Thank you all for your nice comments on my last post about the small sewing room reveal! As I promised, I would like to have a few posts about the details of what I did to create the things around the room. Somethings will be a quick exploration and some will be a simple tutorial.
Let's talk about the suitcase and furniture in case you missed the other
post.
As a base for the "room" you can pretty much use anything. I happened to use the unfinished wooden suitcase for this project, but you can find many other shapes and sizes at major craft stores. I think it will be so much more interesting if you can find a container around the house. The suitcase I used is 7"H x 9 1/2"W x 3 1/2"D closed. The size of your room determines the size of the furniture, how much you can put in and display. It will be helpful to have a rough idea of what your room will look like, but remember you can always change your mind!
Some of the furniture... surprisingly, I found at a dollar store! I wish I bought more when I saw them. When I went back they were all gone and are not carried anymore. I found the others at craft stores, such as Michael's, Hobby Lobby and Joann's. There is always a way to do this cheaper. Use coupons and look for sales are the best. I have noticed that at Hobby Lobby, their doll house section has quite an impressive selection and they go on sale at 30% off quite often.
I simply used spray paint to paint the box and and the furniture. You will want to use the kind of spray paint that will stick to wood, plastic and metal. That way you can spray paint them all at once and you won't need to even worry about switching paints. Read the manufacture's instructions before starting.
After the paint was completely dried, I work on the wallpaper and the flooring, and guess what? They are both scrapbook paper. You can buy wallpaper and the wood flooring made for doll houses, but they are much more expensive, and I didn't find the style I liked. When I was browsing the scrapbook section, I came cross this embossed white paper and wood plank paper. I fell in love with the white paper. The size of the flower embossing gave a subtle, but dramatic look in the small doll house sized room. The wood planks were actually too wide for the size of the room, so I drew some lines in between to narrow the width of the planks. I used colored pencil to mimic the existent lines on the paper.
To install them, you need to measure the inside of the box and cut the paper just a hair smaller. Use Mod Podge to paste them on the box.
* Drawer chest and the Cork board *
Unfortunately, the drawers won't open but since this was one of the dollar furniture, I didn't think I could complain too much. It is still a pretty and fun addition to the room, wouldn't you think so?
I bought the frame a while ago, and I don't remember where. When I was decorating the room, I thought this would be the perfect scale for the drawer chest. Also, any sewing/craft room needs an inspiration board, right?
{How to}
1. I used cork sheet for this project and the back side of the cork sheet has adhesive that you can peel and stick. Cut the cork sheet and soft white fabric slightly larger than the opening of the frame.
2. Layer the fabric and the cork sheet (sticky side up) together. Fold the edges of the fabric to cover the cork sheet.
3. Glue it on to the back of the frame. That is it!
4. Now, you can go through your magazine to find VERY small and beautiful images for your inspiration board. Since I used cork sheet, you will be able to pin them like you do with real cork board. :)
* "Jumbo Pillow" *
Well, this Jumbo pillow is 2" x 2" but to everything else it is "jumbo". It is a simple square pillow, but I did all my sewing for this room with 1/8" seam rather than the usual 1/4". I thought because everything is so small, smaller seams make sense. Here is a quick how-to.
1. You can use any fabric, but I think it is fun to pick fabric with a motif that would fit in 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" as I did. Cut 2 pieces of 2 1/4" x 2 1/4" squares: remember, the seam allowance is 1/8", so the finished pillow will be 2"x 2". If you would rather have a wider seam, that is fine too.
2. Sew around the edge leaving a small opening to turn the fabric inside out. Snip the corners for a clean finish.
3. Turn the pillow inside out, stuff with fiber fill and sew it closed. I sewed pom-poms onto the corners, but this is optional.
* Cakes and plates *
I wish I could take credit for those cute cakes, but I bought them at a craft store. They were stuck on a piece of paper in a row. I separated them and glue them on to buttons. Yep, I said buttons. I went through my buttons and found buttons that are the perfect size for those cute treats. There, I didn't need to spend a dime!
That's it for today's post, but I still need to cover other things in the room. :) See you at the next post everyone!
