#undersized urbanite

It’s done. My submission for The Undersized Urbanite is done.

The goal with this build was to not spend any money.  I dug through my supplies and found the little frames, then the people.  That’s when it started clicking together. I would create a little mini art museum.  Using a shadow box from Ikea, little people bought from eBay years ago, little frames, mini art reproductions, and lots of patience (those little people are hard to paint) it all came together. 

My inspiration was one of my favorite cartoons growing up, The Littles. If I have tiny little people, what kind of art would they have in a gallery? Each piece of art is a mini reproduction of a piece of art from each of my kids.  I scanned the original art, printed it onto canvas paper, and then used paint to touch it up (the printer ink did not dry well and ran a bit).  My kids were surprised that I included their art in my art. 

I did end up spending money though.  I spent $.94.  The wood floors are made from a wall hanging that was made of little tiny pieces of wood ($.69 at Goodwill) and the outside is framed with a frame that I cut down ($.25 at a thrift store). The wall is made from the back of a frame. The recessed lights are white mollies used for securing screws in drywall.  the little seat is a vintage bingo number glued to a piece of cork and painted white. 

My Undersized Urbanite Entry!

I can't believe I finished it in time!  So, if you will remember back in October I started with this shell of an old pressboard house.  It was one of the kits my mom put together for me as a kid.  She put it together with hot glue and never quite finished it so things like the windows, doors and stairs were missing.  It also had about five years sitting in parents attic plus another two my basement to make it very warpy.

So, its uneveness was my biggest challenge.  Overall, I'm happy with how it turned out.  Despite what many of you suggested, I went with the moss roof due to a lack of time.  I think it looks cute and goes well the paperclay stone which I turned out amazing.  My only complaint about it is that it warped the house even more, so all the careful templates I made of the walls and floors didn't fit quite right afterwards.  This made wallpapering a nightmare.

My general goal was to buy as little as possible for this house and try to use only things from my stash.  There are a few exceptions--I did use the dessert room as en excuse to buy the strawberry tart from Jackie at Bon-AppetEats.  The peaches are by her as well.  I bought the paper for the downstairs floor because I couldn't find anything I like that went with that wallpaper.  While I was at the store, I stumbled upon the paper that is now upstairs.   Everything else was either something I had, something I made, or something I was gifted.  So how about a "little" tour:

The Shabby Chic Retreat

Tucked away in a quiet forest is lovely old stone cottage.  This cottage is a retreat away from the world, full of simple luxury and relaxing pursuits. 

As I said, the exterior was completed with Creative Paperclay and painted to look like stone.  The roof was painted brown and covered with moss.  The porch planks were etched directly into porch with dremel tool (as were all the eaves details).  The porch post was a ready made component.  All the wood was painted white, then aged with a paint wash.  The birdbath was originally intended for a fairy garden.  The flowers were a door prize from a miniatures show and sadly I don't know who made them.

The Dessert Room

You can find a dining room in any old house, but the Shabby Chic retreat features a Dessert Room for your culinary pleasure.  Desserts of every type are available.

The wallpaper for this room was from the discount bin at the craft store a few years ago and I absolutely love it.  All the furniture in the house is from my collection.  Most of it is of the cheap dollar store kind, but the latticed sideboard I believe is from Aztec.  I got it a few years ago off the discount shelf at Rau's Country store.  The large oil painting is actually a dollar store magnet.  The chandelier is a jewelry charm my dad gave me.  I know the large crystal hanging off it way out of scale, but it looked so forlorn without it. 

As for the food, the heart cake is from my old dollhouse, something my grandparents bought for me ages ago at a dollhouse show.  The king cake was a souvenir from NAME's Phantom Ball this year.  The milk bottle is an old Grandmother Stover piece.  The eclair was souvenir from NAME's online house party.  The tray its on is a jewelry finding.  The other cakes on the tray and the little dessert on the back table are from Reuter Porcelain, as is the bomb cake on the lattice sideboard and the decorative plate on the wall.  The other cakes on the sideboard were made by me---one several years ago and other more recently.  The pie is also by Grandmother Stover.

The Reading and Relaxing Room

There is absolutely nothing like curling up on comfy sofa by a warm fireplace and reading a good book.  This room will more than accommodate. 

I'm rather pleased how the sofa turned out in this room.  It was pressboard piece with its legs broken off that came in a box of garage sale furniture.  I gave it new legs (mini thread spools), painted it, and upholstered in the pink gingham.  The pillows are actually saucers for a wedding-themed resin tea set (you can see the cups on the shelf in the Dessert Room).  The plant on the desk was also a favor from the NAME Online Houseparty.  Most everything else in this room is stuff that was commercially available, except the stack of books that the phonograph is pearched on.  If you read my essay over at Smallisimo, you'll know that my grandmother made bunch of books for my dollhouse library and these are some of the extras.

The Bath and Bed Room

As evening approaches, there is nothing more delightful than a scented bath, full of exotic oils.  After such a peaceful bath, it is just a few steps to the plush bed and a night of pleasant dreams.

The bed was inspired by one I saw in a decorating magzine, it was basically a large mattress in dormer, draped with pretty sheer curtains, and piled high with cushions.  I made it all myself--the bed is a cardboard box covered in blue cotton with a lace bed skirt.  I made the blue blanket and pillows as well.  The "fur" pillow is a makeup powder puff. 

The top hat on the shelf is actually the creamer from the aforementioned resin tea set.  The tea cup, tissue box, and dispenser are all Reuter Porcelain.  The yellow flowers are an eraser.  The lace carpet was crocheted by my grandmother ages ago.  The bottles were made by me from beads.  The towels and bathmat are cut from washrags.  And I'm not sure where the chamber pot came from, but I thought it was too cute not to include it.