Alison's Journal- New Coats

We all needed new winter coats this year so mom took us shopping for them today. I hate how I almost always have to pick out a winter coat when the weather is really hot outside. It is so hard to think about what I will want to wear in a few months when the weather is so different from what it is now. It is also kind of a sad reminder that the nice weather is going to be gone so soon.

Anyway mom took us to the mall to look for our coats. Izzy, Chelsea and I were really happy to go and do some shopping. Michael on the other hand was grumpy all day. He hates to go shopping, especially for clothes. He had a bunch of other things he wanted to do and we heard about them all day long. Boys!

I think we all did get coats were are going to be happy with so I talked everyone into meeting here in the family room so we can show you what we got.

Chelsea, Izzy and I had to wait for Michael, he took as long as he could getting in here.

He finally showed up with his coat.

I wanted to show you my coat first, I love how it is made of denim. It feels and looks like a pair of well worn jeans. And I love the poke-a-dot fabric that lines the hood. It is so pretty and silky. My new coat even has come convenient pockets on the front.

Chelsea surprised all of us (even herself) when she picked a purple coat! That's my favorite color, hers is pink. But she fell in love with the pattern on the front of the coat. The style is really good for her too, it emphasizes her waist so nicely. She even pulled her hair out of the way so we could see the details on the back. She says it is super comfortable too. She had a hard time finding a coat she liked that didn't have a hood on it. She says they just get in the way with her long hair and she prefers to wear hats when the rest of us have our hoods on.

Izzy was so excited about her new coat. She loves the bright pink and the kitty paws! She is an animal lover so those paw prints were what drew her to this coat. She also loves the fuzzy lining in her coat.

Michael had to wait to last to show everyone his coat. We figured we had to wait for him we would make him wait for us. Also dad says a gentleman should always let the ladies go first.

Michael picked out a green hoodie, he says “it's a coat” not much information but whatever. At least we got him to show up. His is almost the same style as Izzy's and it is lined too.

Mom was happy we were all able to find coats in one trip this year. Last year it took two trips. And all of our coats were on sale for once! Mom says she really hopes none of us out-grow our new coats before winter is over this year. Last year Izzy had a growth spurt and outgrew her winter coat just before the only really bad weather we had. 

Doll Size Toast

Watch the video here.

This week we are going to take advantage of the bread slice cane we made last week to make the dolls some slices of toast. If you missed the cane here is a link to that video.

We are going to start by carefully slicing some slices off our cane. I can't seem to cut real bread straight and I do no better on the doll size. Then we are going to texture the slices just like we did for the bread slices last week.

Now using our standard chalks that we use to make things look baked we are going to color the cut surfaces of the bread slices. Just go slow and take your time with this step. I tried to rush the coloring in the video and got a bit too much color on that one slice. That did allow me to show you how to correct that type of mistake.

Once you are happy with the toasted look of your bread you need to decide if the dolls want their toast cut into pieces. I almost always cut my toast on the diagonal so that is what I did in the video.

Now the fun part of this project. We are going to add a bit of texture to the inside of the slice. Support your bread slice with an emery board (use 2 if you are nervous about ruining the texture you worked so hard on) and using a “pointy tool” (I like to use a dental pick) make light circular motions on that cut edge. You are really just barely touching the clay, almost like you are tickling it. Make lots of tiny little circles and you find the edge starting to look like it has little crumbs. If clay builds up on your tool be sure to wipe it off, you need to the tip clean to make the texture.

Now bake the slices at about 250 degrees (Fahrenheit) for about 10 minutes. If your dolls want their toast plain you are finished .

My dolls on the other hand wanted some jam/jelly on their toast.

To make the jam/jelly you will need some liquid polymer clay. This time I am using the one from Kato Clay. I like this one because it stays somewhat shiny and it is very clear. TLS (Translucent Liquid Sculpey) would also work but will need a clear finish once it is baked to give it a shine. If you can find Liquid Fimo it also works nicely for this.

To color the liquid clay we are using some oil paint. That is my preferred method to color it. Just pick colors that are close to the jam/jelly you are trying to make. Today I used some Rose Madder for the red one and a mix of the Rose Madder and some Cerulean Blue to make the grape.

I like to just mix up what I am going to use at the time rather than having to deal with a bunch of mixtures that I have to keep track of.

This is one of the few times you will see me bake my project on a ceramic tile. That is because if the liquid mixture drips onto the baking surface I can easily remove it from the glazed tile. If I had baked on my normal paper plate it would have been stuck.

I initially tried baking the jam/jelly step at my normal baking time and temperature but found it just didn't cure. I ended up baking at 275 degrees (Fahrenheit) for 20 minutes to get it to cure.

So that is our project for today. I hope you liked it.

Allison's Journal- Getting Ready for School in the Morning

This year mornings are really interesting around our house. Mom says it is like herding cats. LOL It is a madhouse for sure.

You see this is the first year that our little sister, Izzy is walking to school with us. She is in first grade this year. Our small school didn't have a kindergarten class last year so mom had to drive her to school. That school started about a half hour later than we did so it was a little calmer.

On top of getting all 4 of us ready at the same time in the mornings, Jeremy and his little sister Maria, are also staying with us n3 nights a week. Their mom just got a new job, she now works nights at the hospital. She is a nurse and takes care of sick babies. She loves her new job but she was so worried about who was going to watch Jeremy and Maria. Then mom told her they are over here as much as they are home so they might as well stay here. Everyone seems to be loving the new arrangement even it can be chaotic some mornings.

We have been getting up and getting off to school for about a week now so we do have a routine worked out. Let me walk you through a typical morning.

Maria stand still so I can brush your hair.

First both Chelsea and I get up and get ready. Then we have the younger girls come to our rooms so we can make sure they are dressed and ready to go. Chelsea usually has to brush Maria's hair, she has a lot of trouble getting it done by herself. Mostly I just have to check that Izzy is wearing school clothes instead of play clothes and that everything goes together. One day last week she almost left with shoes that didn't match! That was when Chelsea and I told mom we would take over making sure they were ready.

Izzy I like the outfit you picked out today. 

The boys are really good at getting going on their own (once mom gets them to get out of bed)

Once mom knows that we are getting ready she gets our breakfast out and packs lunches if any of us are taking a lunch that day. Today we are all getting lunches at school.

We all meet in the kitchen for breakfast. Mom usually puts out a couple of choices then while we eat she can go check her email before she has to get her day started.

Looks like some good things to choose from this morning.

Could I have some hot chocolate???  Please.

Once we have eaten Michael and Jeremy are in charge of making sure everything is put away and the dirty dishes are in the dishwasher. They always complain but they do get it done.

I still need to put this cereal away. 

How much soap did mom say to put in?

Next Chelsea and I make sure everyone has everything before we head out. Mom usually has us leave our backpacks in the family room so they are easy to grab on the way out the door.

I need to get my folders than I'll be ready to go. 

I like to do one more quick check before we step off the front porch that everyone did pick up all the things they need that morning.

Michael did you remember to get your homework?

I think we're ready to go. 

Izzy and Maria don't run ahead! We all have to stay together. 

Then we start our walk. It is about a three-fourths of a mile to school and we walk both ways. Mom sometimes drives us but only if the weather is really bad.

The view from the front porch, it's a beautiful day!

The first couple of days the little girls had a little trouble with the long walk but by last Thursday they were just fine. I actually missed the walk over the summer. I like to see what is going on around us.

Today the temperature is a little on the cool side but we will be nice and warm once we start walking.

I love to watch the seasons change through the school year. The leaves should be starting to change their colors soon. I saw there were some apples on the trees but they aren't ripe yet.

One of our neighbor's cows left its calf sleeping by the fence along our road. We all stopped for a moment to look at it but we didn't disturb it. We didn't want the mama cow to get upset with us. 

Doll Size Basic Bread

Watch the video here.

This week we are basically doing some prep work for some future projects. I have several projects in mind that take slices of bread. Since it is so much easier to make the bread slices from a cane I decided to present the cane for them this week. I do show you how to make a slice of bread from the cane just in case the dolls are hungry this week. If you made the jars of jam last week then they have the start of a nice snack.

One thing I want to talk to you about today is what clay I choose for each project and how that can vary depending how I am using the project. I started out doing polymer clay in the smaller dollhouse miniature scale of 1/12, that is if something is 12 inches in real life it will be 1 inch in that scale. That is a lot smaller than what I do for this channel/blog. Here we are working in1/3^rd scale or what is 12 inches in real life is 4 inches in scale. This changes several things in how I approach the projects.

In the smaller scale I tend to stay away from the Sculpey III clay brand all together. The smaller scale requires the details to stand up to being made very tiny. Also the amount of clay is so much less. For this larger scale my details can be a little less defined and still show and the pieces take a lot more clay.

Sculpey III clay is much softer, it is much easier to condition (get ready to work with) and to work in general. But because of this softness it is much harder to make small items that are highly detailed because the details tend to disappear as you work to get the item smaller. In the larger scale we don't need to worry about that so much.

Also because our items here are a lot larger and many stores carry the Scupley III clay cheaper than the other brands that is definitely an advantage. If you watch your sales you can get the clay for a much better price. Just watch the adds for the stores you regularly shop at.

That all being said there are still times that I will recommend Fimo for a project because it is firmer and works better for somethings.

For this project in this scale I really feel the Sculpey III is the best choice. The colors that I used were perfect and it was easy to work. The colors by the way were white and beige.

Now the age old question of do we want to add things from the real kitchen to our clay to add texture. I will say I only do this when I feel it is important to the finished project. In this case I used some cornmeal to start our texture. I almost always add the cornmeal to the clay mixture if I am making a sliced bread. I personally have not had any problems in the 20-25 (or more??) or so years that I have been working with clay. I do have friends that live in other climates that have had problems mostly with bugs (or a few mice) taking a fancy to their projects. I am not sure if that is because of the differences in the climates we live in or in the critters that also live near by or if it had to do with how things were stored. Everyone I know that did have issues lived in the south-eastern United States. So if you are nervous about adding the cornmeal leave it out.

One of the biggest challenges of this project will be keeping everything clean. The smallest speck of dust will show up on the white clay. So clean your work surface and your hands thoroughly before and during the time you are working.

Once you have the clay conditioned and the cornmeal worked in (if you are adding it) it is time to shape our cane. This cane will be shaped pretty much like a loaf of bread. Take you time and get it the way you want it.

To add a “crust” to our bread we are using the same chalks that I use all the time. Work up the color in layers until your bread looks like it was baked.

Now the hard part. This cane needs to set up for at least 24 hours before we even try to cut it. After all the work we did to knead the clay and mix it together it has gotten warm and soft. It needs to go back to a firmer state before we cut or it will smash out of shape.

You saw in the video my cane cut just fine and I didn't need to re-shape my slice at all. That is because it sat on my table for about 48 hours before I sliced it.

If you want some plain slices follow the steps in the tutorial to texture then bake the slice.

Now wrap up the rest of the cane in a plastic sandwich bag and put it somewhere safe so we can make some fun things from it.

All that being said if I was going to create a loaf of bread I would make the same shape from Model Magic and use the chalks to color the outside. The plain white is fine as long as it isn't going to be sliced.

If we were to make a loaf of bread from the polymer clay it would take a long time to bake and the clay gets expensive. My cane is about the size of a scale loaf of bread and took 2 full packages of polymer clay to create. If I was going to bake it I am thinking it would probably take at least 30-45 minutes at 250 degrees Fahrenheit, but that is a guess. It is way bigger than anything I have ever tried to bake so I am not sure how it would do.

So that is our bread cane. Next week we are going to make something else out of this.

Allison's Journal - Labor Day Pool Party

Since the weather was so hot this summer mom and dad finally agreed to get us a backyard pool! We are so happy and it has been so much fun and so nice on the recent hot days. Mom even said we could have our friends over for an afternoon of swimming and then burgers on Labor Day. Kind of one last big party before school starts the next day. Then next weekend dad says he is going to get pool ready for the winter since we really won't have time to enjoy it once school starts and the weather will be cooling down pretty quickly.

Chelsea, Izzy and I got in the pool before anyone else arrived. Michael was going to come out when we did but he had to stop and clean his room up before mom let him join the fun.

Molly, Jazmin, Jeremy and Maria all showed up at the same time that Michael got to come out. We we so glad to see everyone.

Chelsea had to help Maria into the pool, she was just a too small to get in by herself.

We let the little girls have a turn in the pool by themselves but we were all really close by in case they needed us. They really had fun splashing around and trying to swim. Izzy has actually learned to swim a little bit this summer. She can't wait for next summer so she can learn more. Her favorite part was holding her breath and staying under the water.

All the girls decided to let the boys have the pool for a while because they tend to get a bit wild when they get in the water together. Dad did have to come yell at them a couple of times too.

While we were having fun mom was busy in the kitchen getting some burgers and fries ready for us. She even found those cute paper baskets like at the burger places for us to use!

We were sure hungry after all that fun in the water but mom made use wait until we were all the way dried off before we could come into the house for food. She said she didn't want any puddles tracked in.

it was girls first and Molly jumped right in and fixed her burger. She was so happy mom had gotten lots of pickles. Molly loves pickles I wouldn't be surprised to see her skip the meat and cheese and just have the pickles on the bun sometime.

Jazmin wanted hers with just the meat and some ketchup. She says she likes it that way. No fancy toppings for her.

I stayed in the kitchen to help the two little girls with their burgers. That way mom got a chance to sit down and eat in peace.

Izzy was picky about which meat patty she got, she wanted hers to be cooked just perfect.

Maria wanted some of everything except onions. She says onions are icky!

The boys went last and it is a good thing because when they were done there wasn't much left. I think they both took two meat patties along with all the remaining toppings!

This was such a fun day. Tomorrow school starts and since Izzy and Maria are both in first grade this year they will be walking to school and back with us. It is going to be a long walk at first for both of them. I'll try to check back in next week and tell you how our new year at school is going.

Thanks for stopping by!!!

Doll Size Jars of Jam

Watch the video here.

This week's project was a request I received a while back. I love how these little jars of jam turned out! You can really make any flavor you desire, I chose the ones I did based on the nail polish colors I knew I had on hand. I will list the exact colors I used but use whatever you have that matches the flavors you want.

The jars are made of some wooden pieces that I get at the craft store. This shape is called a candle cup and I picked the 1” size. They measure 1” tall and ¾” in diameter at their widest point. If you find other shapes that you like in that general size feel free to use them. It would be cute to make a couple of different shapes up so that it looks like the dolls got different brands.

The process of making a solid wood shape look like a translucent jar of jam is kind of fun. First we need to paint our shape with a coat of white craft paint. This will allow the light to look like it is coming through the contents of the jars.

If you are interested in learning how to make the drying rack I used I have a tutorial for it on my Dollhouse Miniature Channel which you can find here. It is a really useful little tool that is made with stuff I had in my craft room.

After the white paint dries we can add our “jam” to the jars. For this I love to use nail polish. It comes in just about every color you can think of.

For the Orange Marmalade I did find I needed to use 2 colors of polish. First I put on a layer of a yellow followed by a layer of orange. (both of these were from L.A. Colors but they don't have any kind of name or number on the bottles- I get these at Dollar Tree)

For the Strawberry Jam I used a really old bottle of Avon Speed Dry in the color Red Red. I don't think this one is available any more but any bright red will do.

For the Raspberry Jam I used Avon Nailware Pro in Berry Smooth. It is a nice purplish pink, berry color.

For the Grape Jelly I used Avon Nailware Pro in Decadence. This one is a “shimmer” color but it still works for this project mainly because it has a very subtle shimmer.

You can use any polish that you want to just stay away from ones that have glitter or a lot of pearl essence to them. I happen to have a lot of Avon polish because I sell Avon but use any brand you have on hand.

I found I needed 3 coats of the polish on the jars to get a good even coverage. The only secret to this step is to make sure the polish is totally dry between coats and again before you add the Triple Thick gloss coats.

The magic of the Triple Thick is that it is just that it is thick! So it does turn these little pieces of wood coated in nail polish into something that looks almost like glass jars of jam.

For the labels I cut mine to be 1” wide by 3/8” tall. When I first started playing around with the project I tried to make the labels ½” tall and they just didn't hug the jars well enough. If the jars had been straight sided I think the slightly taller label would have worked great.

I like the Sharpie Ultra Fine pens for this because they don't react with the Mod Podge (or a glue) when we go to glue the label on. I just hand lettered my labels but I bet you can make some really cool labels if you try.

I used Mod Podge but you could use white glue if that is all you have.

After the label is on and dry it is time to put on the lids of the jars. I like to make the lids in 2 pieces, it is just easier to make them look good that way. The first piece was the round piece just a bit bigger that the top of the wood shape. Then cover the edge with a strip of matching paper. My strips were about ¼” by long enough to go around and overlap a bit. Take your time with the gluing and it will look great.

So that is how easy it is to make jars of jam for the dolls. I may have to go back and get more wood pieces and make more flavors though.....