Meet little Davey's parents

Robert and Marilyn Sherwood came home today. Davey was getting lonely with just his collie for company. The Sherwoods brought two kits to make the upper kitchen cupboards. I'm really hoping that I can find some mini time over my two week Christmas break. Fingers crossed!

Let the games begin!

 I spent several hours on the dollhouse today. Removing trim and shutters and such. The wood is very dry and splits very easily. I am hoping to brick the exterior off the house and will replace all the trim.

 The kitchen window over the stove is now smaller.

 This is the current state of the kitchen.

 And here's the living room. The photo  below shows my biggest problem. I don't know what kind of glue was used but it hasn't responded to heat or Goo Gone. The next attempt will involve the palm sander. That helps with the room on the right but I can't get the felt out of the left room. Any and all suggestions will be appreciated. I'm at a loss.

Lights, Camera,....

 Here's the first of the living room lamps. It's a mix of jewelry findings, beads, and wire. The shade was made from scrapbook paper.

The second lamp is a pole lamp with three lights that can be arranged as needed. Neither lamp works.

It's time to start the renovations. I need to remove all of the windows and replace them. The trim may need to be replaced as well if I can't successfully remove the pieces without breaking them. All rooms get new wallpaper, except for the attic which will have beams. It has such a low ceiling that I'm not sure it can be used for much else other than storage. I may use one wing as a sewing room. The floors need a lot of work, too. Especially the bedrooms that had zebra felt glued down as carpet. I'm hoping a heat gun will help in the removal of the leftover glue.

The exterior is also a mess. The porch trim will have a few alterations to make it look more streamlined. I think I want the exterior finish to be brick. I'm not sure on that yet. So much left to do...I guess I'd better stop typing and get started. :-) Happy new week, my friends!

It's the little things

 I pried the mirror out of a broken makeup compact this morning. It was the perfect size for the dresser. I mounted it to the dresser so I can rearrange if I want - besides the fact that I haven't started the actual house renovations yet. The zebra carpet has to go.

I made a couple of adjustments to the chair and made a matching ottoman. With this layout I can fit another chair. I need more of the turquoise felt. I think the second chair should be the same style as the sofa. That's the current plan, anyway.

We are in the midst of the first winter storm of the season. We had seven inches of snow an hour or so ago and it's still falling steadily. Hubby and I are enjoying hot drinks and homemade donuts. Yum! We are snug and warm in our home while the beautiful snow falls outside. Life is good and we are blessed.

On to the living room

 The photo was my primary inspiration. I blended it with another style that had the single cushion and tufted back.

 Next was a kidney shaped coffee table in blonde wood with paper clip legs. That's what they were called - paper clip legs. Mine were  made from.....paper clips. Genius, I know, LOL. The box in the back corner is a cake decoration TV. It will be perfect after its makeover.

I still need at least one chair and I have a stepped end table in progress. It's almost time to start the house rehab...not my favorite part but it goes fast once I get started.

Edit: Here's the chair. It's sort of a futuristic wing chair. The step end table is next to it. Now I desperately need to get to the rehab part so the furniture pieces look good.:-)

Mid Century Modern Fun

 I found this set while looking for inspiration for the master bedroom set. The staggered pulls make it really unusual and interesting. This was the starting point for my mini bedroom set.

 I haven't made nightstands yet and I went with a simple headboard but here are the pieces in the master bedroom - The previous young owner's taste just doesn't quite work, does it? LOL

Here are the pieces in front of the paper that will be in the bedroom. The blonde wood pieces stand out nicely against the stripes. The bedspread is made from the same fabric that Harriet in the boarding house has on her bed. I really like the mini pom pom trim on this one. It really looks like a chenille bedspread!

I'm working my way through the furnishings. After the nightstands I'll be moving on to the living room. Stay tuned....

I have a new webpage!

Hi all! I'm hoping to get back to work on the new dollhouse soon. In the meantime, check out my new web page - De-Lightful Minis.

Have a great day!

After the details

 I added some trim to the seats and backs of the chairs and now I am very happy with them. After looking through photos of dinette sets from the 50s I realized that there's no wrong way to make a vintage set. I found round tables with pedestals and some with 4 legs. I found chairs with very thin seats and backs and some that were very plush. The color combinations seem almost endless. That gives a lot of leeway in designing a mini 50s dinette set.

The table will sit in the bay area. Everything will be torn apart, cleaned up, and reinstalled. I will be using different windows, though, as many of the originals are covered in paint splotches. I need to decide for sure what to do about the window over the stove so I can decide what I want in upper cabinets. So many decisions, so little time. LOL

Playing with the layout and something new

 I'm pretty sure this is how the kitchen will look. I'm considering eliminating the window by the stove or at least making it much smaller. There will be upper cabinets, too. The wallpaper will be the one I designed and posted over the summer.

 Davey and his collie in the future cowboy room and bathroom. I am going to wall off the back corner for the bathroom. You will get just a glimpse of the room through the open door. That way I don't even have to worry about a tub or how to deal with the shape of the ceiling back there. I may have a hall but Davey's room will be from the window over either way. I have cowboy wallpaper for this room.

 Here I am starting to sort the room layout and what wallpapers and fabrics I plan to use in each room.

 Today I worked on the dinette set. I found this awesome flat wire at Hobby Lobby. I used it for the legs of the chairs, the table pedestal and metal edging. I am only making three chairs so I can fit the set in the bay area.

Here's one finished chair and the table on the "linoleum" kitchen flooring. I used Triple Thick to give the wood chair seats and backs a vinyl look and feel. I may add a few more finishing details to the chairs once they are dry but I am pleased with the overall effect. I am making progress!

Kitchen cabinet update

 After doing a bit of refresher research I decided that my "Formica" pattern wasn't busy enough. I added some gray triangles and some more pink ones. I filled in the empty spots with pink splotches.Then I gave the counters a diluted warm white wash to tone the colors down just bit. I touched up the "chrome" edging and reworked the sink faucet. All in all, a very successful project from start to finish. I can't wait to really get started on this house.

I'm alive, really, and I finally had some time to play!!

I made a bit of progress on some of the furnishings for the 1950s house. I purchased an all white cabinet, stove, and fridge set from a lovely ebay seller. She included some fun accessories, too. More on that later. The appliances were fairly contemporary looking so I started by extending the back of the range and rounding the edges.

 While the glue dried I worked on the little nightstand/dresser for the boy's room. I also blended the wagon wheel color into the bed's color.

 The edges are rounded and now it's time to paint!

 This is part way through the process.

 Here are the finished stove and fridge along with the first of the cabinets.The toaster is really cool, isn't it? I just changed the yellow the seller had painted it to turquoise. The pots were originally red with white speckles. I need to add a clock and other details to the back of the stove and brand labels to both appliances. I'm very pleased with the results.

 Here are all the lower cabinets completed. I need to decide what I want to do about the upper cabinets. This set just has the lower ones.

This beauty came from an antiquing trip with my husband. The scale is perfect! I don't know exactly what I'm doing with it yet but planning is half the fun. :-)

I'm sorry I've been away so long. Life just hasn't allowed much time for minis lately. Winter is coming, though. That's when I have the most time to play.

Head 'em up and move 'em out!

 The boy's room in the Westville is going to be cowboy themed like many young boys enjoyed in the 1950s. Roy Rogers, the Lone Ranger, and cowboy movies made cowboys very popular. I used the above picture for my inspiration for a chenille bedspread.

 This bed was my inspiration for the modifications I made to a traditional spindle headboard.

 The headboard on the mini bed used to look like the back of the toy chest/bench with turned spindles. I cut the spindles out and cut down a wooden wheel I had on hand. The headboard isn't an exact match but I am very pleased. The bedspread was a bit more challenging. I used embroidery floss and cord to do all the curly lines and the horse shoe. I printed out copies of the spread in the correct scale and cut out the more complicated  elements like the cowboy on his horse and the boots. Then I used floss to go around the perimeter of the horse and to add dimension to a few parts of the rest. That was enough to make it look as though the whole thing was chenille. My base fabric is a very fine waffle weave left from a long sleeved T one of my daughters was throwing out several years ago. I don't have much left but it is cotton knit and drapes so nicely. I'm hoarding what I have left for projects like this one. ;-)

I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to make my idea become reality. I'm so excited with how it turned out!

Wallpaper

The thing about doing a doll house project in a time period that is not a common one for miniaturists is that it's harder to find wallpaper. I have made wallpaper for previous projects and it's something I really enjoy doing. Yesterday I spent several hours working on a kitchen design. After thinking about it all night I made some changes. I love the result.

It's fun to play with colors. Pink and turquoise are not colors I would use in my kitchen but they were typical for the fifties. Several years ago I made a mini version of the farmhouse where I grew up. You don't find much wallpaper for the 70s, either. The kitchen paper I designed for that house was all in golds, oranges, and avocado greens. If you haven't ever designed your own wallpaper, it's very simple with a card making program. I use PrintShop which has a large source of graphics on the software and available for free online. That's where I got the graphics for this paper.

Tomorrow is my last day in the boot. Woo hoo! I know I'm still going to be sore but I am looking forward to sleeping without multiple layers and hardware on my leg.

Have a great day!

Wonderful husband and getting started

First, the wonderful husband part - after 4.5 weeks of resting with my foot elevated I was getting a bit restless. My husband decided to rent a wheelchair that would allow me to elevate my foot. We went to the farmers market, had breakfast out, and then he spent a couple of hours wheeling me around Hobby Lobby so I could start thinking about decorating the Westville. It was heavenly. Also, I saw things from an entirely different perspective, literally. Wheeling around at a child's level made different things jump out at me. It was fun and eye opening. :-)

Now for the getting started part - I found a large book of scrapbook paper (1/2 off!) in the colors I am planning to use in the Westville. With a 1950s timeline I wanted teals, pinks, greens, etc. Last evening and today I spent some time with markers adding color accents to some of the papers to give me the 50s feeling I'm going for. This is a sample block of different colors of the linoleum floor tile I want to replicate.

 I started with this green and cream checkerboard scrapbook paper and added colors to the "tiles" to get the effect I want.

 Then I folded along all of the squares to make them look like individual tiles. Once I get page sealed and in place, I think I am going to be happy with the results.

 This paper will be the living room wallpaper. It was all just turquoise on white. I added pink, olive green, and a bit of blue gray. This also needs sealed but will look good with the tweedy gray sofa and gray print drapes. I haven't decided whether to make the chair matching or contrasting.

 I feel like I'm making progress on the design part of the house now. I'm starting to see it come together in my mind. Fingers crossed that my thoughts translate well to reality. ;-)

Have a wonderful, blessing-filled week!

Finally something small!

 This isn't a new project but I fixed a couple of things that I didn't like and added a few new details. This is an inexpensive quarter scale Victorian house. I used brick paper for the exterior.

 Inside I used wallpapers I found online - I'm sorry but it's been so long that I don't remember the source. The furniture is a combination of the small plastic pieces, pieces I made, and a few that my friend Brenda made. The hutch in the kitchen and the braided rag rug are her creations. She filled the hutch, too. And did an amazing job, I might add.

 The nursery beds and crib were made with scraps of wood and fabric. The twin beds were way too long originally so today I shortened them. The proportions are much better now. The  quilts at the foot of these beds, hanging over the crib edge, and in the master bedroom are also printies from the web. The rug is a ribbon scrap. The baby in the crib was in a round robin box I used do with friends. She was not dressed. Today I made her a tiny gown from a scrap of vintage handkerchief.

 In the master bedroom I added the mirror over the chest of drawers and the vase of flowers on top of the chest. I didn't make many changes to the plastic furniture in here. I cut down the bases for the lamp and the bowl, gave the bed a new spread, and added a cushion to the chair seat.

 I think I made a couple of minor changes to one or two of the bathroom pieces.The towel and rug are fabric scraps.

 Here's a closer view of Brenda's hutch and rug. I love both pieces. I added paint to some of the plastic pieces when I built the house. Today I made the stockpot simmering away on the stove.

The plastic furniture is mostly as it came from the package in the parlor. I added paper work to the desk.The tablecloth is a small fabric applique. Two tiny stacked beads make the centerpiece vase. The fireplace is a mini Christmas ornament.The artwork is made with a fingernail sticker.The rug is a bit of ribbon.The center table holds a potted plant on a doily made from a lace cutout.

I'm not sure if I'll ever do another quarter scale project. It's certainly not my favorite scale. I much prefer the detail you can get with 1:12 or 1:24. It was a fun experiment, though, and the scale certainly doesn't take up much space. I may not have a choice soon if I want to keep making mini houses, lol.

Recovery from foot surgery is going well.  I have to spend most of the time with my foot elevated and I can't drive yet so it's been lonely. Most of my mini projects require me to sit at a table with my feet on the floor. I haven't got to that point yet.  My best friend has kept me well stocked with library books and my daughter shared her Netflix account so I haven't been too bored. It was very nice to play with minis for a little while today.

Wishing you all a blessing filled day!