Hand-Built Outdoor Furniture in Miniature
Miniaturizing full-sized projects isn’t as hard as you think but you need to pay attention to scaling down the measurements accurately to create a true miniature.

~ Lounge chairs, birdhouses and tables, oh my! I’m a nut about do-it-yourself projects around my full-sized house. So, when this new book from Timber Press arrived in the mail, Hand-Built Outdoor Furniture by Katie Jackson, it was everything I needed to get inspired, grab some wood and get busy.

But then my passion took over and instead of heading to the garage, I went into the miniature studio. Look what happened.

Hand-Built Outdoor Furniture in Miniature
I don’t know why I picked a hard project to start with – but it may be because I already had the skinny popsicle sticks on hand and it looked like it was a perfect match. I had to carve my own legs, which sounds harder than it is to do.

The book is a delight to browse through and the steps are laid out nicely with a lot of breathing room on the uncluttered pages. The photos are very helpful in walking you through the project. You easily see what needs to be done ahead of time even for the most complicated project which didn’t seem that complicated anymore. I found myself being an armchair carpenter for an hour!

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Hand-Built Outdoor Furniture in Miniature
I mistakenly cut it short on the first attempt. That is a special jig on the right that I found at a miniature show. I used the cut-off ends of the popsicle sticks as spacers.

The 20 projects include a couple of different kinds of planter/flower boxes, different tables, storage solutions and even a fun torchiere that you can light up. Katie keeps it simple, all you need is a few tools, some lumber and a couple of hours for some projects or up to a weekend for others. It’s dedicated to anyone who has every said, “I could never do that!”

Hand-Built Outdoor Furniture in Miniature
The camera angle makes the bench look longer, it’s 4 1/16 inches long and 1 1/8″ wide. In large size or 1″ scale, this would be a little over 4 feet long and about 15 inches wide – I should have added a couple of more slats. Dang.

The book starts with the basics, choosing boards, the types of wood, how they are sold. It has an overview of the tools you need followed by a chapter on how to use the tools. It is very well organized and edited a la typical Timber Press fashion – that’s why they are the top garden publisher after all.

We wrote the book on it. Get an autographed copy from our store or find it on Amazon.com!
We wrote the book on it. Get an autographed copy from our store or find it on Amazon.com!
Hand-Built Outdoor Furniture in Miniature
It does look a bit skinny but the third time is the charm! Lol! Not the kind of miniature furniture that I would keep outside or let get wet.

See more about how to find out what scale your accessories are here.

Hand-Built Outdoor Furniture in Miniature
This was a much easier project to translate into miniature. I tied it to a hook so I could move it around the branches easily.

It’s the author herself in the photos too, which is cute to see. See more about Katie Jackson’s Hand-Built Outdoor Furniture: 20 Step-by-Step Projects Anyone Can Build here, on the Timber Press website or look for it anywhere books are sold.

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Hand-Built Outdoor Furniture in Miniature
By following Katie’s measurements and methods, I was able to get a realistic, true miniature swing. Sweet.

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