Thank You Anthoula!

Today I received a gift all the way from Greece! When I untied the red and white checkered ribbon and unwrapped the red paper wrapping, these tiny treasures awaited me. First came the lemon meringue pie ... then the fruit tart topped with cherry and a slice of starfruit ... followed by the waffle served with chocolate ice cream and banana slices atop a dollop of cream ... and finally the tiny meringue nest with slices of citrus fruits! I love how the meringue swirls so elegantly on all of them, and the details on the starfruit and banana slices are out of this world! Thank You Anthoula!

For more minis by Anthoula Zampeli, visit:

Blog: http://a-miniature-life.blogspot.com

Thank You Teresa!

These are my cherished gifts from Teresa Martínez, all the way from Spain! Earlier this year, she mailed me a copy of the Miniaturas magazine where my doll, Sunehra, was featured. Along with the magazine, she sent me her wonderful creations of marmalade and the Christmas wreath. My photos don't do justice to the detail ... if you could only see the itsy bitsy slices of lemon and qiwi! From the bottom of my heart, Teresa, Thank You!

For more minis by Teresa Martínez, visit:
Blog: http://tinyterminiatures.blogspot.com
Website: http://www.tinyterminiatures.com

Door and Much More

Much has happened since the last time I wrote. We bought a house ... a life-size house, not a dollhouse ... the Garfield Manor survived the move. The exterior still needs a lot of work, but decorating the new house took precedence.

Over the winter break, I was able to work on my Garfield a little. Not major things ... a trim here, a molding there. My favorite has to be the front door. I found the easiest way to work with the doors is to glue the hinge onto the door first, then glue the vertical door frame to the hinges ... then, glue the door frame (along with the door) onto the body of the house. The bar that creates the horizontal door frame goes on last. The doors needed a lot of sanding, and do not fit the opening exactly. But they are opening/shutting fine and I could not be happier with them!

Indoors, I added curtains to almost all the windows on the first and second floor. I love the elegance created by the floor-to-ceiling curtains ... and am doubly glad that the fabric came already pleated when I bought it! I think Dev quite likes them too!

Can't you just see this happening inside the Garfield? This is a song from Charulata (1964): a Satyajit Ray film based on a story by Rabindranath Tagore "Nastoneer"... sung by Kishore Kumar, and starred by Soumitra Chatterjee and Madhabi Mukherjee.

... I definitely need a piano in the Garfield!

Roof Shingles

I absolutely LOVE the roof! Yes, it has been a long and arduous process, but it was well worth it. And the best part, I didn't need to spend a single penny on shingles! I had been saving left over shingles from all my previous dollhouse projects ... and I was over the moon when I finished my roofing project with about 50 or so pieces left!

Remember the half pack of skinny sticks that was left after I finished the interior moldings? I used the remaining sticks to refine the corners where the roof edges meet. See what difference it makes? A few sticks, a bit of glue and some masking tape ... and limitless patience of course!

There is still a bit more work to do before the roof is completed. I need to add the gingerbread trims and the railings on top, and paint the roof in a dark tone as in my inspiration photo.

Kitchen

I have decided to use this kitchen set in my Garfield. This photo was taken inside a different dollhouse. Each unit is separate, five pieces in all. I have not finalized the arrangement of the pieces. I think the cream and dark wood will go perfectly with the current color scheme, and the retro look is perfect!

The Garfield Dollhouse Kit Assembly Instructions & Schematics

** CLICK on images for LARGE versions **

These are the assembly instructions and schematics for the Garfield Kit. Every now and then, I get requests from viewers to send them the instructions. So, I thought I might as well post them to the blog ...