dollhouse — Page 114

I Love a Hardwood Floor

October 8, 2011 at 12:01 am by Claudia

When last we left the dollhouse on Tuesday, I was in the midst of cutting popsicle sticks and staining them for the hardwood floor in the living room. In my usual obsessive fashion, I kept at it until late that night, determined to get it finished. It was rather like putting together a puzzle (and I love a good puzzle, especially the crossword variety) and time, patience and a lot of glue on my fingers paid off.

Nifty, eh? Do you see the painstaking work on my part? Do you see how I fit the pieces around the base of the stairs?

Not that I’m tooting my own horn or anything.

I love the way the individual sticks or…ahem….planks took the stain. Each one has a slightly different grain, so they look very real. I wonder if I should give them a very slight touch of wax?

Thought I’d add some furniture for fun. The room to the left will be the kitchen. Doesn’t it look like construction is going on in there?

Two packages came in the mail today with some more supplies: spindles, some beadboard, wallpaper, a chair rail and some molding. Oh, goodie! Tomorrow, I will work on the dollhouse. Don’s been sick in bed with a cold and let’s just say that he doesn’t handle sickness well. We’ll leave it at that. So, I plan to retreat into dollhouseland.

Reality Shot Thursday #2

October 5, 2011 at 11:59 pm by Claudia

Hello, everyone! Welcome to the second Reality Shot Thursday. It’s all about letting everyone in on a glimpse of real life in our homes every Thursday. I’d love to have you join us.

Remember how I described a Reality Shot as what is just to the left or right of a staged, pretty photograph? Here is my example this week. It’s not pretty.

You’ve all seen my dollhouse.

It sits in a corner of our den. I always crop every shot of the dollhouse for reasons which will be abundantly clear when you look at the photo below.

Eeek. Starting in the lower left hand corner: a big old tub full of dollhouse furniture, etc., the room air conditioner that my husband put in when I was away and sealed with blue painter’s tape. No, you’re not seeing things. Honestly, that tape is so ugly that I no longer see it. I’ve put on blinders.

Continuing the tour: two bags from Trader Joe’s full of dollhouse building and redecorating supplies, a box of coffee stirrers to be used in some future project in the dollhouse, a mug full of pencils, foam brushes and paint brushes, a can of paint, and a basket full of supplies.

Attractive, isn’t it?

I’ll give you one more shot of the air conditioner artfully trimmed in blue painter’s tape:

In my defense, I got home from Wisconsin in July. Don had already put the air conditioners in. I promptly got sick and had two surgeries. By that point, I just didn’t care anymore. And so it has remained.

We’ll be storing them away for the winter very soon. Bye, bye painter’s tape.
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Dollhouse: A Hardwood Floor

October 4, 2011 at 5:49 pm by Claudia

Today: I’m cutting popsicle-type sticks with my Easy Cutter. Why? I’m going to stain them and construct a floor for the living room. Cut, cut, cut….then stain. Cut, cut, cut some more….and stain some more. Here’s what it’s starting to look like:

I haven’t glued anything down yet. I’m going for a wide plank look to the floor with a dark stain. I tested it out by putting my little chest of drawers on the wood. I like it. Visualize some faded oriental rugs on that dark wood.

I’ve had such fun the last two days, pouring over my catalogues and looking at all the amazing dollhouse miniatures on Etsy. Since I have a budget of just about nothing, I’ve just bookmarked my favorites. I did order some wallpaper and beadboard, as well as some molding and trim for the windows. I’m going to tackle this house one room at a time.

With all the stress and worry concerning my mom and dad, I find that working on the dollhouse provides me with an escape of sorts. For a few hours, I am immersed in the creative process and it brings me great pleasure.

My friend Norma wanted to see a close-up of the chest of drawers:

A little grainy, but it will do. Let me tell you about this piece (which is one of my favorites.) When I was a little girl there was a line of mini furniture for girls called Petite Princess – Fantasy Furniture. This was during the sixties. I remember bugging my mom to buy them for me but she didn’t go for it. A few years ago, I found some pieces which were mint in the box at a nearby antique store. This is by far the neatest piece and it’s made of plastic. You’d never know it, would you? And I love the fact that it was Shabby Chic long before our current craze. It’s been distressed (not by me, it came that way) and has a faux marble top. The drawers open, as well. The scale is a little off on some of the other pieces, but this one fits in perfectly.

Don’t forget Reality Shot Thursday. I will most likely have the post up just after midnight on Thursday. I’d love to have you join me! If you’re so inclined, please spread the word about my little meme.

I just so happen to be looking at this week’s bit of reality as I sit here writing this post. I wonder what it will be?

I Love a Hardwood Floor

Reality Shot Thursday #2

Dollhouse: A Hardwood Floor

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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