The old biscuits made new

I made these little Christmas cookies out of old biscuits that I had experimented with earlier in the year. I bit early for Christmas I know  but I kept seeing lovely ones on ebay( which I am trying to stay off - for miniatures at least - and in other places.

I got the sprinkles in The Pound Shop and the little glass jars they came in ( not shown) will be wonderful for spaghetti jars if I can figure out what to do for Spaghetti. The flour jar was with an ebay lot I won. I think I may leave it the colour it is.

I painted the rolling pin and mixer in 'Bake Off' theme.

 

I am still experimenting with cooking other shapes.

This came in the post

These little cutters came in the post while I was away. I spotted them on Etsy and thought they would do nicely in the kitchen.

I am still trying to work out if they work - hope that makes sense. The fimo wasn't playing ball one evening I tried but I will have another go maybe with colder hands. I couldn't get it out once I got it in as the sides are slightly bevelled, maybe they are just for display?


In the meantime I revamped some of my first biscuits looking ahead to Christmas but too dark tonight by the time I had time to take photographs. Getting very dark here now at 7ish in the evening.

My holiday souvenir

I have been on holiday , lots of lovely weather in Majorca. Back here to rain.
Here is what I left  I had never been to Majorca before and I really can't wait to go back again some time. The temperatures were 28-30 degrees C even at the end of September.

 

I could not resist buying this little bike in a small shop there. As usual I am hopeless about size and scale and thought it might be too big but I hope you agree it looks fine parked at the moment and very temporarily outside the pink house. I now wish I had bought another , and a small scooter I had seen.  I do of course plan to do something with it.

 

 

Bake off style

Here is my first little item, a tray inspired by The Great British Bake off program on TV here in the UK.
A little tray painted in my own mix of blue with papers added for the inset.

I have displayed it with the bunting I made for the Anniversary of the Coronation of the Queen. The Program has bunting like this.

Pepper pot

This is another of the little items I got in my ebay lot. I've made it red to fit in The Boathouse after a short flirtation with yellow. In the course of making the top part has lost itself but will inevitable turn up - I hope.

Here it is before I changed the colour .

 

And here in the Boathouse

 

 

I'm not sure if I showed you this casserole - also from the lot that I painted red , better than the old fashioned brown. The paint needs a little tidy tricky to paint the rim.

 

Here it was before - you can see it in the picture above now its red.

 

 

 

 

 

My work basket

I do lots of things at once. I am not sure whether this is a sign of an agile mind or a fickle one.

This is how the work table is looking at the moment. Basically a bit messy.

I have bought a number of things from ebay which I have said I intend to remake. I am also very into the BBC programme The Great British Bake Off. If you live abroad I think you can find it on the BBC iplayer.

 Inspired by it I mixed my too dark blue paint with a tin of off white which I got in the Next sale and have at last got a colour I like. Inspired by the bake off I a creating a number of items which wold fit in its kitchens.

In my last post I said I had plans for the doll I got with another ebay lot.

I am pleased to say she has gone' into service' in a big house in England. I think she is settling in and finding enough work to keep her busy there.

Some things to remake

I have been lucky enough to win some little things off ebay that I intend to remake.
Here is my lot. It was everything on the table and the figure standing beside it. I don't like figures for my house so I have plans for her. She is rather sweet though. She is undoubtedly of Irish extraction because of the lovely red hair.

I have already started on the washboard which you may be able to see at the back of the table. I wish I had taken individual photos of my before and after now. I will post the after when I get the photo downloaded from the camera.

 

 

 

And here it is the little washboard. Very shabby. I used a Cath Kidston pattern for the floral inset, hope you  like it.

 

 

 

It needs a really shabby interior but I think its better than the awful brown it was.

Cookery Books

Cookery books for the shelf.
My keyboard has disconnected itself! I will come back and tell you about these when I have not to use the touchscreen.

Yay the keyboard works again.
These pretend little cookery books  made from card. Makes a nice display on a shelf or table.

Something for the hot weather

I had seen one of these ( full size) little jug covers in Lakeland but then found one of ebay. The one I bought has been made from a vintage piece of crochet with a piece of embroidery added and beads sewn on.
This is it , it covered our water jug nicely.

 

 

 

It set me wondering if Ii could make a little one for the houses. This is my effort. I used a piece of trimming I had and added the smallest beads I could get my needle through, not a great effort but it gives an 'effect'. The beads need to be smaller - off to hunt out a thinner needle.

 

 



upcycling again

I had wondered for a while if the bottom of a tea light holder could be made into a candle stick. This is a very poor attempt at it. I used nail varnish to paint it but hadn't quite the colour I actually wanted. I think it is slightly too big, I will try next time to cut round the metal ( aagh can I do this) and add a little handle. I also think the candle needs to be shorter to balance it. And to cap it all the light was poor when I took the pictures - clouds this morning. It shows up best against the blue dresser rather than the desk where I wanted it to go.

 

 

 

 



One thing actually finished.

Since last weekend we have had the most amazing weather here, hot and sunny. It's a rarity in the North of Ireland, today it was 25-26 degrees C. Too hot - our favourite hobby is complaining about weather, too hot , too cold, too wet, too windy.
It is lovely but oh so hot for doing anything.
Last night I took refuge in the sun room which had cooled in the evening and finished off the little desk - I had thought of a lamp but hadn't the right bits, anyhow it might have looked crowded. I used a little green bead which is the perfect colour for the drawer pull.



I also tried my hand at a little mirror I had seen a tutorial for. The centre of it is a mirrored circle bought in a card shop and the outer pieces are mirrored card from my bits and pieces. It gives an effect if looked at from far enough away. Not perfect , it was very much a freehand effort - I can do better - the mirror came in a little pack of three different shapes. More to follow - but not soon!



Little little bicycle

I bought this little bicycle with the intention of painting it with spots as I had seen one done before and loved it.

When it arrived I was surprised how small it was ,it was sold as 1:12 but I think now it is 1:24. My usual problem of scale , I should have asked when I bought it but wouldn't of course have known how tall a 1:12 bicycle should be, since then I have bought another ( unfortunately without the cute wicker basket which is what drew me to this one initially)

I have had 2 staggers at painting it using nail enamel. My first thought was purple with orange spots but the purple looked far too dark so when I got the little roses I decided this orangey colour was best. It's not perfect, the spots were tricky and I used a nail art tool but in the end I am pretty pleased with it despite the size , and maybe the 1:12 roses looking rather too big and blousy. I am not sure it fits with any of the houses and certainly is dwarfed by the shed.

This picture shows what I mean about the scale

 

But if you take the door and window out  -

 





Shamefully absent

I have been shamefully absent if you have noticed. I am not even able to blame it on very good weather for that has been mixed, it is just that life sometimes becomes busy and I seem to have hit upon a busy spell , not even sure if it will be less busy from today on.

I have nothing to show in consequence except a very poor picture of a  'cast iron' stove I have been trying to work on for The Old Boatshed. Needless to say it is not yet completed. I intend to put a fire in it and make some sort of pot for the top. It is difficult to get a good pictures as The Old Boatshed is one of those buildings where the roof lifts off to let you in so the view is restricted. I hope you get the general idea of it. To make it I used an old tablet ( cod liver oil) canister. The chimney is made from black card.

Time for roses

Well this week of June has been summer here, beautiful weather, not weather for making anything. I grabbed a little time early one morning to put the roses I bought on ebay in a basket that belongs to something I have been working on - very on and off- and put them outside the door until the other item is ready. June is a month for roses anyway.

 

And its the week of the anniversary of the Queen's coronation. Time to put some bunting up. I set the dresser in the bedroom of Main Street just for the photo that way you see the wallpaper and the bunting!

 

 

 

I found it incredible watching a little of the coverage of the service in Westminster Abbey that it has been 60 years of service to her country, unbelievable dedication.



Not much doing here

I have disappeared for a little while, been so busy with painting dolls my little world has been neglected. I was full of good intentions but nothing has come to much the last week. I've further been distracted by a spell of good weather which for this year has been sadly missing so far.

 I love nothing more than to sit outside having a cup of coffee or a swing in my swing seat. Today is supposed to be an even better day so I'm up with the lark trying to get the painting out of the way and posting on my blogs before the garden calls again. I've also a few plants to put in, good weather certainly lifts the soul - got to make the most of it.

I have organised my papers into a folder and the bedroom in Main Street is papered. It has made me rethink the colour I will do the huge wardrobe I've bought for it. I didn't mean it to be huge - it just arrived that way. It's like when you go to the shop to buy something for the house and it looks a reasonable size on the salesfloor but when you get it home it takes over  the whole room.

Mr Toad

I am not sure if you have read Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Graham. I am a bit like Mr Toad in it - who loves and wants every new thing he sees.

My latest poop poop moment is my baking molds.( Poop Poop is the sound Mr Toad makes when he sees his first motor car ) I got these on ebay and experimented with the slice I cut out of the experimental cake hence they are all chocolate flavoured - very brown looking!  Nothing in this picture will look the same when I eventually make this scene - whenever that may be.
Oddly there are some 'oranges' in it - these are not fimo but juts me fiddling with the wax coating of a BabyBel type cheese,  only it is orange because it is from the children's range in Marks and Spencers. The oranges bear no relation to anything at all - poop poop!! The stalks were unsuccessful too big!



My latest distraction

Well as usual I've got distracted by something else. I did finish the little pink table that fits nowhere and then thought I would have a go at making a few bits for it . It was too small I thought for kitchen things so I have set it temporarily up as a desk but far too ladylike for The Old Boat Shed. Still to find a home it's on the table with all the other treasures !!

Still more to do with it. Keep looking.



New toys

I am like of those children who have too many toys and I don't know what to play with next. Having read how to set Fimo with a heat gun I decided I would try my hand at baking. I bake badly in real life too so my first efforts to say the least are poor but I did find that using a heat gun works - in the past when I have tried to bake Fimo in an oven it has all gone oooomph and become a mess.
And they are on a table that is not finished on a cutting boat outside a house - but hey ho! That's what I've been doing last night. That's a chocolate sponge with icing which is glazed with raspberry jam ( use your imagination - lots needed) and some caramel squares - do you call it millionaires shortbread?
Today I am going to try to be more focused  and finish the little chalk pink table but that's only after I finish off some dolls I'm working on. It's teeming with rain outside so a good excuse to play with things rather than go out.

And I finally got round to starting to paper the house in Main Street's bedroom. After a great deal of deliberation I picked a pink and blue floral wallpaper from Jennifer's Printables. I just need to print off another roll(!) as I made a cutting error.



Size and some photos

Occasionally when I buy something I am surprised about the variation in size of what is supposed to be 1:12 scale.

I bought this little table intending to make it into a desk for the sadly neglected Old Boat Shed. However on trying the chairs and stool I have found all were too big in comparison. Does anyone else find this happens to them?

I am now rethinking a use for the table - I hope you like the colour - it is from a new pot of paint made by Laura Ashley and is called Chalk Pink.



My friend has kindly said I can share pictures of her Victorian House with you which she sent me to show me the use she had made of the little things I sent over to her. She has a lovely big house with lots of rooms. Here are one of the kitchen.  The original phtots were clearer - and showed her lovely details in her house.

 

 





Royal Tray

Just nipping in to show you the little shabby chic tray I made using a plain tray and some papers I got off e bay. This one would have been perfect for the Queen's Jubilee last year but I think now it will do for the 60th anniversary of her Coronation in June.