Magical Miniatures

If you love all things magical and miniature you are in the right place.

About me and my blog

I am a mother of three and work on a market stall. In my free time I love to make magical miniatures. It all started with my gran who spent hours when I was a child teaching me how to make do. This entailed mending and fixing and making things from scratch. My dolls house consisted of cardboard boxes with windows cut out, beautifully decorated and all furniture hand made. We sat for hours making clothes and accessories for my dolls to the envy of my friends that all had the same generic stuff. So thanks gran for the inspiration. I hope you enjoy my art and my blog. Thanks for visiting.

Monday 31 March 2014

Witch in a box

I needed a gift for a friend who happens to like witches cats and spiders, so I decided to put all 3 in a box as a gift.
I first lined the box with scrap book paper and covered the outside with some spare roofing tiles. I pva and watered over the top to finish them off and I stuck some ribbon and a spider to the front door with a wooden bead to fasten it off to at the side.
I created a small witch and used shrinky paper for the cat. Glued them in and hey presto a witch in a box! A quick and easy to make gift.







Thursday 27 March 2014

Dolls house interior started

Well I have already completed the kitchen floor using match sticks so I have used lolly pop sticks for the living room floor with a segment of match sticks through the middle. 
After laying them out and gluing them to a slot of card I sanded, stained and then varnished them.







For the down stairs ceiling lights I have cut into the floor of the house so that  the wires sit flat beneath the inlays, and at last I have the socket and adapter.




I have used scrap booking paper to decorate all the rooms and lolly pop sticks, stained for the window frames. The curtains are made from material and card.








As you can see there is still so much to do. Ill keep you posted.



Monday 17 March 2014

Floor all done

I have sanded my hands, fingers and the matchstick floor. Once blisters burst and the floor was nice and flat I stained and varnished it. I think it's turned out great as it's made of matchsticks.







Sunday 16 March 2014

Dolls house floor

I saw some packets of matchsticks on my journeys and instantly thought floor! Yes I know I am strange but in my head I had a picture of a wooden floor with a star in the centre and matchsticks could make it happen!
Well thought is one thing, actually creating the floor proved to be so much harder than I had expected.
First I made a copy of the floor I am going to fit the wooden masterpiece into with card so that I can slot the floor out if ever there is a problem with the lights and need access to wires.
Then I mapped out my star. That's when the hard bit started! I began cutting and sticking matches until I had the star shape then framed the edges to tidy it up. I created a square around the star then filed it with a slanted pattern.
I added two diagonal pieces to break up the matchsticks then added the rest on.
So far I am happy with the way it has turned out. I will sand, stain and varnish tomorrow.









Friday 14 March 2014

1.12 scale working chandelier

I want working lighting in my dolls house but I want everything to be handmade so I don't want to use the lighting you can buy without at least changing it.
I took a ceiling light and extracted the light fitting, bulb, wire and plug throwing the old plastic housing away.
From an old broken mobile I had a round wire frame with a wire cross through the centre. As soon as I saw it I knew what it was going to be turned into. I found a black flat bead and a circular black bead with large holes to fit the wire through. Gluing one to the other it created the top of the chandelier.
Threading beads onto fishing wire I attached them around the rim of the mobile piece to create the crystal droplets. To keep them in line I weaved a line of invisible thread through the top beads.
Once done I attached a piece of an old bracelet around the rim of the mobile piece to finish it off. 
When the glue dried I split the wire of the light fitting so that it would hang properly within the shade. After passing the wires through the top of the frame I secured them together with tape, added a dab of glue then secured the bead top.
I think the overall affect is great and can't wait to add it to the ceiling of my dolls house and light it up. 




Wednesday 5 March 2014

Witches 1.12 scale herb and mushroom baskets

I have used several dried mosses in each of these 1.12 scale baskets. I think they look like herbs collected by a foraging witch, then I added some of the tiny mushrooms I dried out a while ago. After dabbing a little glue over the top I sprinkled over some t bag soil. I am impressed with the overall look.






Saturday 1 March 2014