Hogsmeade cottage - the bedroom part 2 & Crafting together (May)

After I had made the candle wall sconces and finished the walls, floor and ceiling it was time to make the curtains.
This time I wanted the curtain rod to slip through eye hooks on the wall. I embellished the hooks with wooden beads to get a little more clearance between the wall and the finials on the rod.
The rod is a wooden screwer I sanded until it would fit the smaller eye hooks and then I painted it with gold acrylic paint.

It should have been easy to twist the eye hooks in the wall and slide the rod (with only one finial) through the eyehooks. Then add the curtain in the middle and then put a finial on the other side.
Unfortunately the chimney-piece prevented that so I started by marking where the eye hooks would go, twisted only one in the wall and then finished everything else.

Two weeks ago Jolinda, Connie and I spend an afternoon crafting together. It was the first time in a while due to corona that it was the three of us and it very enjoyable :)
Connie worked on the sidewalk for the front of her shops and Jolinda made beautiful peonies.
I started making the curtains untill I got frustrated with them (a) and then got the oak stain out for the rocking chair and the dressing table with the mirror :)

Later that week I finished the curtains. I like the look ...

... but despite measuring more than once they still turned out to short, so I'll make new ones later :')
Penny doesn't care, she's happy with the new rocking chair :)

I also made time to give the shiny new door handles (on the left) a more aged bronze look.

And while I was at it, I also did the (Alladin) oil lamp and Bianca's high heels. Kept the inside and the soles of the shoes black.

Because I find it very difficult to take good photos from the back of the room, I made a little video :)

You can see the wash jug and bowl set (bought in England), the shawl (I made a few years ago) and the corset (gift from Kim) I've found back last week when I was organising my craftroom ^^. 

Furthermore the high heels near the bed, the chalk bord I want to fix for Penny and the door handles. Very happy with the progress ^^

I've also finally connected all the lights in the bedroom. The ledstrips behind the beams appear brighter in the video than they are though. 

Credits:
Inspiration for the eye hook with bead combination came from TinyFixation.
And the idea of the sewn on rings curtains (which I also used for the living room) is from Kendra's Minis.

Cottage living room update

I knew I was behind with things but I hadn't realized how much :')
Apperently I'd started writing an update on the cottage in January but never finished that.
So without further ado, this is the progress on the cottage living room from January, mainly pictures ^^

I'd started making a comfy wing back chair back in December before we started working on Christmas miniatures. Once of these days I'll finish it (a)

I made new curtains because the first set I made was 1 cm too short.

I've put the glass stained deer from 'Glaskunst in Miniaturen' and the cute snapdragon Kim (Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo) made me, on display. Doesn't it look cosy? :)

The rod of the wall hanger Jolinda had made me, was made a bit darker to match the living room.

I made a bellows with this tutorial, using cartboard, thin leather and a metal bit I cut from jewelry.

I used the veneer slats from Bibian Angelique Miltkau for skirting boards.

I still had planned to do more furniture for the living room, but I had started to wonder if it wouldn't be too crammeded with more cabinets, a desk and chairs. So I decorated the room with the things I already had and quite liked it already :)

So, I've decided to keep it this way and only add the little decorative and personal items later on. I really like how it has turned out so far! Even though it's not as Weasley boho chic as I imagined at the start. But then, Bianca isn't Molly Weasley, is she? ;)

Next, an update on the bedroom, which I've started working on in February (a)

A little Christmas scene, part 2

Here's the next part of this years Christmas scene.

A sheet of Balsa 1,5 cm, carved with cocktail picks,
because I was lazy ;)

Painted it dark at first, hoping that would show the 'nails'
better after painting it white. 

It didn't (a)

I removed some bristles at the bottom and the wooden
stand and bend the wire to get a smaller tree.

I thought wrapping bark around the wire at the bottom of
the tree ould look more realistic. It was an annoyance
to glue them however because the bark would fall
to pieces as soon as I tried to bend it :')

Tutorial for the stand by AkameruKawaii.

I've painted the trunk to cover the excess of glue
and to fill all the gaps ^^

And of course I've painted the tree to
get rid of the 'snow'. It's still nearly
hits the invisible ceiling but it fits ;)

I used this idea by Elizabeth to make stocking.

I didn't have stickers, so I used a linoleum floor tile I had
and printed some templates.

I cut the top part and didn't glue that onto the fabric,
though I wrapped the fabric around it at first ...

... to keep the right shape.

Covering them with fabric was a meticulous job :)

Decorating them was fun though.

As was putting some decorations
in place.

Next will probably be
decorating the tree.

A little Christmas scene, part 1

 At this year's last meeting with the miniature club we wanted to do something for Christmas. It was hard to come up with something, or to be precise, choose something from all the wonderful idea's and tutorials Pinterest provides ;)

Meanwhile I unpacked my box with Christmas miniatures and was reminded how many things I had made in previous years but never displayed. So I decided to make a little diorama to display some of those miniatures ^^

This gorgeous scene inspired me. I'm not sure but I think it was made by Tatjana Sjmeleva.

Four years ago, when I'd just started at making miniatures, I had a similair idea of making a Christmas scene but never made it beyond the walls ;)

So, I went with that one. Broke half of the walls of, gave it a layer of Gesso ...

... and painted everything with a mixture of white acrylic paint, wood glue, saw dust and bird sand.

I filled one of the windowopenings and found a sturdy linoleum tile as base for the flooring.

All of this in preparation before meeting and crafting with Jolinda and Monique.
That afternoon I worked on making the panelling. Later that evening I started with a fire place from cartboard but didn't like it the next morning ;)

So, I made another one, painted it with Gesso (primer) and started adding 'cobblestones' from egg carton.

I gave it a layer of white acrylic paint, another one with gray (because the egg cart board made it still look a bit yellowish) and two more with white.

The original window had to go, and I found a nice picture to put there instead.
After which I went on with making the curtains :)

With embroidery threads that matched the fabric I made a simple rug.

I want a bigger tree in that corner and maybe make a nice chair ...

... but I love how things are coming together so far :)