Huyze Herkert, morning room: finishing the dollhouse in the dollhouse?

Remember this picture of the furniture I bought at the fair in May?

I just loved that tiny cabinet made by Arnold Volker. But when I put it in the dollhouse-within-a-dollhouse, it turned out to be just too small. Yes, you heard that right: too small!!! Can you believe it?

There was no way I wasn't going to use this little cabinet, though. I loved it far too much for that! And weren't those doors actually the perfect doors for the upper part of a sideboard? With drawers underneath? I gathered all my courage and very carefully cut off the legs.

I cut a piece of wood to size and stained all the parts in the same colour. I then glued everything together and added wooden strips to create the drawers. I embellished the latter with some gold decoration, cut from a tiny ornament.

The plan was to fill the display part of the cabinet with teeny-tiny books and crockery. I could already picture it perfectly. But once all the parts had been glued together, I discovered that the doors could no longer open. Which brings us to the question once again: can you believe that??? This is exactly what happened to me with the lid of my coal scuttle: glue in the hinges! You’d think I would have learned from that mistake… (Apparently, I’m a slow learner!) There was nothing I could do about it, so the cabinet will have to remain empty. But putting that little mishap aside, I actually think the cabinet turned out even prettier than it was before!

The Volker Arnold kit for making 1:144-scale lighting contained quite a few more pieces, so I made some standing candlesticks, a smaller hanging chandelier and a few loose candles as well. I then made the cello kit.

The music/drawing room needed a table. I cut two circles from veneer (to be correct, my cricut did), one with a diameter of 1 cm and one with a diameter of 1,2 cm. I glued them together to make the tabletop. For the base, I used a piece of jewelry finding and a model boat railing.

The music/drawing room also needed a plant (in my opinion that is; I love plants.). I made this one in the same way as the plant I made previously: by sandwiching thin wire between two layers of masking tape, painting it, and then cutting it into the shape of leaves. The pot is a silver bead from my grandmother's stash.

I also gave the desk a little makeover. I added a piece of ribbon as a runner on top, a candle, a few sheets of paper and a teeny-tiny pen (cut from the holder of a tea light), with a tiny bead (coloured black with a permanent marker) serving as an inkwell. Can you actually see all those details in the photos? (I can barely see that ink well myself, and I know exactly where to look!)

Next, I decided that the plant stand I had made earlier could use an upgrade as well. So I first stained it with mahogany stain and then painted tiny flowers on it. I also added another vase of flowers to the little bench.

And now all the little pieces of furniture and accessories (above, I didn't mention the round rug and the cushions I made for the sofa—but they are there too on the photos!) could finally find their places in the baby dollhouse!

Can I call it finished? Well, not yet. I still need two more dining chairs for around the table. I've decided not to make these myself; the chairs by Francesca Vernuccio are so perfect that I'll wait for the next fair and see if I can find some there. I would also love a miniature tea set for the table. And perhaps a few more accessories too. So no, it isn't really finished yet. But it's mostly finished!