Dressing 1:12 scale Heidi Ott Dolls

I have been dressing/wigging 1:12-scale Heidi Ott dolls and selling a few to raise money for my own Kinfeld family.  (To see my Kinfeld, click here.)

I have to say it is so much fun! Lots of trail and error. Here are the ones I have sold so far.

I am also open to dressing/wigging Heidi Ott dolls that are sent to me and I can send them back to the owner with a new style!

Most clothes are removable and shoes are removable. (The children and Grandparents I have made permanent)

Dolls for the Kinfeld so far.

Dollhouse battery pack wires for a wall sconce

I was on the fence about sharing this one because it could be better, but then I thought the general ideas here could help someone and then they could make it better.

I strung a battery pack lighting system under the shingles of my cottage and stored the battery part in the chimney. The bulbs come through the roof and are hidden behind the beams upstairs but I saved two strings to go in the back corner of the first level.

First I drilled two holes in the wall for the bulls to slip through with my Dremel.

Then I cut an oval from mat board and drilled two holes. I made notches for the wire to slip into so the hole would stay large enough for the bulb. I bent my wires and Super Glued them to the back.

The holes needed more work to get the bulbs through so I used my knife to dig them out. Yeah, then I cut  myself. I quick rinse, dab of Neosporin, a band aid and I was good to go. Be careful with your knife!

Test to be sure your bulbs will go through.

This is where I could have done a better job. Pull both of your wires through the hole so they are at the same length. Start wrapping one from the base to the top. It took me a few times to get the length right for this. Before you do the final wrap pull the other wire to the same as the one you are ready to wrap for the last time. Hopefully you can wrap yours tighter and cleaner than mine. Then Super Glue the top of the electrical wire to the tip of the metal wire.

Mine moved when I discovered my finger was Super Glued to them.

You may better off just running them flat along your wire and gluing them down. I might do it that way if I were to do it again.

Add an embellishment to the oval for decoration and paint everything.

Cut some card stock (thicker paper) and glue it around the sconce edges. Note: Because there are two metal wire on the back that part pulls away from the wall. Wrap your paper to compensate for that. Have it hang over the back on the top part and stay flush on the bottom part. I wrapped once and a half. Paint and let dry.

I filled int he holes with Tacky Glue and put Tacky Glue on the back of the sconce and pulled the wires through. Have some blue tape handy and tape the wires down on the outside until it dries.

I made two little shades from scrapbook paper. I cheated to get them to stay on my wires. I crumpled up a small piece of paper and glued it into the shade on the seam side. I wanted the seams to both face the back wall. So I used a toothpick to put Tacky Glue on the far side of the wires just under the bulbs. Then I slipped on the shades and made sure the glue was adhered to the crumpled up pieces of paper inside.

Unless you have a dollhouse critic who is 5” tall reviewing your dollhouse know one will ever know!

I will be covering up the wire on the outside with a rose vine.

A little wonky, but the light will be nice. :)

I have one piece of trim to glue to the front of this cottage and then I will share it with all of you!

Santa's Cottage

It is Christmas Morning (2am) and Santa is home from a busy night! What better way to unwind then watch TV with Mrs. Santa and eat cookies!  I will be adding to this cottage every December. :)

The elves were told to only send cards, no presents because they don;t have the room. But one little elf was naughty and sent peppermint sticks!

I asked a non-miniaturist friend what Santa would be watching on TV and he answered, 

"Dancing with the Stars". We couldn't stop giggling thinking about it.

Sweet Bow got a pink teddy for Christmas.

No time to make the beds on such a busy day.

Miniature icicles for a 1:12 dollhouse

Recently I was trying to come up with a way to make miniature icicles. I found a website that showed a few step by step ideas using hot glue and cellophane/plexiglass. They only made a quick mention of plastic forks but they had no directions on how to do it.

So I decided to try and figure it out, and I think it did!

Here is how I did it.

First buy a box of clear plastic forks.

I first tried to melt the fork tips over a candle but as I predicted it left them black with wick soot. I didn’t have a lighter on hand so I sat there and kept repeating “clean fire”, “clean fire”. “How do I find clean fire?” Duh! Electric stove top.

Get your stove warmed up. I think I had mine on low. You don’t need red hot because you want to do this slowly until you get a feel for your fork and stove top.

Tape a piece of wax paper or freezer paper to the edge of a cutting board waxy side up. Have another small piece of wax paper handy.

Hold your fork over the heat about 1/2 - 1 inch away from the hot plate for about 30 seconds. Focus on one side for now.

When you think it is warm enough put the warmed up side facing down on the board and rub it with a piece of wax paper (with the wax side on the fork).

Then warm the other side of the fork tips and repeat above.

Once you are happy with the shape, lay your fork with the side you just warmed up, again, facing up. Run the tip of a knitting needle across the tips to make very subtle indents.

I say knitting needle because it has a rounded tip. If you look closely at icicle they have a slight indent as each layer of ice is formed from dripping. It is a soft line not a harsh cut. Honestly you could skip this step if you just want some quick icicles.

Consider that your first fork will be for experimenting with heat and the amount of time you hold your fork and the amount of pressure you use with your knitting needle.

Here is photo of what happened when pressing too hard with the wax paper when the fork was too hot.

You might have to keep warming the same fork over and over and then rubbing it to get it just right. I think I heated/rubbed one side of mine about three or four times each for each side.

Snip the tips with wire cutters at different lengths.

Dip the cut end into Tacky Glue and let it dry for half a minute then press up onto the surface you want them to hang from. Check in to be sure they are straight and don’t fall. Tacky Glue slowly moves when upside down.

Once they are dry use a little gloss varnish to make a frozen water line from melting on the surface where you think it would show. Mine is on a thatched roof so I would imagine that some of the dripping would be coming from under and inside the thatch as well as on the top.
Click on photo see it larger.

Have fun adding some magic to your winter wonderland!