What To Do With A Few Broken Bits & Pieces....Great Fun!

I suspect that we all have a box or two of broken bits or seconds that we think may come in handy one day. My "bits box" is heaving, so it was time to take a peek and see what was in there! Once upon a time, I would be at my workbench day in, day out, simply creating miniatures to sell. Not so much now, but with our October 12th Vintage & Artisan Dolls House Fair looming on the horizon, I thought I would have a spot of creating with some of the "bits" and see where it took me....and it has been great fun.

The Tiny Room
I have had this tiny wooden drawer for years, so out it came from the box and sat on my coffee table for a while, as I pondered what to do with it. Then after more rummaging in the "bit box", gradually as I came across the various broken treasures, the ideas starting flowing. 

A scrap of antique wallpaper lined the walls, a mocked up matching border created via the computer helped to tidy up the uneven join between the top of the wallpaper and the papered ceiling. 

Then I came across this 1930s Charbens metal chair, which had very little original paint and a missing back foot, all of which had made this chair undesirable. So a bit of paint, a teeny piece of antique broderie anglaise, a second hand miniature embroidered cushion (no idea where it came from - have had it for so long), plus one of my miniature handmade books, finished it off nicely. Then there was this gorgeous c1920s German bisque doll with original clothes but....missing her right arm. Once glued into place at an angle, you would never know that she was missing her arm!

And finally a plastic imitation round mirror touched up with paint, an antique glass cat missing bead eyes and collar, and one of my handmade framed pictures, all set this off nicely. 

The Fireplace

This is a slightly larger drawer than the one above.  I had just the smallest scrap left of the most beautiful antique floral wallpaper, has been a real favourite of mine. There was just enough to line the walls. Then there was this replica c1920s German fireplace, left over from a whole batch that I made several years ago, based on a real c1920s German dolls house fireplace from my own private collection. But this particular one I classified as a second, as I was never really happy with the archway of the tiled fire insert. 

So to disguise this fact, I made an old fashioned fire screen from scraps of wood, celluloid glazing, a painted metal handle and a pretty antique floral silk from an old cigarette packet. 

On the mantelpiece sits two British made coloured glass candle holders (had them for so long I cannot remember the guy's name who made them) with imitation candles, a British made painted metal clock, and a framed picture plus vintage style envelopes made by myself. The vase is a modern reproduction but which I have had for several years, and the flowers are broken Britains lead flower heads, painted up and glued in place. 

These little drawer scenes are ideal to sit amongst the books on your book shelf, or anywhere really, including a mantelpiece. 

c1930s Tri-ang Chair
Ok...what do you with a c1930s Tri-ang chair that is in a highly undesirable condition due to a replacement (not by me) dodgy front right leg and a missing chunk of wood down the right hand side of the chair back? 

I did ponder a while about this...and then resorted back to my trusty method of disguising and hiding, using piles of my vintage style books and a piece of draped antique lace. 

Some people may just have thrown this damaged chair away, but I just couldn't do that. At least now, this is rather more acceptable and could be useful to someone.

Workbench Scene 

This started off as a broken vintage desk, it kind of just evolved as I went along. I removed the odd shaped drawer, added a lower shelf and painted it up, giving it an aged finish. 

The main focus of this scene is the half built dolls house, based on an actual design found in the c1933 Handicraft Annual. 

Papers were mocked up based on the exact ones that were used in the real dolls house, as found in the Handicraft annual. The result was quite effective. 

The rest of this little scene was filled with relevant bits and bobs, mostly made myself, along with oddments from my "bits box". 

All these will be available to purchase on my KT Miniatures Stand at the Vintage & Artisan Dolls House Fair on Saturday 12th October.