Dollhouse Miniatures… A Bit of a Break from Beads [Spotlight]

Polymer Clay Dollhouse Miniatures by Catalina “My first
attempts at
polymer clay… little
collection of miniature doll
furniture & accessories.”
~Catalina

These “Spot” features are for you guys to display your accomplishments, share stories of inspiration and even ask for assistance with challenges that you may be experiencing. The projects are based on techniques learned from articles here at the blog, as well as from tutorials at the Polymer Clay Video Library. My hope is for these “Show and Tell” features to help everyone get to know each other a bit better, thanks to this wonderfully artistic medium of polymer clay. And… by participating, you can win some beads too!



Polymer Clay Dollhouse Miniatures by Catalina

Hi Cindy,

Here are some close up pics of my doll furniture and accessories. I wish I had more to show but I have been side tracked into making beads lately! (I wonder who’s fault that is! :)  It’s been a great detour, don’t get me wrong!

My little bathtub babies were fun to make and the bubbles were made out of glass beads for scrapbooking embellishments. Very tiny and with no holes but very effective. The rug and towels were made out of old beach towels.  The rug has a polymer clay backing. I rolled a piece of clay with the material through the pasta machine to embed the clay and then baked it.  The brush and soap were fun to make.  Adding a little bit of glass beads really makes the soap look wet and bubbly. The clay bow that ties the towels up is my favorite.

The little table was hard at first. I didn’t have the knowledge on the proper way to join baked clay and made this the hard way. The “wood” grain is done very similar to your way described in the Faux Bone and Ivory video. To make the spindle legs I just used a needle and rolled the leg until the line met. I wanted to make sure the legs were the same so I marked a piece of tape on my table and marked lines were I wanted the design to be. The legs were uneven when I put the table together so I had to sand the legs with sandpaper. After I got it done I realized it was too small! I haven’t found a better way to make it so I have yet to make another one.

The fruit basket was fun. But, I was not familiar enough at the time, with polymer clay, to really do a good job on these. I guess when I try something I have to start with the most difficult things. I can’t remember what I used to make the texture on the oranges. I think I used sandpaper. I just rolled the little ball of sandpaper lightly to dimple the clay. The grapes were tedious but came out pretty good.

The cherry pie was my dad’s favorite. I thought he was going to eat it at first! It is the size of a US quarter. (Sorry, I didn’t use a quarter when photographing these – I forgot.) I rolled very tiny balls of red clay for the cherries (I made a thin log of clay and cut the log into the same size pieces so they would be close to the same size.) I glazed the cherries with liquid sculpty and laid the lattice like a real pie. It helps if you are a baker in real life to do this. Actually, I tell everyone that my real pies come out so well because I play with clay a lot! LOL!

The cups were fairly easy to make. Just a small ball of clay and I used a pencil to make the inside of the cup. Just slowly press the pencil into the clay until you get to the depth you want. The little plate was a slice of an attempt to make a flower cane. The petals were done in translucent clay and would be better for making a sun-catcher since light go right through them. Your video on how to make the Gerbera Flower Cane was so much easier to make than this one!

The scale to most of these are not too good. I was just trying different techniques. But, were cute enough for my own collection. Plus, these were my first attempts with polymer clay. Thank God, I found The Polymer Clay Tutor and learned the easy way to play with clay!

Thanks, Cindy, for showcasing my first attempts at polymer clay and my little collection of miniature doll furniture and accessories. It’s been two years now and I have learned more here than anywhere. Keep up the good work!

~Catalina



If you are interested in sharing pictures of your polymer clay projects with the community, please follow these 2 simple steps:

1) Email several of your photos to me as attachments. My email address is shown in the “From” line of the weekly Polymer Clay Newsletter that gets sent out each and every Friday morning.

2) Include a description and/or story about your pieces, being sure to reference the tutorial(s) or blog article(s) that provided at least some level of inspiration for your work.

Don’t be shy. Everyone is VERY friendly here.

In the comment section below, please do compliment each other; Offer encouragement; Ask questions about the techniques used; And in general… be social. This is your community! It’s up to you to make it a fun and supportive place to hang out. All of you are amazing and it’s wonderful to have everyone here!

I am just getting started making miniatures and for me, having a doll to reference really helps. But like you said if they don’t work as play food…they’ll make great charms! ~Deborah-S

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** Did You Know… Members with current subscriptions to the weekly tutorial videos are always entitled to a 10% discount when purchasing 6 or more back issue packages in a single transaction. If you are interested, let me know which back issues you would like and I will send further instructions on how to complete your order.
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Cindy Lietz SignaturePolymer Clay Tutor


  1. Maureen, 05 May, 2010

    Catalina…These are so adorable! And so life-like! Thanks for showing them to us. I am not really into miniatures but I appreciated seeing your work. Great!!

  2. Katie, 05 May, 2010

    I was just thinking about making some miniature furniture (for earrings). Haven’t been able to try it yet (last week of classes before finals -eek!-) but you’ve inspired me.

  3. Cindy Graveline, 05 May, 2010

    The bathtub babies are so cute! :)

  4. Carole Holt, 05 May, 2010

    how wonderful is this poly clay ,such a vast aray of ideas ,to say these are your first attempt at making things they are marvelous.You have made some beautiful beads also as you have shown in other spotlights.You have such talent ,please keep showing the things you make I think that these bathtime babies would make lovely Charms too.

  5. Anna Sabina, 05 May, 2010

    These are absolutely great. You added lots of details to each. I love them.

  6. Maria, 05 May, 2010

    The table looks like real wood, the pie looks delicious, along with the fruits, the soap bar, the towels, the ribbon , the platter, all wonderful… but I think my favorite is the use of the glass beads to make the bubbles – how creative!!!

  7. Melinda Herron, 05 May, 2010

    How very cute! Love them! FABULOUS!

  8. Hobokenmary, 05 May, 2010

    Very impressive. Love the pie!

  9. Koolbraider, 05 May, 2010

    How cute are these??? I love the soap. It really looks like it just came out of the water.

  10. Joyce M, 05 May, 2010

    A designer you are Catalina. I love your little treasures. Every one of them has its own merit. The Tub Babies are adorable, the table looks like it could withstand the romping of those babies and the food is just plain tempting! Great job, thanks for sharing. I’d really like to play with the bubbles…

  11. Cheryl, 05 May, 2010

    Catalina it’s fabulous. I just love them all but I have to say the bathtub with the babies in it with those soap bubbles and the towels with the bow are my favorites. I used to make scrap material dolls ( my mom taught me); they were about 5 inches high and we’ve done little peddlar dolls, carol singers etc. I used to make tiny accessories for them. I remember shaping a very tiny pair of glasses. Working with miniature scale takes a lot of patience and I think is harder because it’s so tiny. Great job!!

  12. Silverleaf, 05 May, 2010

    How cute! Miniatures are not really my thing but you’ve done a great job. The pie especially looks awesome and delicious!

  13. Peggy Barnes, 05 May, 2010

    Catalina with your permission I would love to try to make those bathtub babies for a necklace for my grandaughter. She is going to go nuts when she see’s all these pieces. Everytime she comes now she wants to know if Cindy has anything new she would like. Usually that is everything since her last visit. You are quite the talented artist. Then of course my husband would agree with your Dad on the pie. I can almost smell it coming out of the oven. You could sell all these at Christmas for little girls and big girls. Great Job thanks for sharing.
    Uuuuuuggggs, Peggy

  14. Linda K., 05 May, 2010

    This is what I love about this group…inspiration jumps right out at you! I had absolutely no interest in making dollhouse miniatures or miniature food. As a 6th birthday present, I’m having my great niece spend a few days with me. She love to paint with me and I thought I’d teach her about polymer clay, too. It just hit me…making some simple miniatures with her could be a lot of fun. I’m pretty sure she has a dollhouse.

    Catalina, these are amazing. I LOVE those little tub babies.

  15. Freda K, 05 May, 2010

    The whole set is adorable. Great job and they sure don’t look like a beginner’s work.

  16. Jill V., 05 May, 2010

    I love the detail! Great work. How did you make the bubbles?

  17. Lisa Whitham, 05 May, 2010

    Very cute Catalina..!! I love the bathtub babies with their little accessories! Your work definately doesn’t look like beginners work to me… Great job!!!!

    ~Lisa :)

  18. DJ, 05 May, 2010

    What fun, you have a lovely sense of detail Catalina – right down to the bruised bananas! I agree with Peggy, little girls would probably love all of these items. The soap bubbles look so real and frothy…

  19. Phaedrakat, 06 May, 2010

    I’m loving the bruised bananas, too! All of the items are adorable! I so loved making little things for my dolls when I was younger. This just brings back the appeal of making things in miniature. What fun! The pie is fabulous — no wonder your cherry pie is famous (or was that cheesecake that you mentioned on the other post?) The little bathtub babies and accessories are soooo cute (those towels — and the soap!!!) Using the tiny beads as bubbles was ingenious! The cups, fruit basket & fruit, all so realistic. Your table turned out really well, too; it makes me so happy you sent this in to share. It’s hard to believe this is a first attempt. Just goes to show how naturally talented you are! Love it all! ~Kat

  20. Catalina, 06 May, 2010

    Thanks, everyone! I have been busy with my son he had to have his apendix removed yesterday! He is fine but I’m tired! Just trying to get caught up a bit. Yes, this was my first attempts at polymer clay. I have a background in ceramics and fell in love with polymer clay. Much easier and cleaner and cheaper!!

    @Carole, I never thought about making them as charms! That sounds like a great idea. I’ll have to try that! I have been wanting to make little ice creams cones! Oh, now I’m craving ice cream! Or better yet, frozen custard!! Mmmmm!

  21. Brenda, 09 May, 2010

    Too cute! I keep thinking of doing something like this. Your a pro at it. My grand-daughter would just fall in love with them :)

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