The Garden Room

This room was inspired by the plastic plant square that I picked up at the dollar store during Easter.  I thought it would make a great plant wall, but this isn't the room I envisioned, so I will make another attempt at a later date, (TRANSLATION: you'll be seeing this plastic plant square again).  I finally got around to making my first sofa and attempted to follow the tutorial by Pepper of MitchyMooMiniatures, but I detoured (almost immediately) from the tutorial because I suck at following directions, but it was a great guide. I used foam core and wood, and the wood was pre-cut, so it actually turned out to be a love seat.  I need WAY more practice and I think I'll really try to stick to the tutorial next time (I'm sure it'll save a lot of time)!  The credenza is a pimped out iPhone box. The coffee table is a bracelet topped with a mirror.  The wall mirror is a painted purse handle.  The chairs are CB2 painted chrome.  The purple table is a hair product top. The assorted flower vases are pen parts. The white hanging pendant is made from paper.  The rug is a napkin.  I replaced the back of the Lekman box with a wine rack.  My favorite thing of all are the colorful wine bottles that I ordered from an eBay seller in China and couldn't wait to get.  Paper and accessories are from Michael's and HBS Miniatures.  Well, I think that covers it.

Welcome to a few new followers!  It's always exciting when someone joins in! I can never believe that someone actually interested in seeing what I'm doing.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!   Beany

Poolside Livin'

Recently, I purchased a huge Moroccan style lantern from Z Gallerie for the patio and I thought it would make a great cabana for a mini scene.  Stop, let me start over, but with the truth:  I already owned a smaller version of this lantern and wanted to do a scene in it, but there wasn't much floor space, so I bought the larger one because it had twice the floor space, but of course, it will go on the patio with the smaller one, so, yeah, I bought it for the patio. :)

Summer is my favorite season!  I love hanging out at the pool and I love going to the beach.  I could lounge 24/7, but work prohibits that.  But, every weekend I'm chillaxin' poolside or ocean side!

I took three sets of pictures; outdoors in the sun, outdoors in the shade and indoors.  I'm starting with the outdoor pictures taken in the sun and I hope you can get past the shadows, background and cut out pattern on the walls.  It may be a little distracting, but I think it's interesting. I'll end with the indoor shots, with white paper behind the cut-outs, so you can see what's actually in the room.  I should probably start with those pictures first, but I don't like them. Does anyone else take 50 pictures only to post a few?

Postcard of Laguna Beach, our favorite beach and hangout spot.

This one was taken in the shade.

These were taken indoors with no distractions.

The lounger, ceiling fan and zebra print pillow are by me.  The floor is a cut up beach mat.  The floating shelf is a box. The mirror is a picture frame. I used cheesecloth for the sheers.  Accessories are items from HBS Miniatures, Michael's, doll accessories and local shop finds.

I hope you're in a summer frame of mind!  As always, I had fun with it!

Until next time, Beany.

Shaggy

Greetings all,
I love my lush, plush, long-haired Mongolian lamb pillow from West Elm! It's been with me for about five years.  I keep it in my bedroom to insure its safety from spilled drinks, the cat, the humans and the floor.  Yep, I love this pillow!  So I was running my fingers through it one night, as I often do, and I was thinking about how cool it would be to have a wall like this.  Well, of course, all things are possible in the mini world.  I removed the back from the Lekman box and taped the pillow case to the box and immediately loved it.  I want my own shaggy wall!

The wood grain paper is from Michael's.  I tinted the window with a yellow notebook divider. The rug is a gift bag.  I made the pendants using needle craft grids and lined them with paper. The table lamp base is the lid to a perfume bottle.  The African mask is a key chain mounted on a bamboo coaster and the African statute is a chess piece from my hub's collection.  The large vases are pen parts from Michael's (they have a great assortment and I bought a bunch of these, so you'll be seeing these often because I love big vases).  The flowers are from the yard.  The side table is a candle holder from the thrift store and the coffee tables are painted wooden cubes with acrylic tops.  The fireplace crystals are seed beads.  The mounted boxes are part of a set from minisx2.  The sofa and pillows are by me and the accessories are craft store finds.

While I was working on this post, my scene was violently disrupted by an earthquake (my big clumsy husband!)  Here are shots of the aftermath.  This had to be a 7.5 on the Richter scale!  It could have been so much worse, but luckily I had puttied most of the items in place so I could take the box outside for pictures.

I'm so glad I made a ledge at the bottom of the fireplace!

Until next time, Beany.

Have a great and safe July 4th!

Steppin' Out

This scene was inspired by this greeting card I found at Pier 1 Imports.  Kinda sassy, huh?  Animal prints and bling!  This is not my typical gear for a night out.  Typical...oh, who am I fooling?  I would never wear this, but I do wear leopard print shoes!

This room has been sitting for two weeks, and the longer it sat, the more I tweeked it.  I got a little tired of it.  Lesson learned:  Finish and post (or at least take the pictures).  It's like when I do my Christmas shopping too early.  I leave myself too much time to change my mind about a gift and wind up buying something else or adding to it, so I do most of my shopping the week before.

I painted these chairs today with a metallic paint and the chairs actually look like metal.  The picture doesn't do them justice, but they're quite shiny.  I tried this type of paint some years ago and didn't get the desired results, so it may be the surface material that makes the difference.  I was very pleasantly surprised.

The crap:  OK, so I guess I really don't like this part!  I hit the publish button without doing this section and had to come back and edit.  Hunky Dory pointed out to me that when you're first starting out, this section is a good source of information, and I have to agree with her on that.  I pick up a lot of info and tips by reading this section on other blogs.  So, here we go....the striped wall is the inside of a shopping bag.  The folding screen (which I covered with paper), trunk, and nightstand base are part of a set I purchased from ebay.  The vase and planter ( a sake cup), and gold purse are thrift shop finds.  The white base on the trunk is a chopstick holder.  Palm tree, chaise lounge, pillow, and dress by me.  Accessories are Michael's, Hobby Lobby, and me.

I hope you like it and if you're a new follower, many thanks for joining!

Later, Beany.

Bob Marley....One Love

Bob Marley!  What can I say?  When my family gets together, he's one of the few musical artists that we can all agree on.  No matter what the music preference or the age group, Marley always works.  My son's walls are covered in posters and there are quite a few Marley posters.  So, I got the idea to do a masculine feeling room.....a clean room (which WAS NOT inspired by my son's room!) 

I used a mosaic tile technique on a photo that I downloaded.  There are websites that do this,

 but nooooo, I did it the hard way (well, not hard, but time consuming.)  I wish his left eye had been in one tile, but I was measuring and cutting from the back and really didn't want to do it over.

 

The goods:  The chairs and books are from Hobby Lobby.  The flooring is a vinyl tile.  The table is a piece of acrylic and a napkin ring from Crate & Barrel.  The bicycles are paper clips from World Market.  The Korean masks are magnets from a Korean store.  The succulents in the white containers are from Minnie Kitchen's Etsy shop (I HAD to have them!)  Flat screen is the backside of a make-up container sitting on an easel from Michael's .  The large planters are made from mouthwash bottle caps, one I covered with craft yarn. The white tree is a branch painted white and the green tree is made from a plastic plant. The silver floor lamp is from the 99 Cents Store (and it never did work!  What can I expect for a buck?) Pillows by me.  One Love trinket was a key chain.  Other little accessories are craft store finds.

Thank you so much for following my blog and all the kind and encouraging comments!  I'm just so tickled!  It's nice to share with like minds!  Beany.

brinca dada gone green

So, I'm at work and I get picked up for lunch at the door, but I spot a bright canopy in the parking lot as we roll out.  When we get back, we park, so now we have to walk past the canopy to get into the building.  I work for an air pollution agency, so we always have exhibits and demonstrations for anything that's solar, greener, or burns cleaner.  We're late, so there's much pep in our step.  I look over and OMG, I see a dollhouse!  I know this house!  It's the brinca dada!  I inform my friends that it's the brinca dada!....blank stares.  Anyway, I give them hugs and they're off.  I already mentioned that I was late, right?  I go over and ask some solar-related questions before I get to the good stuff (the house).  It's a company called "Energy Upgrade California" that educates homeowners on "Whole House" energy efficiency (I told them I'd say that).  Now, back to the house:  they ordered it online, then had another company "pimp it out" with insulation, ventilation, heating & air, water heater and solar panels.  I tell them I'll be back with a camera to take pictures (of the house, not them).  I go back to my office (late), grab my camera and inform the boss that I'm leaving to take pictures in the parking lot.  He laughs.  Nice boss, nice place to work, and it's all good!

Here are some pics.  The windows are clear, which is a little distracting in this setting.  The house is BEAUTIFUL!  It made my day! They call it "Barbie's House Gone Green" (I guess they're clueless about the scale, huh?), but I was thinking more along the lines of "Pimp My Dollhouse".

Maybe I should have had them sign a release form, oh well, they'll never see this.

Cutaway of wall system and insulation

Overview of solar panels, insulation and heating,
 ventilation and air conditioning unit (HVAC)

Washer, dryer and hot water heater

Cutaway of roof, insulation and air conditioning unit (AC)

HVAC and insulation

Air conditioning unit on the roof

I had to get some interior pictures, duh!