Last night I spent some time working on a chest of drawers for the bedroom. I wanted a certain style, so I had a look on the internet and I found the picture shown below....what a gorgeous piece of furniture!
I had a couple of tries to make it....the first time I measured the space, printed a cropped version of this photo to the desired dimensions and used it as a template to cut the front and back pieces out of balsa wood. Such crappy wood but at least you can cut it with a pocket knife, which is a bonus if you are trying to cut curves without any of the right tools! I cut the top from balsa wood too and made the sides of thin cardboard, but when I put the chest into the room, it was too big. Yet another mini off to the bin.
So I made a smaller one, and this time made all the pieces from cardboard except the top, which is wood. The front and back are thick mountboard and the sides are thin cardboard. I didn't want the legs having that two-dimensional look, so I glued some small pieces of balsa wood to the legs to give them a more realistic shape. Then the whole piece got lots of layers of paint, trying to make it look old and worn. The bedroom is going to be white, with blue and pink accents.
At present, the handles are just the handles from the picture, cut out and glued on, so they are a bit one-dimensional, but I really like the style and don't know if I could make anything so fine any other way. I might print them on to thicker card and paint the edges black and then stick them on and they might look a little more realistic. By the time I got to this stage last night it was well after midnight, so I don't think I did too badly really.
I did say in my last post that I would 'fess up to having done some shopping recently. It's too far and too expensive to go to SIMP from here (New Zealand) but you can do way too much shopping just by sitting at the computer!! These beautiful baskets arrived last week, and you can see one of them sitting beside the chest in the bedroom. They are made by Glenda, who is a fellow kiwi. She sells them through her Etsy shop, and they are just gorgeous! I have a full-sized bag similar to these but in purple.
Here is another one on the shelf by the front door. The shelf is by Jemjoop.
And while I am owning up to shopping, you will probably have noticed the stunning vase of peonies on the chest....these were made by Pei Li and I am completely blown away by how pretty and delicate they are. They are made of cold porcelain and each flower is a different colour. She is so talented. I really love being able to include other miniaturists' work in this project....there are so many talented people out there! The little bundle of letters is part of the miniature mail that Linda made.
This is a photo of the whole wall. Still minus curtains but I will get to that eventually. One of the things I have made that I really love is the little birdhouse peg hanger that you can see on the wall above the chest. I made it from yet another photo found on the internet, mounted on wood, with a wooden roof and the very tip of a toothpick as a peg. It would be a good place to hang a pretty scarf or necklace. And my favourite picture in the house can be seen above the window. This is a reproduction of a beautiful watercolour painting my mother has hanging in her house. It is one of a pair, but my camera batteries died before I could photograph the other one. I really love this picture!More later - I have to go and feed the family their lunch!
My friend Trish is a talented painter and had painted this Chrysnbon bowl with beautiful flowers, so I cut a hole in the top of the washstand and put the bowl in. Then I had to repaint the stand a more creamy colour to match the bowl.
I already had the porcelain jug, and it is just the right colour and size!
This is a picture of the bottom shelf - the basket is by Al Chandronnait (but I took the handle off). I made the little towels from some very fine towelling from a pair of baby mittens.
I made the round soaps from fimo and wrapped them in tissue and labelled them, and I made the "Cath Kidson" box and the bird's egg soap box.
The comb and the soap dish are also painted by my friend Trish as part of the same set as the bowl. The little cranberry glass jar is by Glasscraft and I made the perfume bottle from a pretty bead.
I was excited to open a parcel today which arrived from 
And here is the co-ordinating bowl on the living room table. So beautiful!
I was delighted to find that the mailman had brought some miniature mail for my Shabby Cottage the other day.
This gorgeous little shoebox full of letters, postcards and envelopes arrived from 
Here are some in the letter rack (also painted by Trish). And some more on the bottom shelf of the table. 
I just loved this little table, so I had a go at making one today (rainy weekend). I had the same old superglue issues but I am quite pleased with this little table for the shabby bedroom....I have made it rusty so it looks old and well-loved. 
Thank you so much for your comments - I really appreciate them!
I've spent ages on this today and I'm not sure if I like it or not. I used florists wire and cardboard and some findings and painted it all over with gesso. Then I stuck some little flowers on. I think this bed actually looks better in the room with the bare boards so I may swap the upstairs rooms over. 
