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Tag: Landscaping (page 1 of 2)

Four seasons roombox — wreaths and critters

I recently placed a custom order with Marion Humphreys (4Hala on Etsy) for seasonal wreaths to go in the rotating roombox. I sent Marion pictures of my scenes and links to other wreaths in her store that I liked. She made two for each season so I could pick the ones I liked best. These… Keep reading »

Dandelions and summer lounging

Of the four seasons, the summer portion of my rotating roombox started out with the least obvious theme. Spring has flowers, fall has leaves, and winter has snow… what about summer? I gave the grass dead patches, but besides that there isn’t anything obvious about the base scene that really differentiates it from spring. I’ve… Keep reading »

Spring planter

My original plan for the spring portion of the four seasons roombox was to make a flowerbed along the wall. Once the scenes were laid out there wasn’t a lot of space for that, plus I would have needed to carry over the flowerbed into the other months, which I didn’t want to do. Instead… Keep reading »

Christmassy plants and a new cat

I’m not doing anything Christmas-related this year — no decorating, no gifts, nothing. I don’t mean to be a Grinch, but it’s really started to bug me how for the entire month of December (and even some of November!) the holiday is foisted on people whether they like it or not. You can’t watch TV… Keep reading »

Autumn leaves

There are a lot of leaf punches available for scrapbooking but they’re usually too big for dollhouse stuff, especially half scale. I went on a hunt for alternatives and found punches for tiny leaves at a European store named Green Stuff World. They have supplies for wargaming miniatures that can be used for dollhouse landscaping,… Keep reading »

Let it snow!

(I live in California, so I can flippantly say “Let it snow!” on Thanksgiving without the risk of it actually happening…) With the bushes finished, I can move forward with landscaping the four seasons roombox. Today I added snow to the winter scene. It was fun! Maybe not quite as fun as playing in the… Keep reading »

Four seasons bushes and mailboxes

My goal with the four seasons roombox is to show the same scene as if it’s progressing through the year. There isn’t a ton of space for landscaping, but the front door has space next to it for a bush. I’ve made bushes before by covering round prickly things out of a jar of potpourri… Keep reading »

Miniature snowman tutorial (half scale)

I’m waiting for something to come in the mail before I can continue with the four seasons roombox. In the meantime, here’s a tutorial for a 1:24 scale snowman. Supplies needed: Wood balls: 3/4″ and 1″ diameter Pin or thin wire Tiny pebbles (or something else) to make eyes, nose, and buttons A few sprigs… Keep reading »

Little House Cabin landscaping

Ever since I finished my Little House in the Big Woods cabin a few years ago, I always intended to add a base with landscaping. I wanted to make a wooded scene with outbuildings and a vegetable garden and cows and horses and a chicken coop and a covered wagon and other details from the… Keep reading »

Tomy Smaller Homes – adding curb appeal

When Geoff and I cleaned up the base of the Tomy dollhouse, we pulled up the grass. I didn’t want to but it was getting ratty, and he wanted to hose off the whole base after scraping off all the old flooring paper, so the grass had to go. Just like sprucing up a real… Keep reading »

Twilight porch vignette in half scale

I recently added email alerts to the blog. If you want to get a brief, non-spammy email when I post a new blog, please sign up on the right sidebar. Years ago, I started a half scale porch vignette and never finished it. In the interest of finishing up some smaller projects before I dig… Keep reading »

Rosedale landscaping – the end!

The Rosedale’s landscaping is more or less complete, so here are pictures of the finished product! But first, a list of handy links to the earlier landscaping entries, that show how we got here: Making the Base | Laying the Patio | Adding Greenery | Finishing the Patio

Rosedale landscaping – finishing the patio

The final stage of landscaping the Rosedale involved finishing the patio and adding a fence. The patio is made from “slate” (actually, plaster) flagstones. They’re textured with very slight color variation that seemed too dull to me, so I decided to spruce them up using the same technique I’ve used in the past with egg… Keep reading »

Rosedale landscaping – adding greenery

With the patio glued down, it’s time to get some greenery into the Rosedale’s yard. The other two dollhouses I’ve landscaped, the Fairfield and the puzzle house, had very colorful gardens with lots of different kinds of plants. For the Rosedale, my mom and I decided on a more subtle look, mostly green with only… Keep reading »

Rosedale landscaping – laying the patio

With the base finished, the next step in Rosedale landscaping was gluing down the patio. I don’t attach my houses to the base permanently, but I do glue down the landscaping elements, so I had to measure carefully and make sure the patio was properly centered. When I first pulled out these flagstones, I intended… Keep reading »

Rosedale landscaping – making the base

This past weekend, my parents visited and I pulled out the Rosedale so we could landscape it together. (My mom is a gardener with a good sense of how to lay out a garden, and my dad’s a woodworker who’s good at things like building swiveling dollhouse bases. They helped me landscape the Fairfield a… Keep reading »

A trellis for the puzzle house

Earlier in the summer I finished the garden for my puzzle house—all except the trellis. I wasn’t sure how to make it look like it had vines woven through it without adding too much bulk to the back to attach it to the house. Yesterday, with my mom’s help, I did the deed… and it… Keep reading »

Half scale window box project in American Miniaturist issue 88

My copy just arrived, so start checking your local mini store for this issue! I wrote a tutorial for the half scale window boxes my mom and I dreamed up for the Fairfield. The window boxes are made from skinny sticks, clay, and sprigs of fake flowers that you can get for cheap at stores… Keep reading »

Puzzle house garden completed

I actually finished this up over Fourth of July weekend, but forgot to post the pictures. Oops. I really liked the trim my dad added to the base of the Fairfield and I wanted to do the same for the puzzle house. Geoff helped with the cutting and mitering. The base is a bit thicker… Keep reading »

Puzzle house path — third time’s a charm

The other day I was mulling over puzzle house path ideas, but wasn’t crazy about either one. Yesterday I came up with a third option that’s a winner—”flagstones” made out of egg carton material. I’ve heard of people using egg cartons to make miniature bricks and stones, but this is my first time trying it.… Keep reading »

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