Snow day #2

The calendar says it's April of 1955.

Scott paper towels and dispenser added in the kitchen, too.

Mr. S. has a tray to hold his wallet and loose change. He also has the last photo taken of his parents on his chest.

Just a boy and his dog watching a boy and his dog.

I added a little LED light inside the TV. It's just a little battery operated light but look how real it makes the television look!

I love snow days!

 Mrs. S., Davy, and the range all got some updates today. Mrs. S.'s blouse had a floral design imprinted on it. I added a bit of paint to make the print coordinate with her skirt. Also, I added a design to her apron because plain white didn't seem quite right for the 1950s. I worked on Davy's coonskin cap to give the crown some texture and a better color. The range was touched up all along the back panel and I added some watch parts to give the dials dimension. I made all new knobs from watch stem knobs mounted on a circle punched out of a tealight cup. Much better!

 Davy also got brown eyes like both of his parents and auburn hair like his mom. I really like how his hair turned out. It's so much better than the bright yellow that was supposed to be blond. He also has a few freckles across his nose and cheeks.

I don't think I'd posted a photo of the finished back of the house. Ta da!  ;-)

Have a wonderful, blessed day my friends!

What was I thinking?

As always, when I start on a mini project before it has all come together in my mind, I ended up making changes to the dollhouse porch. The brick planter didn't feel as if it was built in because it wasn't the whole width of the porch. So I did a little cosmetic surgery today and now I am satisfied.

It's finished!

 I still have lots of details I want to add but the house is done. I'm pleased with how the roof turned out. It's just black cardstock cut into shingles. After I glued them on I painted them.

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The house number is 216 for February of 2016 when I finished it. I'm discovering that I really enjoy giving new life to worn out dollhouses. This is the third one I've done now. I've never really enjoyed the building process so I don't mind starting with an already assembled house. It does make for some challenges but half the fun is figuring out how to overcome those. Next up will be the conservatory that hubby bought for me on our last weekend getaway. I'm still don't have a plan but it will come.

I got the house finished in time to watch the Super Bowl. Go Broncos!

Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to roof I go

I'm half way there! Roofing is my least favorite part but it's going fairly quickly. By tomorrow evening this house will be finished. Then I can work on the fun little finishing details on the inside. Yay!

Visiting an old favorite

 Both in real life and in mini - DH and I visited our favorite antique/consignment shop today, Then and Now. I found this small cabinet meant to hold a thimble collection. I bought it for my mini antique shop, Then Again.

 It's perfect for this spot. The shelves really highlight each little item.

 While I was reorganizing to make the new cabinet fit I remembered the pin I bought when DH and I visited Holland, MI. My intention all along was to put the shoes in Then Again but I kept forgetting to bring them downstairs.

 I also played a bit with my new project. I added a few things to the attic,...

 ...made a trash can,...

and filled the refrigerator.

The attic wins!

 Since the attic isn't even tall enough for little Davy to stand upright I opted for the attic storage area only. I went digging through the miscellaneous minis drawer and found an attic worthy selection. Unseen are the leftover bark floor boards which are tucked away at the back.

 I added a built in brick planter to the porch.

 Mrs. Sherwood apparently plans to use the bowl of soapy water she's been carrying around to clean the fridge. Do you think she'll come and clean mine, too?

 I got the trim on the bedroom wall and attic floor.

The only thing different in here is that the little dog is now painted as a Westie.

I think the only "big" things left to do are the roof and chimney. Then I can finish up the details. This house will be going to the library next summer for a couple of months. This isn't the only one - they called and asked for a fairly large display. I'm glad it's during the summer. That will give me time to clean and organize before I haul them to town. :-)

'Twas a productive evening

 I still have a couple of small brick projects for this house (chimney, built in porch planter) but the actual house exterior all has brick now. I even used rows of brick to trim the floor edges of the rooms that would have an exterior wall. I need to dig through my wood to find something to trim out the attic floor and master bedroom floor/wall edges.

The side bay window trim didn't survive demolition so I need to make that yet. The bay roof needs to have black splotches addes, too. The main roof needs shingles. Plan A is to make them out of black cardstock. Since I already have the card stock, that is the most economical. I've shingled a half scale house with cardstock so it should work on a one inch scale house.

After all of that work is finished I will have to make a decision about the attic. Will it be all attic, will it have a sewing room? I don't know yet.

Now that most of the brick is on, I have to say that I would do it again with the same product. It cuts easily, sticks well with contact cement, and looks good, too. Plus it makes this house look completely different from any other one I've done. It only took a bit more than one roll to do this house. I am amazed at how different the house looks now from how it started - and it isn't even finished yet.This is a fun project!

Tiny changes

 No, the roof isn't really finished. I slapped on a quick coat of black so I could get a better idea of what the finished house will look like. I didn't get anymore of the brick done but I worked a bit on the porch roof and the one on the bay window. I also decided to make the front door solid blue. That was a good choice. It looks so much better.

 The door hardware was the next step. I found a gold snowflake sticker and cut the side "rays" down to turn it into a starburst. I added a gold bead doorknob and now it's the perfect mid century modern finishing touch. The inside knob has a regular backplate but looks good, too.

With this much finished I am getting anxious to get the rest of the brick done. I'm really happy with this house so far. The bonus of the day was finding a chart for mid century exterior house colors. A dark red like this brick with a blue very similar to the one I've chosen was one of the color combos on the chart. Win!

I'll be back tomorrow with another update - same Bat channel, same Bat time! LOL

The end is near!

The front of the house is finished - if, of course, I don't discover something that needs changed. You can't really see it in the photo but I edged the inside of the blue rims on the shutters and door with a fine black line. It makes the shutters look much more finished. The bay and porch have black scrapbook paper roofing. I will cut the paper into shingles for the actual roof and then add splatters of other colors to make them look more like real shingles. I also highlighted some of the bricks in other colors. I may do more but the ones I've done made a big difference in the overall look of the brick sheets. Just the sides to go! Then I will start to think about what I want to do with the attic and continue to add accessories.

I'm using contact adhesive to put the brick on. It's working really well. I will be glad to be done with the smell though. At this rate that should be soon!

Brick by brick

Well, not really since I am using brick sheets sold for Christmas villages, LOL. I've got a good start and I've done the hardest bit, I think. I will add other colors to the brick and I'll be adding trim around the bay window but I think I like the overall look.

Just getting started  - and why did I not think to paint the underside of the roof before I started the brick work?

It's moving along fairly quickly. I'm learning as I go. Perhaps I should have started with a side first...

I still have the area over the porch to do. 

Once all the brick is on I will add paint to give the bricks some variation. The paint will also cut some of the shine, although it doesn't look as shiny in real light as it does in the photos. I really like the fishscale peak shingles.They came with the house my friend Susan found at the thrift store. That one became the French Country house. This house was a gift from another friend, Norene. I am truly blessed to have non mini friends who understand my passion. :-)