Looks like a nice assortment of dollhouse crockery, but it's not.
These are all wooden pieces. The water crock with dispenser is a wooden barrel. The items on the far left started out as wooden beads, and the others are all wood turnings.
I started out by sanding each item with a piece of foam backed fine sandpaper. Next I coated them with sandable hard gesso. There's gesso and there's gesso. People used to tell me that I should use gesso on my painted furniture for a smoother finish, but it didn't look better to me after I did it. This stuff, however, makes a big difference, and it's now the only gesso I use.
Once the gesso is dry, I sand again. Then I paint.
Next comes the final finish, quick drying glossy polyurethane varnish. If the item is small, and I can grip it with a pair of needlenose pliers, I'll just dip it, then hold it above the can to drip off the excess varnish, and let dry. On other items, I'll brush it on, just swooping the brush in one direction. Years ago when refinishing kitchen cabinets I learned that if you brush back and forth, the varnish will collect air bubbles and you get a lumpy finish.
I've found that the right button can make a dandy lid. For a couple of them I just drilled a hole through them with my dremel and glued in a tiny wooden drawer pull. For the acorn crock, I used a wooden bead and the top of an acorn which I varnished.
While I'm on the subject of using buttons for lids, here's an example of an unpainted ceramic vase that I turned into a piece of Southwest pottery. I used the button in the foreground as a handled lid. I thought it was pretty neat, if I do say so.
A New Stickum
After trying every known way of attaching small accessories to furniture, I wasn't happy with any of them. Glueing worked best, but what if I changed my mind and wanted to remove a piece? Sometimes it's not a big problem, but sometimes it's a real annoyance.
For fiddly bits like these on the hutch, Glue Dots are too big, and various puttys and waxes are too lumpy. Don't you just hate it when your glassware is leaning over? Some swear by Museum Gel, and I broke down and ordered some to try, but when I tried to make a tiny ball to hold down a little pitcher, the stuff kept sticking to my finger and not the pitcher. Besides, it's meant to be used on smooth glass or glassy surfaces. I'm now making most of my mini furniture, and none of it has shiny varnish.
I did get an idea, though, when I noticed I had a bottle of Aleene's Tack it Over and Over Glue.
It was originally meant for tacking appliques and trims in place before sewing them down. People have been using the stuff for other things too. I originally bought it to make post it notes from the scraps of paper I'm always scrawling on in my workroom.
Anyway, I decided to try it on the fiddly little bits I wanted to attach to this hutch. I painted a thin coat on the bottom of each item and let them dry. When dry, I stuck them in place. I wanted to rearrange a couple of things, so I picked them up, moved them and restuck them.
Since two of the blue and white plates are angled to fit into the space, I had to use Glue Dots on them.
I can't guarantee how long the stuff will stay sticky. The stickyness may wear off over time, but it was worth trying and I'm really happy with the look. So far so good.
UPDATE: After 6 months I picked up the cabinet and everything stayed stuck in place.
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