Dollhouse chair modification

 In trying to make the Gryffindor Dorm room in miniature, I noticed in my reference pictures the chairs. An online search produced NO results, so the next best thing is to modify some existing chairs. here is the raw chairs that hopefully will become chairs that will fit in the dorm room.

The seat and legs are good, so all that has to be done is removing the back. Hand sanitizer gell is applied to the glued areas to soften the glue. I will keep these parts for another project. Thank goodness for palm sanders, which made quick work in sanding the seat of the chairs. I also had to sand some of the legs to make them level.

Deciding the size of wood for the new back of the chair,

Glueing new pieces takes a lot of patience that frankly, is lacking in my case.

So a piece of wood is used to hold the spindles up until the glue sets.

Glueing the first bar on the spindles.

Glueing on the top bar.

Middle pieces

For these chairs this touch up marker works great to stain the wood. Found at the dollar store.

These chairs will sit beside the beds in the dorm room. They look a bit worn and that is ideal.

Hooked on Diamond art

 Oh no! All the people talking about diamond dotz got me thinking, and wondering, and excited to try it. But do I start with a complete kit, like other beginners???  NO! of course not! I must do things in the most difficult way, and without any experience. As a cross stitcher, using a pattern is natural, so I decide to make my own diamond art with a cross stitch pattern. I purchased a blank canvas for diamond art at Michaels, and then begged friends and aquaintances for their leftover dotz. One neighbor gave me a stylus and wax (apparently you get one or two with every kit) along with some of her extra dotz. So this project took me about 3-4 weeks. The waves of the lake was the most fun, and I mostly just wung it, and didn't really follow the pattern. Hope you like it!

I originally wanted a sunset, but when you are limited on dotz, you gotta go with what you got. So night sky with moon it is. Also, doing a sunset might look a little blocky unless the dotz are close enough in colour to make it an umbre effect, and I didn't think I could pull it off.

I went out on a limb and used square dotz for the castle and round dotz for the rest. Maybe you're not supposed to do it that way, but I wouldn't have listened even if you told me not to!

Here is the finished art. The right side of the canvas is still sticky and has the grid pattern, so fabric paint will be applied there.

Here it is, all done!

Found this owl diamond art and couldn't resist! Changed just about all the colours from the kit. Now I have to wait until I can get more dotz to finish it.

This is my latest project which is of course, Harry Potter themed. I chose to do a Hogwarts crest. Waiting for a little more yellow and gold dotz to complete.

This is a kit I ordered on Aliexpress. I almost did the whole kit without changing the colours, but when I got to the tree line on the right side, it was supposed to be all black and we need trees and a beach! It turned out ok. 

Stay tuned for more! Working on more diamond art.

Gryffindor Dorm room beds dollhouse miniature Harry Potter

 Here is the start of the dorm room I am creating in 1:12 scale. The 4 poster beds seem daunting as it isn't a simple bed, and I have to make 5 of them! Starting with a plan seems good. The beds will be 8 inches tall!

Going thru my stash of wood for the right materials. Measuring the bottom part of the front posts.

Cutting the posts together, hopefully they will be the same length after I use the saw!

Measuring and cutting the front post pieces.

Making sure they are the right length along my plan.

The front posts are carved.

The wood is easy to cut with this x-acto knife.

Tiny pins will be inserted and will help keep the posts structural. The head of the pin is cut off with a wire cutter.

Two front posts and two back posts.

The back posts are much simpler that the front. The L shaped wood moulding is perfect.

Using square pieces of wood found at the dollar store, they will be chomped in half, and then in half again to make 4 squares out of the one square. Then the little square will sit on top of the posts.

The sides are rounded with sandpaper.

Little squares are glued to the posts.

The base for the mattress. I had previously stained it. Don't know why as it won't be seen!

The post will set inside.

Glueing the posts to the base.

Lego blocks work great to keep the wood square and straight.

This is the right height for the head and foot board. Found these sticks in the gardening section of the dollar store.

Glueing in the headboard. I am using wood glue max so if I stain or paint, it should stick on any of the glue.

Glueing these lolysticks together will form the sides of the bed that holds the mattress.

 

Making sure the trunk will fit underneath!

Deciding which numbers to carve onto the bed front piece..

The carving was a little rough, but am satisfied with the outcome.

Sides of the canopy ( or upper ) are lolysticks glued together. Glueing with Aleene's glue and clamping.

The top canopy side pieces being glued to the posts.

The top of the bed has three sheets, which will be rounded.

First layer of the canopy top is Basswood. It cuts fairly easily with an exacto knife.

I may use these jumbo sticks for the middle piece. Only the edge has to show, as it will be sandwiched between the wood sheets.

Glueing the middle pieces to the first layer. Clamps are so handy here.

Middle layer is done,

Cutting the last layer of basswood.

Very pleased with the top of the canopy.

Canopy sides are glued with wood glue max to the canopy top.

  

Finished constructing the bed!

Trying to come up with a stain or paint that will look good. If you save your off-cuts, they can be used for trials like this. Strong tea was the loser, it hardly coloured the wood.

Here is the winner, a wood pen from the dollar store. Add in some leather water based stain, and one coat of varnish, and it is close to the look I'm looking for.

Starting to stain the wood with this marker.

Finishing it off with a leather water based stain.

Using cereal box card, a template is cut for each bed. I am no professional and each bed is slightly different.

The card is 4 mm smaller on each side.

Grid lines are drawn so I can make a tufted mattress.

An awl or any tool with a sharp tip can be used to poke a tiny hole in the grid.

Here is one bed base with all the holes poked out.

Choosing the materials for the mattress. As I will never see the inside of the mattress, scrap materials will be used. Here is some foam from my foam stash, and an old oven mitt.

Each piece of foam is cut to the template for that bed. Corners are rounded.

Oven mitt is cut  with the template.

Dry fitting it in the bed.

Was very lucky to get 2 full sized pillow cases with this stripe pattern on it. It looks like dollhouse mattress material.

Following Bentley House Miniatures tutorial, and a tutorial from Megan of creativeme.co.za, This is my version of the mattress.

my sewing machine made quick work of  assembling the sides to the top.

Here it is upside down.

Adding the oven mitt material, foam and template inside the mattress cover.

Liquid stitch is used to glue the fabric to the cereal box card template.

Now, the fun stuff! Tufting with strong thread and a sharp needle. I did a diamond pattern first, but decided to try all and liked that look better.

Glueing a bottom piece of fabric.

This hides the ugly side of the tufting.

Making a matching pillow. A cereal box card is used as a template to get the size right.

Cutting the pillow fabric.

Sewing along the three sides with the fabric right sides together. Turn it inside out, add some stuffing, and sew the pillow shut.

Oh, yeah, that is a perfect fit!

Making a fitted sheet was easy once I figured out that all that needed to be done is cut squares off the corners, sewing that L shape in each corner.

This is the view inside out to show where it was sewn.

Looking for string or elastic to make the fitted sheet.

Sewing the elastic in with a little bit of tension.

Tightening up the string, and tying it off.

Here is the fitted sheet on the mattress and in the bed.

Making a matching pillowcase. An old pillowcase from my fabric tote will do. Taking advantage of the finished edge will make my new pillowcase easy and give it a finished look.

These are handsewn as the sewing is hidden.

Making a top sheet, with a fitted bottom.

No elastic or string is used, but it will still wrap around the mattress.

Wow, this bed is really coming along!

Here are some blankets for the beds, knit and crocheted.

Here is Dean Thomas's bed. 

This is Harry's bed.

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The hooks in this sewing kit should work to hold up the curtains.

E6000 glue to attach the hooks to the inside of the canopy sides.

This burgundy satin material will become the curtains. It really should be velvet, but that would be too bulky.

 

This satin frays really easily, so on with the Fray Stop. Beware, it will stain fabric, so apply carefully.

The three sides are ironed with a small hem. At first I hand sewed them, but did not like the look. It is too slippery for my sewing machine. So I used Heat Bond. The forth side is the natural finished edge which will let me poke holes in it without fraying.

Here is the curtain piece hooked up to the head.

Now all the corner curtains are hooked up. The material is folded accordian style and ironed, otherwise the material won't hang properly.

I am so happy with these beds!