Chairs and a hutch

I got more done this weekend than I have in a very long time.  Which is so ironic because I thought I was not going to be able to work on anything because of my work schedule. 

Today I got the hutch done for the Tea Room, and I also got the chairs done.   I tried to go with a slight shabby chic look.....I didn't want it to be too distressed but just a tad.  Keeping with the very girly pink and green, that is what I painted the chairs.  I also wanted it to be slightly eclectic, so I made sure I didn't use 4 of the same chairs.  I wish I had 4 different styles in my stash but I did not and so I have 2 different styles. 

I used a Michaels hutch (thanks again Sonya...), and I left it alone.  No bashing this time, but I painted it an off white (sorta cream), and lined the back with a pink polka dot scrapbook paper that co-ordinates with the other colours of the Tea Room.  In the picture it looks rather yellowish, but it's not.  It looks very nice in the room and matches nicely with the cream colours in the wallpaper.

The paper that you see in the picture is the room that these items will be in once the whole project is done, unlike the picture I posted of the couch and chair.

Thoughts?

Nursery Dresser

Funny how things work out.....I thought this weekend I was going to be too busy to work on Minis but I managed to get a few projects completed that were started previously.  This is one of them.  I actually started this last week, but finished it up today.  I'm very pleased with the outcome and it turned out better than I had hoped.  If you are a regular follower, you would have seen a post about a dresser that I was painting, but the stain kept bleeding through, making the dresser pink.  I decided to use that item for another project, and had to start from scratch making a new dresser for the nursery.

I decided to do a little hutch bashing.......so I started with this Michael's hutch.




 I removed the upper part of the hutch, the shelves and doors.  It didn't come off very cleanly though and became a much harder job. 

 I had to remove the piece that didn't come off with the top.  It was glued on there pretty good.  It took me a lot of cutting and prying. 

When I did get it all off......it left the top of the dresser pretty marked up.  I tried to sand it and nothing really worked.  I decided to keep it that way and when it's in the scene, I will cover it and it won't be noticeable.

 So, it doesn't look much like a dresser at this point, so I removed the doors on the bottom.  Then realized that the foot is broken, and I had to glue that.

From this point, I had to cut some wood big enough to cover the opening, and then make some "drawers".  I didn't take pics of this process......it's just better seeing the final product.

I found these incredible little jewelry findings that looked exactly like drawer pulls to me.  So with those, and some head pins (cut short), I made some pulls for the drawers.

Using my pliers, I was able to attach the pulls to the drawers with no problem.  Didn't even have to use glue, it's in there pretty tight.

That was the last step........and here it is, all finished.  Doesn't it look fantastic?  You can hardly tell it was Michaels hutch.

Mini pic of the day (Jul 26&27)

So yesterday I was out most of the day and I didn't get to post my pic, therefore today you get 2 pictures. Yay!!!!

They are both from my miniature Valentine Shop (1:12 scale).  One is a tray of purfumes that I made from some beads and jewelry findings.  The other shows one of the shelves in the shop.

Nursery Changing Table

So....as you know (if you've been reading my blog) I have the Vermont Farmhouse Jr.  I purchased it in 2006 and seven years later, it's still a work in progress.  This was my first miniature purchase, and the building of the house was fast and looks wonderful.  It's just the inside that I have been struggling with.

Earlier this year I electrified it, and I have slowly been trying to get it decorated.  It should not have taken me this long to get this far....which really isn't that far at all.

A while ago I started to work on the nursery in the house, and wanted to make a changing table.  I didn't feel like building it from scratch, so I bashed a Michaels hutch.  Long before I got my new supply of hutches in waiting.

So because I started this project a while back, some steps are missing as far as pictures go, but I will explain those steps.

This is the hutch that I started with.  The first thing that I did was remove the whole upper part of the hutch.  This usually can happen quite easily if you put pressure on both ends like you want to snap it in half.  However, if that scares you, you can always take a saw to it, and saw the top half off.

This is where I didn't take a picture of the hutch with the top off.....so bear with me.  I used some thin stripwood and cut to size and glued it along the back of the table and sides (see pic).  I also removed the two outer doors because I want to be able to see the shelves, but I kept the middle door.  Then I painted the whole thing white.

Next step was to put a changing pad on the table.  So I cut a piece of thin cardboard from a Cola case to fit in the opening on the top of the table. 

Next I cut a piece of felt to put on top of the cardboard to give it a softer look.

I trust that so far these instructions are pretty easy to follow.....So now I just dry fit the cardboard and the felt on the actual table to make sure it's a good size.  Dry fitting is so important.

Looking good so far.  Now I picked out my fabric that goes with the nursery theme and I cut it a little larger than the cardboard, about a 1/4 inch around.

I glued the felt onto the cardboard and then I snipped the corners of the fabric to make it easier to glue around.  And lay the cardboard, felt side down on the "wrong" side of the fabric.

Now it's the scary part....gluing the fabric in place.  I like to use Aleene's Quick Dry Tacky Glue.  It's my favourite as it doesn't take hours to dry.  I can't get enough of it.  Anyway back to the fabric!  Put a small line of glue on the edge of the cardboard and turn the fabric over, press into place and then what I do is use clips to hold it in place to dry.  It shouldn't take very long to dry, and then you can do the same for the other sides.

Once it's dry, I glued it into place on the table and voila......a super duper easy peasy nursery change table. 

I hope you liked this post.....and I can't wait to fill it with tons of goodies.  Oh and if you haven't guessed yet.....IT'S A BOY!

Update

Just a quick update post.  So, Michael's hutches......gone right?  Well I have a friend that found a bunch at a Michael's quite a bit away from where I live.  She was nice enough to pick me up some....15 to be exact.  I am so happy to have a bunch of these in my stash.  You never know when you might need one, or bits of one.  I love hutch bashing..... So thanks bunches Sonya.

In an attempt to blog more often I have decided to do a daily post called "Mini Pic of the Day".  It's exactly what it sounds like.  I take a picture of some random miniature thing and post it.  Old projects, something someone has sent me, trash to treasures etc....

Hopefully that will get me more dedicated to this blog.  That being said, it's always better to write when you have readers.....so please feel free to pass along this blog and encourage people to follow it.  The more the merrier. 

Crystal

A Little Crazy About Mickey Mouse

Hi everyone.....it's been a while since I posted anything but I just finished a small project so I thought I would post about it.

Not sure if any of you know, but I collect PEZ dispensers.  Recently a friend ended up with a bunch and knowing that I collect them, decided to give me them.  One at a time.  Over many months....
They are a very welcome addition to my collection.  It got me thinking that I needed to do something in return, to say thanks.   Which brings me to this project.

She loves everything Disney, and since Mickey Mouse is the Big Cheese....I decided to do a small filled hutch for her.  Mickey Moused out !!!

I started with one of those little hutches that Michaels sells, or rather used to sell.....man I am going to miss those.  This one to be precise.  I forgot to take a before picture so I got this one online. 

Michaels Hutch, unfinished.

I removed the feet and removed the doors on the top.  I also removed the door knob from the middle cabinet door.   My goal was to make the hutch look like Mickey Mouse.  So I painted the top part of the shelf black, and the bottom half red.  I pained the door knobs white to look like the buttons on Mickey's pants, and I used yellow pony beads on the bottom as feet.  I lined the back of the shelf with scrapbook paper that was a red on red with Mickey heads.  I gave it a once over with satin varnish....at first I was not happy with that look, but now I like it.

The painted shelf before filling it.

Once I had that finished I had to come up with stuff to fill it with.  This took me a little longer than planned, but very happy with the outcome.  On the bottom shelf (above the cupboards), I decided to make a picture frame and put a picture of my friend and her husband from Disneyworld.  I had to find one on facebook (blushing....since she will likely be reading this.....Sorry SC !!) I made the frame out of 3 black buttons to look like a Mickey Head.  I love the way it turned out.  I also put a little tea towel with a Mickey Head, and a cookie jar made to look like Mickey out of some painted beads. 

Picture frame, cookie jar and towel (can't see it but it has a Mickey head on it).

The top two shelves were also fun to do.  I took a white tea pot and put a Mickey head on it....spelt out Mickey with letter beads, and took a square wooden piece and stuck these cute Mickey tile stickers on it to resemble some kind of decor.  I think of it as a box that is holding tea possibly.  The next shelf has two Mickey glasses and two "Collector" plates (made from paper).

Tea Pot, plates and glasses.

So here is a look at the finished product.  I think it's super cute.  Hopefully she will like it.
I left the bottom cupboards empty....that way I can make more stuff for her to put in it.....sort of spread the love like she did with the PEZ dispensers. 

ALL DONE

Oh, one last thing.......I had to sign my work right!  So on the back I left my mark.