The Storybook Cottage Gets A Bathroom!

As you know from my last post, I was able to get a new set of Phoenix Models appliance kits to try for a better result than my first attempt. The kits are fairly complicated and take many several steps to complete. To help fill the time waiting for paint to dry and cure, and also for several phases of epoxy curing time, I started on the Storybook Cottage's bathroom. It's fun to finally be working on it, because way back in April 2018 when I began bashing this kit, it didn't even have room for one! Let's take a small walk down Memory Lane...

Original kit attic floor configuration.

 I had to lower the height of the original kit's floor, add in additional floor pieces, create a shed dormer to allow sufficient head space, and then make a dividing wall with a closing door for privacy. There wasn't even a place or plans for stairs to access the attic space in the original kit design, so I really had my work cut out for me! It's been a long and exciting journey, and I am just tickled to begin seeing my plans come to life!

I started with a Chrysnbon bathroom kit but quickly realized I'd have to modify some pieces. Specifically, the toilet had to be modified because the angle of the ceiling left no room for an overhead wall mounted tank. I decided to make a more modern toilet, and this would fit in just fine with the 1940's era plumbing upgrade. The tank seemed a little out of scale in depth, so I trimmed a little off with my mini table saw. I also gave the new tank configuration a top using a piece of scrap wood.

The modifications continued. I wanted to make the medicine cabinet into one with a "glass" door so that I could display some of the incredibly beautiful perfume bottles and vanity/bath things that Elizabeth made for me. Using one of the toilet tank cut offs, I made a shelf and replaced the mirror from the kit with "glass" using the kit's clear plastic packaging.

Just look at those gorgeous perfume bottles and the bath bead jar!

I spray painted all the kit pieces in stages using Rust-Oleum 2X Painters Touch in Heirloom White and Sweet Pea, then sealed and gave a porcelain finish with Krylon Triple Thick Clear Glaze. It's the worst time of year here to be spray painting, so I had to spray in the garage, then bring the pieces in the house to dry and cure. It was a long process!

I figured it would be hard to get good photos in the tiny bathroom with my giant phone and I was right! So, I had a little play time with the room box for photos before I began the actual installation and decorating process in the cottage's bathroom. Here's everything all together...

Here's the adorable little stool with Elizabeth's incredibly amazing tray loaded with bath essentials!

Here's the modified toilet. I used one of the sink taps cut down and inserted into a drilled hole in the tank for the flusher. I used different taps for the sink. The back is pretty ugly looking, but luckily, it's getting glued to the wall! I was also going to fill and sand the crack where the two halves of the toilet meet, but when I got out my Perfect Plastic Putty it had completely dried and solidified. Bummer, but oh well!

I kept procrastinating ordering the Chrysnbon bathroom accessory kit, which is just as well because all I really missed was the soap holder. So I made my own shabby version using wire form, silicon rubber and paint.

I cut out a 4 x 10 square section as that was the width of my bar of soap and about what I figured I'd need length wise.

I made several attempts to carefully trim away the mesh, but the welds were not very strong. I kept getting down to the last few trims and all my work would disintegrate. So, I pulled out the latex rubber and coated the wire.

Then I cut only the outer edges, leaving a 4 x 4 area at the bottom for the soap tray.

Then I bent the lip, the back, and curled the strap around the tub to get the shape I wanted.

Then I painted a couple coats of pink.

The method needs some practice, but it still looks very cute!

I wanted the sink and the mirror above it to be unique.  I added pink legs to the sink in addition to the pink braces that came with the kit. The mirror is a pot metal frame and I used the kit's chain from the flusher to hang it from a doorknob. I originally had a much more interesting doorknob hanger, but silly me forgot to measure the wall height, and it ended up being too long for the economical ceiling height of the bathroom. I just reassigned it as a towel holder.

I found some fabrics I liked online then combined them to make coordinating bath towels and rugs. Here's a photo of the print sheet, and I'll be happy to share a .pdf with you for the price of an email request. jodihippler (at) gmail (dot) com.

And though it is difficult to get photos inside the bathroom for various reasons, hopefully, I'll do a good enough job to give you the idea what you might see if you saw the cottage in person...

And now prepare yourself for some cuteness overload! A few months back, our dear blogger community member Megan of Megan's Tiny Treasures/CreativeMe asked me to get in touch with her. She wanted to send me one of her incredibly charming mouse teapots for the cottage! This is a very difficult proposition, you see, because she lives in South Africa where the postal service is notoriously unreliable. So, when her husband was heading on a trip to Germany, Megan worked furiously (in spite of her crazy work schedule) to create some handmade minis so they could be mailed from there! This was so lovely of Megan, and just wait 'till you see!!!

Mouse Teapots!!! Look how tiny, how perfect and amazingly detailed! The tail is the handle! The colors are splendid, and you are not seeing double - she sent me six marvelous mousies! She originally learned how to make them via a video tutorial by Christel Jensen and has been perfecting them over the years. She nailed them!

Buttons on cards!!! Yes, Megan even makes tiny buttons and sews them on artfully designed cards! She used to sell these among other things at shows, but sadly reports that interest in miniatures in South Africa has become almost non existent. I am sooo excited about using them on pillows and linens for the cottage!

Tiny, sweet little soaps with the word SOAP embossed on them! I apologize for getting the photo upside down, but they're adorable in any direction! Megan... How on earth did you make letters so small?!?

I know you see the paperclip, but you can not imagine how tiny, delicate thin and detailed these plates and strawberry teapot are! Fluby, I know that you are just now coveting my strawberry teapot, and I can't blame you! It's stupendous! Megan says she struggles with tiny painting. Um, yeah. She's amazing!

Megan has recently begun to cast resin houses, and has sent four of them to me! She paints every tiny detail, and I can tell you they are even lovelier in person! These are going to make such nice decor pieces in the cottage and future projects, and I am so honored that Megan has shared her incredible talents and generosity with me. ~Thank~You~Megan~!!! I will treasure them, and our friendship forever!

I thought I'd be finishing the kitchen first, but life is full of surprises. Some of them are even wonderful! I hope to be back really soon with photos of the new appliances at home in the kitchen. Until then, I hope all your surprises this week are good ones!

xo xo,
Jodi

So Thankful...

As those of us here in the United States prepare for Thanksgiving on November 22nd, we're reminded to stop and take stock. Not just of the things we've put up from harvest, or the holes we need to fill in the pantry, but of all of the things in our lives that make us happy and look forward every day. I have many, many blessings to count, but one that I am most especially grateful for are my inspiring, creative and incredibly talented mini friends and followers!

Last winter I was working on a number of miniature bathroom sinks and vanities, and Samantha from Blueprint Minis was beginning to learn how to paint in miniature. Somehow, we worked out a swap. I'd make a vanity for her San Franciscan's basement tenant and she'd make an autumn painting, destined for a future fall themed build, for me. I definitely got the better end of the deal, because Sam's paintings are extraordinary! And because she sent me ~E~I~G~H~T~ of them, I thought she deserved her own mini gallery opening!

It is astonishing to hold these little paintings (the largest measures just 3-1/2" w x 2-1/2" h) and see all of the detail, each tiny brush stroke, the shading, the way the light plays on the trees. Gobsmacked is what I am, and so incredibly happy that they are all mine!!!

This one is titled "Country Lane", and that peek of purple sky set against the vibrant orange foliage makes my heart sing with joy! I'm going to imagine that
road leads me home...

This one titled "The Dog Walker" was one of Sam's first tries at autumn landscapes. She's been trying to improve it, but there's no need - it's perfect!!! Can you see and then imagine painting a person and dog so tiny? Look at the color of the tree shadows! This Is what Love feels like!

This one is called "Falling Leaves".  Sam has managed to capture the sunlight lighting up the path and making the leaves sparkle in it's brilliance! I can hear the birdsong of the last holdouts, enjoying the morning and all the splendor fall brings!

This moody treasure is titled "Autumn Trail". Sam has incredibly captured the low light and damp forest ambiance. I can hear the leaves crinkling under my feet as I pick up my pace before the last light fades.

Sam has named this one "Backwoods Track", and says it's not her best work. Now I know she's being too critical because I truly love those fiery leaves! And look at that blue sky and how she makes a path look as though it wanders off into someplace!

I literally sucked in my breath when I first saw "River Walk" Those colors! The sunlight! That bridge!!! The tree shadows! That awesome crooked tree! I want to be in that place right now!

Look at the perspective and the mist rising from the lake in "Morning Mist"! The orange and yellow set against the blue sky and the mountains in the background! This one strikes a chord, because I live within 2 hours, as the crow flies, from three different volcanoes! I Love that tree and it's delightful branching!

This incredible piece is titled "Fall Forest", and aptly so because look at those gorgeous pine trees! The splash of blue is so unexpected and yet elevates the landscape into frolicking forest merriment! Just look at those amazing rocks and the reflections in the water!

Sam, you have really knocked it out of the park with the landscape, the colors and the settings! If I saw these at a miniatures fair I would have bought each and every one!!!

Sam also just got a Cricut, so she made mats for each painting and a lovely card adorned with fall leaves and a poem!

The poem reads...

As the warmth dissipates
and the winds herald
the upcoming cold
As trees wither
and sigh their last breath
We'll bask once again
in their vibrant color

I am going to keep the gallery scene just as it is so that I can continue to enjoy (and show off) Sam's incredible paintings! Who know's when I'll start on the Glencroft kit, and how long it will be before I actually have an Autumn House.

Thank you, Sam! ~T~H~A~N~K~💗 ~Y~O~U~! I so appreciate your masterful painting, and feel so proud to own so many of your originals!

To everyone else, and especially to my new followers... I Am So Thankful For All Of You And So Happy You Are On This Mini Journey With Me!

xo xo,
Jodi