Except for going outside to get the mail and water the plants, I stayed indoors yesterday. The inner workings of my brain felt mushy, as often happens in this kind of overbearing humidity. Don experienced the same thing.
I managed to rouse myself late in the day to indulge in a little bit of dollhouse miniature play. I now have three hanging plants. One of them was meant for the front porch, which presented me with a ‘how to’ quandary. I didn’t want the hanger extending horizontally from one of the porch posts. I wanted it to be attached to the trim/ceiling, so that the plant was hanging between the posts – like the plants on MHC’s front porch. I looked in my junk drawer for some sort of little thing that would work as a plant hanger.
I ended up finding it among my office supplies.
It’s a paper clip that is covered in white vinyl. I twisted it and tweaked it so that most of it was hidden behind the trim – save for the hook. I glued it to the trim and now we have a hanging plant on the porch. (If only real life was this simple. A bit of glue and we’re done!)
Since the house is white with aqua shutters, I think the porch needs a shot of a more vibrant color. So I didn’t go with my hanging plant with the pink flowers. Too predictable. I don’t want to get too matchy-matchy. I chose this plant with its red, yellow and blue flowers. And I took an white Adirondack chair I had in my stash and painted it green.
I found this chair a couple of years ago in a fairy garden display at my local nursery. It’s really not made for a 1:12 dollhouse, so it’s out of scale – too small. That’s going to irritate me eventually and I’ll replace it. But for now, I like seeing that pop of color on the front porch. Caroline loves her roof garden, but sometimes she likes to sit on the front porch and watch the world go by.
See? A bit too small. Maybe Caroline is petite? If so, she clearly isn’t my alter ego.
For those of you who asked, here’s the gazing ball in its entirety. It’s tiny. I like it’s current home, but I might end up moving it elsewhere. We’ll see.
I’ve received a couple of requests for a list of dollhouse miniature resources and blogs. I’m in the midst of compiling one for you now and I hope to post it sometime this week. Since I’ve been back from Chautauqua and working on the dollhouse again, I confess I am consumed by the whole thing. I’ve found several new sites and some incredible blogs. I am in awe of the creative miniaturists out there. (This is why I hesitate to call myself a miniaturist. These people are incredible.)
Anyway, I’ll be happy to share it all with you, along with some explanatory notes.
Finally, I am always thrilled when I find out one of you wonderful readers is now working on a dollhouse. My friend Ann Marie just wrote me the other day to say she’d bid on a dollhouse kit on eBay. Today I received an email from her that said she’d won! It’s a beauty, too.
My name is Claudia and I am a Dollhouse Enabler. And I’m proud to say it.
Happy Tuesday.
It’s great to be an enabler of something you love!! The hanging plant is great and while the green chair is cute, it’s small…maybe for ‘young’ guests who stop by for some lemonade and cookies? It’s been so hot and humid here that today is my day to rest. I went out yesterday and ended up with a horrible headache. I need to work in my spare room today, it’s gotten super cluttered….again!
hugs,
Linda
Yes, maybe for a niece or nephew? I now want a bigger one!
So great to see your dollhouse upgrade just as I’m getting ready to refurbish the castle dollhouse I discovered (I had put it there) in our attic. Not nearly ready for furnishing. Yours is delightful and charming. Jo @ Let’s Face the Music
Good luck with your castle, Jo! Thanks for your kind words.
I too, Claudia, have been inspired by your dollhouse. I have followed your blog for a couple years now, and enjoy reading your goings on.
I have three older sisters, and you always seem like another with your writing.
Rarely do I comment on blogs, but I wanted to ‘break the ice’ and say I will be working on my dollhouse this winter. I am in NE Ohio (snow belt) and normally work on puzzles to pass the long winter days. I consider this my newest puzzle! Thank you for all your insights and beautiful pictures. I look forward to your blog each day :)
Thank you so much, Megan, for taking the time to comment. It’s always a thrill for me to know who is reading the blog out there in cyber space. Winter is the PERFECT time to work on a dollhouse, especially in Ohio and all of those snowy states!
Megan, if you are in Geauga or Lake County, you should visit one of our miniature clubs! Geauga Miniature Society meets at the Miniature Cellar in Chesterland. Western Reserve Miniature Society meets at Willoughby City Hall. We welcome new members and interested visitors!
P.S. I am not an enabler. ; )
Can’t wait to see your list, Claudia! You have encouraged me to move along in working on my dollhouse. I love gathering information on the internet about miniatures and dollhouses. Tons of stuff out there. Very addictive! – especially since we’re lacking in miniature shops here in SC.
Extremely addictive! It seems like that is what I have been doing most of the time for the past several days. One lead to another, which leads to another…
I so wish I had a miniature shop nearby. I envy those that do!
I am very much consumed as well. I could see these posts everyday. This , it feels , is the one hobby I haven’t delved into. I have done it on a very small scale over the years . Never have had a doll house though. It all started with the roof top garden. That little hanging basket on the porch is swoon worthy!! Keep ’em coming…
Oh, thank you, Karen! I sometimes wonder if I’m posting too often lately about the dollhouse. But the posts seem to be popular, so I guess it’s okay!
I know that if I ever get started, I too, will be an addict. Hopefully, before too long, things will calm down here and I’ll have some extra time and space to work on my dollhouse.
Yours look so awesome.
Love,
Judy
I don’t know whether you saw the post about the rooftop garden, Judy, but it’s done. Also a post is up (from a few days ago) about the magazine article. xoxo
I tell my daughter about Caroline’s cottage, especially when there are new additions. My daughter would love to work on a miniature, as she is as fascinated by them as I am, but she knows she can get obsessive, and her needlecraft/sewing/knitting hobbies engender a lot of stash. Both of us are resisting the lure for now…
Sewing, knitting and crocheting = lots of stash. I know! I’m trying to donate my yarn because it takes up too much space and I’m not doing anything in that arena anymore.
I admit I’m a wee-bit jealous ! I love seeing your dollhouse and all the flurry of activity around and in it!
I’m not in dollhouse mode right now– we’re in camper mode. I say things like I need to work on my dollhouse– but then I think that makes it sound like a chore. It’s a hobby not a chore. I’ll do it when the weather doesn’t allow us to work on the camper.
In the mean time… I’ll admire yours!
I’d love to be in camper/trailer mode! If we had one, I would be, Pat!
Those tiny treasures continue to amaze me. I think of the artisans who craft them, and the time, effort, and talent that is involved. You have mentioned that they are not inexpensive, and I can certainly appreciate why that is. I do so enjoy your dollhouse posts!
Stay cool and avoid those mushy brain incidents which are oh-so common in extreme heat and humidity!!
The time and skill and amount of detail in some of these pieces is incredible. I stand in awe!
The hanging basket certainly does brighten up the porch..the chair might be a bit small but I really like the color..Stay cool…they say tomorrow will be less humid..
I really like the color, too, and if I get an adirondack chair that’s to scale, I’ll paint it the same color. But, looking at the narrow porch, I’m not sure a larger chair would fit!
Your post gave me a big chuckle. You are indeed an enabler in a fun and positive way! My small dollhouse arrives no later than next Tuesday but maybe as early as Thursday, just two days away! I can’t wait to see it; have it! I’m going to have scale issues but I don’t care at the moment; just looking forward to getting all the miniatures I’ve bought over time (since the 70s) into the house and seeing what I still want for it (which I feel will be a good lesson in patience). My sorta-local miniatures shop is really a pretty-big corner store; it’s got a lot of square footage and room for several, very large dollhouses, so ornate with equally-large price tags (for an empty but finished house). This place is like a museum; they have amazing, complete rooms of a house on permanent display in glass cases, not for sale, like from various eras such as Victorian. How on earth would they ever do inventory in a store like this, for accounting and insurance purposes? I could kill an entire day in this place if I could remain upright for that long(!). I’ve been really taken with the earnest quests of customers (eavesdropping, learning on my part!) but also how they all get in conversations with each other about their dollhouses and what they’re working on (like a club!). The owner of the business seems like an expert and she is peppered with questions. I’ve been surprised that there are more male customers than female (I notice it on each trip!); appear to be retirees who have embraced the hobby. Also, how LONG people have been working on their houses…years and years. One man said it started for him with a kit he did for his granddaughter and his enthusiasm grew from there; he was hooked.
Anyway, genius plant hanger, Claudia. Amazing photos of such tiny things. The scale doesn’t look that ‘off’ to me with the adirondack chair. I’ve got a chair on my real-life porch that is dwarfed (swallowed up) by my quite-tall husband yet fits me perfectly. I’m appreciative, by the way, for the info you’re going to reveal about some good sites on all-things ‘dollhouse.’ I’ve had good luck and bad luck with dollhouse accessories…sent away for stuff that I ultimately felt had poor quality for what I paid.
I ‘ponder’ WHY we are so intrigued with tiny furniture, little things, in small tuckaway places (a gnome house, doll house; dioramas, etc.). Or, what’s with the human Tiny House Movement, with people living in just a few hundred square feet? Why does a tent or camper or diminutive trailer feel so cozy on vacation? There’s this indy film I adore called “Lovely and Amazing” with one of my fave actresses EVER, Catherine Keener…and, oh, there are several good players in this movie besides her…and her character is an artist, always trying something new that never seems to be a big seller, with one of the things she makes being a tiny chair, like made out of twigs, meant to sit on a shelf. She has a line in the movie, “Don’t you wish we could sit in them?” Exactly! We’re revisiting childhood, but it’s more than that. And it’s not a gender thing…my husband and I are both enthralled with vintage Lionel train sets – in our town, at holiday time, there’s a local service organization who sets up an amazing train scene which winds thru miniature villages and farms with miniature barns, around a lake with a teeny boat on it, on bridges, etc. It gets more elaborate every year; adults and children alike just love it.
So (at the risk of over-thinking it!), again, what IS it(?)…this desire to transport to a tiny pretend world? Is it something in us which yearns to be protected(?) in that contained (safe?) small & perfect sheltering space that always remains lovely…where everything is precisely how you want it to be…and escape the imperfect bigger world which can feel scary and uncertain or get ugly? What’s your take on it, Claudia?
First of all, I envy you having a store relatively nearby. The closest to me would be way down south in New Jersey – that’s at least an hour and a half or more away. Might as well go into Manhattan!
I’m not sure what the answer is to your question. I am attracted to the small. I collect miniature pottery. I love miniature figurines, I love egg cups – which are rather petite. For me, part of it is space, or lack thereof, which draws me in that direction. But even more, the detail on each piece is always amazing. In the case of the miniature pottery, there’s something incredible about seeing a mini version of a larger piece. And you can take that to the nth degree when it gets as tiny as the mini Roseville pottery I have in the dollhouse. Amazing.
The ‘small’ movement is intriguing. Less space, less possessions, less of a footprint, less money going out – and I think you’re right, a large dash of cozy. There’s something comforting on a fundamental level about cozy, small spaces. Is it going back to the womb? Is that the attraction? Safe, secure and warm? I know I love being in our little cottage during the winter. It envelops us – it isn’t too big, it’s just right as Goldilocks would say.
Dollhouses are certainly about all that, but I think there’s also the attraction of order and control and having exactly what you want, and perfection, as you’ve said. The world is a scary place. Many dollhouses are fantasies – well, they all are, and dreaming and creating is a fundamental need for everyone. For me, the challenge of learning new skills on a miniature level, of taking a relatively blank slate and making it come to life is enormously satisfying. In real life we haven’t much money – we have a hefty mortgage payment that is sometimes like a noose around our necks. I could never afford to do those things that I’ve done in the dollhouse in my real-life cottage. But I can in miniature. xo
I really like the colour of the chair on the front porch.
Miniatures are curiously addicting, aren’t they?
I began this hobby in earnest about four years ago as an antidote to stress. The miniaturists I’ve met on-line and in person have been incredibly generous with their time and encouragement.
Such fun!
Choosing this hobby to help alleviate stress was such a good idea, Barbara. It certainly helps me when I feel stressed. It helps to ground me. And yes, miniaturists are an amazingly generous group of people – including yourself, my friend.
I’ve collected dollhouse furniture, accessories, etc. for many years … for “someday”. Your dollhouse posts definitely were what “pushed me over the top” to finally purchase the house. Now I just need to finish up my wallpaper and trim so I can move everything in. THANK YOU for enabling me Claudia ;)
Love seeing the hanging plant at the front entry.
You are most welcome! Glad to bring you into the fold, Debbie!
Last week I found a Marx tin dollhouse at Goodwill. Research tells me that it’s from 1965 and the only one that was made with a removable roof. I have two others, a ranch style and a split level. The ranch is like the one I had as a child. I have plastic furniture for it and some left over for the others.
I love those old tin dollhouses, Gail. I had one of them myself as a girl.
So glad you found another for your collection!
I love all your posts, but my favorite ones are always those that feature your dollhouse. We’ve just moved out to the country & have now taken on the task of building our first dollhouse from scratch. Here’s my big question of the day to ask you: one of the windows is crooked. I recall you had a crooked window but can’t find the post. How did you fix it? It’s already glued in & set. I’m so scared I’ll break the frame or damage the wall it’s installed in. If you have any suggestions, I’d love to learn how to manage this challenge. Thanks Claudia!
Well, to be perfectly honest, Chy, you’re going to have to gently pry it out of there and reposition it. You probably won’t damage the wall. I had the same trepidation but another blogger assured me it could be done. I ended up popping the upstairs windows out and no damage was done. A little clean-up and all was well.
You could try using a flat edged tool – a knife, a screwdriver, and gently loosen the window from its frame. I would pry a little in one section, then another and another until the window starts to become loose. Don’t just work in one area or you will run the risk of the wood splitting. Just take a deep breath, have a glass of wine, and go for it!
I’m a new follower to your blog and I’m so excited I discovered it. I just love it. I too have the Allison dollhouse. I purchased it from a yard sale and I am “redoing” it. It’s my first dollhouse and I’m a bit intimidated to say the least, but I’m excited to learn. Your blog is very inspirational. Thank you for sharing!
Yay for the Allison! I was intimidated as well but with every little change you make, you’ll feel more and more confident, Lori. Welcome!