Bring in the New:

Happy New Year, I hope you had a lot of fun and happy times between Christmas and New Year's Day.

I have been working on my mini bathroom. People wonder why on earth it takes so long to complete a miniature bathroom. I have to do a lot of thinking and real life just gets in the way. I know the miniature world understands.

Elizabeth of StudioE Miniatures (go there right now and enter in her amazing give away and then come right back), had suggested I put a window-lite above the door to break up the dominant blue wall.  Obliging sidekick Bruce soon had a hole cut in the wall so it could be done.  I have to be very careful what I wish for as he interprets every wish as a command!

Yes, it greatly improved the look of the wall.  More mini consultations on the phone with Elizabeth. I do hope you have been over to her blog and entered her give-away!!  On her recommendation I have installed crown molding ...... and it is perfect!  The blue wallpaper is now contained and looks right at last.

A light fixture has been added. The bath has been spray painted copper. I have to give a nod to Brae of Otterine as she gave a tutorial on painting and aging her bath in the haunted house.  Thank you Brae. I did not age the bath as that is not the style of this mini house.

The upper floor that includes the childrens room, upper bathroom and attic has not been affixed permanently which is why you can see a different colour on the left edge of the ceiling.

Light switches for each room are made with domed jewellery findings. I added a small illusion of a toggle to the hole in the middle with a piece of flat toothpick painted black.

It is always fun to make bead bottles. The pedestal soap dish is made with a clear plastic suction cup. Can you see the little painting of a lady behind the button jar?
The bottom drawer of the cabinet is filled with toilet rolls.  This is need to know information only.

The towels are made from a linen handkerchief delicately edged. The previous towels had a blue stripe that I thought would help tie in the colour of the walls. I prefer these ones. I made the towel rod from a piece of brass rod and attached it to the wall with earring backs cut in half to create supports.

A new gold/black jersey dressing gown - previous one was blue paisley cotton.  Yes,  jersey is difficult to work but I was encouraged by Fatima's use of jersey for the dressing gown she made for the Green Dolphin Street cottage.

The floor mat is a photocopy on suede paper, sized for the area. I dulled the shine on the sconces and light fixture with Revlon matt nail polish $7 - a cheaper but effective alternative to Elizabeth's use of  Chanel matt nail polish that she illustrated on one of her tutorials.

Bath Side:
Bath rack, made by Bruce, contains bead bottles, fimo soap in a shell,  a natural sea sponge.  A towel of fine cotton corduroy drapes over the edge.

 The jewellery-finding candlesticks with pill capsule chimneys and Q-tip candles are two of a large collection that Elizabeth and I made several years ago. Roses in a glass canister.  I do note that the clock has taken a bit of a tumble.

Elizabeth made the bead brass-look pedestal and the fimo soaps it contains. Mini pom-poms for cotton balls. Towels in the cabinet and this utility shelf are made with white baby washcloths tied with silk ribbon.

The Attic:

The attic is beginning to fill. The metal child's bed came from the Seattle Show last year. The Edwardian hat and purse sits on a suitcase made by Fatima. The hatboxes were made by Elizabeth.

 At last I have been able to match the original rug by enlarging it and printing a copy on suede paper. I added the fringe using a piece of grosgrain ribbon that I carefully stripped to reveal the warp and then attached with glue. The doll's pram was made by Elizabeth, christening gown on cupboard by Fatima.

If you have not seen the children's bathroom, and would like to,  you will find it in previous posts: April 2010 Attic Bathroom and more on the children's room at: March 2013 Children's Room

It's time to pack away the Christmas decorations.

.... but before you go, a bit of levity - not Miniatures.

I noticed Liberty Biberty showed her vintage elves that she bought when she visited Kim in California.

I also have an elf. I estimate she is at least 65 years old. My Mother gave her to me when we first settled in Canada. The elf had been on my family Christmas' trees when I was a child but I will ask my Mother when I visit her for her 90th birthday in Australia in early February if she remembers just how old the elf is.

I wanted my Grandchildren 7, 5, 4 and 1 year olds to take notice of her - just telling them about her sentimental value to me did not seem enough for them to connect with her. I had noted the Elf on the Shelf blogs and decided we should do something similar to make it a special part of our holiday gathering each year.

So this is what we did together. In brief.

Elf decided she needed an adventure before she went back to the Land of Storage.

She met some of the GI Joes but they didn't want to share their play area and a snow-ball fight ensued.

Elf was captured.

A superhero came to her rescue.

They decided they could have an adventure together.

Skateboarding was fun.

Elf taught superhero how to play Uno.

and they played cars too.  It's great to have friends!


So friends, thank you for visiting.  Enjoy all the small adventures in your life and keep healthy and happy.

regards Janine and Bruce