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A PROJECT IN QUARTER SCALE

MARCH 2016

This was my first Michaels hutch house and the graphics are from Pam Junk. Check out more on these houses here.

I made this little cottage several years ago and although it was finished inside and out, nobody ever came to live there. In February 2016 I spent considerable time using paper napkins to upholster quarter scale resin furniture. I had such fun and was so pleased at the results that I started looking for a place to display some of the pices.

And when my eye fell on this little house, the Summer Cottage, I realized it was perfect for all the pastel pieces I had made.

The house is five 1/4 inches from peak to base, and with some trial placements I decided that I would use the two side chairs and the skirted table, saving the other pieces for another setting a bit more spacious.

Interesting, too, because once I made the decision on those three pieces of furniture, then the two Bunny sisters (who had been nearby as I intermittently worked on another quarter scale project with rabbits) moved right in. So, knowing who my occupants were gave me a plan for the other furnishings, an opportunity to use some things which had been in my stash for some time.

I made the rug in my early quarter scale days, using a design element cut from colored lace and adding a backing. It blended well with the color in my skirted table and cushions and helped determine the color for my window frames.

I am not sure if the faux wicker settee was a purchase or a swap; I have had it for several years. It is really nicely made and I added the cushions, a round long pillow and two square ones, made with the same print napkins used for the two side chairs on the upper floor.

This settee has a matching table, which I did not use for this setting. Instead, I decided on this real wicker coffee table, made by Peggy Taylor (now retired) because it gave me more room to display a special tray made by Pauline Coombes, which has clotted cream, jam and scones. I purchased it at one of Shelly's Online Miniature Shows. I added a snip from the same paper upholstery napkin for the cloth under the tray. The great thing about these cocktail napkins is that a single ply when creased with my fingernails drapes perfectly.

I don't remember where I got the tiny mossy basket; I added the Easter eggs, which are tiny tips from artificial plant clusters. There are also more Easter eggs on the lamp table. For those I used tiny nohole beads and a small brass jewelry finding for the dish.

The lamp on the table was a swap. The floral design of the shade goes nicely with the flowered pillows and cushion.

Miss Bunny and her little sister on the top floor are resin pieces. She is about 1 inch tall, her sister somewhat smaller.

The piano was BPF, part of a bulk purchase I made on Ebay some years ago. Well, I call it that, although I have never seen another one as part of the sets which are commonly sold.

I painted it to look less plastic, including using an eye shadow for shading, and a metallic pencil on the pedals.

The lamp is one of a pair I purchased at the NAME SmallerScales Convention in Portland OR several years ago. It looks much prettier in real life than in these photos.

I made the book.

The laser cut curtains, upstairs and down, were purchased from Hestia House at the Bishop International Show in Chicago. I think I bought a set of everything she had. I wish I had more.

I used these Grandt line windows, painting the frame with Seminole green to blend with the room's colors. I glued an expanse of green countryside behind the frame, then glued the curtains atop. I used the short swag for the upper floor window.

I decided not to try to match the windows on the inside with the outside windows because they would have taken up too much space and I really wanted to use these particular paper curtains.

The chairs were so colorful, I decided to use only Baby Sister Bunny, a simple table and the pot of daffodils in order not to crowd the tiny room. To add another note of softness, I added the crochet throw tossed over the chair seat. It is made from a tiny strip of antique cotton lace, which drapes and glues beautifully.

The pot of flowers was a show purchase. I have a weakness for spring flowers - you show me a daffodil, an iris, a tulip, a crocus, etc., and I am captured.

Since the residents are rabbits, I decided to make a box of vegetables for the table instead of a flower arrangement. The cabbage leaves were lobed leaf punches from a vining coil. I used my stylus to curl the leaves up, and staggered the pieces around a bead for the cabbage head. The bead turned out to be too small to my husband's keen eye, so I cut a slightly larger round tip from another small stem, which worked even better as the cabbage head because it had some dimension, as well. I used a wash of leaf green acrylic paint to add color variation.

I did not want to get out clay to make a few tiny carrots, so I experimented with several lengths of green thread which I tied into knots. I painted the ends of the strands orange, then cut them apart with my craft knife.

I forgot to get a picture of making the green onions, but used the same green thread and painted the tips white for the bulbs.

I used a quarter scale paper floor printie to make my box base, folding and gluing it in two layers.

For the box sides, I cut two planks of the paper wood, folded the piece in half lengthwise and glued it together. I cut the strip to the height I wanted, creased the folds to form corners and glued it in a rectangle on my base, folded edge at the top. I decided to leave it attached until I was finished adding my vegetables. A good thing, too, because I kept losing tiny carrots and onions when I just breathed on them. I need to post a reminder note: Always Make Extras.

I can only imagine how difficult it would have been to do this had the box been loose, too. Even the air stirred from moving my arm or hand seemed to cause those wee veggies to fly away! My husband is very good about getting down and rolling a flashlight around on the floor to find these teensy bits when I can't see them, which I always appreciate.

When my box was well dried, I cut away the other two sides and used a stain marker to touch up the edges.

I glued everything down well because in order to see the contents closely, it needs to be viewed at eye level, and I don't want stuff to fall out when people pick it up to peer inside. Unfortunately, since the ceiling is so low in this little house, it's hard to get a good picture of the vegetable box contents after gluing it in place.

I am very happy that I finally got this little house furnished. I have a great affection for Miss Bunny's Cottage, because it was the first one I made. I have made several hutch houses using my own graphics since then, but this was the one that got me going with what has proven to be a special fun interest.

My thanks again to Pam, who shared the lovely pastel graphics.

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NOTE:

For more on creating these quarter scale hutch houses, check out this page and this one. The only one I have fully furnished before this is The House Behind the Green Door here.

I also have a page on using Michaels hutches in various ways in twelfth scale here.

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