dollhouse miniature – B n' B Kreationz

Miniature Wallpaper Options & Opinions

Posted on January 20, 2023 by Briana

I’ve built a decent number of dollhouses and room boxes at this point to have experimented with different types of wallpaper that you can use. I personally have used scrapbook paper, dollhouse wallpaper and actual wallpaper. I personally prefer the dollhouse wallpaper, then the actual wallpaper, and lastly the scrapbook paper if I was to rank them.

I’ll start with scrapbook paper first. Pros first, scrapbook paper is easy to obtain since you can get it at many different stores that you can shop at in person or online. It is relatively inexpensive and comes in an unimaginable number of patterns and color combinations and options. The cons, scrapbook paper only comes in squares or standard paper sizes, like 12×12 or 8 1/2×11. This makes you have more seams as well as having to match your pattern more. Another issue I have ran into is that while there are lots of different patterns many of them are on the larger size which can look out of scale in a 1:12 scale scene if that isn’t the look you are going for. Not that you can’t find smaller patterns, but it may be slightly harder to locate but there is fun in the search. Scrapbook paper can also be on the thinner side, and if you pull it to taunt it could rip.

Now for the actual full-sized wallpaper. I will be honest most all of what I have used has been vintage wallpaper that I found in storage or was thrifted. So, I do not know what brands or what type it actually was. I do not think the ones I used had self-adhesive though. I like how wallpaper looks. Most have a slight texture that adds dimension and a more unique look to your dollhouse room or miniature scene. Wallpaper is also slightly thinker than either scrapbook paper or miniature wallpaper, which makes it less likely to rip if you pull it too hard. Some negatives of it that I have found with the wallpaper though is similar to the scrapbook paper the patterns will most likely be on the larger side and it will take a bit of time and effort to find a pattern that might work for your project. Another downside is the size of the wallpaper is its size. It will have to be cut to the size you need no matter what.

Lastly, we have the dollhouse wallpaper. This is one of the most common ways to decorate the walls of your dollhouse. It has many choices of designs and colors to fit your themes available. They come in more manageable sizes, though may still need to be cut. It is available online and at some in person stores, like your local dollhouse stores or some box stores like hobby lobby. I personally prefer my local dollhouse stores between the two in person options because the quality of the papers is usually better and the designs appeal more to me usually. I have used some from both though and they do the job that they are supposed to. I also like ordering from miniatures.com and have always been very happy with all their papers, both the more expensive papers and their wallpaper assortments. A downside to dollhouse wallpaper is that many of the designs that are available can be more in theme for a house in a specific period, and it can be more difficult to find more modern designs, there are some available just not as many.

Another thing I thought of that may help you in your miniature wallpapering endeavors, is my favorite wallpaper paste I have used is the Grandma Stover’s Glue. It adheres nicely with and can be watered down with water to create a nice finish. It also cleans up easily and dries clear.

Those are the three types of wallpaper style wall finishes I have used myself. I hope hearing my opinions help you in creating your own houses.

Thanks for reading!!

Dollhouses

Country Chic Victoria’s Farmhouse – Staircase Alteration

Posted on January 5, 2023January 4, 2023 by Briana

After I had gotten my first doll house put together and mostly decorated, before I completely changed my mind and redid it all. I had gotten another dollhouse to make, Real Good Toys Victoria’s Farmhouse. It sat unfinished for quite a while because I had initially wanted to kit bash the house and make it almost double in size since I didn’t plan on getting any more after it. That ended up being false and many houses came along, even before the Victoria’s Farmhouse got put together. So, she sat and waited for me to make up my mind on what I wanted to do with her.

I ended but deciding not to totally kit bash her, since my plans where a little lofty for my skill set at that point, and space was at a premium; that much of an expansion of her footprint would have made it very difficult to move and find her a space to live in our own house. So, I opted instead to make little changes like adding a bathroom space and changing the staircases. Little did I know that that would be a bigger endeavor than I realized.

I still wanted to add a spiral staircase, that I had planned on it the beginning of my ideas. I purchased the left swing spiral staircase, and a wider straight wood staircase for the next floor so they looked like they went together. I realized rather quickly that the floor to ceiling height and the stair height where different, but I was determined to put that staircase in the house. To get it to fit, after I had cut the hole for the stairs to go in bigger, I started taking parts off the top of the stairs to try and get them to fit better. I probably should also point out that I wanted to put them in in the middle of the floor plan with no real open concept. Bold, I know!

Somewhere along the journey, with me testing and retesting ideas I had that didn’t work, I came up with my final solution. It was going to end in a hallway space, it seems very anticlimactic but, I didn’t want to completely mess up the stairs themselves beyond repair.

So, with the help of the upstairs stairs, a building square, some extra MDF I had and wood glue, I created a hidden landing and delightful division of the space for the house. I actually am extremely happy with how it turned out, but I totally see now why I have never seen a Victoria’s Farmhouse with the spiral staircase addition.

I hope you enjoy seeing this alteration to this house, and I look forward to sharing more of her as I finish it up, with some more helpful information about different parts of the finish work in the future.

Thanks for Reading

Updates

Welcome Again

Posted on June 20, 2022 by bnbkreationz

Hello all! It has been a long while since we last posted anything to here, almost two years. We ended up taking an unexpected hiatus from blogging the last two years for personal reasons.

We are hoping to get back to it for real this time and have lots of blog posts planned and prewritten, so I have much higher hopes this time of it all actually going to plan. I hope to be able to help you with mini projects and share the mini projects we have been working on the last two years ourselves.

Coming up I know for sure there is a wood flooring tutorial, an outside table tutorial, and a mini find evaluation just for starters. I hope some of what we have coming will be of interest and helpful to you all! Thanks!

Dollhouses, Updates

Beachside Bungalow: Mid Century House Update

Posted on January 31, 2019 by bnbkreationz

It is the start of 2019 and one of our goals is to finish this house. We started a renovation last year but didn’t quite get it finished. We are giving ourselves a deadline this time, I hope this helps to get it finished!

Last year we did get quite alot done as you can see in some of the pictures; although at the moment it’s the catch all for everything imaginable. Had to take a picture of this mess! I think first thing is to clear out everything that doesn’t belong.

We had yet to decide what the two smaller rooms upstairs should be so that needs to be given some thought. I was thinking a small library or reading room, a sewing room, a nursery or a small bedroom. Decisions, Decisions.

We are staying with the mid-century decorating style so be sure to check back weekly to see what items we may find to create and share as we go along. We plan on finishing by April 30th, lets hope we can do it!

Tips & Tricks

Organization: Small Minis

Posted on July 11, 2018July 11, 2018 by bnbkreationz

When I first started out collecting minis I thought I had a great handle at keeping everything organized. Everything had its home and that’s where it stayed… Somewhere along the lines it all started spiraling out of control, as things tend to do and I realized that I had to come up with a better solution for it all.

I had initially just used a large flat plastic box to keep everything in furniture, bedding, food, dishes… anything and everything went in that box. Which did work till I acquired more minis. Now by this point I realized I needed something different, something a little more fitting for the smaller minis.

Now I was fiddling with some beads the other day it dawned on me that those type boxes would be perfect, but the ones that they sell for jewelry aren’t practical price wise, unless you really have to have them in pink. So I went looking for something similar, and found technically three different options, one was hardware boxes, the other was tackle boxes, and lastly one was a 4×6 photo box. So I tried a few different brands to see which ones I liked better. So lets get started!

The ones I found where Husky from Home Depot, Plano and Ozark from Walmart, the photo box came from Michael’s.

Let’s start with the Husky ones since those where the first ones I got. As I said they came from the Home Depot. They do come in many different sizes with different depths. I have here the two smaller sizes that I could find here. They both come with the movable compartment panels so you can pick the size of the squares. I did like the size of the compartment on these ones and the plastic pieces where easy to get apart to put them in originally.

The next one I’ll talk about is the Plano ones that I got from Walmart. I liked the size of these too, and they’re not as squared off as some of them, so you can store longer things in them without having to give up actual compartments. Now my only complaint about them is how hard the plastic dividers where to get apart, I did have to go get a scissors to keep them square. The size and the shape of them are nice though and they are made in the USA.

Then we come to is the Ozark one from Walmart. I have to say this one was probably my favorite. You can completely choose how you want your sizing of the compartments and have no limit to the options. The pieces come apart easy and fit it nicely. Another added bonus is that this one is also made in the USA.

The last one is the photo box from Michael’s. I don’t use it for storage myself but I included it because I like to use it to store what I’m working on at the moment. It’s amazing for that!

I hope this helped you with you miniature storage solutions, and will come back around to see the finished product and furniture storage solutions that are coming soon.