Help! Calling All Mini Nuts Who Like Free Stuff!

Hello Friends! In terms of progress IN the Willowcrest kitchen this week, you may be a bit let down. There is no wallpaper, there is no floor or ceiling installed, and I never did get around to painting the door and window trim. So sorry! But rest assured that the work FOR the kitchen has been all consuming! I decided to see if I could make some vintage kitchen things in Tinkercad and it quickly got out of hand! Once I started, I just kept coming up with more and more fun ideas. And I thought, if I was taking all this time to make stuff for me, why not make more to share!

Each gadget and utensil, plate, cup and appliance, had to be designed, printed, adjusted, reprinted, tested and incrementally perfected. This process, I am sure you know, takes a good, long time. I had hoped to have some things painted and finished, but I just could not stop adding new things each time an idea sprang itself on me!!! So far, I have the following things broken down by category:

Baking

• Stand Mixer (with attachment, bowl, lifting motor, cord and plug)
• Mixing Bowls, set of 3 graduated
• Flour Sifter (working)
• Rolling Pin (working)
• Cake Pedestal
• Bundt Cake Pan (made to fit perfectly on cake plate)
• Pie Pan
• Bread Pan
• Cookie Sheet
• Measuring Cups for liquids, set of 2
• Measuring Cups for dry ingredients, set of 4
• Measuring Spoons, set of 5

Cooking

• Covered Casseroles, set of 3 with lids
• Cast Iron pans, set of 2 sizes
• Dutch Oven with lid
• Sauce Pan with lid

General Kitchen

• Bread Box with lid
• Canisters, set of 3 (two designs all with opening lids)
• Toaster (with cord and plug)
• Coffee Pot hollow with lid
• Tea Pot hollow with lid
• Cream and Sugar containers hollow with lid
• Salt & Pepper Shakers
• Napkin Holder
• Butter Dish (with cube of butter)
• Spice Rack with pull out drawers and spice jars
• Dinnerware for 4 including dinner plate, lunch plate, dessert plate, bowl and mug
• Large and tabletop Vases

It is so much fun to design unique things for my dollhouses, but it's even more fun to share them with other enthusiasts! Recently, I had an order for many of the items I made for the Beachside Bungalow. When my customer received them, she sent me the nicest email to let me know she was thrilled with everything! She loved my minis!!! That feeling is only just slightly better than sharing all my adventures with all of you! So, could I share? And still have time for my own pursuits? In a limited way, maybe... I think so...

But, if you don't mind my imposing, I need a little help! I would so much appreciate your feedback! What am I missing? What do you like and what do you think could be better? And, if there is any interest, I would love to ask a few of you to review the new vintage kitchen items for me. I'll send you the sets to finish as you see fit, to play with and to keep, and in exchange you tell me how they stack up to traditional mini accessories. Any takers? If you're interested, and really willing to give me honest feedback within a fairly quick timeframe, just leave a comment below or email me: jodihippler@gmail.com

Thanks so much for your comments and for your support and encouragement throughout all my crazy ideas and adventures! I truly owe all my courage to all of you!

xo xo,

Jodi

Let Me Reiterate

You know how it took me a couple tries to get the floor tiles "right"? Compared to other things I'm working on, only two tries seems lucky! For the Willowcrest's wee kitchen chairs, ultimately, I wasn't satisfied until the seventh try!

The first thing I needed to do was to get a feel for 1930's and 1940's kitchen furniture styles. I perused Google and collected the photos of tables and chairs that just spoke "vintage" to me. There were things I liked about each of these pieces in the photo below, and using the knowledge, tools and materials I have available to me, I thought I could probably come up with something close.

Once I had a picture in my mind of the features I liked in the chairs, I needed to get some measurements. I brought out several of the chairs in my stash so I could get a feel for size. The chair on the left is Town Square Miniatures, the one in the center is Chrysnbon and the one on the right is House Of Miniatures. What it demonstrated is that the size of mini furniture varies widely. As long as the seat height was pretty close to the standard, around 1-1/2", the rest of the design could be fitted to my space and table.

If there are any James Bond fans reading this, you may laugh or cringe
at the cane seat being removed from the middle chair. 
Casino Royale was the movie. Le Chiffre was the perpetrator. OUCH!!!

Next, I turned to Tinkercad where I could create a design, print it out, assemble it and then make incremental improvements until I ended up with something that fit my criteria. I wanted a chair design which produced a consistent print quality, that assembled easily, and looked similar to many of the 30's and 40's style chairs that I liked. Most important, it had to be cute! I love the double arch design, and it just goes so great with all the other arches in the Willowcrest!

Many iterations and assembly configurations to test.

The final design.

Now that the design and print process were good, it was time to compare my chair to the others in my stash. I eliminated the HOM right off because it was noticeably tinier. But compared to the Chrysnbon and the Town Square chairs, mine worked!

While my trusty X-Max was printing many chairs (at just over 2 hours each), I was working on the table. I decided to design the table in Design Space and cut it from chipboard with the Cricut Maker. 

I was so engrossed in the table's assembly process that I forgot to take photos! Essentially, the table is comprised of a chipboard box which holds two working drawers on either side and a "porcelain enamel tabletop". This was a common material for that era, and I really loved the look. I made trim pieces to overlay the chipboard from kraft cardstock to add a layer of art deco detail. I combined several graphics to create the tabletop design, then used the Print Then Cut feature in Design Space to cut it from regular printer paper.. The table legs are standard Houseworks legs that I had in my stash. I painted the table elements in a mixture of the kitchen's colors, and applied the graphic to the table top with Mod Podge. I did not brush Mod Podge on top if the graphic because of the way it made the wallpaper's printer ink smudge previously. Instead, I spray sealed it with satin varnish. It shows wear on the drawer fronts, and might get a little more scuffed as I age the kitchen cabinets. The most pleasant surprise was that I only had to make the table once!

I used an amalgamation of 30's-40's table measurements I found online, and also factored in the space I had to work with in the Willowcrest kitchen. Here is how it worked with the test chairs, and then with my chair.

I really like the vintage feel and it works as well as you can hope for in this compact little kitchen!

The chairs definitely need some "cushy for the tushy", so I'll make the cushions when it's time to dress the room. For now, it's still too hot to wallpaper, so my mini time will be spent on the PC. At least here, I can sit in front of my Hot Flash fan and design the accessories for my little home cook. I have some fun stuff to share with you next week!

Hope you're finding ways to stay comfortable while working on your projects, too!

xo xo,

Jodi

Second Time's The Charm

I knew that I wasn't going to be able to live with the first attempt at my encaustic tile floor for the Willowcrest kitchen. I did such a poor job, and this project deserves better! My next attempt still isn't exactly perfect, but I think the second try is going to be the charm. The four year old is very happy!

My wood did not arrive as I'd hoped. In fact, it was supposed to be here by today (at the latest). It has a UPS label, but as far as I can tell from the tracking, at the time of this writing, it hasn't even left the seller's shop yet. So, Plan B was to cut the 3/4" x 3/4" main body tiles from illustration art board using the Cricut Maker. Unlike me and the mini table saw, it did an amazing job! I had room to cleanly cut 99 tiles from one 9" x 12" board. I took that as a sign that we were about to embark on a very pleasant journey. In our optimism, the four year old and I sang "99 Bottles Of Beer On The Wall" as we worked.

TIP: I like to use my old Cricut mats to cut heavier materials. Once they lose their stickiness, I use dots (every few inches) of Aleen's Tack It Over & Over to help hold the material in place. Any material that I have to use the knife blade for, I automatically use masking tape on the edges, as well. The Aleen's adhesive removes easily by simply rubbing your finger across it. It comes off like a sticky booger, so have something handy to wipe it onto. There is nothing worse, in the middle of a cut, than having the Cricut stop because the knife blade jammed. This step prevents that.

I learned from my mistakes with the first floor, and this time, used the proper method to set the first tile: Find the center of the floor by measuring the height and width of the floor template. Divide each of them by 2 and make a mark. Using those marks, draw a line down the center from the top to the bottom and one side to the other. Where the lines intersect is the center of the floor template. The first tile should be laid there, whether laying diagonal tiles or not. If laying a diagonal pattern, line each corner of the tile up with the center lines on the floor. If not laying a diagonal floor, align the middle of each side of the tile with the lines on the floor template.

First tile is set exactly in the middle of the floor template.

My tiles did wander a wee bit, but it was not because of uneven cuts this time. Whether by the user (me) or that the kitchen floor is not perfectly square, I do not know. But I can live with this degree of imperfection.

Main kitchen body tiles.

Here, I am beginning to lay the first border tile. I had the wood on hand for this part of the floor design. It is 1/16" x 1/8" basswood. On my first floor, I cut and laid each individual tile. This caused the tile line to wonder a bit. In this floor, after I had laid the strip, I scribed in a tile line, using my Xacto blade. I began in the center and scribed each consecutive line every 3/4". The next row of tiles were offset to the middle of the tile above it. It looks much more consistent and you can't tell the the tiles aren't individually laid. 

Here I have added a red border with the same 1/16" x 1/8" basswood, scribing the tiles in the same way.

And the final border tile is green but in 1/16" x 1/4" basswood. The area where the tile pattern is laid straight will be under the cabinets. You will see a bit of it under the stove, but I hoped, being different, it might add interest.

I had an idea to use wood floor paste wax to seal the floor. I thought it would be fun to do and would create a very shiny, smooth surface. Unfortunately, my test piece didn't turn out like I'd hoped. Warning bells were sounding, and unlike with the first floor, I listened to them. It may have turned out fine with many, many coats and much buffing, but I didn't want to take the chance, end up ruining it, then have to make a third floor. Ultimately, I used several coats of Krylon Colormaxx clear satin spray varnish.

Look ma! No gaps!

Finally, it was time for the finished floor's test fit. It is so exciting to reach this point, at last!

I had to load in some of the cabinets for a dress rehearsal. You can see the straight tiles under the stove. The border tiles and edges seem to be lining up pretty well...

How about the sink cabinets? Those seem good, too! By golly! I think it might be time to start installing all of the elements of this kitchen! 

A little wear and aging might be called for first, though I hate to do it! Here's where that little voice argues with me to leave well enough alone. Maybe I'll start very slowly and see where it leads. It would sure be nice if the first time was the charm this time!

xo xo,

Jodi