Updated pictures of the completed cabinet here and it's available for sale here: http://www.etsy.com/listing/93571934/dollhouse-miniature-harry-potter
I've recently discovered the fun of working with dollhouse lighting and as such I decided I'd like to use it on a Honeydukes Cabinet. A lot of people have Honeydukes shops but what most don't have is a lighting cabinet. So that's what I've put together. The inside is a regular candy jar cabinet, but on top...four pastel candy container jack-o-lantern pumpkins, inside they have a full dollhouse-size, changeable lightbulb (in case one burns out you can replace it) that is wired to a 9 volt battery which will be included. I have to make a barrel container for the battery pack with some lollipops sticking out the top. The backside will be open to allow the battery pack to slide in and out easily. If you are in a foreign country and you want this (I have no idea if you all have the same batteries that we have in the US) If you want I can add a few dollars onto the purchase price and include some extra batteries for you. A 9 volt battery should last awhile if you don't leave it plugged in all the time. I haven't taken off the extra wiring on the back of the piece should you want to wire this into your dollhouse wiring so that it can be lit electrically instead. I'll just tape the wires down flat so that the cabinet can be placed against the wall without any trouble. This way you always have the option of wiring them directly into your house should you get tired of the battery option. The candy container battery cover I'll be making at the side won't look like anything other than a barrel of lollipops so that will never be a problem :) I have to pack up the witch bath set and a cabinet today to ship that out but I'm hoping I'll have time to finish and list this either late tonight or early tomorrow. So if you like it, be watching! It might not last long in the store, especially with the layaway option that we have at 19th Day Minis :)
I'm still having really bad trouble getting good pictures here due to winter time, so keep in mind this is about 100 times better than these icky pictures show!
Wires taped flat yet still assessible should you need them by gently lifting the tape up (and I've folded the bottom of the tape over so there is a place to grab that isn't stuck to the cabinet back). This will sit nearly flat against your wall now. And this will be hidden from view because it's on the back :) And the bulbs can be changed out, which I think is important for the longevity of the miniature. No matter how many years of use it gets it'll never be no good due to wiring or bulb issues.
Here's a crappy night-time picture that I tried to shoot in the dark because I wanted to show the pumpkins lit up. And it doesn't matter if the little bulbs warm the pumpkins slightly because everything is made of metal and clay, and they can take it :) It is oven bake clay after all!
I've recently discovered the fun of working with dollhouse lighting and as such I decided I'd like to use it on a Honeydukes Cabinet. A lot of people have Honeydukes shops but what most don't have is a lighting cabinet. So that's what I've put together. The inside is a regular candy jar cabinet, but on top...four pastel candy container jack-o-lantern pumpkins, inside they have a full dollhouse-size, changeable lightbulb (in case one burns out you can replace it) that is wired to a 9 volt battery which will be included. I have to make a barrel container for the battery pack with some lollipops sticking out the top. The backside will be open to allow the battery pack to slide in and out easily. If you are in a foreign country and you want this (I have no idea if you all have the same batteries that we have in the US) If you want I can add a few dollars onto the purchase price and include some extra batteries for you. A 9 volt battery should last awhile if you don't leave it plugged in all the time. I haven't taken off the extra wiring on the back of the piece should you want to wire this into your dollhouse wiring so that it can be lit electrically instead. I'll just tape the wires down flat so that the cabinet can be placed against the wall without any trouble. This way you always have the option of wiring them directly into your house should you get tired of the battery option. The candy container battery cover I'll be making at the side won't look like anything other than a barrel of lollipops so that will never be a problem :) I have to pack up the witch bath set and a cabinet today to ship that out but I'm hoping I'll have time to finish and list this either late tonight or early tomorrow. So if you like it, be watching! It might not last long in the store, especially with the layaway option that we have at 19th Day Minis :)
I'm still having really bad trouble getting good pictures here due to winter time, so keep in mind this is about 100 times better than these icky pictures show!
As you can see the wires are just hanging there right now. I'll have to secure them down after I get this battery pack cover made. Until then I don't know where's a good spot to tape them down. They look kind of awful right now but I'll fix them as best as I can before it's all over. Like I said I don't want them clipped off because they may be needed by someone to wire them into a house or roombox. You can see by the glare around the lights the pumpkins are currently lit up in the photos :)
Oh and welcome to any new members that have recently joined!
I've lit these little cabinets with LEDs. They work wonderfully! Last forever so one doesn't need to worry about changing the bulbs and the battery is the size of a nickel which I hide under the cabinet (along with the tiny on/off button). These batteries also last a long time. You should look into it for future projects!
ReplyDeleteThat's very good information and I thank you for it :) I'm new to wiring and I thought that it would work best for most dollhouse collector people if they had the option to wire the cabinet into their house or roombox and possibly eliminate batteries totally in favor of electricity, and I'm not familiar yet with LED lighting except the fireplace I just did in the Sweeney Todd theme and that also ran on batteries and was LED. I know you can't change the bulbs out when they burn out in those like you can these which is a plus I think. This way you want to wire it in you can, if the bulbs burn out you can change them :) The last LED bulbs concerned me because they could not be replaced as needed.
ReplyDeleteOh also, the wires in back will be covered quite a lot with matching colored tape so they will be more hidden and flattened out and yet still accessible should you need to get into them. So the back of the cabinet won't look so bad in the end I'm sure.
ReplyDeleteI do understand your concern about changing the bulbs but LEDs last absolutely forever...or so it seems. The ones I used were 3 volt, hence the button battery but you can get them 9 - 12 volt so they can be wired directly into a dollhouse or use that 9 volt battery.
ReplyDeleteOne other great thing about the LEDs is that they do not get hot so they work really well in an enclosed space... like your punkins!
Amazing work as always Tara!
ReplyDeleteI really do love the sugar pumpkins with the sweets on top :)