The Cottage is Finished!  I think it turned out really nice.  I went to the dollar store the other day and they had their Christmas stuff out in which I bought the variety of trees I put around the house when I did the landscaping.  The trees from the dollar store were covered in snow, so I sprayed on some glue and dipped each tree in some green landscaping greenery.  I think the trees turned out really nice for only around $6 compared to buying trees that look like them at the craft store could have cost me $40 for as many trees as I used..  I wanted the inside of the Cottage to look like it was built 200 or 300 years ago, and having to cook meals in the fireplace with the hanging pot on the mantel, and the old fashion hand water pump in the kitchen and the ladder to the attic bedroom.  I think this was one of my longer project in which I spent around 55 hours to complete it.  I hope you all enjoy the completed Cottage.  Have a Wonderful Week!  

I think the little street lamps are my favorite things on the outside and gives the house a cozy warm look. 

I didn't get great close up pictures of the windows that I built around the house and to be able to get the diamond window trim the windows had in the picture,  I searched through Home Depot and found Rain Gutter Covers that was to the scale I was looking for.  They were pretty heavy duty metal and I just used some heavy duty cutters to cut. 

The living room is my favorite in the house.  My friend Stephanie from Wyoming made this little Jack-O-Lantern that I bought from her at the miniature show.  I love it! 

 New Cottage:  Hi everyone I hope your September is going wonderful!  At the Miniature Show a lady came up to me and asked if I did consignment work!  Then handed me this tiny picture of a cottage house from a company that actually builds these houses for people to live in. She said she would like for me to build the house for her.  I did say I had never done consignment work and would like to give it a try.  I did tell her that it would be a couple of months before I started it and I would let her know when I started.  But I couldn't wait a couple of months so I went ahead and started.  I decided not to let her know until I knew that I could build it to look like the picture.  Plus I'm not worried if she doesn't want to buy it cause I think its turning out really good and would sell at the show next year.  When I am done putting in the electrical lines and finishing the interior and landscaping I will surprise her.  She has chandeliers and lights and items she had in her childhood dollhouse she would like to incorporate into the interior.  So I will set up the wiring to were I can add her lights instantly.  I added a few of my own touches to the exterior, and added a couple of extra window shutters.  I did put the  Flintstone House on hold for now since I wanted to start this cottage.  I think my most favorite thing on this cottage so far are the wood shutters and wood door I made outta scrap wood, and the fake metal hinges I made out of cardboard.  I hope you like the progress ive made so far. 

I tried to be very creative with the roof.  I wanted a Slate Tile looking roof.  I created it from Egg Cartons I have been saving.  I think the slate tile roof shingles turned out Wonderful for using egg cartons that were free- since it would have cost me $50 in tiny wood shingles to cover the house.  But the labor of 3 hours to make the paper shingles almost would cost the same as buying them already make, but its the pride of making them vs buying them. 

This is the slate tiles right after I spent 5 hours hot gluing them into place.  Once they were done- I used Mod Pod Glue and covered them to make them hard and shiny to help make them look like slate.  I also took some diluted grey paint and painted some extra shingles to give more color variance.

It took me 3 Hours to tear the Egg Cartons apart that I saved.  3 Large cartons were used.  I could bearly move my fingers when I was done. 

Once all the paper was on and started to dry I painted it a light grey for all the grout areas. 

I think I spent around 7 hours just sculpting the stones and adding the paper stucco to the walls. 

The house once I put on the paper stucco which is about 1/2 inch thick.

Wood  version glued together.

Laying out my pattern to cut out of the sheet of wood.

I drew out the house on mat board then cut it out with a razor, then I taped it together for a dry fit, before I cut it out of wood. 

 

 

The tiny picture the lady at the miniature show handed me to see if I could build it for her. 

The Denver Miniature Show was a Hit!  I felt like a Rock Star- and 10 out of the 14 houses I took sold-3 of them were in the exhibit room and not on my sales table!  The Show gave me a huge boost in confidence.  People loved how small they were and that each of them were fully furnished and decorated.  While I was in the process of setting up my tables the day before the sales show, 2 of my houses sold to other Miniature Dealers.  I was so exciting and awesome to meet and talk to all the miniature addicted people. It was also totally exhausting setting up the tables which took 4 hours even with my 2 helpers, helping haul in all the houses. 

My Friend Stephanie from Wyoming as she carries away the first miniature house I made that inspired me to start building the houses.  This was a very sentimental house for me to part with.  But I want my closet space back at home so I can start building many more houses for next years show.