filling a miniature shelf (+ Gavin and Miette)

There are Blythes in this post. Can you believe it!

So I got this cute arched miniature shelf thingie at Michael's. It seems like every spring they have some accidentally-doll-sized something. In the past it's been chairs/benches. I cannot for the life of me find this small decor item anywhere on the Michael's website, and it was the very last one on the shelf at my local store. But I think it was part of the "Next Chapter" collection they had this winter/spring; it was in that area and is a similar color to other bigger shelving in the collection.

I've really been living for the possibility that there might be something that's accidentally Blythe-sized at craft stores this spring, so I was so happy to score this. It was 60% off, too, which really took the price down, from ~$15 to $6.

For the past many years now I have been slowly but regularly adding to my collection of miniatures, a few pieces at a time. I got a couple of spring miniatures from this year along with the shelf, and when I got home, I got the urge to style the shelf with some of my springy/floral/gardening-related minis!

Some things for you to espy:

• Top shelf: tiny snails!!!
• Middle shelf: I painted that little light blue mushroom back in 2010!
• Bottom shelf: The little turtle acting as a bookend!

Placing each item one at a time into this little shelf brought me incredible amounts of joy and satisfaction!!

But I couldn't leave it at just the little shelf. I had to dress a doll and add her to the scene. Not just one! But two!! And I added even more miniatures into the scene.

One: On Gavin, I put these teeny-weeny purple flower hair clips! Two: I bought these miniature pastel macarons forever ago. I set them on Miette's lap! Three: I also had these miniature shopping bags from circa the same miniatures collection (from Michael's) and had never even opened the package. This one that says "la petite bookshop" matched the lavender/lilac vibe. Of course anything French is right up Miette's alley! Four: I really wished I had a miniature dog or cat to place in the loveseat next to Gavin! The closest I could get was digging out this dog-printed cushion from Didee Eureeka's stock (!!!) but it simply looks like a pillow to me, and not a companion. Still, what fun to actually use that random bit of stock.

Other stuff in the scene: Some wicker furniture I scored a long time ago on Etsy (not sure when but they were in Lamb's dressup video in 2015!) and some stuff I crocheted over the years (a tiny ripple throw and a rainbow-shaped rug or throw, whichever) and tiny cushions I sewed (helping to support the dolls).

It's been so long since I've indulged in playing with my miniatures and doll furniture and setting up a scene. I'm not as good at this kind of thing as many doll photographers are, so I always have to remind myself that it's fun to do it for the love of play and not perfection. It does bother me that the rug and shelf aren't perfectly aligned, but I just gotta let it go, man. I really, really benefitted from playing around with this today!

I imagine that Miette and Gavin got dolled up in their springy frocks, went shopping (perhaps to "la petite bookshop" and/or to a bakery), and came home to gossip. Gavin kicked her shoes off.

Finally, I really try to cite where I attained all my dolly duds for any interested parties, but I got almost all of what Gavin and Miette are wearing secondhand. I'll make my finest attempt anyway.

Gavin's dress: I think sleepforever (I was gifted the dress last year and I already don't remember!)
Gavin's hot pink Mary Janes: eBay circa 2015 is my best guess
Miette's dress: secondhand in 2012 (it's one of my FAVORITES!)
Miette's petticoat: MINIJIJO in 2017
Miette's white strappy shoes: thehandflower

I have made a couple of posts about putting miniatures in little shelves before! Here and here! There's one item that's been in all three posts.

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ditsy/down with the decoupage

Hi; happy March!

Today my mom and I worked on some prototypes for an Easter project we want to do with our knitting club ladies: decoupaged wooden eggs. They turned out so cute, in my opinion! We used various old leftover party paper napkins taken down to one ply, wooden eggs from the craft store painted white with some coats of gesso, and of course, Mod Podge.

This was really, really fun. Mine is the egg with pink flowers, all harvested from a floral napkin that had a ton of different variously colored flowers printed on it. My mom did the blue and white egg (she added in some beige napkin bits for an antique look). It looks so impressive for such a simple craft. I learned a technique to help with smoothing the wrinkles out of such delicate material as a single napkin ply, which was putting my whole hand in a plastic sandwich bag and gently rubbing the recently-Mod Podged flower with the smooth plastic of the sandwich bag covering my fingertip. It worked a treat for getting things to lie smoothly and evening out the application of said Mod Podge.

I haven't done decoupage in a billion years. Over fifteen, probably, or else I probably would have posted about it here, and I can find no such post. The last thing I decoupaged was a decorative box, I think. And I'm fairly sure I cut up some ancient Seventeen magazines for the images I slathered upon that box. So it's definitely been a grip.

Once I finished my prototype egg, I spent quite a while cutting out a lot of shapes from napkins, because I am not sure everyone who attends knitting club and might be interested in this craft is going to be able to handle scissors themselves. It seems prudent to have flakes of various decoupage-able things already on hand instead of having people cut their own.

The ditsy floral look is really appealing to me... always. But definitely right now. Here are my last two selfies, taken weeks apart.

Two different days, two different shirts, If You Can Believe It. I am currently into wearing my hair pinned back behind my ears. I got a haircut in February for the first time in a few years. While it is still long, my hair is no longer Pentecostal-length.

(Screencap from band video just 'cause. Still at it and it's still taking up half my time.)

Other notes:

• I've gotten to play my Omnichord a lot more than I expected to in band! High-key thrilling tbh.
• I was asking myself all morning: "Why do I hear 'decoupage' in a Strong Bad voice?" Turns out there is a sbemail. I had zero recollection of this particular sbemail, but one single tiny braincell must have packed this association away. (My brain has a fair few Strong Bad-oriented pathways. I should do a post about Homestar Runner-isms that I still use...)
• I've been rewatching Outlander since the final season just premiered. I want to be properly emotionally primed. I'm on season three right now, so season two is still fresh in my mind, and can I just say, what silliness is this "Faith survived" business? There is no way a newborn (if she did indeed survive) infant could remember a song. SILLINESS!!! They have got to explain this biz.

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Omnichord corner

Oh BOY oh BOY oh BOOOYYY, it's hard to exist right now! To quote Cathy: ACK!!! I'm definitely of the mind that creativity and finding joy in this world are acts of resistance, and extremely necessary, not only for one's own soul, but for the sake of humanity's collective soul. It is vital to not let the things that bring comfort and peace in this world be overshadowed and extinguished by the unending, ever-encroaching darkness. But wow. It really feels like doing My Little Things is very Who Cares right now. I'm distresed by everything all the time. People aren't meant to live this way.

Look. I just really have to dress dolls and play music and work on projects and appreciate the good things in my life. I have to do it or I might as well just die.

So, here's a post about my Omnichord corner.

My sewing table has recently become my Omnichord corner. (I rotate out what I am doing with this little desk at any given moment. Were I to film a doll video, or take a picture of a doll with one of my many fabric backdrops, I would do it here.) I can plug it in nearby and use this little bendable grippy arm to film clips of myself playing from overhead, if I want. I've been doing that lately, using my backdrops to make it very tidy and ~aesthetic.

Video screenshot:

I have been recording covers here and there, as I have felt like it. But have also felt too shy and self-conscious to share them on my Instagram stories. Even though I post band clips there sometimes, to my "close friends." The Omnichord stuff feels more self-indulgent and personal. Maybe because my voice is quite close to the phone mic when I'm recording from overhead, and I am of course playing/singing solo. So, I dunno. I have wanted to post clips somewhere, but not inundate people who follow my Instagram due to doll stuff. (I know why people follow me!! And it's not for music content!!!)

Sooo, I made a side Instagram!

🎀 HERE 'TIS! 🎀

You can follow it if you are at all interested! No pressure! I seriously just post clips here for fun, at random, when I feel like it. I don't care if anyone follows it. I'm not trying to be a musician or singer. It's more just like a little archive for me, and a way to share some clips of it with my friends. I figured I'd post about it in case anyone is actually interested, but I don't expect that.

Finally, I'd like to mention the stand I recently attained for my Omnichord specifically, haha! I have been needing a bespoke safe place to put my Omnichord out of fear of knocking it over and/or stepping on it. It's often just leaned against something, or left flat on my bedroom floor. I stepped on my little yellow ukulele years ago on accident and broke it, so this fear is not unfounded. The Omnichord is too small to fit in either of my guitar stands, though. And there don't seem to be stands manufactured specifically for Omnichords out there. That makes sense; it's kind of a niche little instrument.

Most mentions I saw in my search for Omnichord stands seemed to be for the type of stands that one can use whilst playing the instrument live, not for, like... storage while not being actively played, which is what I personally was in the market for.

So I thought, "Maybe a violin stand, or something?" And looked around for something that seemed sturdy, and also like it wouldn't scratch my super freakin' expensive instrument.

I ended up getting this (pink!!!) ukulele stand from Amazon.

The pink is VERY cutesy, I know, but, well... consider whose blog you are reading. I was like, "This may look super cheesy, I don't know... It might not be the right size, I don't know..." But actually, I'm glad I went with this one, in this color. The Omnichord fits perfectly and it feels sturdy, but also like it's not going to leave any marks or dents. It has a soft touch covering.

I know I have mentioned Omnichord-related stuff a bunch of late -- or so it seems to me. My bad, y'all. Sometimes I am just into something specific and become one-note about it. I'm trying not to be self-conscious about it being my whole personality right now. I could be soooo much worse. I could have so many more annoying hobbies. You have no idea how close I have come to getting into Jellycats.

P.S.: How Kirsten Larson-core is that blue floral backdrop!

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