Contest submission time!

Tomorrow is the deadline for the Creatin' Contest 2016.  We were so fortunate to see they added an online submission form since it makes everything easier!

Our Crafty Cottage was mostly done for quite awhile except for the roof!  Within the last month or so, we worked on using wood shingles from another dollhouse we made (but didn't use the shingles) and painstakingly hot glued them on. Then we found a nice wood stain to put on it.  Here is the cottage with stained roof.

Today we submitted the following pictures for our Creatin' Contest entry:

I'd also like to share these other photos that provide a good view of the exterior as well:

It was a fun project and we know we'll receive at least a small "thanks for entering" prize.  We enjoyed working on it together and please join us again for other crafty projects.

Let There be Light!

One of the neatest additions to our Crafty Cottage was the find of an LED button battery powered light for the inside.  We loved that we just had to attach a self-adhesive magnet to the ceiling beam where we can easy add the light.  It has a little light switch and the battery will be easy to change when needed.  All crafters need excellent lighting!

Wind Chimes and Exterior Details

 Today we were able to work some more on the bungalow, and since we've been trying to post more often, we figured we may as well talk about what we did.

Not too long ago, we went to Hobby Lobby to look for some supplies to make miniature wind chimes for the porch. We were inspired by some that we saw on Pinterest, sadly they aren't available on their Etsy anymore. We were able to find some good supplies to make some, along with a dollhouse chest that looked like it could make a perfect window seat with a little bit of modification.

Updated interior with chest for window box on left

One of the findings that we got looked like a silver doily. We used this for the top portion of the wind chime that we made today. We used some different beads to hang from the doily as well as some silver tube beads that make perfect chimes. We also used some abalone shells at the bottom to add a nice touch.

The finished wind chime

The wind chime was our big project for today, but we did add some other details. We glued a clay sand dollar that we'd painted silver to the gable (which we glued on as well). We also bought some miniature bird houses, one of which we glued to the porch railing. We also glued the rose vine onto the opposite railing.

That's all that we managed to fit in today. So until next time, stay crafty!

Details, details

It's been awhile since we've last posted on this blog.

When we did work on the bungalow, it was on small stuff.  The details complete the full picture.

As we very well know, craft rooms have a variety of odds and ends like yarn, stickers, paints, glue, etc.

    One of the petite crafting supplies that we made were yarn balls. We made these by wrapping small balls of aluminum foil with embroidery thread. We plan on making several more for a yarn display in the future.

We also made a sewing machine out of polymer clay, that we later painted on the details.

We wanted to have some printed elements in our crafting room as well. So, we found some images of buttons and stickers still in packaging which we printed out to size. We then covered them in some clear tape to give that shiny, in-package look. (We made much more than what is shown in the picture).

Along with the stickers and buttons, we also printed out some labels for the paint, adhesive, and ink containers that we made out of polymer clay. We made an original of each, then made molds for the ones that we were going to be making multiples of. They are really tiny, so we did a size comparison (note the dime on the left).

Though we did work on a lot of crafting supplies, we thought that the porch needed a little something extra. So we made a hummingbird feeder (left) and a bird feeder (right) to add a whimsical touch.

Not everything that we've worked on has been on the details. In terms of the house itself, we've glued on the walls, painted the gable, painted and glued on the two sides of the porch railing, and even decorated the patio floor! We bought some brick toned mosaic tiles which we glued in a continuous pattern on the porch floor. The only problem is that one side of porch near the end can't fit any more tiles. We have an idea for a solution, which we'll discuss in a later post.

Before we leave though, there's one more detail that we thought we should point out. We made doorknobs and deadbolts out of clay for the interior and exterior doors.

We'll try to make updates on this blog more often, so until next time, stay crafty!

Painting the exterior and interior of the Bungalow

A few weeks ago, we painted the interior and exterior of the bungalow:

Exterior walls in Sunkissed Peach

Here is the interior paint with glued in window:

Interior paint in Key West

At Walmart, we had also found some contact paper wood flooring and tried that out for the inside floor:

Interior flooring with painting, craft table and cat

Even though we weren't ready to glue the walls together yet, we tried another dry fit to see how things are coming together:

We also wanted to see what the porch would look like and should we paint the porch railing:

We love the metal garden chair and table for the porch!

We are thinking about painting the porch railing white to match the door and window trim.  We are still trying to decide on a flooring for the porch itself.  We didn't want to use the same as inside the bungalow.

We need to glue these walls together and get the gable painted and porch railing assembled.

Check back with us to see how we are doing!

Trim and Supplies

Last weekend, we worked on the trim for the windows and double doors. We decided to paint them white since we were thinking of doing a pale yellow for the exterior. 

 We encountered a problem when trying to paint around the plexiglass. We covered the glass around the trim detail with masking tape so we wouldn't get paint on the glass. Then we discovered that we couldn't paint the other sides' trim. While painting, we discovered a slot at the top of one of the windows. 

Upon closer inspection, the plexiglass seemed to shift a bit when wiggling it. Then, after sliding it a bit more, it came right out of the frame. 

From there, we were able to rinse any paint off with warm water and a bit of elbow (fingernail) grease. We were able to paint the other side of the trim and keep the windows paint-free!

Today we headed out to Walmart in search of acrylic paint and some wood glue since the instructions recommended it instead of hot glue.

Interior walls in Key West (far left), exterior in Sunkissed Peach (middle), extra white for the trim, and Elmer's Wood glue

While roaming around the craft section, we discovered a miniature canvas, which we thought would be perfect for our...Crafty Bungalow! We thought that since we already had a mini easel, it would work out fine. 

Amber's work on the mini painting

Stay tuned for progress on the Crafty Bungalow!

The Beginning of the Backyard Bungalow

   Welcome to Mom & Daughter Craftiness! We've worked on several projects over the last few years but have never really had the chance to document them. Now we can!
    Miniatures.com has an annual kit called the "Creatin' Contest." You purchase the kit from them and then build and decorate it. This year, the kit was the "Backyard Bungalow." Here's a picture of the unopened kit: 

We did a dry fit (taping the pieces together before paint and finishing) last night, and here's how it turned out:

Exterior

Interior

Exterior with Porch

We were thinking pastel yellow for the exterior with white trim, and maybe a sky blue for the interior. Next time you'll find out our theme...