I’m continuing to assemble the Mouse House basement with items typically found in furnace and work rooms. Yesterday I decided to build the classic red shop “wet-dry” vacuum that so many people have in their workshops and garages.

First, I examined our “real” shop-vac, noting it’s dimensions, colors, cord placement, etc.

Then on to my favorite part of every “build”–scrounging up the bits and pieces that I think might work in the assembly of a particular item. This is where my tendency to save EVERYTHING comes in handy. It is also why I cherish my friends who give me small, seemingly meaningless things. They can always be turned into something else!

The key when building these miniatures is scale. The Mouse House is based on a 1 foot to 1″ scale and I try to maintain this ratio so everything looks realistic. Our shop vac is roughly 24″ tall by about 18″ wide, so I needed a container that was 2″ x 1.5″. That eliminated most of the items pictured above, leaving me with the cardboard tube and whatever I could find that would work for a lid.

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I forgot to photograph my vacuum hose making process, but it was very similar to how I made the exhaust pipe on the water heater. I made a spring out of curled wire then wrapped black duct tape around it. I’m not super happy with how it looks, but until I find some black foil-like material, this will do. I inserted this tube into the cardboard using a brad from my late mother-in-law’s sewing box.

I made the “hard” vacuum tube out of a dense wire and a plastic lid from something I used in my life.

Finally, I added details like the two knobs on top, the “rolling” base for the vacuum (actually beads that give the illusion of wheels), and an electrical cord.

Here are a couple of pictures with my hand and a can so you can see the scale.

This will work until I come up with a better way to make the hose. As time goes on, I’ll probably rebuild so many things as I get new ideas, but I’ve got to keep moving on…..!