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3D printed furniture in half scale, from Pretty Small Things and Shapeways

As 3D printing is becoming more common, I’m tempted to buy a 3D printer for use in minis, but the technology is too new (and too over my head) for me to feel comfortable being a guinea pig early adopter. I recently bought some 1:24 scale 3D printed furniture from Pretty Small Things and Shapeways, two stores that do the printing for you, and thought I’d post about the experience for miniaturists who are on the fence.

I placed my Pretty Small Things order around Thanksgiving, when they had a Black Friday sale — discounted prices plus free shipping plus a grab bag if you spent over a certain amount. It looks like their half scale inventory is still discounted, which I hope doesn’t mean they’re trying to clear it out for good.

I bought six “Moderne Dog Bone” chairs, a console table, and a little stool. They’re all made from relatively smooth white plastic.


The grab bag included six tables made from a rougher, off-white plastic. I think these were seconds or prototypes the seller was trying to get rid of. Right after I opened the package, I dropped the coffee table on the floor and one of the legs broke off, but I was able to glue it back on. Lesson learned, though — these are delicate, especially when dropped on a hardwood floor!

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Handmade pot rack and kitchen island in half scale

After finishing up the Rosedale kitchen, I felt like it was missing something. The space is fairly compact but I thought I could get away with a small island up against the room divider, with a hanging pot rack above it. I looked online for half scale pot racks and could only find very pricey handmade ones, so I decided to make my own at a fraction of the price.

Here are the parts I used, from the jewelry area of Michaels:

I started by looking for a metal embellishment to serve as the rack itself. I almost went with a black wrought-iron looking thing, then happened across this circular pendant. I can’t find any evidence of its existence online to link to, but the tag says it’s a ShortCuts “Metal Connector” from Blue Moon Beads. It’s about 1-1/8″ in diameter and if I’m looking at the right item on the receipt it cost $3.99. I bought the chain and the eye pins, which were $3.99 and $2.99 respectively, in the same antique gold color to match the pendent.

The pendent had four jump rings attached to it. I probably should have bought smaller jump rings and a smaller chain, to be more in scale, but I didn’t want to buy a whole new set of jump rings when I only needed the four that came with it. I opted for this chain rather than a smaller one so the jump rings would fit through it. I positioned three of the jump rings evenly around the pendent and connected chain pieces to those, then to the fourth jump ring to hang from.

Next came the hooks. I bought the eye pins as opposed to plain wire so I could neatly make them into hooks by opening up the circular part with needle-nose pliers.

I then cut the wire down and folded the top over the edge of the pendent.

Each hook looks a little different but I think it goes with the “hand forged” look of the metal. The whole thing is kind of bohemian and artsy.

Hanging the pot rack from the ceiling was the hardest part! I didn’t have any very small eyelet screws and even if I had, they wouldn’t have been the right color of metal. I tried poking a hole in the ceiling with the electricity pilot tool and then shoving a hook (made from the same wire as the hooks on the pot rack) into the ceiling, but couldn’t get the pilot tool to make a good enough hole for it to “take”.

Finally, after a lot of wrestling, I managed to screw in the smallest eyelet screw I had, just enough to make a decent hole in the ceiling. I then dabbed the tip of my hook in super glue and shoved it into the hole. So far it’s staying put.

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Rosedale bathroom

I’ve been working on the Rosedale’s bathroom, starting with building a vanity out of basswood. I glued square pieces on the inside corners to support the corners. The stain is Minwax ebony.

I got the idea to make this vanity from a leftover piece from rowhouse kitchen kit. This was supposed to be the front of the refrigerator. I turned it on its side.

I hate the “above ground” sinks that are popular now, but the lady who lives in this dollhouse is trendy! These are 1:12 bowls I got from Miniatures.com a few years ago.

The feet are pieces removed from 1:12 porch spindles. (I used other parts of the spindles for another project I haven’t posted about yet…)

The vanity fits with just enough space for a bathtub behind it. The toilet and tub are from one of the funky bathroom sets I bought from Cascade Miniatures last fall.

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