...continued from part 1...

The dresser with the mirror was made from a pattern in Thirties & Forties Miniatures in 1:12 Scale by Jane Harrop.  This project was labeled advanced, and though it was a real bear cutting all the pieces precisely, I love the way it turned out.  I stained all of the pieces with IKEA antique pine stain before assembly and then aged it with Antiquing Medium by Folk Art after it was built.

The mirror is made from plastic mirror sheet by Darice.  This material was great to work with.  The finish was pristine when I pulled it from the package, so I had to beat it up a bit for it to blend with the old dresser.  I used an X-Acto knife to scrape some of the backing away.

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This created spots in the reflection.

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Using the same process as I had for the windows, I brushed on some Gloss Varnish by Delta Ceramcoat and then wiped away the excess.  I painted the wood backer black as well.  Now it looks like an old weathered mirror.

The apothecary items were made from a glass bottle and an unpainted metal miniature.  I used brown paint to dirty the glass and painted the metal bottle with acrylics.  I then glued on tiny antique medicine labels I found online.  I crinkled the label on the metal bottle before gluing it since the bottle itself seemed a bit beat up.  The razor and shaving mug were unpainted metal minis that I detailed.  The shelf was made using pieces from my scrap wood bag as well as two leftover fretwork pieces from the Newport stairs.

I'm a big fan of hidden elements, so while I didn't make any actual miniature clothing, I did place some folded fabric scraps in the drawers.  :D

A couple of more personal details I included are the photographs of my own ancestors.  The young woman on the mirror is my great grandmother Mary Jane Bartlett (nee Watson) in her graduation photo.  She was born in 1900 and passed away in 2005 just shy of her 105th birthday.  She was young at heart and lived on her own until a few months before she passed.  She wasn't even hard of hearing; she cooked her own meals and cleaned her own home.  She was a remarkable woman with a terrific laugh, and I am lucky to have known her well into my adult life.

The second photo is that of her grandparents: Augustus Samuel Watson (1827-1901) and Mary Jane Cameron (1827-1900).  That would make them my great, great, great grandparents.

To simulate old tin type photos, I printed the images on a clear mailing label.

I then stuck the label onto the dull side of a piece of aluminum foil.

I glued the foil onto a heavier paper to give it some weight.  Though it's hard to see in the photo, the metallic foil showing through the clear label really gives it an authentic look.

These might be a bit large for proper 1:12 scale, but I wanted them to show well in the room.