Every dollhouse needs some beautiful containers!
Gather up these tools and materials:
Beads of interest for the bulk of the container
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End caps in various sizes
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Tiny beads for caps
Jewelry pins with and
without decorative heads
Wire cutters
Tweezers
Super Glue (Gel)
This is a really popular thing to make as a miniaturist. So if you are new to minis or if you tend to have some trouble making decorative bottles, I hope this will help!
There are lots of different style bottles throughout a house that all have different uses. Perfume bottles are perfect for a vanity or dresser, but you can also make interesting decanters for the bar (especially for the Victorian time period). There is also a need for canisters for the kitchen or bath as well as potion bottles for a witch or wizard’s den.
First, go through your stash of beads and find beads of interest that would be the bulk of the bottle or container. Line them all up at your workstation.
Next, be sure you have a lot of end caps in various sizes to choose from. These will be used for the base of some of your bottles. You will also need a collection of extremely tiny beads that will be little lids for your bottles. Metal ones are great but you can also use tiny crystals. Another option is crimping beads that are used in jewelry making.
When choosing a bead to be the majority of your bottle, you want to have something with a special interest, whether it be a printed pattern or a glass bead with beautiful coloring. Printed beads are a perfect option but beautiful glass beads will make them special as well.
If you don’t have a collection of beads ask some friends if they have any to spare. Or go to the craft store when they are having a sale.
Use a magnifying glass to be sure there are no imperfections in the beads that you choose. Also set them on your work table and be sure they sit evenly and are not crooked. If they are ceramic, the clay may have misshapen before they were fired in the kiln.
Use tweezers to try pairing the end caps with your main focus bead. They can go on the top or at the bottom.
If you have a bead with a larger opening, you can put a bicone bead shape inside so the top half shows and then top that with a very tiny ball bead.
If you have a tall slender bead (like the one in step 5b) that you want on top of an end cap you can put a jewelry pin through from the bottom of the cap and up through the bead to help keep it centered. You can also use these pins to help center the tops.
Decide on all of your designs and set them along your work table as you pick out all the pieces.
The gluing
Put a touch of glue on the top of your bead (but not inside the hole yet). Use tweezers to drop the top end cap on it, being sure it is centered.
Getting them straight is the most tricky part of the process. If you made one that you discover is crooked but the glue is dry, try spinning it around until the angle looks straight. This is how you can display it to hide the mistake.
Put glue into the top hole. Use your tweezers to drop a tiny ball bead on top of the cap. I prefer to have the bead holes on the sides and have the top smooth.
If you are gluing using the jewelry pins, just glue on one section at a time as you build your bottle. The slower you go the more you can be sure things are centered. For the elephant decanter (photo 7), I put all the beads on the pin but only glued the tiny ‘bottle cap’ to the pin head to start. Once it sets, I glued the end cap to the ‘bottle cap’. I let it set. Then I trimmed the wire so it would stop up inside the elephant bead. Then I put a spot of glue on the top hole of the elephant bead and dropped in the top beads that were already glued and made sure they were centered before I set it aside to dry.
The less time you spend fiddling with things after you add the glue the better. Practice how you will place one tiny bead onto the other one first. Then add glue and use the same technique.
Sometimes you may need to use a small metal sanding tool to smooth out the underneath of the pin head, if the mold is bulky, so they sit straight.
For the rose canister, I glued the gold bottle neck on first and let it set. Then I added a spot of glue inside and dropped in the pin with the decorative head.
Have fun and get creative!
