Workshop Vignette

My First Dollshouse

Workshop Vignette

Fairy Shop in a Tree Trunk

Micro-mini Scenes in Tins

Grandmother's Vignette

Wine Cellar Vignette

Christmas Roombox

Micro-mini Wine Cellar

Tree House (1/24 scale)

Scene in a Book

Miniature Dolls

Workshop Vignette

I made this wallhanging vignette for my father, to thank him for building my dollshouse shell. It did take me two years to get started on this project, but I managed to finish it in time for Christmas 2001. I worked from two photographs, so everything is very authentic. The old transistor radio on the work bench, old tricycle hanging from the ceiling, his blue overcoat hanging on the door, the recycled kitchen cabinet built into the shelves, etc.

The work bench. The bottles and transparent containers were made from the casing of a cheap ball point pen, cut with a razor saw. The bottles had a clear lite brite peg punched into the opening. The bottom 1/3 of the bottle was painted with amber glass paint to resemble the contents. Everything, apart from the Phoenix white metal tools, and the tricycle, was made from scratch.

Close-up of the work bench. The work bench was made of bass wood, and distressed using paint, stain, ink, a wire brush, xacto knife, etc. The "brass pins" on the bench and in the plastic containers, were made by cutting a piece of brass portrait wire into tiny pieces. The yellow dust pan was made using instructions by Joann Swanson in Dollhouse Miniatures, February 2000.

The cupboard has a draped overcoat hanging from a hook. The overcoat was made by dipping a rectangle of fabric into diluted fabric glue (water:glue, 50:50), then draping and pinning it to a styrofoam tray while still wet.

The vignette box. The box measures 20 cm high x 24 cm wide (to fit a standard picture frame), and 10 cm deep (8x10x4 inches). The outside of the box was decoupaged with newspaper strips (my Dad loves his newspaper!). The inside walls were textured with a mixture of wood filler, water and wood glue. I pasted it to the walls, and scribed with a ball tool to resemble cement blocks. The "cement" floor was made with layers of single ply tissue (Kleenex) on the wet grey paint.

This is what the real workshop looked like. I worked from these pictures to make the scene.

return to top