Some good ideas for wall decor

We have this awesome antique store about 45 minutes away called Camelot Village. The place is huge with room after room of stuff. As you may have guessed, I have looked for, and found, miniatures here. A few things are going to be rehabbed (couches, chairs with bad cushions) and possibly offered in my Etsy shop.

What I really wanted to point out were some of the vintage trading cards and ephemera they have. There is one room with loads and loads of postcards, ads, and other bits and pieces. I did not get to look through most of the stuff as we were getting ready to leave but I know where I am going to start my search the next time I go back! I did pick up some items that were perfect to fill up wall space in the historical society.

Here are some pics to give a better idea of what I am talking about:

Above, a soap ad and a photograph of a British noblewoman inspecting Boy Scouts add a little bit of interest to this formerly blank wall in the historical society attic.

There were a number of these small cards, about an inch to 1.5 inches wide showing different celebrities. Other such cards showed birds and flowers. (They would look pretty awesome in a frame. :-D ).

This is another ad for various clothing items with a lovely vintage picture. Again, it livens up the blank wall a little more, especially with the brighter colors.

HBS was also having a closeout sale so I took the opportunity to get some miniatures I have been wanting for my collection, including this replica of a chest in the Springfield (IL) Lincoln home. I am collecting the pieces little by little and hope to (someday) build the Springfield Lincoln Home from RGT. Once we move into a bigger and more permanent place, that will likely happen.

How have you used vintage ephemera in your dollhouses?

New Etsy item and other things...

I *was* going to post yesterday about these cute cupcakes I made. They are now on etsy!

I did a couple other things today, too:

1) I added a couple things to my kitchen to liven it up a bit. It's crowded, but it looks busy and well-used. (Kinda like my real-life kitchen, now that I think about it!).

This shelf unit was the one I picked up for a bargain at Chautauqua Miniatures! It fits *perfectly* in the kitchen above the stove. I've since put brass measuring cups on top of it.

These pillows are from dale's dreams. They make cute summer chair cushions for a kitchen!

This is a little apron hung over a stepladder (see pic below). The apron was found in the scrapbooking section of the craft store and is the perfect scale! It even came with little wooden utensils which I put in the drawers of the little hutch in the kitchen.

 

 

 

You can kinda see the step stool here. Also note the pans hanging on the wall by the working clock. :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2) I finally filled the window box on the front of the house with some plants. It was bugging me that it was empty. As you can see by the pic below, I also added a hanging planter by the door. I've had this in my stash for a very long time, so it's nice to get a chance to display it.

3) Last, I played with my new toy today. It's not mini-related, but it is pretty cool. I finally got an iPad. I've been wanting one for a while, but when I got a chance to play with one recently, I thought about how useful it could be for work and play. If you have a cool app you've discovered, please let me know. I installed Flipboard today and it's great to use to read all of your blogs!

Things I've made tonight...

I tried making my first cupcakes tonight. They're not perfect, but not terrible for my first try. :)

I want to try different flavors and add some toppings in the future, but these were fun to do. The "dish" they are sitting on is a jewelry finding from the craft store.

I also made up some plants for the Glencroft. I had bought a few things from Joann's recently that would make some quick and easy plants.

On the left are some dried ferns which I separated, cut and attached to cloth-covered wire to make a smaller fern plant. On the right are some really cool embellishments I found in the scrapbooking aisle. The top one I hung on the herb shop door to decorate for spring. The one on the bottom was placed into a vase I had on hand. You can see the finished plants below.

Here they are in the Glencroft:

Plants do add some life to a scene.

Currently, I am still working on the details and I am going to focus on the bedroom next. I think I am going to repaint and redress the bed and add some stationery to the desk. I just found a little handpainted chest of drawers in my collection that fits the color scheme in the bedroom.

That's all for now. I am going to be quite busy in the next couple of days, so I don't know how much crafty stuff/blogging I'll get to do, but I am glad I had some time over the last few days to do some artsy stuff. It's a nice relaxing break from the usual...

Furnishing and decorating the Glencroft

Here are pictures of the interior of the Glencroft. There's a lot more to add (e.g., a sink in the bathroom), but I like how it's coming together. :)

Living room - the pillows on the couch just came in the mail today from miniatures.com - they had a 50% sale a couple days ago for their Modern Mini Design line. I couldn't resist these as they were the *perfect* color scheme. The coffee table is Bespaq and came from a wonderful little shop in Salisbury, Massachusetts called Divided House gifts. The black couch and armchair were obtained from a second-hand shop in Peterborough, New Hampshire called Murray's Home Again.

Clearly, I need to stock the shelves a little better in the kitchen, but that will happen little by little. What is there is a  little tray of food from Reutter Porcelain and a Key Lime Pie I made from Sculpey.

A wine rack sits on the fridge and needs to be filled! There is a wine country theme to this kitchen (the wallpaper is all wine labels), so I have a few more things to add for the theme including a wine tray I will make from a kit.

This toilet came today from Miniatures.com, too. The lid and seat lift up, too! I wasn't going to make this a full bath, but I decided to include a toilet and a sink (which I am going to build from scratch to match the Japanese-style bathtub in the background).

I love this screen, but I am not sure if it's going to stay here. The sink is going to go against the wall where the screen is now.

The wall decorations are beads from the craft store. The tiny cat shelf came from Earth and Tree in Amherst, NH.

As you can see, I still need to put on the front door! It's a little drafty in there! I am going to clean my own house first and put the Glencroft on display in the foyer. Then I am going to make the door and attach it soon - maybe tomorrow? We'll see. :) But I am excited with getting this done. Now I can work on all of the tiny details... :)