So Genius

One of my favorite companies that supplies kits for dollhouse miniatures is one that I have mentioned before, HouseWorks LTD. The company makes a variety of furniture kits, windows, doors, and more. Let me show you what I have been working on, but before I begin I will tell you that I didn't like the kit windows that came with the dollhouse as punch out of the wood pieces that I decided would be too hard to assemble and I liked the look of the House Works windows and door so much better.

First a French door: As the photos demonstrate, the top piece is removable so that the window can can be removed so that you don't have to tape it off to paint, making a very tedious chore so easy, neat, and clean.

Windows with their tiny pieces and glass pose a lot of problems when painting them. I have painted a couple that had to be taped and still you get paint smeared on the glass. (actually Plexiglas's). I ordered eight windows for the Duracraft Bellingham farmhouse. As I unpacked the first one, it fell apart when took the rubber band that was around it off. Then the same thing happened when I unpackaged each door.

As the photo on the left demonstrates, the top part of the window was not glued in so that it can be removed. Essentially the window panes can be removed so that the Plexiglas can be removed and the windows can be painted with the glass panes removed. So easy. So Genius. 

Once the window has been painted, including touch-up, the pieces can be reassembled and the header on the window glued in. 

House Works also had kits to make appliances. Somewhat tedious to assemble, they are cheaper than purchasing miniature appliances and fun to make. During this work session I spray painted the range top, the oven door, and the vent hood with acrylic spray paint. Testing the first on a piece of plywood scrap. I liked the look very much. The pieces are shiny metal, but the spray paint give a more natural stainless look, not shiny, but dull.

I can't call these the finished pieces, but this is a nice hint as to what the kitchen will look like when it is finished. 

Don't be fooled. All of this tedious work represents hours of work, but what else does a retired lady have to do?  Oh, cook, clean, do laundry, work in the yard.

Thanks so much for stopping by. I always enjoy your visits. I have a new member to the neighborhood, Welcome Jodi.

A Little Boy's Fantasy

Progress on the Bellingham farmhouse continues slowly. Sometimes I get overwhelmed at the amount of work that I have to do, but I keep telling myself to take my time and be patient. I also had another project that I had been working on. I finished Nathan's birthday gift that I shared with you last time. Would you like to see the finished room?  I thought you would.

I began with wallpapering the walls, installing the floor and the baseboards. I used flooring purchased from Hobby Lobby. It comes in a sheet; all it needs is staining. Using a light that I had ruined--shorted it out--, I rebuilt it by adding a  battery operated LED chip light that casts a very yellow, shadowy type light. 

I wanted art work, so I found posters on the web, printed them out 1:12 on photographic paper for a nice glossy look. Nathan loves Star Wars, so I chose a poster of the original cast, one that his mother could relate to. The other poster has the character from How to Train A Dragon since the main character in the room would be the dragon who comes to visit  from the little boy's fantasies. 

I purchased the StarWars space ship and dug through my stash for the other pieces. The glove came from the jewelry making aisle at Hobby Lobby. The TV is handmade by some one that I purchased on one of my thrifting excursions. I never really knew what I would do with it, but I think I found a good home for it.

I wanted the room to reflect Nathan's young life as a seven year old by trying to include things that he likes. 

He always has his iPad. I found an image online that I sized and printed on glossy photograph paper. I had wanted to find an image of his favorite game, but couldn't. His mother bought the doll. Little boy dolls are so hard to find. This is a Mattel doll in the Barbie collection. He was perfect. Sitting next to him is his teddy bear, armed with his base ball bat. You can see that the little boy has been reading King Arthur. 

The Wizard came from a castle that I have for the kids to play with here; he was a duplicate. Batman came from a thrift store; he is wielding a sword that I found in Hobby Lobby in the jewelry department. The detail in this photo is hard to see because I took it with the ceiling light turned on.

He loved it, but I think his mother liked it more.

Like many miniaturists and dollhouse builders, when I hear that there is a dollhouse for sale in some store, I have to go check it out, so when someone told me about this house in a consignment store, I drug my husband to go see it. I promised him that I would not buy it. Sight unseen.

It is a nineteenth century dollhouse, priced at $10, 114.97, according to an appraisal.  It was, of course, out of my budget. Even the store clerk was doubtful that it would sell and that it would probably be donated to the Denver Museum of Miniatures, Dolls, and Bears.

The house comes fully furnished. Indeed this is an unusual piece, museum quality and out of my reach.

I have more to share with you, so give me some time and I'll be back.  Thanks for visiting.