Claudia — Page 1205

Who, What, Where: Dollhouse Living Room

November 16, 2014 at 10:32 am by Claudia

As in the real-life decorating of Mockingbird Hill Cottage, decorating the dollhouse’s rooms has been about collecting things over time, about gifts given and/or inherited and proudly displayed, about re-imagining older pieces of furniture and making them ‘new.’ I looked at each room this week and wrote down the story/source of each item. I wanted to get it all down on real and virtual paper – partly for me, and also for you. I often get emails asking me about where I source things for the dollhouse. I will provide all of the information I can for you. Links will be at the end of the post.

Today? The living room.

WWW DH LR1

Wallpaper: ItsyBitsyMini; Moldings and trim: Hobby Builder’s Supply/Miniatures.com. Flooring: Made by me from popsicle/craft sticks.

Sofa: Made-to-order by Etsy shop FloraDollhouse (Italy); Shutter: from my stash, originally ordered from miniatures.com; Throw pillows: gifts from Marsha, Casey and Flora; Blue table: from a bag of dollhouse items given to me by my friend Heidi – I painted and aged it; Tea cup: from a set purchased at a craft store; Plate and fork: from Etsy shop, A LavenderDilly (Australia); Blue flowered chair: from Dollhouses and More; Aubusson rug: from A LavenderDilly.

WWW DH LR2

Fireplace and andirons: a gift from Don, I painted the fireplace white and the brass andirons black; Logs: from miniatures.com; Flowers and pot: a gift from Jayne (who sent me all sorts of wonderful things when I first started on this dollhouse.) I painted the pot aqua; Blue bowl: also from Jayne; Armillary: a gift from fellow blogger Lady Hawthorne of Canterbury Cottage; Painting over the fireplace: purchased at a dollhouse shop, frame was ‘aged’ by me; Architectural salvage window: a bash from another piece (given to me by blogging friend Rizzi), I painted and ‘aged’ it; Little painting on the wall: purchased at Chautauqua Miniatures.

WWW DH LR3

Chest: from the Ideal Petite Princess Line which was made in the sixties. I have two of these – one I found in a local shop, one was found on eBay; Package and mail: a gift from Barbara; Mirror: a gift from Linda; Tote bag: a handmade gift from Jill.

WWW DH LR4

Botanical Chart: from Etsy shop of L. Delaney.

Sources

Hobby Builders Supply/miniatures.com
Itsy Bitsy Mini
Flora Dollhouse (an Etsy shop)
A LavenderDilly (an Etsy shop)
Dollhouses and More
Chautauqua Miniatures
LDelaney (an Etsy shop)

I hope this helps those of you who are working on your very own dollhouses. Of course, I already have plans to add some things, so the list will change over time. But the basic information will stay the same.

Stealing a little: It takes a village to make a dollhouse come to life. That’s for sure.

More tomorrow.

Happy Sunday.

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An Upside-Down Kind of Day

November 15, 2014 at 8:29 am by Claudia

Yesterday was one of those days where I felt mildly irritable and slightly ‘off’ all day. The simplest tasks went awry. You know what I mean? And through it all, I was completely aware that my reaction to everything was totally up to me, that I could change it all with an attitude adjustment. But I didn’t.

As the day went on, things got better. Don was having the same sort of day, so I guess we sort of wallowed in the whole thing. It was cold. Wintery weather is most definitely here – too early for our taste. An upside-down kind of day.

But I managed to noodle around with some things for the dollhouse. By the way, on an upside-down day, trying to maneuver fully adult human hands and fingers around the miniatures in a dollhouse makes for a lot of cursing.

Oh yes. Quite colorful, I might add.

I bought a little kit when I was in Chautauqua (now I wish I’d purchased two) and finally put it together.

sat little shelf

It’s a little Victorian corner shelf with wonderful scroll work that was laser cut. Once I got out the glue, it was very easy to put together. I was going to paint it, but I decided I liked it better ‘au naturel.’

Gosh, it’s hard getting good photos way back in the depths of the kitchen!

A while back, Linda, a generous reader of this blog, sent me a box full of kits from The House of Miniatures. One of them was for a cupboard that would function as the top of a secretary. But I had a different idea. I put it together yesterday. Then I stained, painted, and sanded it.

sat cabinet on wall 2

I wanted it to look vintage and salvaged. (I’d like one of these for our real-sized cottage!) I never liked the free-standing bookcase I had in here. It was really just a marker of sorts until I figured out something else to do here. I stained the piece first with some antiquing gel, then I painted it and sanded it to show wear and tear. I deliberately left some parts of the doors unstained.

sat cabinet on wall 1

Then I put some of the books I’ve made on the shelves. There will be more added eventually.

(I took these photos late in the day.)

So, in spite of an upside-down day, I managed to create a couple of additions to the dollhouse. That makes me happy.

Happy Saturday.

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Not Already!

November 14, 2014 at 8:00 am by Claudia

first snow

What’s that I see on the roof of the shed?

That dreaded four letter word.

Though there isn’t very much on the ground and I’m sure it will melt away during the morning hours.

first snow 2

A view of the back forty. I’m sure the higher elevations around us got more snow. That’s fine. This is quite enough for me, thank you very much.

Good news. The repairman came out and looked at the washer yesterday afternoon and immediately figured out what the problem was. The lid to the washer wasn’t fully closing, therefore the switch that signaled the washer to start wasn’t working. I’m not sure which of these things started the problem, the switch or the lid, but the switch had to be replaced. I had warned Don that, even if we could repair the washer, we might have to wait for parts. But lo and behold, that particular part was on the truck. Within about a half hour, all was fixed. The whole thing cost us a little over $200, which is a good sight better than the $1200 it would cost us to replace the unit.

I don’t have to go to the laundromat today.

To celebrate, we piled into the car and took Scout for a walk on the library grounds. Then we took a little walk through town (it doesn’t take long) and headed home. She was happy. We were happy.

before the frost 4

The limelight hydrangeas with their faded autumn beauty.

Don wants to know what I want for my birthday. I never know. I need clothes desperately but he insists that new clothes should be a matter of course and not a birthday present. Likewise a winter jacket and snow boots. All of which I need. My boots have been too small for me for 3 years. My winter jackets are looking pretty ragged.

I’m a wee bit jealous, to be honest, because Don got to buy his wardrobe for Our Town (which was in modern dress) for $300. It was worth about $1000. Hand picked, hand tailored (he’s over 6′4″ remember) – he got it all, including shoes. I’m thrilled for him, because he needs all of it and some pieces will be very good to wear on auditions.

But voice coaches don’t get costumes, do they?

Maybe I’ll tell him I need new flannel pajamas – which I do. And maybe some of my favorite perfume.

before the frost 5

Or maybe something for the dollhouse.

A new post up at Just Let Me Finish This Page: something from my local library and some interesting links.

Happy Friday.

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Who, What, Where: Dollhouse Living Room

An Upside-Down Kind of Day

Not Already!

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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