Hello,
This past week has seen me making an attempt to finish off the inside of my carven.  I toyed with the idea of a light up stove but there was not much space under the stove in which to fit a light and I wanted a battery powered light so I was trying to research what mini battery might light a mini bulb etc.  Anyhoo, I got fed up with that research and decided I'd much prefer to get on with it so instead I opted for a fake fire to sit in the stove area, I can always drill a hold and pop in a bulb at a later date.

To make a fire I chose some old black beads and crushed them (this took some effort lol) and I found some amber beads and then some very tiny amber and purple beads.  I cut some thin wood to fit in the back of my stove, painted it matt black with a bit of brown mixed in.  The beads I just sort of smashed them up a bit, blobbed on glue and stuck them all in place like in the picture below...

The inside of the black beads looks like coal when broken down.  

Next I fitted the wood inside the stove...

You can see inside and it looks really effective.  Mind that rusty looking stove now, its been well used ;)

I didn't want an open area above the stove so in keeping with authenticity I decided to close it off and add a little shelf much like the RL caravans I have viewed.  

I also added a purple outline to all the cupboards and shelves.  

To go above the fire I made a little mirror, its just beads with the backs cut off, glued around a tiny mirror then painted.  The gold picks out the detail nicely.

Now I am working on separating the main living area from the bed.  I have made a partition wall with a large cut out and I want to give the effect of cupboards below the bed.  

Originally the space below the bed may have been used as a sleeping compartment for children or when there were no children it was used for storage.  I'm going to give my my under-bed storage cupboards mirrored doors to enhance the space.  

I'll post more pictures once I've done this and added the curtains. 

Now I'm off to make some couches.

See you soon 

Gill x

An update and a Tutorial

Hello there mini friends…

We've had some rainy days but it's Wimbledon and my grandma always used to say that this was the best time to catch the sun and she was right because today is beautiful so I popped outside to take even more pictures of the caravan.

I've had a sudden burst of mini-making and got lots of little things done on the van and even though I change my mind all the time (woman’s prerogative) you can actually see it coming together in the sneak, peek, interior picture below.  I’ll also show you have I made the little hanging basket hooks and next time I’ll show you how I made the baskets and flowers to go on them.  

First off the latest pictures...

As you can see I've done a bit more painting just to bring it all in line... I may still add more, I'm trying to be careful so as not to over-kill :)

Now for the sneak peek inside...

Sooooo much to do still in here...

Yes so far its looks like shocking pink V's yellow, but I can assure you that once the rest of the decorating is completed inside it won't look quite so scary lol.  Note the little step stool that I painted gold and re-covered and also the seat pads.  Below you can see I've still got to make a little fire light so that the stove lights up and You can just see the bead curtain too.

I plan on splitting off the bed section and so far I've made a wooden frame that needs curtains, I plan on making the back section of the bed have mirrored cupboards... we shall see how this looks when i test it out, as always the plans could change. Well I guess you will have to take my word for it, it WILL look fantastic once it's complete but I will have to work out how to take a good picture in such a tiny space.  

Lastly, here is how I made those little hanging basket hooks...

YOu will need a tiny piece of thin wire, the stuff you find in a ring bound note pad is fine for this,  some florists wire and a bit of card.

Cut a strip of card around 3-4mm in width and aprox 6-8 cm long.  Cut the wire to about 2.5 - 3cm long and bend each end  so it curls round.

Like this!

Make a fold in the centre of the card.

Poke two tiny holes in the card around 1.3cm from the bend on both sides.  

Cut two lengths of fine florist wire.

Twist the wire around each end of the hook.

Thread the thin wire through the holes in the card.

Spread some glue along the back of the card, fold down the wire and then fold over the edge of the card ...

Do the same on both sides so it looks like this.  I like to leave a end just to help with holding it during painting but this should be trimmed later.

Paint it gold, trim the end and stick it to your wall.

As always thank you for your lovely comments, I do love to hear from you.

Till next time, big mini hugs

Gill x

The outside so far

Hello all, well I must apologise if you have been awaiting an update because I was suddenly bombarded with pram orders so my poor tired hands have been working away making lots of mini prams.  I’m at the end of my orders now and so I thought I would wet your appetites with a few pictures of my (still unfinished) caravan sitting out in the garden.  A you can see most of the outer is now complete bar a few more flowers, and a dot of paint here and there.  I plan on making seat cushions for either side of the door and I want to pop up some interesting bunting and flowers and other odds and ends on the outside.  I even plan on making a couple of chickens to pop in the cages on the sides, but I have to get some white feathers first.

So, for now, here she is, in all her glory… Hopefully I’ll get some time to work on her again soon and she’ll start to come to life even more.

Till next time….

Gill x

Hello again...
Gosh how time has escaped me this week... lots of things on, got very busy creating a new style tandem pushchair.  Well my blog has reached the 50 followers mark and so it is time to declare the winner of my giveaway. The giveaway was for two little covered books, a necklace, a cup, saucer, plate and cupcake and some old letters.

The winner is

 DRORA

Congratulations!

 Send me your address Drora and  shall forward your minis to you shortly.

Transfers and stove

Hello mini friends…

The caravan is moving forward… I decided against adding the wheels yet because I thought I may break them when trying to kit out the interior.  So I continued with my transfers. 

As you can see they look quite effective but they didn’t stand out enough so I roughly painted the top face of the (fake) wood trim and this worked better.  I’ve learned a lot about transfers and making your own etc, learned more about how to attach them too.  I remember using transfers as a child and it was fairly easy but when making something so small, there is much more intricacy involved.  

I popped on the door frames inside and out.

Next I decided I’d tackle the slightly daunting task of gluing on tiles around the stove area. 

The tiles I made by printing photo paper tiles, gluing it onto card (you have to love the versatility of card lol) then I painstakingly and carefully cutting out each one. 

I began to glue them in place making sure they were not too neat but not too untidy either. 

Some of the gaps around the stove were a bit fiddly but I got there, easy to cut card to fit ;)

And here it is finished…

 We'll soon be on the fun bit of interior decorating very soon :)

Well, I'm off to make prams, see you soon.

Gill x

The roof and outer walls

Hello mini friends...

The caravan is coming along, on the outside at least.  I have made the roof now and although I did want windows up top like a real one, I chickened out due to lack of time and lack of skill in woodwork.  While I might be creative with many other mediums wood is not my thing and cutting such small windows out was not going to work for me so I gave in and decided to decorate the roof instead.  Not sure I am completely happy with my decision but I can still change it at a later date, but for now the roof is a lovely purply-red colour, very warm and deep.

Here are some pictures of the roof being created...

I wanted to make windows for this section of the roof but didn't in the end.

I needed more detail on the outer walls of the caravan so I added plastic strips, yes plastic!  I could not find wood in the sizes I wanted and as I say, I’m rubbish with wood work, perhaps if I had a proper workshop and tools it would be better but as you can see, the plastic works fine and not only that it was a bargain as it was in an ‘end of line’ sale so only cost £1 per pack! 

Anyway the plastic strips all in place and a coat of paint and its starting to look a lot more like I want it to.  Oh you remember I said I might use transfers instead of hand painting all the flowers, well I made transfers, finally after a bit of a kafuffle – needed spray varnish to make them, then my printer ran out of ink, then the printing went a little wrong – I guess these things happen to the best of us haha.  Anyway I didn’t want the transfers to look too clean or too perfect and they don’t!  Which is great news!  Have a look at the door, it’s got transfers on it and I’ve managed to make them look a bit worn so I’m happy.  It all adds to the overall effect.  

I want to get the summer bars and the wheels attached this week if possible then it will really only be the inside I have to work on.

If you have not already entered my giveaways check out the two links below.

Gypsy Caravan Giveaway
Teeny Tiny Things

See you soon

Gill x