tiny mice silhouettes last night and put them on the stair risers. The idea is from the Martha Stewart magazine a few years ago.
The house looks so cool lit up…its like magic!
At last I have finished the lights! I made the upstairs bedroom lights from beads (what else) and I used ribbons as trim on the shades. They look better in person then the picture shows. I also figured out the best way to make the harps. I wound the wire around the base of the bulb leaving extra wire from each side. Then I bent those upward but slightly out so that when the shade is put on the pressure of the wires outward holds the shade in place.
I still need to arrange the wiring and divide the lights into 2 groups to have 2 switches. That way either all the lights will be on if I have both switches on or one group of lights on at a time. I still haven’t figured out which lights will be grouped together. Maybe I need 3 switches….
I am finally finished with lamps (I think). All I need to do now is hide all the wires. The last layer is putting in the finishing touches like books, clothes, dishes, pillows, etc.
I went to the Seattle Miniature Show last weekend. It seems to be shrinking every year. The exhibits were down to just a couple of tables and those were in with the sales tables. The sales tables used to take up 2 complete rooms plus a connecting room with the exhibits in another room with a snack bar. I wonder if the show will drop to once a year soon.
I did not find a little friend for Mr. Bunny. I bought some glass vases that will work for 1/24th scale. And some metal frames. Plus I bought a quarter scale house from Debbie Young with some brick paper and some cool shingles.
Back to making lamps today. I finished the baseball lamp and the desk lamp. All and all not too bad. Not perfect but not bad… Next time I will use bulbs that can be replaced. When these bulbs burn out I will not be able to pull them out of the ‘lamp’ as I had to super glue all the components together. In the meantime I will enjoy them!
Tomorrow…more lamps to finish!
I am trying my hand at making the lamps for the house. I figured it I would finish all 5 in one afternoon. It took me all afternoon to make just one! There was a big learning curve it turns out!
I bought the beads and used super glue to assemble the lamp bases. All good. Then I got out a soldering iron to make the lamp harps to hold the shades. I cut wire and kept burning myself trying to solder the pieces together. I gave up on that after I found some directions on ‘about miniatures’ .com. That method was to take your wire and wrap it around the bulb base, then bend the wires over the bulb and twist them together and cut off the extra. So I used a version of that and put away the soldering iron.
I had to make the shade about 5 times just because I kept measuring wrong…
Then I burned out the bulb and had to thread through a new one.
The bad thing about wiring after the house is finished is how to hide the wires. So that was challenging since the dressing room is in the middle of the house.
So now I will move onto the other lamps and hopefully it will go faster!!
I have always wanted to make a gingerbread house for Halloween so I finally did! It was pretty easy and I am happy with the way it turned. It was just a little challenging getting it small enough.
I also glued a cover to the table. I may also paint the rest of the table and chairs to match.
I don’t think so! It takes me a long time to get a project done so I am starting now in my miniature world. Last night I finished a little haunted gingerbread house. I will have a photo of that up soon.
I have also made curtains for some of the windows. I found ribbon and use Fabri-Tac to finish off the seams. Then I had to wait 24 hours for the glue to set before I could wet them down and arrange them. They turned out pretty well and I am happy with them.
I have also started the lighting. I have some lamps to finish but I need to design the shades first. I am going to try my hand a soldering the frames.
And then rugs are on my list.
Tonight I got to work on hooking up some lights in the house. I will need to hide the wires but I never know what kind of lights I will want to use until I decorate so I always need to find a way to disguise the wires. I am happy with the under cabinet lights in the kitchen but there is a slight glow through one of the cabinets. I am not sure how to disguise that as I already glued in the cabinet unit. Ah well…I will think of something!
I am back to work a little bit on my dollhouse. Ann Maree, my friend from New Zealand, has been visiting for the past 3 weeks. We went to Dolly’s Dollhouse in Seattle and the Dollhouse Cottage in Kirkland (we went with Michelle, my sister-in-law, and had a fun day). I bought the boat at Dolly’s as well as some other furniture…amazing prices! A great store to dig around in and find some treasures! Sandy, the new owner of the Dollhouse Cottage, opened for us by appointment and couldn’t have been nicer. She has a very elegant store with artist made miniatures as well as building components and wallpaper. She also has several completed and decorated dollhouses in several scales. The store offers classes and workshops and is meeting place for clubs. A great shop to visit if one is in the Seattle area!
I am going to decorate the porch of my little house for Halloween. I figure I better start now or I won’t get it done. Of course I have last year’s Pottery Barn catalog for inspiration!