Truly Tiny....

 

 Wonders...

I Hope you Will not mind, Dear Readers, that it's not possible to share every little detail of this kit progress! As I have mentioned before, the details in every single piece are truly Amazing to discover and explore and create. Every day I dip into the instructions and decide what little Wonders I will assemble next... it is a huge amount of fun! But first, I left you last post with the "basic shell" almost all put together. It did not take me long to accomplish the next details... in this case the shelves inside the display window. It was necessary to have the lighting glued in place first, and the shelves are really held in place by only two "structural contacts"... the sides of the window embrasure and the "beanstalk".... yes, Jack's Beanstalk has a place of honor in this kit! (You know... the "Jack And The Beanstalk" Fairy-tale...?) It twines half way up the display window on one side by the door.... you can sort of see it in the above picture! I forgot to take any photos of the attaching of these shelves, probably because it was very fiddly and required careful measuring and careful testing and careful gluing and careful focus to make sure the shelves were level... they don't go all the way to the front of the cabinet, and are in fact, tiered, with the bottom having the most depth and the next one less... I figured out that this was so the lighting could reach all levels of the display. The Beanstalk itself is a major structural support for these shelves and each shelf was "notched" to go around a certain part of the beanstalk... so you couldn't just put them at any old level! I used the "strongest" glue and got them positioned and let them cure overnight. The other little detail needing to be completed was the little roof sections over  the windows...

 

The kit proposes that you cover these little roofs

 entirely in a thick layer of moss.... 

but that didn't strike me as very realistic.

 Around here the moss on roof-tops

 grows in little clumps and patches .... 

and only covers the entire roof

 if that roof is a bit rotten.... 

so not the most desirable 

over a display window!

 And besides, I had these 

ready to use half-scale shingles.... 

which I think give the building a

 much more local feel

 as well as a certain amount of charm!

(There will eventually be some moss too!) 

 

There! isn't that better? 

I know, it is partly because the

 orange color is finally hidden....  

but also because this is just the kind 

of facade you will find in many 

New England Villages and coastal towns. 

It has a comforting familiarity for me!

 So with those tasks completed 

I could turn my attention to

 the little kits for the Interior Decor! 

And what better place to start than 

the kits for the display window?

 

In this case the kit is for "The Three Bears General Store". 

You can see the pieces above... punched out pieces

 of lithographed wood for the shop itself 

and tiny color printed interior decor scenes

 to glue onto the walls. 

This kit is about 3/4 inch wide and

 1/2 inch tall for the interior.... 

so it is very tiny! 

But just look at the details of the printing!!! 

 

Here you can see I have glued the interior art to the exterior walls.

 

Here you can see that I have glued

 the walls to the base section....

 and you can also see that I was working 

on more than one thing at a time.... 

in this case the cushion for

 the chair in the studio area. 

Because I was pondering what

 to do next with the Three Bears Grocery... 

The kit instructions say just glue the front in place

 and put some moss by the door for bushes.

 But I wanted to make the kit "openable"....

with a hinged front.... and just possibly

 some interior three-dimensional augmentation??? 

Could I manage that? 

Well... I wouldn't know if I didn't Try....

 

Of course, it is getting late and it is dark Winter.....

 but I painted a sliver of cardboard the light

 grey color of the printed shelving....

 and very carefully fitted it and glued it along 

the place where the shelves were printed..... 

and it worked!! 

And one good shelf needed an accomplice....

 

Here you can see there are two shelves 

and the "supports" along the bottom.... 

but it was getting late and I ended up dreaming all night

 about making the drawers underneath the lower shelf.... 

and the next morning.... 

Well, I had to try!

 

Here you can see the two kits together... 

it had struck me how similar their exteriors were!

 

And you can see the interior of the little shop....  

I wanted those lower sections to have the 

solid depth of drawers under the counter-top...

 

Here you can see I have painted a strip of cardboard 

just wide enough to fill the lower area,

 and painted it to resemble the two drawers.... 

with the gray space between them. 

I have layered the cardboard with card stock

 (two layers of the cardboard would be

 too thick, one not thick enough..)

 and cut off a section to fit into

 one of the openings..... 

but does it fit???

 

By Jove it does!!!

Oh, what a lovely sight! 

 

And then cutting the next section......

 

Two down, one to go.....

 

And the third section added!

 

Here you can see it beside the Store Front... 

to which I have added the "front walkway" 

a base for the landscaping to be attached to

 so it opens with the front section....

 

But what I am really proud of, Dear Readers, 

is the Drawer Knobs I have managed

 to paint on the drawer fronts..... 

Can you see them above...?

 

Or can you see them better here....?

 And I have also started to add some "stock" to the shelves!

(The tiniest beads I could find...!) 

 

And then, because I was really getting into this... 

I wanted to make a small basket of produce.... 

Can you see it there? 

(These are really difficult to photograph.... 

the camera doesn't know where to focus!)

 

How about now...? 

I must suppose these are a "Fairy Fruit"....

 they are very brilliant!

 

And here I have attached the "hinge" 

(A very fine strip of glove leather)

 to the left side wall....

 

See.....? 

The front opens up!

 

Can you believe how cute this is????

 

Here it is next to the main shop kit....

 

And inside the Display window....!

 But wait.....

 

I got the Shop Lights hooked up...!

 Can you see it there in the bottom of the Display window...?

 

How about now...?

 I noticed that the last lamp of the kit string

 is positioned to highlight this display corner....! 

 

You can see into the store interior

 through the side window panel.... 

and the light is right there!

 

 

 How clever is that?

Well, I don't know about you, Dear Readers,

 but I am just Enchanted by

All these Truly Tiny Wonders!

Fairy-Tale....

Wonderhouse....!

I Left You, Dear Readers, still at the very beginning of my Adventures with the Fairy-Tale Wonderhouse kit, and already well embarked on a divergent course from the Original! Yes, it is True, I have the well ingrained habit of starting something that looks utterly perfectly enchanting just as it is and then saying,"But.... I would really like it better if..." and proceeding to go it my own way. This only Sometimes causes me really serious construction problems down the road... but I think in this case I am managing to stick to mostly just "cosmetic" changes, not entire make-overs! I proceeded to build the little desk corner entirely to specs with only the modification to the darker paint color for the woodwork. The curtain went according to plan (inside the plastic "glass" window pane) and the "printies" that liberally adorn every wall in this kit all are so far right where they should be! But I can't tell you just how much fun it is to look at every single bit of printed stuff and realize it is ALL about houses or dollhouses from RL! Practically the very first one I located and "removed" from the printed sheet nearly knocked me off my feet!

It is one of a couple of "pages" that cover the desk underneath the project that is being worked on.... but when I looked closely at it and it's partner..... they are well known drawings of the interior and exterior of a Gypsy Caravan Wagon!!! I have seen them on the interwebs many times when searching for inspiration about Gypsy Wagons..... and there they are in utterly Exquisite tiny miniature perfection... Oh, how could I ever bear to cover this up???? They nearly sent me off on a mini-miniature Gypsy Wagon construction Marathon.....!!! Alas, my better intentions held fast.... I glued them in place and bravely carried on...

 

Here you can see a "bunch" more has been added... 

tools in the wall rack, extra stuff under the desk, 

a bulletin board ready to hang up...

oh, and a lovely vase with a flower on that window sill...

 

Which you can see a bit better in the morning light!

 (I do apologize in advance for the numerous darkish photos... 

I work in an old house that has poor lighting... 

that is good enough to make do but not great for photography..... 

and I forget to pay attention while I am making stuff!)

 

And because this little "studio corner" 

needs to be entirely fitted out before 

moving on to the rest of the structure....

 I needed to follow the steps and make all those little things ... 

like glue bottles... (above) and paint cans...

 

And occasionally seeing something that

 I Knew had to be "modified" to fit my "taste".... 

in this case the coffee cup becomes a "teacup" 

with the tea bag tag still hanging over the side.... 

because I am a tea drinker!

 

Can you see it back there... in the corner

 where it is "designed" to sit on top of a book about dollhouses... 

(even though I Never put a cup of tea on top of books...!)... 

and that paint can with the stick still sticking up.... 

(who left that there!!! ??? !)... 

and I nearly died when I saw that the stick has 

words on it that say "magic brush"...!!!!!)

 Truly I was shocked at the minute wondrous

 details that are in every aspect of this kit!!!

 

Here you can see the wall at the other side 

of the main room is being glued in place..

 

Which gives more definition to the main room itself... 

and I have added the golden "clouds" cornice trim

 to the top of the walls.

 

The ceiling frame needed to be painted and attached

 so the lights could all be glued in place...

 

You can see here I am weighting it down

 with a lovely heavy piece of agate......

 

 

Then the whole thing needs to be upside-down

 to do the careful gluing of the light string

 across all the wooden framework...

 

Which is so wonderfully visible in the morning light!

 And all the lamps are hanging from the correct places.... 

except for the rest of the "light string" that

 continues across the front opening door.... 

which I need to get assembled...

 

Which I am starting by painting those window openings the dark brown!

 

And gluing on the interior wall papers...

 

And painting the pieces needed for the "Front Door" of the Shop!

 This door required hinges... but not screws!

 This gave me a few moments of panic! 

It has been a long time since I used a hinge without screws!

 But this wood was clearly not equal to the task

 of housing screws.... (way too thin and delicate)...

 and the method was to sandwich the hinge flanges 

between the layers of wood... all glued together!

 But the first glue I used (wanting it to be "Strong")

 was the wrong kind.... and squeezed itself

 into the moving parts of the hinges... NOT okay... 

and had to be carefully extracted.... (mostly successfully)...

 and started over.

 Second try I used a dot of superglue and

 a dot of white craft glue (Aleene's) 

and glued them fairly quickly into the

 finished "sandwiched" location on the Front panel.

 It worked. The hinges work, 

the door opens nicely... All good so far! 

But I forgot to take any pictures during all that panic!

 

And the opening windows on the front wall

 also needed to be painted and have "glass"

 added to their openings...!

 

Which required some very delicate fitting and

 the addition of an extra layer of "cardboard frame" 

to be glued over the glass panel on the inside of the window... 

here it too has already been painted the dark brown and glued in place.

(These windows have built-in "pin hinges" so no metal hinges are used.) 

 

And the decor for the Exterior Front Wall also

 needed assembling and gluing in place. 

The paper wrinkled alarmingly in the two printed side panels...

 but I can live with it! 

So many other items will cover most of them anyway.

 

The really Tricky part, Dear Readers, 

was the Front Display Window that sticks out on

 the front with treasures on display on the shelves inside....

 and the kit has them open to the elements!!! 

"Glass" windows were essential for my peace of mind! 

And yet, the wooden framework was 

really slender and delicate on the sides.... 

was there room to glue the "panes" in place? 

Just barely! 

 

But first it was time to glue the Front Panel to the Base....

 making sure it was completely vertical!

 

Oh, and I forgot to show the Front panel with the 

top decor in place.... and the front door too! 

But the bump-out window can't be assembled 

until the wall is glued to the base... 

the whole thing swings open when the kit is opened up.

 

Here you can see the Display Window foundation is in place.

 

 

Here the Display Windows have been attached.... 

this required a lot of testing and pieces falling down

 before I could be sure of the proper order for gluing.

 But it worked in the end!

 

And all this while I have also been 

assembling little pieces of the decor...

 in this case the top shelf in the Studio had some items... 

one was a lovely paper house...

 that I thought could use a tiny bit of landscape....

 

And some snow!

 Because there is a snowman printed on the front of the house.... 

all it needed was a little bit on the ground too!

 (Because it has been snowing a lot around here!)

 

And the front opening windows have also been glued in place! 

 

And the Whole Front panel has been 

Hinged to the Main body of the kit! 

Regular hinges with screws were used this time...

 and I am not used to working with MDF... 

it is a bit soft... but the hinges are sturdy and work fine!

 

And then the rest of the lights needed to be

 glued in place across the front wall... 

in the window, over the door and in the display cabinet

. 

The bulk of the "shell" construction is finished, Dear Readers,

 but I think I have just begun 

the Adventure of the Tiny Decorations

 in this Fairy-Tale Wonderhouse!