I have another fun project to share with you, my miniature tool shed! One of my college friend’s mother had decided that miniatures was no longer a hobby she could enjoy due to age and health. They knew that I was starting up my own miniatures business. So she offered that I come and sort through her collection and take whatever I wanted, the rest would be donated.
I spent the better part of a day with her. We went through her collection while her husband and daughter continued to bring boxes down from the attic. It was honestly a little overwhelming the amount that she had. By the end of the day, my car was full of 4 or 5 moving boxes and 4 full sized 1:12 dollhouses.
One of my favorite little houses that immediately caught my attention was this empty little wooden greenhouse with a glass front and a glass roof. One of the roof support pieces was broken. The glass was cracked, but it just screamed that it needed to become a garden shed.
I already had a good amount of garden tools and outdoor accessories. Thanks to my friend’s mom, I had even more. Gathering everything I had, I started playing around with everything together. I quickly decided I needed to create a pegboard for the tools to hang on. I also wanted a bunch of fall leaves dusting the floor, but everything else I already had.
To create the pegboard, I used brown craft paper and drew a grid on one side. At the intersection of every grid line, I poked a hole with a sewing needle. It took FOREVER, but it looks great. Next, I then glued flat wooden trim around the sides, and hot glued the tools up. I considered making tiny wire hooks for the tools. I decided that tedious job could wait till another day or never.
As for the leaves, I have a number of scrapbooking hole punches. I punched 3 different leaf shapes in lots of different colors. I considered trying to make them ombre or even shiny, but decided it wasn’t worth my time for this one. In the future though, I’ve considered applying a thin coat of polyurethane on the paper. This would give the leaves a shiny glossy finish before punching them out.
Then I just started putting everything in place. Once I was happy with the arrangement, I used low-temp hot glue to glue everything down. While we don’t recommend using hot glue to assemble a dollhouse, it’s excellent for attaching furniture and accessories in a semi-permanent manner. Should I ever want to go back and remove something from my scene, it’s not impossible. (And actually a few things have since fallen down. It’s been a number of years and more than a few moves in between, so I don’t blame the glue for failing.)
Here you can see the miniature tool shed on display at the Columbus Miniature Show.
If you liked any of the tools or supplies I was using and think they might be helpful in your own miniatures adventure, I have Amazon Affiliate links to them for you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Should you choose to purchase any of these, at no additional cost to you, I may earn a commission. Know that I only recommend products, tools, services and learning resources I’ve personally used and believe are genuinely helpful, not because of the small commissions I make if you decide to purchase them. Most of all, I would never advocate for buying something that you can’t afford, don’t feel comfortable with, or that you’re not yet ready to use.
