Free printable! Halloween coloring books

One day closer to Halloween!

Who doesn't love it? Although this year is going to be not so much fun, with the pandemic and all.  Trick or treating has been suspended on many places, and we will not be able to celebrate with parties, movie watching with friends or your favorite activity, if it involves many people.

Lucky our dollhouses do not have such problems!  Kassandra has started already to plan a party, and she asked for help with the decorating.  Well, my first suggestion was to put up one of those fake coffins.  She was not pleased at first, with all the implications that could have, but when she saw the piece in question she changed her mind:

This phenomenal piece comes from Ever After Miniatures, a place I always recommend for fabulous books and other paper goodies.  The fun thing about this piece is you can use it with or without the shelves.  Kassandra was considering another one to put Mr. Fortunato inside, so he can enjoy the party too.

We started unpacking games and other knick-knacks to decorate, and Kassandra asked if by any chance did I have Halloween coloring books.  "I do not", I said, "but I'll be happy to make some for you".

Since I did not know she asked for herself or the children of the house, I made two, one for kids and one for adults.  I made them using images found on Google: 

The boxed game is also from Ever After Miniatures

In case you need some coloring books for your scene, I am happy to provide the file.  I hope you have fun assembling and displaying the books.  Feel free to share them, give them as gifts and pass the file onto anyone (links back are nice too), but please, do not sell your creations or the file.

Enjoy!

A little change in the bedroom

As Kassandra mentioned, she was very excited about a new floor for the bedroom.  I must admit that, even though I was not convinced, she found a real jewel for her chamber:

Before

After

 

 

"Kassandra, I must say, you were right.  That is a very regal and very beautiful floor".

"Thank you, dear.  It is another of Evona's designs.  She told me that they are real tiles, photographed in a Teutonic Knights castle in Poland.  They were made in the 14th century.  Aren't they extraordinary?"

"They are indeed!"

Finishing up some details

As we were saying yesterday, here is the update on the door inserts:

Before:

After:

The fabulous window panel comes from the shop of Suzy. She has several models for you to choose from, along with lamps and printable furniture.

Also, I finished up the cellar.  Many thanks to my coworker Carlos for cutting up some wood pieces for me!

For starters, the ceiling.  I just used some craft sticks cut to measure, painted and glued to the ceiling paper.  I wanted to imitate visible beams, which I think is now trendy in decoration.  It just seem the natural thing to do on a cellar:

And it was super easy to affix it to the ceiling:

I love the look!

I showed the pic to Carlos, and he said that is precisely how his cellar is!  

Then, the fun part: walling up Mr. Fortunato!  Carlos help with that too by cutting to measure some wood for the fake walls:

All I had to do was sand them a bit so they would fit perfectly, and cover them up with the same red brick wallpapers as the rest of the walls:

Front

Back

 

Now for the fun part: setting up the stage for Mr. Fortunato!

Looks awesome!

This is what it would look like if you open the cellar door.  If you recognize the painting, you are extra awesome ♥  I love hidden references!

 And finally!  Setting up the residents: Mr. Fortunato and his friend the rattie! My very special homage to Edgar Allan Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado":

Soooo fun! Even more so with Halloween coming up!!

 I absolutely love how the cellar has turned out!  In case you don't know, the painting in front of the door is The Fallen Madonna with the Big Boobies by Van Klomp - this painting is featured in the British series Allo' Allo', and it makes for quite some adventures.  At some point, they hide it in a cellar ;)

The living room is ready for furnishing

It took a loooong time for Kassandra to find some suitable wallpapers to start doing this room.  But yesterday was the day that was finished.

We started by the left wall, in which she wanted to have a bucolic scene, although with a modern design.

"This is very pretty", I said.  "It reminds me of those murals that they used to paint in the walls of palaces".

"Yes, that is why I like it.  I have found a lovely seller that has some wallpapers like those you are referring to, but they are very classic for a modern house like this.  But this one has a beautiful image, and it will combine very well with the other wallpaper."

And so, we put the mural in the first wall:

And then the second and third, with a matching grey and white stripped wallpaper:

 

Naturally, we had to use a template to match the space for the door, but we used the same one of the cellar, only wrong side up.  It was worth it, and it came out splendidly.

"It looks very nice."

"Yes indeed.  Jessica's wallpapers are abundant in this house."

"So, what's next?"

"The floor.  You are going to love it".

"Oh, it's luxurious!  It looks like Italian marble!"

"Isn't it gorgeous?  Evona made it.  The same artist that made the wallpaper murals we were talking about.  I am thinking of using another of her floors in the bedroom..."

"In the bedroom?  But, Kassandra, the bedroom is already finished!"

"I know, but when you see it, you'll understand why.  Let's set up the coffee corner!".

"Coffee corner?"

The jar contains real grounded coffee

"Oh my, that is something!"

"Do you like it?  I told you this house was going to be for entertaining guests.  My favorite humans love their coffee.  Now we can bring back the jellyfish aquarium and the TV set up."

"It's starting to look very cozy!"

"I have you to thank for that!  Come on, I want to finish the last wall!"

Then we embarked in the last wall.  The one with a door and a window.  Obviously we had to make a template; once done, we cut to measure and installed the wallpaper, and the curtains:

"I was starting to miss a little black in this house!"

"Very chic and modern!  Your tastes have changed a bit..."

"I would say that they have evolved.  I love the overall effect!  Tomorrow we have some details to finish.  But we can already supply the door with the doorknobs, that is not much extra work..."

"Fantastic!  And what is it that you want to do tomorrow?"

"I have had delivered some new door inserts.  The ones I bought were nice, but these ones are much better.  You'll see...".

The final touch for the ballet studio

This was the only thing that the ballet studio was lacking: a ballet barre!

I wanted to order a custom-made one, but in the end I finally decided to try and make it myself.  It was easier than I thought.

My coworker Carlos cut the wood for the bases for me.  Then I drilled some holes on them, as well as in the wood sticks:

My husband's drilling tool came in handy!

Then I used a couple of toothpicks to hold the side bars in place:

Then came the gluing, painting and staining part, and voilà!

I think it looks very nice!

The studio finally has all the furniture that it needs! 

Also, this beauty arrived all the way from Italy:

It is the child of Minimariba.  Her shop is full of beautifully made dresses and shoes.  Go check her out!  Also, see the tiny ballet box? That is a free printable from Zena Miniatures, so go and grab it right now!  And, this is the most amazing thing ever:

A box of convertible ballet tights!  Just when I think I cannot find anything else for the ballet studio, I find the most incredible things!  Also the creation of Zena.

Love the ballet studio!

Kassandra's portrait cabinet

Today I visited Kassandra, since it was so much time since last I saw her.  I found her very busy, cleaning up a nightstand in her bedroom.  It was full of tiny portraits of people.

"Friends of yours?", I asked.

"Oh, some of them were more than friends", answered her, with a wink.  "But yes, they are people close to my heart.  Let's see if you recognize any of them!"

"Well, let's start with the drawer on the left.  I recognize them all.  They are Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Thomas Jefferson and Edgar Allan Poe."

"Exactly right! All of them were very special to me at some point in my life.  What about the drawer on the right?"

"There you have me.  I recognize Elisabeth of Austria, and Lord Byron, of course.  But the other lady, I do not know who she is."

"Why, she is Mary Shelley, my dear!  Surely you have read Frankenstein?"

"Absolutely!  I did not know you knew any of them..."

"Oh, I was at the mansion by the lake in Geneva with them, Shelley and Dr. Polidori when the idea of the competition to write a horror story came up.  Who do you think proposed it?  Those were fun times.  You even recognized Elisabeth..."

"Of course.  Even though that portrait is not the most famous of her, I know Winterhalter's work."

"I was an asiduous visitor of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.  Elisabeth was a delicious child, so unhappy all her life, poor thing!   I always said to her she spent too many hours doing her toilette, and she said, "Well, what would you have me do, my dear, go around with my hair to the wind?", and I said, "Sure, why not?"  And then I asked Winterhalter to do the painting of her with her hair down.  Then he later painted this small copy for my collection.  What about the third drawer?"

"Oh, the Romanov family is very famous, of course."

"Yes, I visited them often.  Alexandra and I were friends since before she married; her husband was very formal and gentlemanly with me.  I appreciated him.  What the mobs did to their kids in the revolution was unforgivable; even though I may understand the frustration of the Russian people, you do not execute children, ever."

"Vlad Tepes is infamous, as well.  Were you two related?"

"Oh yes.  He was a cousin, from the not-so down-to-Earth part of the family; but he knew how to get the work done.  Erzsébeth Báthory was not.  She was a friend of the family, but she so wanted to be one of our own!  She did some really stupid things, no wonder she was imprisoned when they found out!  All she had to do was ask, and I would not have said no, you know?  But her maid filled her head with fantasies, and it did not end up well for them, I am afraid."

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Fantasy apart, I saw this fantastic cabinet from Unique Miniatures, and I thought it was genius!  The creator mentions that she saw something similar in the Pride and Prejudice TV series with Colin Firth, so I went to investigate that.  And sure enough, in chapter 4 we have a showcase table full of little portraits:

The lady calls over Elizabeth Bennet to check out the table

The portraits showcased in the table

I have been trying to find out if this way to keep portraits was something common in the 19 century, but could not find anything on it.  From what I can see, I would say they are small portraits that used to hang in the house (they all have hangers, or bails) and are now gathered all together for some reason - maybe for renovations, or to preserve them better?  Some are small enough to be considered jewelry.  In any case, the idea for a miniature was lovely!

But I wanted to make my own; not only because it would be fun, but because every portrait that exists in my dollhouse has a meaning: a real person behind them, like my mom's or grandma's pictures, or someone Kassandra may have known - there is no strange people hanging about. 

The first thing I did was trying to figure out what would I use as frames for the portraits.  If I could not find any that were suitable, the whole project was moot.  I had perused many Etsy shops for mini findings before, but never found any that were so small.  But then who could came to mind other than Bindels Ornaments?  I have bought from them a couple of times at the Tom Bishop Show, and they have amazing components to work with.  So, I went to their website and spent some time going about their catalogue to find the perfect settings for the portraits.  I even made patterns of some of them to try them out in the drawers:

They will be perfect!

 So, I ordered them, and while they came, I took an ordinary and plain nightstand that I had in the dollhouse bedroom and the work began.  First, I lined the drawers with the same fabric paper I used on the Natural History cabinet:

Trying on the pattern

Three drawers covered with paper

Looking good!

Still waiting for the settings, I gathered the portraits of the people that were going to be in them - I used Google, of course.  That was fun, thinking about how Kassandra may have known them - some were going to be in undoubtedly, as they already appear in some of my novels.  And she being a vampire, some simply HAD to be in it.  When the settings arrived, I measured them, and using Photoshop, I made the portraits as small as required.  Printed them out 3 times for trial and error and voilà!  It took little effort to glue the paper to the settings.

Then I simply attached the settings to the drawers with a tiny bit of double-sided tape.  I have so enjoyed the process! Specially because I do not need any extra room to put the nightsatand, since it was already there.  I simply dressed it up a bit!

I am already planning a new cabinet, this time from an episode of Downton Abbey.  Stay tuned!

One-hour project and free printable

Sometimes one just wants a simple and quick project that will give one a much faster gratification, instead of having to spend hours crafting with different media and then putting everything together.  I am happy to provide you with one of such projects!

Here is something fun that will look awesome in any modern setting, and that you can even customize if you wish: miniature notepads!  I have put these in my soap shop as home accessories.

They are very easy to do, and I am sharing with you the file with the sheets I used to create mine. I added some empty pages, so you can customize them to your heart's content - with your pet, your kids, a family photograph, pics of nature... The possibilities are endless!  And it can be an easy to do mini gift for a miniature collector friend, or family member :)

Here are the very simple instructions:

Download and print the free template.

Cut the little pages out.

Line them up and use a couple of clamps to hold them together.

Apply tiny amounts of PVC glue, or white glue, to the top of the pages.  This will make them hold together neatly.  Let them dry, and then apply a couple of more layers of glue, letting each one to get dry before applying the next one.

Close a ribbon clamp on the top as ornament - or you can skip this step, and they will look equally great!

As promised, here is the template with the pages.  As always, feel free to share it and pass along to anyone (link backs are nice too!), but do not sell the download or your finished creation.

Enjoy your crafting!