Specialization in Miniature Design and Decoration Techniques

Finding Your Interior Style

Now let's figure out what your personal interior decor style is. We'll look at some of the most popular ones currently, what kind of elements fit into each and use them as a starting point to build from.

Once you know what style of decor you prefer, the next step is to figure out how to scale everything down. You will learn how to accurately downsize a piece of furniture into its miniature form.

Scaling in Miniature

How to Create a Template

To finish this unit, I will turn my attention toward the sideboard I want to make for the hanging niche and break it down into its component shapes. I will discuss how to create allowances for the thickness of the wood and wood finishes.

To create the sideboard, I will show you how to cut, sand, and put together small pieces of wood, giving special attention to the removal of burrs around the edge. This will ensure a smooth and professional finish.

Making the Sideboard 1

Now that all the separate pieces have been cut to size and filed down, I will demonstrate how to assemble the furniture. You will learn a simple way to attach working hinged doors.

Making the Sideboard 2

16m

Making the Sideboard 3

It's time to start painting! In this lesson, I will embellish the sideboard with subtle decorations. Finally, I will go over the different finishes for wood.

Upholstering a Chair 1

This step will take your miniature-making skills up a level, by combining wood and fabric. I will discuss the template I created for the chair and explain how to transfer it onto fabric.

The next step is to assemble the chair! I will show you tips and tricks to tame the fabric so that it looks well-finished. You can use the techniques in this lesson to create your own chair design or follow along and recreate the same chair that I made.

Upholstering a Chair 2

Sewing a Cross Stitch Pillow 1

In this lesson, I will cover basic hand sewing techniques-the cross stitch, back stitch, and whip stitch-to create your own custom pillow. To get started, I will explain how to plan out the graphics.

Sewing a Cross Stitch Pillow 2

Once you feel confident applying the techniques, you'll be ready to make your cushion. I will now show you how to put the three stitches you've learned together to design, create, assemble, and stuff a pillow for your chair.

Creating a Hanging Planter 1

It's time to finish off the space with a tiny hanging potted plant. I will show you how to make your own pot, create simple leaves, and finally construct the hanger itself. With these tips and techniques, you will be creating your own little plant army in no time.

16m

Creating a Hanger Planter 2

In the second part of this lesson, I will use all the research I've collected to accurately draw out the measurements, build, and bring my Boston fern to life!

It's finally time to build the niche! This will house all the little pieces of furniture you've made so far. To begin with, I will demonstrate how to prepare the wooden pieces that will form the walls, the floor, and the roof. Then, before progressing to the construction stage, I will create a space for the windows. It may seem counterintuitive to insert the windows before putting the whole box together, but it's much easier to do this step when all the pieces are still separate.

Adding Windows 1

Next, I will model how to cut holes inside the niche walls. Then, I will explain how to build and set Plexiglas within the holes to create a polished finish.

Adding Windows 2

Wall Treatment and Laying Flooring 1

Next, I will discuss a few decorative options you can explore for your own niche. Then, I will show you how I created an upholstered scallop panel wall for mine. Finally, the last thing to do before assembling the niche is to create the floor. I will show you a few flooring options, from laying down wooden flooring, to carpeting, and tiling. Then, I will go through the steps of creating your own simple tile flooring before gluing all the walls together to complete the niche.

Wall Treatment and Laying Flooring 2

Now that all the separate pieces of the niche are ready, it's time to assemble it! I will provide step-by-step instructions on how to do this, and apply some finishing touches.

Ways to Display Your Miniatures

You don't need a big dollhouse or a dedicated glass case to store and display miniatures! In this lesson, I will show you how I incorporate them into my own home decor.

Storing and Packing Miniatures

There may come a point when you're not only displaying your miniatures but also packing them up to ship to happy customers across the world. I will show you how to package the more delicate items to not only ensure their safe travels but also guarantee that they arrive neat and ready for display. Lastly, I'll share some tips on how I promote my work on social media.

In this lesson, I'll teach you about miniature scales and the most common materials you'll find used in miniatures. I'll talk about fabric and fiber, wood, tools, and paper.

Module 3

Build a world of tiny charm with Chelsea Andersson, founder of ChelseaMakes and finalist on NBC’s [i]Making It[/i]. You’ll learn to design and craft miniature furniture and decor from scratch, using sustainable techniques to create pieces that are perfect for a dollhouse—or proudly displayed on your shelf.

14 lessons (2h 14m)

Technique Foundations

Workspace Preparation

Now, you'll prepare the workstation and familiarize yourself with some of the most common tools for miniatures. If you don't have every single tool I'll show you in this lesson, don't worry! You don't need all of them to complete your project. Feel free to be creative! You can always use the tools you already have or feel more comfortable with.

Gathering Inspiration

Inspiration is essential for creating miniatures! In this lesson, I'll use Pinterest and Instagram to collect image inspiration for the miniatures. Then, I'll begin with the sketching process.

Chair 1

In this lesson, I'll show you how to create a woven faux leather chair. First, I'll cut out all of the wood pieces and then move on to working on the cushion.

20m

Chair 2

Now, I'll assemble the structure of the chair using glue. You'll find the binder clips very useful when gluing the pieces together!

Rug

In this lesson, I'll show you how to create an embroidered woven rug. I'll teach you three ways to make the rug to give you options on how to make your own.

Now, I'll teach you the basic fundamentals of paper plants. Using these fundamentals, you can craft the plant of your choosing.

Paper Plant 1

Once you have all the leaves, I'll show you how to use acrylic paint to add an extra touch and customize the color of your plant. Then, I'll work on the finish of each side of the leaves using Mod Podge. Finally, I'll attach the leaves to the trunk and branches.

Paper Plant 2

Table

In this lesson, I'll show you how to create a miniature terrazzo coffee table using plaster, paint, and wooden beads. Remember to have fun in the process!

Now, it's time for the couch! I'll teach you how to create a modern couch from wood and fabric. First, I'll start working on the wood pieces. Let's get down to business!

Couch 1

Now, the base of the couch is set up and dry, so the next step is working on the cushion and the pillow. These elements will make it look cozy and soft!

Couch 2

In this lesson, I'll talk about some ways to make quick accessories for your miniature room and ways to reuse found objects.

Accessorizing

Additional Tools

Now, I'll show you some tools you might use if you continue to make miniatures. You'll find them very useful as you start creating more and more miniatures.

Displaying Your Miniatures

Now, let's get creative! I'll tell you different options for how to display your completed work and I'll talk about dollhouses and how they can be both useful and decorative.

Module 4

Enter the imaginative world of model making with designer Jessica Dance, known for her handcrafted work for Vogue X Barbie. You’ll learn to create a detailed miniature room from scratch—scaling, designing, and decorating every corner to build a tiny, tangible version of your dream space.

19 lessons (3h 2m)

Materials and Tools

In this lesson, I will talk through some of the key tools and materials that we will be using during the course.

Inspiration Boards

Now you know about tools and materials, it’s time to start exploring how you want your room to look, what inspires you, do you have a favourite era, interior style, or is there an artist that inspires your style? Whatever it is, it would be great to collate some images to create an inspiration board you can reference and start to form your design. I usually reference a mixture of things such as photos of fabrics and art.

Scale Explained

What is scale? In this lesson, we will learn how to work with scale. I will show you examples of different scales and I will tell you how to calculate them for your final project.

Plans Explained

In this lesson, I will show you how I go about the measurements and explain the plans of your final project.

Measuring and Cutting Out

In the lesson, I will show you how to measure, mark up and cut out the pieces required to create the structure of your room,. Then we are going to paint our side walls, front wall and ceiling pieces.

In this lesson we are going to measure and cut out our plastic for the windows, then we are going to insert the windows into their frames.

Windows

In this lesson, I will show you how to create a panelled wall for your final project.

Panelled Wall

Here I will teach you how to create a wooden floor for your room. I will also run you through a couple of options for making your floor using spray paints if you want to create a different style of floor.

Making the Floor

Assembly of Your Model

In this lesson, I will show you how to assemble your walls, windows and floor. We are going to see the actual assembly of the final project with the walls, windows, ceiling and floor.

Mid-Century Lounge Chair

I am going to teach you how you can create your own furniture then I will teach you to make a mid-century lounge chair out of balsa wood.

19m

Seat Pads for the Lounge Chair 1

In this lesson, I will teach you how to create seat pads using Kapa line foam, and you will also learn how to cover the foam in fabric so it looks like a realistic, fabric seat pad.

Seat Pads for the Lounge Chair 2

In this part of the lesson, we will create the panels and the stuffing for our lounge chair cushion. You can sew the panels together by hand or using a sewing machine.

Here I will be taking you through the steps to create your own iconic Corona chair. During the process, you will learn different modelling techniques.

Corona Chair 1

Once we have the seat pads cut out and sanded, let's create the structure of the chair.

Corona Chair 2

In this lesson, I am going to show you how to create a coffee table. I will also show you how you can add some cool paint effects to give your coffee table a terrazzo effect.

Coffee Table

Starburst Clock

Here we are going to make some finishing touches, which is what brings the space to life! Don’t feel limited by the accessories that I have outlined here. Hopefully, the techniques that I have taught you will give you the freedom to play and come up with your ideas too.

16m

Books

We are going to make some miniature books to put on your coffee table.

Assembly and Other Room Ideas

This is the first time we will see the completed project. In this lesson, I will share some other room ideas to elevate your visual creations.

Final Tips

My best tip on model-building is to try it out and never stop trying things! Also, experiment with materials and fabrics you have not worked with before.

Module 5

Shrink your stories into artful treasures with Evan Lorenzen, master of micro-scale illustration and bookmaking. You’ll learn to craft miniature books from start to finish—developing concepts, illustrating tiny pages, binding them by hand, and designing custom covers to bring your big ideas to life on a small scale.

15 lessons (2h 31m)

Tools and Materials

Let’s start by meeting some specialized tools you might not be as familiar with. Although these tools are very helpful in this process, you should be able to do the same basic things with some household alternatives. I will also explain some things to consider when choosing papers for your book.

Bookbinding Terms and Techniques

There are a few specific terms I’ll be using about the bookbinding process and which you should know before you start working. Here are some quick definitions.

Breakdown of the Book Layout

In this lesson, I will show you how I order my book’s pages, folios, and signatures. Then, I will explain how to make a 32-page book, but feel free to experiment!

Brainstorming the Story

What do you want your tiny book to be about? Let’s see what ideas you can consider when you’re coming up with a story or concept for your book.

Thinking About The Design of the Book

There are elements to consider when arranging images and text on the page. Here, you will see ways to look at the design of your book as a whole before getting started.

Making a Tiny Softcover Sketchbook 1

Now that I have all the theory and planning down, I will start playing with my materials and put together a small sketchbook that I can use as a prototype!

18m

Making a Tiny Softcover Sketchbook 2

To finish this softcover sketchbook, I’ll sew my signatures together into a text block with a waxed thread. Then, I will make my cover and sew my text block to it.

Putting the Ideas to Paper

Time to use your tiny sketchbook to see what it feels like drawing this small. I will show you how to start drawing out text and images so that you can get an idea of how you want your compositions to be.

Illustrating the Final Pages

Using the sketchbook I made as a reference, I will draw the illustrations of my book. Here I will discuss the importance of when and how to illustrate the final pages.

Assembling the Text Block

In this lesson, you will see how to create signatures from your folios and turn them into a larger block of all your text and images.

18m

Making the Cover 1

I will now move on to creating the cover of the book. There are specifics to making a hardcover, such as measuring and compiling the materials. I will explain all this in detail.

20m

Making the Cover 2

The next step of the process is to cut a piece of decorative paper for the inside of the cover. It’s a technique adapted from the endpapers you can find in larger books.

Attaching the Cover

I have all the pages finished and the cover made. Now all I have to do is attach them!

Display and Presentation of Your Work

Proud of your creation, you might want to show it to the world. Let’s discuss some ways you can display your finished product—and preserve it.

Creating a Multicopy Edition

Are you interested in making multiple copies of your book? Here are some suggestions to make the process potentially easier.

Module 6

Explore the delicate art of miniature embroidery with Yulia Sherbak, whose love for nature and animals inspires her intricate jewelry pieces. You’ll learn stitching and thread painting techniques to craft your own embroidered rings, earrings, and pendants—tiny works of wearable art.

15 lessons (2h 26m)

Materials

In this lesson, I will review the materials you will need to get started. Also, I'll be showing you some of my favorite products.

Basic Embroidery Stitch Technique

Let's get started! I will teach you a variety of embroidery stitches, including straight stitch, split stitch, satin stitch, and turkey work.

Long and Short Stitch Technique

Now, I will show you the long and short stitch. This is the stitch that’s used in thread painting. A long and short stitch is an essential stitch in realistic embroidery.

Conceptualization of the Idea

With the basic stitches cleared, I want to share with you the beginning of my creative process. First, I'll create a mood board for each of the designs that we will work on in this course. Then, I will show you how I create the sketches.

Transferring the Final Sketch to the Fabric

First, I will show you how to place the fabric into the embroidery hoop. The fabric needs to be so taught you could even describe it as drum-tight. Then, I will show you how to transfer the pattern to your fabric, using a heat erasable pen and a light source.

Basic Color Theory and Choosing a Color Palette

In this lesson, I will talk about how I approach choosing a color palette for my embroidery.

Stitching Needle Painting 1 part 1

I will be stitching the hedgehog. I will begin with some embroidery basics: separating the floss, threading the needle, and starting a stitch.

Stitching Needle Painting 1 part 2

Now, I will continue diving into needle painting the hedgehog.

Stitching Needle Painting 2 part 1

In this lesson, I'll be stitching a fuzzy white-tailed bumblebee. The defining feature of this piece is a three-dimensional fuzzy thorax of the bee, which we will achieve using Turkey's work stitch.

Stitching Needle Painting 2 part 2

For the bumblebee to come to life I will give the final touches by working on its wings.

Stitching Needle Painting 3 part 1

For the final embroidery of this project, I will be stitching the little mushroom.

Stitching Needle Painting 3 part 2

Now that the cap of the mushroom is done, I'll finish with the stem.