A Handmade Farmhouse Kitchen Island

Many moons ago, I tried my hand at making a piece of furniture... a kitchen island, for my miniature farmhouse kitchen. It turned out 'ok', but wasn't square, and the more I looked at it, the less I like it. So I put it away and ordered a new island. However, my girls still preferred my crooked little rookie creation. Reluctantly, I pulled it back out recently and worked on it a bit more. I was able to level it up, put a new top on it, and repaint it red for a whole new look. I think I really like it now!

I've mentioned before that this island design was based on my own kitchen island which is made of old house parts, including a tin-ceiling front. :)

{I made a little toolbox for the tools... still have to paint it!)



I wanted the new 'old' island top to look as if it were made of old barnwood... this look was achieved by wiping on and off a little burnt umber and white acrylic paint and then sanding....






I think the little handmade island will be a charming addition to our little house and I'm so glad my girls persuaded me to give it a second chance!

Until next time!

Miniature Patisserie Project

Hello, everyone! First of all, I'm so happy to see that I reached the 100 follower mark overnight! This really thrills me... thank you! I'm so excited to be a part of such a creative and charming little community of miniaturists and I look forward to learning so much from you!

I thought that since I am giving away a new dollhouse kit for one of my Cottage Charm giveaways this month, I'd share a few photos of the kit I'm working on. It's the Storybook Cottage. I've gotten the main parts all glued together except for one side of the roof - I'm waiting until I install the wood flooring in the attic to glue down that side. Also I have the little roofing bits above the bay windows to add as well. I'll be using lightweight spackle on the inside to make the walls nice and smooth and then I'll be ready to add some trim work. I haven't yet decided how to finish the exterior - whether I'll use siding or some kind of sanded stucco or stone - or ...oooh...an aged brick foundation?!... {As if I didn't have enough decisions to make with our real house!} Ah, but this has been so much fun and I've enjoyed working on it here and there when I catch some snippets of down time.



This little house will become a little patisserie. A few months back I made the tiny pennant banner for a cupcake party I had for the girls and used it to decorate the miniature farmhouse kitchen. I couldn't resist {very prematurely} stringing it up in the patisserie for these photos just to get an idea of how sweet it could be.


The little attic space...


The floor has been stained a dark chocolate color. I was thinking about creating a white 1-inch diamond pattern on the floor as well. What do you think?


Oh polka dots! I have such a weakness for you!!!! Especially you red and white ones... *sigh*


I don't know where I'm going to put all these *little* projects that have stolen my heart with their sweetness. Our real house is tiny itself and I'm running out of space!


But I think the patisserie project is just fine right here for now. :)


Have a lovely day, everyone, and until next time, don't forget to keep checking in on the Cottage Charm Giveaway party going on this month. If you want to add a giveaway to the party, that's even better!

A Giveaway - The Buttercup Cottage Dollhouse Kit

That's right... I'm giving away a brand new Buttercup Cottage dollhouse kit. Please click here to read the details and to enter win on my life size blog. The winner will be announced on May 29th. See you there!

Multi-Blog Cottage Charm Giveaway Party!

This is a bit of a crossover post as I wanted to share with everyone what I'm up to on my "other" {full scale} house blog. Every year I host a "Cottage Charm Giveaway" party where everyone is invited to post links on my blog to their own giveaways on their blogs. All of the giveaways are cottage style related - all very charming! I wanted to invite my fellow dollhouse enthusiasts to take a look and participate if they like! I haven't yet posted my giveaway but will a little later on this week and believe me, dollhouse lovers are going to want to see what I'm offering for one of my giveaways! So for more details about this event and to see all the giveaways listed so far, just visit my other blog here. And you are more than welcome to add your own giveaway if you like!

Farmhouse Cabinetry

It has certainly been a while, but I thought I'd share some of the progress I've made on the old farmhouse. It seemed like such a feat for a first timer, but I finally got all of the kitchen cabinetry put together. After gluing each tiny little piece together and sanding everything just right so that all the doors and drawers closed properly, I painted everything only to find that the doors and drawers would no longer close properly! So more sanding... and more sanding ... and more sanding...


I ordered the upper cabinets already assembled {they are not yet hung on the walls in these photos}, but removed the plastic "glass" doors and installed "chicken wire" in their place. For the chicken wire, I just used fabric netting spray painted brown. I was very pleased with how it turned out!

The counter top will be trimmed down a bit and painted to look like dark stained wood. it think it will contrast nicely with all the white, don't you?


I will need to add little handles as well. Can anyone recommend where I could find some sweet ones?


What do you think of the shelf and drawer liner? I decided long ago that Little Rosey Posey's farmhouse should be fun and cheerful {fitting for both Rosey and my girls!}




Never one to know how to work on one project at a time, I've also been working on Rosey's patisserie. This is my first dollhouse built from the ground up and so far it's coming along just fine. Here is the dark chocolate brown flooring - yum! I'm wondering how pretty it might look with a brown/white diamond pattern? So much to think about - and so fun!


I'm using the Storybook Cottage {below} for the patisserie and I think the girls and I have decided that we will paint it robin's egg blue. But more on that later! Hope my mini friends are doing well!

Miniature Farmhouse Cottage Kitchen Progress

It's been a while, but slowly I've been plugging away at the old farmhouse kitchen. With it being my first dollhouse rehab project {or first dollhouse project period!}, it surely has been trial and error! Here is where I started...a thirty year old SAD little kitchen!



I'm going for some real cottage charm with this space, so here is where I am now...

Loving the new shabby old door!


The wall on the left will hold upper and lower cabinets. I've built them....still need to paint and hang them, so I'm holding off adding trim to this wall until after they are installed.


The opposite wall there across from the stove {where the chair is} will hold the sink and some lower cabinets...




In other news, I've begun the mini patisserie. More on that soon!

A Few Tiny Cottage Kitchen Snapshots

I  wanted to let everyone know that I'm making making some progress on my dollhouse remodel. My work is slow because, well, we are also remodeling our real house {a cottage transformation in real life scale!} and we have a million projects going on at once here at home. But progress is progress!

I'd like to share a few snapshots of my dollhouse cottage kitchen remodel so far.  I've finally collected all of the "remodeling" supplies needed to finish it - all of the tiny crown moulding and window trim and beadboard and baseboards...and the lower kitchen cupboards should arrive today.  I have the uppers already, but the lowers will need to be put together, painted, and installed before the beadboard goes up. Wow, just like remodeling a real house! Oh, and my painted tin ceiling is installed along with the kitchen electric wiring, but I haven't taken photos of that yet. Just a few table and floor snapshots...

Right after I started my dollhouse blog, a very talented miniaturist, Tallulah of Tullulah~Belle Originals sent me the adorable little flower arrangement in a tiny teapot you see there on the table. She makes these and is soooo talented! I will take some better, close-up photos of the flowers when I'm closer to being finished with the kitchen {again, these were just random snapshots} but aren't they just precious! Thanks again, Tallulah!

The cake was my second attempt at making anything miniature. {I apologize for the crooked photo...the floors really are level!} The first thing I made were donuts, well before I bought the old farmhouse dollhouse to remodel. I'll always have fond memories of making these little things with my youngest daughter.

Can't wait to make more little sweets! I still have this Storybook Cottage to build when more of the farmhouse is completed. It will be my miniature patisserie.

I love how the "old" plank floor turned out. These planks had to be painted and distressed individually and then glued down one by one once they were dry.  I tried gluing them first and then painting them all at once after they dried, but they all curled up on me when the paint was wet! I had to rip them up and start over, but it was well worth it. A lesson learned!

I bought the vintage style table set at Hobby Lobby. It had been on the shelf for several weeks because a table leg was broken along with a couple of chair legs.  So I asked the manager if I could have a discount and he gave the set to me for just $10! I superglued it all back together and painted it. I still have to distress the edges of three of the four chairs. It's a bit challenging to work with such small pieces. One little oops and you've practically sanded a table leg right off!

For those of you who may be new to my site, my dollhouse blog is mainly used to tell a fictional story centering around the house and it's remodel, but I'll be updating it here and there with little sneak peeks and updates, too. Thank you for coming along on this fun adventure with me!

{Oh, and for what it's worth, here is a shot of what the little kitchen looked like before I started.  Quite scary, eh?}