I'm a Giant Challengers

I am seriously blown away by the talent and creativity from Emily Henderson's I'm a Giant Challenge. I was busy working on my challenge so I missed out on following the progress of everyone else. I'm still trying to catch up. I built a page to showcase all of the challengers I could find with pictures and links to their websites. I tried linking directly to their dollhouse posts, please feel free to send me any missing participants, URL updates or any changes: modernminifan (at) gmail.com

Please check out all 83 participants here. Below is just a taste of the talent the challenge brought out:

I just love these kitchens, I could cook in these all day long. [left] Whiteowl: found — be still my beating heart. Are you kidding me, this is miniature?!? Unbelievable. I am blown away. [middle] Change of Scenery — I love all of your choices for this room and your whole house is gorgeous. [right] TinyFixation — I've blogged about here — I adore that chandelier and copper hood, and the cork inlay floors are pretty killer.

The creativity was abundant. [left] Call of the Small created this Rad Pad out of magazine file holders. [right] Lemon Cadet hollowed out an old iMac to make this cool abode. I'm hoping some other people will finish their ideas from shelves and boxes (*wishful hinting* you know who you are.)
[left] Onshore — the shoji screens and woodworking on this Teahouse are just incredible. [middle] Chinoiserie Chic — I love the patterns and prints Beth used in this house. I had no idea there were so many Chinoise miniatures this cool. [right] Asa Pearson blew me away with this ultra modern dollhouse design; the finished house is a beauty. You have to check out the lighting and cross beam ceiling in the man cave.

Two pieces I wish I had thought to make, are this incredible desk from Little Victorian and this gorgeous bathtub by Black Bird Has Spoken. I'm so jealous.
I love the bold use of color in these houses. [left] Make mine Mid-Century, [middle] My Mod Style and [right] Warm Hot Chocolate really brightened up their rooms with some vibrant colors. I'm kind of intimidated by color, but these rooms really inspire me go to bold.

Here are some bedrooms I really like: [left] This Magpie's Nest, [middle] With Two Cats and [right] Fade into Bleu.

[left] I really love Nicole's color palette for her whole house, GORGEOUS! — Making it Lovely. [middle] Morgan's A-frame and furniture are UhMazing — The Brick House. [right] Debra's father had built this mini green house as an accessory for the dollhouse he built for her and her sisters, but years later now her daughter is playing with it, along with the fantastic renovation Debra made to the main house — Cocoon Home.

Above are just a few photos of people's work. Please go here to see pictures of all of the participants for the challenge. Here is the website list of the 83 participants I could find so far. Please leave a comment if I missed you.

Emily's Original Homies

Inspiration Queen Emily: Style by Emily Henderson ~ www.stylebyemilyhenderson.com
Morgan: The Brick House ~ www.the-brick-house.com
Erin: Design for Mankind ~ www.designformankind.com
Orlando: Homme Maker www.hommemaker.com
Corbett: girl domestic ~ www.girl-domestic.com
Jenny: Little Green Notebook ~ littlegreennotebook.blogspot.com
Nicole: Making it Lovely ~ www.makingitlovely.com
Kirsten: Simply Grove ~ www.simplygrove.com

The rest of us that want to be her homies (listed alphabetically)

A Joyful Girl ~ theknowlesexperience.blogspot.com
a living space ~ a-living-space.blogspot.com
Annie's Oblations (pre-challenge) ~ anniesoblations.blogspot.com
ASA Pearson Designs ~ asapearson.blogspot.com
bijougirl ~ amandaconley.blogspot.com
Black and White and Loved All Over ~ www.blackandwhiteandlovedallover.com
Black Bird Has Spoken ~ blackbirdhasspoken.blogspot.com
BluBabesCreate ~ blubabescreate.blogspot.com
Cali Rezo (pre-challenge and ongoing) ~ www.calirezo.com
Call of the Small ~ call-small.blogspot.com
Carmen Jessee ~ carmenjessee.com
Change of Scenery ~ changeofsceneries.blogspot.com
chelsea-sparks ~ chelsea-sparks.blogspot.com
Chinoiserie Chic ~ chinoiseriechic.blogspot.com
Christy Crafts ~ christycrafts.blogspot.com
Cloudy Purple Sky ~ asukas.blogspot.com
Cocoon Home ~ www.cocoonhome.com
The Contented Renter ~ thecontentedrenter.blogspot.com (please build it!)
Copy Cat Chic ~ www.copycatchic.com
Cowboy Bunny ~ cowboybunny.blogspot.com
Design Thoughts ~ www.designthoughtsblog.com
Fade into Bleu ~ fadeintobleu.blogspot.com
Finding Eliza ~ findingeliza.com
Fleurishing ~ www.fleurishingblog.com
Flippin' Dollhouse ~ flippindollhouse.tumblr.com
The Frippery Factory ~ fripperyfactory.wordpress.com (come back, I want to see what you do with the box)
Giginstudio ~ www.giginstudio.tripod3d.com
Go Haus Go ~ www.gohausgo.com
Holly Recommends ~ hollyrecommends.wordpress.com
The Honey Hut ~ thehoneyhut.blogspot.com
House of Lovelock ~ houseoflovelock.com
JWK Style ~ jwkstyle.blogspot.com
KathieB's Minis (pre-challenge) ~ kathiebminis.blogspot.com
Keepers ~ facebook.com/pages/Keepers/123865814323216
La Vita Petite ~ lavitapetite.com
LeftCoastMini (pre-challenge) ~ leftcoastmini.blogspot.com
Lemon Cadet ~ lemoncadet.blogspot.com
Little Dash ~ dashislittle.blogspot.com
Little Victorian ~ littlevictorian.blogspot.com
Loganberry Lane ~ Loganberrylane.blogspot.com
Make mine Mid-Century ~ makeminemid-century.blogspot.com
Marcus and Rach ~ marcusandrachpond.blogspot.com
Michelle Corvino: Gnome Homes ~ picasaweb.google.com/106618329473965977306/IAmAGiantGnomeHomes
Mini*Aesthetics ~ miniaesthetics.blogspot.com
MiniMinimalDesign ~ www.flickr.com/photos/67276108@N08/
Modern Mini Houses (that's me) ~ modernminihouses.blogspot.com
My Mini Mod Pod ~ minimodpod.blogspot.com
My Mod Style ~ mymodstyle.blogspot.com
My Recession Kitchen ~ www.myrecessionkitchen.com
Noted Home ~ notedhome.blogspot.com
OneFortyThree ~ onefortythree.com (additional Instgram photos here: statigr.am/one_forty_three)
Onshore ~ onshore-again.blogspot.com
Opal Weekends ~ opalweekends.blogspot.com
Petite Plat ~ petitplatbysk.blogspot.com
Pinky Creations ~ pinkycreations-pink.blogspot.com
The Project Corner ~ theprojectcorner.blogspot.com
Redesign ~ www.reddezn.com
Silly Eagle Books ~ www.sillyeaglebooks.com
simplycoolstuff ~ simplycoolstuff.blogspot.com
Snow Fern ~ snowfern-clover.blogspot.com
Sophie and Lili ~ sophieandlilihandmade.blogspot.com
Stringfellow Art ~ www.stringfellowart.com
Summer Plays House ~ summerplayshouse.com
Tales of a Tumbleweed ~ www.talesofatumbleweed.com
TinyFixation (Large and in Charge) ~ www.tinyfixation.blogspot.com
This is Kara B. ~ thisiskarab.tumblr.com
This Magpie's Nest ~ thismagpiesnest.blogspot.com
This Posh House ~ thisposhhouse.blogspot.com
Warm Hot Chocolate ~ warmhotchocolate.com
Whiteowl: found ~ whiteowlfound.blogspot.com
With Two Cats ~ www.withtwocats.com
Wonders Will Never Cease ~ wonderswillnevercease.blogspot.com
wonderland.5 ~ www.flickr.com/photos/wonderland5
wordplayhouse ~ www.wordplayhouse.com
Here's the "I'm a Giant" flickr group to share photos: www.flickr.com/groups/1772598@N24/

Again, please send those that I have missed and I am eager to add them. modernminifan (at) gmail.com

Thanks for the inspiration everyone! See all here.

(all images from respective websites)

"They didn't have your size"

Here is my submission for the Gem & Jewels and FDQ photo contest Maryann Roy blogged about. I have to say, this wouldn't have been possible without the help from my amazingly talented brother, Chris Hornbecker, Photographer Extraordinaire. What a difference lighting makes (and a good camera)! My brother taught me a ton about perspective, lines, filling the space, hard and soft light and cheap suggestions for building my own light set up from the the hardware store. This photo uses his professional lights, but I'll blog about my new lighting set up as soon as I build it. Click on the image to enlarge and really see the photo in its glory. When you compare images 1 and 2 in the close up mode, it is night and day from what a photographer can do, and what my current skill set is.


Modern MC was kind enough to loan me some posable dolls (thanks again!!). The left photo was my initial set up, but my brother suggested the the black was too dark for the photo and the couch was too big. So I swapped in Dr. Who dolls, new furniture, and I moved the bookshelf of rings to be more prominent in the scene. We took out some clutter and some lamps that added distracting lines, and eventually ditched the couch and moved the couple to the front.

Then the magic happened, adjusting the lights for the perfect "natural light" coming through the window. Changing the focus on different elements in the room. Getting all the shots for post production; yeah people, we mean business! The ring he is holding is actually in the girl's shadow so it looked dull. After getting the main shot, we popped her out and adjusted the lighting on the ring to get more sparkle out of it. Then worked some photoshop magic with masking the different layers with the best lighting and focus for the elements we wanted featured. There were 5 images combined together to create the final image. Thank you Big Bro, you are the best!!

Besides having a blast working with my brother on this, it was really fun setting the room up. I dug up a lot of old memories searching through my jewelry. Rhinestone earrings from middle school dances (when I was 13) were added to the lamp to make a faux crystal chandelier. I discovered the two etched glass jewelry boxes from my grandmother that worked perfectly as tables. The bookcase of rings is my favorite feature, I was short on rings and luckily my Dad's girlfriend let me raid her collection and I filled it up with hers and used her earrings in the bowl on the side table. I thought using the rhinestone bracelets to create a hearth in front of the fireplace turned out pretty cool too.

Here are the 35 pieces of jewelry in this scene.
1. Ring on edge (1)
2. Large earring in front and ring on right (2 & 3)
3. minimodernistas bookcase with 16 rings in it (19)
4. HBS lamp with 4 earrings (23)
5. small jewelry box for side table
6. large jewelry box for coffee table
7. bowl of stud 9 earrings and pendants (32)
8. two rhinestone bracelets to make hearth (34)
9. my engagement ring (35)

Accessories are PRD Miniatures, minimodernistas, Reac chairs, HBS side tables, Modern MC and Mad for Mod.

Happy Valentine's Day! I hope you share some mini love today.

I'm fixated

Not sure where I've been, but I just discovered TinyFixation's blog large and in charge. One word, WOW! Her commentary is hilarious and her skills are incredible. On top of completely gutting and wiring the house, almost everything in the house is handmade or re-furbished by Meagan. I'm still in awe of the talent to come up with these designs and execute them so well. The kitchen is incredible. I love the cork floors she made. The mirrors on the wall over the banquette are a great accent to that AMAZING chain chandelier. And check out the details on how she made the copper hood above the range.

The story of the house she is renovating is a kick. I highly recommend starting at the beginning of her blog and reading all of the details. It's a fun ride. She started her blog in October, after being inspired by the I'm a Giant Challenge. I am seriously in awe of how much time she spent trying to meet the "deadlines" for the challenge. If you don't have time to read her whole blog then jump to this post with most of the finished rooms for the challenge. Totally impressive.

If you read older posts, you'll find some fabulous step by step details on how she made some of the furniture, accessories, floors, lighting and even real granite counter tops and actual glass window panes. I'm still in awe of how she transformed this clunky electric range to a gourmet gas range.

I'm stealing Pepper's #4 new years resolution of trying to catch up on everyone's blogs, but so far I've been completely fixated on this one.


This is seriously the coolest kids bed I've ever seen. A swing, slide, loft, what's not to love; and the light fixture is to die for. The master bedroom is just fab, there's a great tutorial on how to make the mirrored nightstands here. I love the arc lamp in the living room and the coffee table is so cool, you can see the inspiration for the table in this post here. So many great details, check them all out at: tinyfixation.blogspot.com.

(all images from large and in charge blog at tinyfixation.blogspot.com)

"Welcome Home" Lounge

Back in December when I met Maryann Roy, she surprised me with this gorgeous credenza and these fabulous barrel style chairs. The blue is almost a perfect match to the Tiffany's blue in my Zig Zag shelving unit by PRD Miniatures. Thanks so much Maryann, I am loving them! Sadly, these are the last 1:12 scale pieces she made and it might be a while as she's pretty content (and busy) in her Barbie size world. (Minimodernistas makes 1:12 scale barrel chairs if you're dying to get your hands on some.) Maryann Roy sells fabulous 1:6 scale items on her blog here: maryannroy.wordpress.com.

This is the hallway room in my Antrim that I have been trying to find a purpose for. I think the chairs and credenza really make it a cool lounging around area. I'd hang out and read a book here.
I picked up a few goodies from CW Lubin Wood Turning on etsy; the two wooden candlesticks at the the end of the credenza, chrome metal vase on middle shelf, and the tall green vase on the upper right shelf.

Da deets: Maryann Roy: chairs, lamp, credenza, beads on middle shelf. PRD Miniatures: Zig Zag shelving unit, TV, SLICE vortex side table, square glass beads. Accessories: Re-ment, Bozart, orchid by fortunate island minis, Gilbert Mena round wood turning on 2nd from top shelf, mini dream world, CB2 ornament cut in half, dollhouse shows, craft store and ebay finds.