Mini Accessories Projects

Dollhouse upcycle project: Making 1:12 scale fancy bowls from discarded plastic spout rings

Dollhouse upcycle project: Making 1:12 scale fancy bowls from discarded plastic spout rings

With a little effort and a few items, you can make these lovely porcelain-look bowls for your dollhouse. They will add such a realistic designer touch to a miniature China hutch, plate rail or dining room table. What you will need: First you need to prep the plastic rings by cutting the “bowl” part away from the ring. Carefully use a craft blade if you don’t want to dull your good scissors. Cut as close to the rim of the bowl as you can and then sand smooth any remaining bump left. If your plastic doo-hickey is like mine, there...Read more
Dollhouse 1:12 scale miniature crystal chandelier made from a battery powered LED 15 light string.

Dollhouse 1:12 scale miniature crystal chandelier made from a battery powered LED 15 light string.

Pictures and a description of how I made this elaborate chandelier for my Gothic Victorian room box. This is the Gothic Victorian room box that I made recently. The huge crystal chandelier was a project that I started about 2 years ago, set to the side, and finally finished. This is how I made it. I started with a simple LED 15 light string with a lithium coin cell battery switch. Since I had 15 lights, I knew I needed a 2 tier chandelier with 8 lights on the lower tier and 7 on the upper. I created a metal...Read more
Beach Cottage Room Box Build

Beach Cottage Room Box Build

I recently invested in a better lighting setup in a vain attempt to make myself a better photographer (similar to the expectation that buying new athletic shoes would somehow make one a better athlete). Nonetheless I bought it, and that created the desire to build a better room box for taking photographs of my miniatures. With summer drawing to a close, I find myself wanting to capture the essence of a summer beach vacation, so I can hold on to my favorite season a little longer. To that end, I created a beach cottage room box to use for displaying...Read more
How to make doll house corks for very small bottles.

How to make doll house corks for very small bottles.

Looking for fun and interesting ways to up-cycle all those wine corks you have been collecting? Sure, you could make a wreath, or a cool steampunk style bottle lamp, with the wine bottle and cork, like the ones I made. Here’s something new you may not have seen though: You can make tiny 1:12 scale corks for dollhouses and miniature scenes from full size wine corks with a few simple tools. You will need: A wine cork A hobby knife with break-off blade or a razor blade A 1/4″ or 1/8″ circle hand-held paper punch work gloves An emery board...Read more
Miniature 1:12 Scale Pink Yard Flamingos for Dollhouse or Fairy Garden

Miniature 1:12 Scale Pink Yard Flamingos for Dollhouse or Fairy Garden

I sell the miniatures I make on my Etsy site, and one of my most popular items is my miniature pink yard flamingos. I can’t keep up with the demand, so they are always selling out. They are extremely realistic looking and adorable, if I may say so myself. They are also time consuming to make. I know that I am never going to have a business that pays the bills by selling just them. OK, theoretically, I probably could make about 30 an hour, if I really push it, and do that four hours a day, leaving the rest...Read more
Miniature Yarn Shop Room Box

Miniature Yarn Shop Room Box

I really enjoy making miniature room boxes. They allow so much creativity, and present a fun challenge at times. My friend opened a new yarn shop in Neenah, and I wanted to give her something to celebrate the occasion, so I created a miniature yarn shop scene. This is what the final result looks like. I used her actual shop as the inspiration for my room box. I spent about 25 hours total on this, I would guess, over the period of several weekends. The box itself is made from basswood and foam core, so it is very lightweight, but also a...Read more
Miniature Dollhouse Potted Herb Plants in Wooden Crate Tutorial

Miniature Dollhouse Potted Herb Plants in Wooden Crate Tutorial

This tutorial will tell you how you can make a 1:12 scale miniature pair of potted rosemary and chamomile plants in a wooden crate, like the one pictured here. I apologize in advance, because my pictures are not great. I know that, and I’m trying to improve, but tiny items are difficult to photograph clearly. Please remember that this is not a tutorial on taking great pictures. It most definitely is not. Here is a list of things you will need: – Polystyrene foam microbeads – smallest you can find like around 1 mm in diameter works best (like the...Read more