Sharing the fun

I love sharing my dollhouses with someone new. Sometimes the smallest things make an impression. Tonight it was the egg carton stones on the half scale bungalow. He had to touch them a couple of times just to be sure they weren't real stone. :D

Late night additions

 This console table is one of those inexpensive, red, Dollar Tree pieces. It looks so much more expensive after the makeover. I sanded it and roughly painted it with a bright blue. Then I stained the top and antiqued the bottom with pecan stain and replaced the wooden knobs with brass hardware. The picture frame was made from air dry clay and then stained with pecan and painted with 2 shades of gold paint.

The third floor looks much more cluttered because I had to make room for the console table on the second floor and things got moved up. I don't think cluttered is a bad thing, though, in an antique shop. ;-)

The front is finished!

Just 1 2/3 of the sides left to go...

Then Again again

 I thought the base violin was better here than in the boarding house with George. He has several brass instruments. He can part with this stringed one, lol.

 I added a very thin sheet of plexiglass to the countertop so I could put postcards and things under the "glass" top.

 I think the second floor is looking good. There are enough things to be interesting and to have to dig a bit to see it all.

 I added the pink and lavender desk to the back of the third floor room.

 It's a plastic dollar store item that I refurbished. The beautiful carved table/trunk was a gift from Bulgaria that my daughter brought back from her mission trip.

The stone work is slowly but surely progressing.

My classroom teacher, Carol, contributed this huge stack of egg cartons to the cause. Yay!

Signs of the times

 Or at least of the antique shop. :) There's a large sign above the awning and a smaller swinging sign that can be seen from the corner. I also got a doorknob on the outside of the door.(Still have the inside to do.)It's made from a small eyelet and a glass head straight pin.

I carried the stone work up the front as far as I could before the current stone supply was depleted. I have a few more cartons I can cut up and my niece has a couple of large ones for me. After that it's time to go on a carton hunt so I can finish up.

Rockin' along

 I was able to get part of one of the side walls "rocked" today. I still need to finish the edges of the top third of today's stones but I'm happy to be making progress.

 I modified a strange little underscaled hutch I had to make the glass fronted counter. It worked really well with an added countertop.

 Shelby uses an simple adding machine with cash drawer and she uses an old fashioned desk top phone in keeping with the antiques in the shop. These were made with wood scraps and beads.

 The glass case is filled with random bits that look nice but that I won't want to use at some later point in an another project.

 Shelby uses a cedar chest for extra storage behind the counter. I made it from a plastic 1:16 scale dresser. I cut the legs off and stained it.

And here's the promised photo I forgot to take last night of the right side of the upper story. I really like how this project is turning out!

Then Again update

 The lower entry room is still in the beginning stages. The empty space to the right of the door will have the counter. I want to make it "glass" fronted so I can display more items.

 The left side is a little more complete. The "antiques" are a very random mix. The piano is from Hobby Lobby but the other furniture is much better quality. The jewelry box on the desk is a button cover. The two cat statue came from a box of tea. There's an Egyptian statue from my daughter and a cameo from a vest clip. The open desk drawer holds Victorian Christmas post cards.

 The middle room is much more finished. Owner Shelby is looking things over. (She's a Breyer doll and is a bit too tall to be in scale. But she was free so I will make her work, lol.) The antiques in this room range from $1 Michael's hutches to a 1941 Renwal high chair. The Asian statue on the table is a genuine antique.

 The cheese plate on the bottom shelf of the right hand hutch was made by Tom Saunders as were the trenchers on the ledge in the photo below. The center table was made by Gaye of My Small Obsession for a dollar store swap. The table holds vintage cook books and Victorian era periodicals. The utensils in the hutch on the left came from my friend Roxy in New Mexico. The tea towel over the door was made by my friend, Sandy.

 The Uncle Sam is another tea box prize. I made the oar for a nautical swap.

The upper level is still in need of a lot of stuff. The hitching post was made from wooden chess pieces. The desk holds a lot of "tin types." The Victorian dress on a mannequin is a resin figure. The vintage map was printed from the internet. I forgot to take a pic of the other side. There's a small pot belly stove, a large angel statue, a wood and iron school desk, a wood sled, a braided rug and a few smaller items. I will post a photo soon.

I need to cut more stone and get back to work on the exterior but I wanted to play with the interior today. The unfinished Michael's hutches were calling my name. ;-)