This tiny house is definitely a project of passion. I really wanted to try myself in miniature, even though the last time I touched polymer clay was probably middle school. The plan was to create a cottage that a forest fairy wouldn’t be ashamed of: cozy, green and full of secrets.

From the very start I knew it would be a time-consuming project, so I gave myself no limitations when it came to it. It took me a couple of years to finish it, because I was learning new techniques and doing smaller crafts in the meantime.

The base of the house is made of wood scraps, sticks from my garden, leftover styrofoam and an old glass picture frame. I wanted to make weathered, slightly chipped roof tiles to match the aesthetic I was going for, so I used air-drying clay and meticulously carved all of them, painted them and covered them in fake moss. For an even more whimsical look, I made ivy from polymer clay.

Let’s move to the interiors for now. All the furniture was created using thin balsa wood, which is a perfect material for miniatures, as it can be easily cut with a knife. After building the mini cupboard, I stained it and added details to make it look more life-like.

I had a lot of fun filling the furniture with tiny knick knacks! Looking back, I could probably use better material than wood for the cups and plates, but I still absolutely love how the knitting materials turned out. Especially the scissors, which were made from a pin!

The clock looks like it’s from the same set.

The tiny table needed a tiny table runner. At this point in time I didn’t know how to crochet, so I drenched sewing thread pieces in PVA glue and shaped them together to resemble lace.

Here is how it looks inside. Sadly, I didn’t take many pictures of making the rest of the elements in the room, since back then I was not planning on sharing the process. But the armchair is made of balsa wood and covered in fabric, and the fireplace is also made of balsa, but then I covered parts of it with air-drying clay, which I then carved and painted. I added more details to the fireplace later.

I would like to have a moment of appreciation for the parquet floor that I made of popsicle sticks which I cut, glued together, carved with an old soldering iron and stained. I even made a small hole in the skirting board, for any teeny tiny mouse that would like to take a residence there.

Below are the pictures from the finished house. You can see that I added a board to the fireplace, as well as a small tealight to imitate a burning fire. There is also a light fixture at the ceiling, giving a warm light to the cottage. I turned leftover lace curtain pieces to make tiny curtains, and curtain rods are just wooden bits with beads glued on the both ends.

Clutter on the table was super fun to make, but due to its size it required a lot of patience while making. The red coffee cup and the fruits with the bowl were created with miliput, which I the painted. The candleholder is a wooden piece with a metal ring added as an “ear”, and the candle itself is a tiny piece of hot glue that I shaped to look like melted wax.

I also added a mini basket with yarn next to the armchair. By that time I also learned how to crochet, so I made a carpet using a small size of a hook. The fern outside was made with polymer clay.

Here is how it turned out. I added fake grass, mushrooms and flowers made of air-drying clay and polymer clay. The bushes are actually pompoms that I made from scrap yarn I had after making a sweater.

I love how it turned out, I’ve learned a lot while making this tiny house. I’m happy that I was able to use scraps or scavenged materials, I think it adds some charm to this project. Now it has a place of honor on my bookshelf and catches the eye of everyone who walks in.