A very long time ago Katie sent me a little 'House of Miniatures' kitset to make a Hepplewhite side table.
I have finally made it and found the perfect spot for it in the lounge. I need to do something to 'country up' those lights!
I think the table needs some little house keys on it. I bought the little jar of roses on a trip to Melbourne.
I have finally made it and found the perfect spot for it in the lounge. I need to do something to 'country up' those lights!
I think the table needs some little house keys on it. I bought the little jar of roses on a trip to Melbourne.
Sorry about the lack of posts lately. I look after baby Lucy three days a week now and it's very exhausting and doesn't leave me with much spare time.
Thank you for all the blog awards!
Mercedes
And here we have the final stop on the tour, the kitchen. 
The kitchen before the renovation, the white sink top I removed and used when I made my new cabinets. (Unfortunately I threw out the birdcage, now I wish I had kept it!). 
The kitchen is on the ground floor with two doors through to it from the lounge. 
The loaf of bread came all the way from Hanna in Finland and the knife was made by Sabiha. The cake mixer was something I couldn't resist, I bought it at the show.
The sweetest little block of butter is such a perfect replica of the butter we have here in New Zealand it was given to me by a lovely lady at the show.
The coffee pot I bought at the show, it was terribly expensive but I have wanted one for such a long time.
Now, the fridge is still not quite finished, it needs a handle, I have an idea of what I want to use now I just have to find it. 
And here is what I used to make the fridge...once again from the Japan shop. I couldn't believe my luck when I found this box and it was exactly the right size. I sanded off the top to corners to make it more rounded.
That tiny whisk on the table was made by Sabiha and a lady at the club made the tiny box of cream. The book on the table is titled 'What's for dinner?' The cupcake was from Katie and the basket of bread from Hanna. 
The cute little board with the primitive house on it was given to me at the show by Carolyn (who gave me the butter) who found my house inspirational! She also gave me the sign by the notice board there, it says 'Just do your best'. Because she said so many lovely things about my house (Carolyn really liked all my primitive and country things) I made her some country canisters to give her on the Sunday morning. But she came to me first with some little gifts! So I even did a swap at the show! 
The chair came with the house. It was painted shiny brown. I repainted it cream and then sanded it a bit and now I think it really looks like distressed wood.
The second hand dresser I painted and papered to match the cabinets I built. There's one of Rosanna's teensy teapots on top and a beautiful ceramic French bead from Sans that says 'bourjois'. 
Sylvia's gorgeous baby plate and bread container, the rooster is a wooden button.
Next stop on the tour...the lounge. This is a big room (same size as the master bedroom) it still needs a lot more things to make it cosier. 
The lounge before. 
Here's the fireplace I installed to hide the wiring. That beautiful basket of flowers was made by Sylvia. Katie, it's a bit hard to see but that's a mini I made of the Mary Englebreit card you sent me. 
And here's the fireplace as it looked when I bought it...until I got the paint out and distressed it. 
And here is an original oil painting done by my mother! It's no more than an inch long. Mum bought the little frame at the show and surprised me with this painting. The scene is Rangitoto Island, a local landmark here where I live. Like my sister, mum usually paints big pictures and sells them...and before you ask, yes, I can paint...but I don't! Too many other interests!
The old fashioned radiogram in the corner I made at the club. And I just threw that church pew in there to fill up the gap (I think I need a bookshelf there). I made the church pew from a pattern in a magazine. 
The coffee table I made from some scraps of wood. Sometimes at the club people will give their offcuts away, they always come in handy. When you don't have any power tools at home it's always a challenge to see what you can make out of the bits you have! The rug on the floor I made from a piece of tapestry fabric that happened to have designs in rectangle shapes on it. (Easy, peasey lemon squeezy Rosanna!) 
There's the library table we made a the club, it was a lot easier than it looks! And that's my teensy basket of knitting made by Sabiha. The chair is the same as the Noah's Ark one in the bedroom. 
Another cute little shelf I made, of course Liberty thinks it should be a ladder. (Please excuse the lump of blu-tack showing under Sylvia's brocante jug, lol!)
And someone crafty must live in this house because along with the knitting there's a little basket of patchwork waiting to be done.
Here is the bathroom before the renovation. 
The bathroom is on the second floor with a door through to it from the master bedroom. 
I haven't decided exactly where the furniture will go permanently yet. I found that pretty pitcher and bowl at a market, the mirror (and candles above the bath) were a gift from Sylvia. 
I made the little shell picture above the bath with some of the worlds tiniest shells from a beach near my house, some of them are only 3mm long.
I bought the little bottle of 'Stain Away' at the show (very expensive!). 
And here's another example of Anne's genius, the linen cupboard. It is the chimney breast on the other side of the wall behind the bed. We were going to put a door on it but decided it would be more interesting to have open shelves, I still need to make some linens to go in there, the towels are made from a set of baby wash cloths from the $2 shop, they were the perfect colours. Rosanna's beautiful floral basket is filled with vintage laundry supplies and Katie sent me that teensy basket (it's hiding the end of the skirting that I haven't finished properly yet, lol!) I think I need a little tiny vacuum cleaner to go under the bottom shelf! The mesh cupboard was made by a lady at our club (I bought it before I knew how to make things!). The beautiful vintage 'tin' jug (along with all the other brocante in the house) was made by Sylvia. 
The shelf of canisters I made just before the show, the paint was still wet when I stuck it on the wall. The butlers tray and perfume bottles I made also.
Firstly, the stairs - you can see in this before picture the stairs were in a rather bad state when I got the house. I bought a new set of stairs but Anne (who helped me with the wiring) thought they would look better all faced with kauri (a native New Zealand wood which we buy in various thicknesses for making our minis). 
I would still be sitting here years from now wondering what to do about the stairs if I hadn't had Anne's help. She even made a nicer rail for the stairs. 
The other major change is the shelves behind the bed. In order to have somewhere to hide all the wiring I needed to have a chimney going up through the middle of the house, it was an absolute brainwave from Anne to add the shelves in there to give it more character.
And there's nothing I like more than having shelves to fill, (just ask my hubby, my obsession with 'stuff' drives him nuts in the real house lol!). The lights in this room were made by a lady at our club, the shade is a jewelery making thing and she makes porcelain flowers and sticks them on. The one in the ceiling unfortunately gets knocked around a bit. 
There's my sweet little Finnish kitty hiding under the stairs, a gift from Hanna. Rosanna's basket from Italy is at the top of the stairs. 
This beautiful painting is an original painted for me by my very talented little sister, Narina. She usually paints enormous pictures of little girls, they are stunningly beautiful. 
This chair I made from a kit that came with a magazine but I covered it with my own fabrics, the flowers in the vase I learned to make at our club, sorry Jane, there's nothing realistic about them! 
The sweet little hot water bottle I bought at our last show two years ago, it was my one expensive purchase back then...I spent quite a bit more this year!
And here is the most beautiful shelf that Sylvia made for me. The Paris tin is a little metal mini I painted. The perfume bottles are all made from beads and that gorgeous tiny Eiffel Tower was a gift from Sans in Singapore. I made the picture and little tassel at the last minute before the show because I needed something to hang there. The box on the floor came from Marlies, she had gifts in it for Liberty which I've cleverly managed to borrow! 
Here's the little bedside cabinet I made at the club, I still have to put a handle on the drawer, what is it with me and handles? lol! Notice the wardrobe still has no handle either. The beautiful tea cup and teensy spoon was a gift from Katie in America. I scanned an Eiffel tower postcard Sylvia sent me from France and miniaturised it, on the floor is a letter and a brochure for a cruise, along with a packet of Sealegs (travel sickness pills) Sans, I can almost hear you thinking up a story.
The little trinket box with the Angels on the lid I made. The bottom is a bead and the Angel lid was a nose or belly button stud (I wouldn't know the difference between the two!) I got at the $2 shop, I thought $2 was a bit much for something that small! lol! The beautiful jar of flowers I bought in Melbourne, it came with the little 'Miss you' sign, they were rather pricey (by my standards!) but I couldn't resist! Sometimes you've just got to treat yourself! 
