Found: A knitted pouffe look for less

I've been seeing knitted pouffe ottomans/bean bags for a while now in CB2 catalogs and interior design blogs. Then I saw this beautiful handmade miniature version made by The Shopping Sherpa and featured by Pinch of Pepper on Flickr. I don't know how to knit, much less on a miniature scale, though a project like that may motivate me to learn when I have free time this summer. I also saw a great selection of assorted colored miniature knitted pouffes on PRD Miniatures for $12 plus shipping. While I'd love to have one, my budget is small so I started looking for a cheaper option in the form of...hacky sacks! Colorful knitted bean bags that are small enough to look convincing? I hoped it would work, but after browsing around to find one it was more difficult than I thought. Most of them had wild patterns, and it was difficult to judge if they would be the right size. By chance, I was wandering around a Party City store where they sell small, individual toys for goody bags to give away a children's parties/fill pinatas, etc. and I found some mostly solid colored bean bags for $0.97 that I could display upside-down and get the basic effect. Now I have 2 knitted pouffes for around 2 bucks. My secret is out (just don't look on the bottoms!)

Nothing much new here except the hacky sack/bean bag pouffes from Party City. Couch made by me. Coffee table from ebay. Television and stand from Dollhouse Emporium. Accessories are Re-Ment or handmade.

Picture Postcards

I wanted to play around with my new acrylic risers today and make a office scene in my Ikea Lekman roombox. I bought some Jonathan Adler origami paper at Barnes and Noble that I wanted to use as a rug. I found a postcard of an abstract painting in my collection that inspired the rest of the colors. This room is a mixture of miniatures and re-purposed items. I used my red CB2 Christmas ornament chair plus 2 from my REAC collection. The tables are acrylic risers found on ebay. The red table is a cap from a spray can. The white cube storage unit is Dollhouse Emporium. The accessories are mostly Re-Ment or made by me. The red thumbs-up sculpture is an eraser I bought at Target. I found a pack of them in different colors and poses that I thought would look interesting in a miniature scene. I only spent about 15 minutes putting it together. I like to imagine it as an office for a young, modern creative type.

The second room is in my thrifted dollhouse. I haven't really refurbished it yet, but I temporarily tacked some scrapbook paper to the walls and floors. I used a postcard image to inspire this room as well. The sofa and cushions are made by me (don't look at them too closely or you'll see how bad I am at sewing). The small bookcase is from Dollhouse Emporium. I found the other bookcase at an antique shop and painted it white. I am thinking of putting some paper or a contrasting color in the back of each shelf later on. The chair is REAC and the cubes are Garanamals building blocks. On the shelves are two tiny glass birds that were a Christmas gift. You can find them along with dozens of other glass animals at Toys R Us. They are really

cool little collectibles. It looks to me like an urban bachelor's living room.

margaret_loves dollhouse DIY

In the search for modern dollhouse furniture and accessories, the choices are few and expensive. Most are highly sought after or out of production (only available on ebay) or painstakingly handcrafted by a few artisans on etsy and a handful of other sites ($$$). I don't have the budget to pay 1:1 prices for a 1:12 item (unfortunately) so I happily resort to a satisfying, though many times frustrating and time-consuming process of creating my own miniatures. A lot of mishaps, glue-gun burns, and not always picture perfect results, but I am proud of some of my creations. I wish I had taken some photos during the process of making my sectional sofa, but it isn't too difficult to figure out. Basically, I cut out rectangles for the base, back and each cushion, wrapped them as neatly as I could with fabric and used hot glue to put it together. The mirrored tables are inspired by ones sold by the Dollhouse Emporium. They are wooden blocks, and I glued some mirror board squares to each face. Finally, I found a tutorial to make an Arco-style lamp using a melon baller and some wire. I can't remember whose blog I found it on, please comment if you know so I can credit them. Of these I am most proud of the sofa, and I have used it the most, almost too much. I really need more variety in my collection. It is based on one sold by Room and Board, one I'd love to own in real life :) I am struggling to create another couch, though. I think I must have blocked out how difficult it was. I bought a secondhand leather skirt and a blue velvet shirt from Goodwill (cheaper than buying raw fabric) and I am in the process of taking them apart and using the material to make some more pieces. This time I will try to blog my process.

margaret_loves Lucite

I love the Lucite trend-from Ghost chairs to CB2 tables-and I knew they should be fairly easy to create in miniature, but it took me several months to find just what I was looking for. I looked at some clear acrylic risers from The Container Store, which come in a variety of sizes, but with shipping I would have been paying way to much for a small bit of plastic. I knew there had to be more options out there. On ebay I found a set of three small risers for less than $5. Perfect. Here is a picture to give you a better idea of their scale-
The tallest makes a excellent desk (it would look great with nothing but an miniature Mac book on top!) and the shortest makes a nice low coffee table. The medium height table could also be a coffee table or end table, or perhaps a stand for a television. I am so excited to use these, it was small purchase that I can get a lot of mileage out of, as long as they don't go out of fashion any time soon :)

Chair: REAC Japan miniature Panton, rug is cut out from felt from Michael's, square ottomans are building blocks.

margaret_loves thrifting

I checked out a newly opened thrift store in town not expecting to find anything in particular, and was pleasantly surprised to find this set, though incomplete. The shop owner said there was supposed to be a china cabinet with it (hence the loose drawer) but it was nowhere around. She charged me only $1 which I thought was a great deal, and told me she would put any other miniatures she found under the counter to save for me! They look like they were a furniture kit that someone put together, but are pretty well-built and have nice details. I am thinking of ways to possibly paint or refinish the pieces, and creative uses for the drawer as wall art or perhaps a tray or small table top. I hope to post a scene using them soon :)