Wind, wind, and more wind yesterday, which kept going until around 8 pm. I had to run a quick errand, but otherwise, I stayed in. My allergies are making me a not very happy camper. Maybe it’s just me, but they seem much worse this spring. Avoiding flying pollen seemed like the wise choice for yours truly.
So, I puttered around, mostly playing with the Top Secret Project. Don: Stop Here.
Actually, nothing big happened. Just a couple of tweaks. I’m waiting on a couple deliveries and one kit that I have to put together. Otherwise, friends: it’s almost done! And I find myself dreaming of my next project, searching eBay, searching Etsy, thinking of houses, thinking of style (modern, I believe) and knowing that I have to have something to work on.
I added a Beatles poster. Mini Don finds the Fab Four a source of inspiration.
And, because I think I’m not adding a roof, I thought the top of the fireplace pipe needed to be finished off a bit more.
I didn’t place it against the wall, so it’s a little crooked, but you get the idea. I painted the inside of the pipe black and I made a little bit of black trim to finish it off. That way, when someone is standing and looking down into the room, the fireplace will look ‘finished.’
Side note: Do you ever take pictures, think they look fabulous, and when it comes time to edit them you realize they don’t? That happened with both these pictures. But I’m not about to go upstairs and take them again, so I’ll just hang my head in shame and keep on going.
So, as for the TSP, I have to add some chairs to the deck/porch. I need more albums. I’ve ordered another guitar, as well as a piece of art. I’ll probably add some food to the inside of the refrigerator. And there will be a tweak here and there.
We are close to the finish line. Very close.
I need another project!
Do any of you remember the Petite Princess dollhouse furniture that was made by Ideal in the sixties? Gosh, I wanted that furniture! I remember bugging my mom about it to no avail. I never got any. The line of furniture consisted of about 30 pieces, as well as dollhouses and room boxes. It was fancy fantasy furniture done in ¾ scale, rather than the 1 inch scale most commonly found in dollhouse miniatures. That means the pieces look slightly off scale, but you can often work around that.
That fancy dresser you can see as you enter the door of Hummingbird Cottage is Petite Princess. I found it in a local antique shop many years ago – mint and in the box. It’s on the petite side, as befits the name, but it works in the dollhouse. It’s made of plastic, but you’d never guess it, and the drawers open. I liked it so much that I found another one on eBay and it is in the bedroom.
Along with that lamp, which is also Petite Princess. (I’ll have to take a picture of the boxes they came in.)
At the same time that I found the dresser in a local shop, I found this:
A fancy Petite Princess chair done in brocade. See those little gold legs? I found this in one of my bins the other day and it’s now on my desk because I like looking at it.
Let’s stick it in the TSP.
A bit too fancy for this guy’s music studio, but it does pick up the orange, doesn’t it?
Girly chair. Guy chair. Both of them ever-so-slightly smaller in scale.
I’m going to use that Petite Princess chair in some project. It’s in perfect condition. Maybe in a bedroom? There are people who collect this line and I, being a collector, could see myself falling down that particular rabbit hole quite easily. But I won’t.
It does, however, take me back to my youth and my ever present hope that I’d find some Petite Princess furniture under the Christmas tree. I never did. But then again, I would have probably lost track of it all as I have of so many treasures from my childhood.
At least I have some of it now. Always a little girl, no matter what my chronological age.
Happy Tuesday.
I am amazed at the detail in your TSP! Look forward to seeing everything you do to it. Don will be over the moon with this and truly a labor of love!
Susan
Thank you, Susan!
wow; the detail on those miniatures is incredible and you have done a wonderful job on the tsp!!! am sure you will find just the right spot for that brocaded chair.
i am house/duplex hunting and not finding it easy (very tight sellers’ market here … ugh). i will keep searching for the right spot here, too.
happy tuesday and every day.
kathy in iowa
Good luck on your search, Kathy! I know that it’s tough in a lot of places. I’m sure glad I’m not looking now. Or selling now – in our small town, some properties have been on the market for quite a while!
Oh Don will be so surprised with the TSP! IT is looking so wonderful Claudia.
Allergies are much worse this year for us in Eastern PA.
Boy, they really are here too! I’ve been sort of miserable for the past three days.
My allergies have been awful this year. It is raining today and I hope that washes some of the pollen away and makes the grass green instead of brown! The TSP is looking so good. I have the perfect chair in orange for the room but it’s full size and in my kids house. It was my parents from the 1960’s! If only you could find a mini of it!!
Hugs,
Linda
Now that I’ve seen your picture of Scout in the chair, I agree, Linda. It would be perfect in the TSP!
The TSP is going to be such a wonderful surprise for Don!
After I saw the dresser in Caroline’s house I bought one too! Since then I’ve found a few nifty pieces that work in my dollhouse including a chair and a metronome (!). The shipping costs and import duties always seem to be the deciding factor for me.
I’ve seen that metronome. It goes with the Liberace-style piano that was made for Petite Princess!
Your TSP is MARVELOUS, Claudia! I love the new Beatles poster too!
My sister and I were so crazy mad for them in the 60’s, that we screamed all the way through the movie ” A Hard Day’s Night” when we saw it in the theater!?!?
I didn’t know about Petite Princess furniture but I love the arm chair and your little beside lamp and dresser, and I can see how easy it would be to become obsessed with collecting it as well.
I think too, that your decision to leave the roof off of the studio is a good one. It makes every square inch, easy to view and appreciate, but if you get anxious about the stability of the chimney stack, then you could anchor it to the wall with a metal rod/support, which would help to keep it from shifting.
Oh, thank you, Elizabeth. That’s quite a compliment!
I was thinking the same thing – I could get a metal rod to attach it to the wall! Thanks, Elizabeth.
Love that you’re living it open! I really like the Petite chair next to the couch. A guy needs his gal hanging out so he can serenade her while she’s reading her book!
Yes, my first boyfriend…in our 20s…had a ‘pad’ but along with all the sterile guy furniture, he also had a wooden rocking chair over in a corner. It worked. Guess who sat in the rocking chair…me, of course…
It looks nice in the photo, but I think it probably won’t go in there, Betsy! That Eames chair looks sort of perfect for reading.
I don’t remember Petite Princess! But my family in the years I would have been into Petite Princess just didn’t have the money for anything but the most basic toys. Right when I loved Barbies the most, like at age 9 and 10, my dad was starting a new line of work and there was like one can of soup in the pantry (Mother often talked about this). My aunt, though, was a local ‘country club’ sort of gal who was the angel of Barbies and she liked the best of the best, getting me the dolls I wanted AND the wonderful Barbie fashions of the day…so incredibly well sewn/crafted and designed even for little girls.
Look at the detail on your chair; it’s fabulous. That kind of stuff made today is crap. The only place I’ve found real quality is Barbie Collector/The Barbie Collection for adult collectors and the American Girl historical dolls/furniture/clothes. And it’s all quite pricey,
You’re wise to not put a roof on the TSP. What are you going to call it when you no longer have to call it the TSP? It needs a name, just like Hummingbird Cottage has its name!
Isn’t your next project going to be that mid-century-modern Target house you bought when you were away from home?
I haven’t thought of a name yet. I might leave that up to Don.
That might be my next project, Vicki. I’m not sure yet!
I’m also glad you’re not putting a roof on TSP. I love the light that streams into it. My Mom was gifted a wood dollhouse from Chicago when she was a little girl. Unfortunately, she didn’t keep it. I do have her bisque Shirley Temple doll in original leather case. The dollhouse would have been fun though.
I have my mom’s Shirley Temple doll, too. It’s the Canadian version, though, not the one made by Ideal. My mom was ticked off about that when she was a little girl!
I’m also glad you decided not to put the roof on….the tsp looks fantastic from above! And I kind of like the princess chair in there…kind of fits in a vintage sort of way. I hope you will be able to catch Don’s reaction on camera….you know we all want to see his excitement! Enjoy your day! ;)
I’ll do my best to either videotape him or take photos, Donnamae.
Marvelous! I love Petite Princess items, and they can work in full scale in the right scene. :D
Yes, they can. I’m a big fan!
Stop!!! I am mini obsessed and you my dear friend are an enabler ;-) Just kidding, you now that I am swooning down here in Texas. Regarding allergies, mine have been the worst ever this spring. I am blaming on El Nino!
Big Texas Hugs,
Susan and Bentley
I’m proud to be an enabler! I seem to be an enabler about miniatures and pottery!
I remember having my own “dollhouse” phase when I was little – I was probably anywhere between 4 and 7. As the oldest, I was the one who’d actually been given the dollhouse – by my grandparents – but it was equitably shared among we 3 girls with no problems, as I recall. And it was very large, but METAL! A huge center-hall yellow Colonial with black shutters and a white front door, three floors of rooms “inside.” With extremely-detailed illustrations painted onto the interior walls [landscaping painted on the outside too, I think]. A very sturdy structure. Plus you could collect LOTS of different plastic furniture and accessory pieces to go with it. We even had teeny plastic food, plastic pillows and towels etc. I got many of these in my Christmas stocking or as birthday presents. I wish I knew what happened to our dollhouse – I’m sure it was probably given away [my Mom was always boxing up things we’d tired of for our area orphanage] or maybe sold in what was a new concept for the 60s – tag or garage sales. I doubt that the dollhouses you adult miniaturists work with now are metal, or even have much in the way of plastic furniture or accessories. The things you show look so very real – just bitty. ?
I had one of those metal dollhouses too – with plastic furniture. Colonial, as well. That was my one and only dollhouse and I assume my sisters eventually played with it and then my mother got rid of it, as was her way. I wish I still had it!
I also had a metal dollhouse with a red roof. I remember the plastic furniture.
I had a lot of fun with it. The tsp is looking wonderful.
I see them from time to time and I’m sure if I found one for an inexpensive price, I’d snap it up, Doris!
The TSP is looking wonderful. Can’t wait for the reveal!
Everyone here is also saying that allergies are the worst they have been in many years. The meteorologists have noted that the wildfires have also contributed as the smoke carries down towards us.
Hope you have a great day and that the winds and your allergies subside.
Would you believe it? Though not as windy as yesterday, it was still pretty windy here. And we mowed the front lawn and I potted impatiens, despite the wind. I mean, it has to get done sometime!
Claudia, I will be very surprised if the TSP is not featured in a miniatures publication one day.
It has wonderful appeal.
Well, that would be nice! I sure love it. I told Don today that I hope he loves it as much as everyone reading this blog assures me he will. Fingers crossed!
Love the new Beatles poster Claudia…and that brocade chair is so nice…I’m sure you will find a place for it in a future project…I don’t know if I told you this before…My first doll house was made from cardboard boxes by my Daddy…separate rooms, curtains, furniture..he made it all..it was a treasure to me…Daddy worked for the borough back when there was no union and they didn’t make much money…one of his jobs for them was working on the garbage trucks and hauling the garbage to the dump…Back then people would throw perfectly good things away…of course I imagine some people still do…He would find nice toys for me..clean them up and give them to me…so at times I would get things that we couldn’t afford otherwise…one day he came home with with a metal ranch house type dollhouse…and all of the plastic furniture was there also…by then the cardboard house was getting a bit worn so I was just thrilled to receive the one he found..Such fun I had with that house..I too wish I still had it…You are so right Claudia…that little girl lives inside us no matter what our age is…
Isn’t that sweet of your Dad? Both the cardboard house and the metal house? I used to make rooms out of shoeboxes – this was before I got my metal house. I think I loved the cardboard room boxes even more than the metal house!
My cardboard house was the best too Claudia…cause my Daddy made it for me..he died when I was ten years old and I felt so lost without him…
Oh goodness, Nancy! Much too young and much too soon to lose your father. I’m so sorry!
Sending you a hug Nancy Blue Moon! You made my eyes water even more than the smoke from the fires up north. (And you have the best name ever.)
Love, love, love the Beatles poster Claudia! Actually, I really like everything you’ve done with the TSP which is a bit odd for me because I typically like the style you used on Hummingbird Cottage the best. I also like your Princess furniture.
Oh allergies. The pine pollen has been flying here. During our rain over the weekend, yellow was running down the street. It looked like yellow paint all over the roads. It seems a bit better this week, but I’m still sneezing and itchy eyed. I hope your rain ends soon so you can play outside.
Blessings,
Betsy
I played outside yesterday and I will today – then rain is coming again!
Oh, Petite Princess, how you taunted me … you were on my Christmas Wish List every year. I never got any either Claudia, :) Thank you for the fun reminder!
Our parents apparently felt that Petite Princess was a no go!
Yes, I remember Petite Princess!! My older sister had the piano set (we all took piano lessons), and I remember the metronome and the little bench covered with a sort-of red velveteen like it was yesterday! I’ve always wanted to find one. Claudia, what size do your LP albums need to be for your TSP??
You can find the piano on eBay, Heidi. I’ve seen it!
The albums are 1″ by 1″ – the mini version of the standard 12″ by 12″ real life versions.