a brocante summer cottage...

Brocante is the French version of a flea market and an awesome place to find loads of sweet and unique items to furnish a summer cottage. Like most people, I don't own a summer cottage but I really wanted to decorate one with finds from the brocante, soooo... I created a 1:24 scale cottage using the new Half Scale Room Box with Slanted Roof, a Half Scale Bay Window and a Cottage Base - 9x9x1.

I really enjoyed building and furnishing this tiny cottage and I think it turned out pretty cute...

I used Sheet Moss to cover the roof (to give it a fairy garden feel) and covered it in a distressed stucco paper I found in the Provincial 6x6 Paper Pad. The flagstone patio is a 12x12" sheet of Provincial Cobblestone Scrapbook Paper. I really love that scrapbook paper companies are offering so many realistic background and architectural papers currently.

My fence was made using Mini Chipboard Gothic Fence that I dry brushed with white chalk paint and hot glued around the base.

I used a Mini String of Fairy Lights to light up my tree, and two of the new Half Scale Tulip Ceiling Lights to light up the interior of my cottage. To conceal the lighting wires I ran them under the paper I used to cover the ceiling like this:

 The area above the ceiling has a small empty space where you can put the 9v Battery Converter for Half-Scale Lights and when the roof is in place you don't see them at all.

I furnished my cottage with (new and awesome!) Half Scale Princess Love Seat, Table & Chairs Set that I painted with pink and white chalk paint then antiqued it a bit with some brown acrylic paint to give it shabby chic style. The adorable Half Scale Metal Tea Set sitting on the coffee table was painted with Vintaj Metal Patinas. I used Marble from the Painted Barn Set and Onyx from the Retro Highway Set. Here's an easy way to paint tiny things without making a mess:

I use long toothpicks, Loctite Mounting Putty (bought in the hardware section of Walmart) and a floral Styrofoam form to hold everything until dry and ready to use in my miniature scene. 

Lastly, there is the (another NEW thing!!) Half Scale Princess Table & Chairs Set. I modified my table by drilling a hole in the top and adding a cocktail umbrella that I painted (with chalk paint... love the stuff!).

The tiny book on the chair was made using an image from my latest collage sheet, Half Scale Books & Things Collage Sheet. The dog, cat, and cheese/wine tray are from a miniature store, but, you can buy the tiny wine bottle here.

Wow, that was a long post... I feel like I've been nattering on for ages! I hope I have inspired you to make your own brocante summer cottage or maybe a witches cottage or a garden shed or how about a fairy house... the possibilities are endless!

Thanks for stopping by and reading my post! It is much appreciated. If you would like to see a supplies list click here.