Miniatures make me happy

This has been the most productive week in terms of mini DIY in a very long time. In fact, I've neglected a few jobs around the actual house as working on mini projects was a much more fun way to spend the Christmas holidays. One of the tasks I wanted to tackle was the flooring in the Malibu Beach House - something I've been terrified of starting (and getting wrong) for years. I bought strip flooring sheets from Minimum World when they were on sale a while ago but I hadn't done anything with them. My dad, who has built and decorated the vast majority of my 1:12th scale projects, kindly offered to come over to give me a few pointers so I could crack on with doing it myself. He spent quite a while showing me how to create a template but it wasn't too long before we both realised I had no hope whatsoever of DIY-ing – there are very few square rooms and plenty of nooks and crannies.  It was a very time consuming process, probably not helped by the fact that he didn't ha...

I've been looking for a statement light fitting for the lounge of the Malibu Beach House for years - it's a double height room in places and it needs something dramatic. While I've gone with modern furniture for the majority of the house, I want the lounge to lean into the art deco style. I'd found a lovely chandelier on Etsy but the seller is based in The Netherlands, making the postage pretty expensive. So despite my lack of skill, knowledge and experience, I decided to have a go myself. My first stop was Hobbycraft, where I discovered a sort of 'pick and mix' scenario in the bead section. You could fill a small tub for £5 and I was surprised just how much I could fit in.  I already had a battery and bulb fitting from Minimum World and although I would prefer it to be a warm white, it's the closest thing I've been able to find to create my own lampshade.  I also had some gold paint leftover from a work project so thought I could put that to good use. ...

Over the Christmas holidays I was determined to progress my Malibu Beach House - my most recent purchase but a very long-term project.  I think there are two reasons why it's taken me so long to get to work on it. Firstly, I didn't want to mess it up. I'm not exactly talented when it comes to crafting and DIY, despite my best efforts. I love the idea of having a go, but things never turn out as I picture them. I was also really struggling to decide on the colour for the outside of the house and didn't want to rush into a decision I would regret.  Secondly, this might be my final miniature project and I want it to last as long as possible. My room for miniatures is tiny, and I can't fit anything else in. I have been eyeing up other places around the house where I might be able to fit a room box, but this is definitely the final house. Anyway, I eventually decided on black for the accent colour after seeing some beautiful art deco houses online. I had to buy some ver...