Moving Day

Well, here it is: Lily's House all finished and ready for delivery.  I have to admit that I am a little sad to be taking it away. 

It turned out so nice. I made some booboos that we won't talk about because I don't think anyone will notice. Except that Lily's daddy, grandpa, and auntie are roofers and they build things, too. They might notice. I hope not. 

I glued down the floors on the first floor, but not on the other two levels because that's where the tape wiring runs for the lights and I wanted access to the wiring in case the lights fail and I have to fix them. I didn't run tape wire to the third floor; instead, I bought an LED battery light for the small room and will eventually get one for the larger room. I had the rooms all planned. The smaller bedroom would be for the grandparents and the larger one the nursery with  its cute baby animal wallpaper.

I spent the morning adding crown molding to the two third level rooms, using narrow crown molding because of the slopped mansard sides. You can see the gap between the molding and the ceiling. . .

. . .so I used may caulking to fill the gaps on all of the walls. It works really well. While it looks messy, it is easily smoothed out by running a damp finger over it to smooth it out and fill the crack. I thought I took "after" photos, but I guess I didn't. I had a damp cloth handy to wipe my fingers clean and to run along the joint to clean it up and to clean up any that got on the ceiling.

With the house  now totally finished, I wanted to do one last little project, make a couple of boxes of diapers. I downloaded the images from Pinterest. The Pampers boxes went together easily, but the Huggies did not.

I printed them on a light weight yardstick to give them a nice shape and sturdy form. After cutting them out, I used my bone folder to score the folding lines to make nice folds. With a tooth pick, I applied white glue to the the tabs and held them in place with  tweezers until the glue set--a few seconds. I thought about covering them with Modge Podge to give them body and to strengthen them, but ran out of time. 

The Huggies box didn't fold well, so I threw it out.

One last look. The house sits on a platform that has a turn table. It's not attached so the house can removed from the turntable.

It's all ready for the move.

All the accessories and furniture have been packed for the move.

Dad says it's time to head out.

"Um, we have a problem here!"

"My wife's stuck between the sink and the stove and they too heavy me to move them alone."

Grandpa loads the house in the back of the Edge.

It will ride nicely.

The girls immediately began moving in. Lily had lots of help.

They spent an hour arranging and rearranging, playing, making up a story--just the way I hoped they would.

I had my own ideas as to where the furniture would go and they had theirs.

I had planned on a smaller sink but with the purchase of the green stove and sink, the kitchen sink makes a great bathroom vanity.

Not the furniture that I had planned for the master bedroom, but it looks so cute. Oh. That's Fritz. (The live one is watching)

Moving is exhausting!

Little brother waits for someone to come feed him.

With the house set up, Lily began to set up her ranch. The dollhouse is way out of scale, but who cares. That's how this project started, Lily asking me if I would build her house to go with her horses and barns.  Now I have a request from the two older girls who want a log house, like the one on their favorite TV show about young girl horse trainer on a ranch in Canada. 

I've been looking for such a house this evening. I know what I want, but the kit has been discontinued. In the mean time, I have the San Franciscan to finish for their mother. 

The Cranberry Cove was a fun build. I am sad that Real Good Toys has discontinued it, but there are still some available on various sites. While I made mine a country home, it would be perfect as a French country home. The rooms are a nice size and it was easy to assemble. 

What would I do differently in building it? Because of the slanted sides on the third level and the triangle inset in the front, I would cut my wallpaper templates before I glued it all together. I don't know why I didn't, but It would have made wallpapering that third level easier. 

I also didn't get the interior walls placed properly. They are meant to go on the other side of the front door, but I didn't pay good enough attention when I glued it together and got it reversed, but it all worked out--after some modification of the first floor stairs. 

There was so much more that I wanted to do, too, such as wall decor, but I had to remind myself that it wasn't my house. 

And now to finish the Bellingham and the San Franciscan and renovate the Storybook. I've got plenty to keep me busy.

Thanks so much for joining me. I hope you have enjoyed this project and learned a little along the way.

All Dolled Up

I sometimes wonder about myself. I am 72 and I play with dolls, like this morning as I photographed dolls for this post that will ask the question: Do you like to put people AKA dolls in your miniature projects?

I couldn't help but wonder if I could be doing something more significant with my time than playing with miniatures, like volunteer. I do volunteer in the Writing Center at my Alma Mater, University of Northern Colorado where I taught freshman writing for nearly twenty years. I spend two hours each Wednesday working with students, helping them solve their writing problems. It is most rewarding and satisfying. No grading, no planning, no troublesome students, but two hours a week? I could do more. I think of my friend who volunteers at the Refugee Center working with the little children and tutoring the adults in English or a friend who is active in her church, but I prefer the quiet of my basement listening to the radio, maybe, making tiny things.

I openly admit that I am living in a sort of second childhood. I grew up on farm and had a horse and played outside with my brother and worked, but I loved dolls. I had a couple, one has survived, but I always wanted a dollhouse. Anyway. I am digressing, back to my question.

One blogger wrote as she showed off her dollhouse that she didn't like dolls in her house, that she had instead created a mental persona who lived in the house, Caroline. And I got to thinking about whether or not to put dolls in the dollhouses. I am wondering if dolls spoil the illusion of world that dollhouse represents or do the dolls personalize the house?

Here then is my small collection of sundry dolls that may or may not work in a little house.

This is Lily's family that will live in her house. A large family that will give Lily hours of imaginative play. Her house will be added to her already large collection horses, unicorns, and fairies.

Here an another family that I acquired when I purchased a metal dollhouse. I once passed on a whole bag of these dolls at a thrift store. They are vintage and can be found on eBay, but I don't think that I'll be using them. I am surprised at the anatomical detail, too. My daughter wouldn't let her girls play with these dolls, dressed or not.

Not sure where the baby came from, but perhaps he could find his way into a house. I did buy the vintage doll at an antique store, but I've not found place for her. 

But some of my houses do have people.

The Ballet Studio

This was my first built from a Real Good Toys kit. It is a ballet studio inspired by granddaughters who were taking dance lessons. Today they are cowgirls and take riding lessons. I began collecting the little McDonald's Madame Alexander dolls that fit nicely in the little house. 

This little girl is always late for class.

                         

Alice works upstairs making the dance costumes. 

The dancers are a combination of dolls and Hobby Lobby Christmas tree ornaments. Their favorite performance is, of course, The Nut Cracker.

 The Mooshka House

This house is the little Dura Craft Lafayette that I bought for $5 at a sale. It was a bit beat up, but I fixed it up. I fell in love with a series of imaginative little dolls at Target called Mooshkas. Each cute little girl came with an animal friend. 

I still need to do some work on the house. The furniture was bargain find someplace that a I quickly pinned some "slipcovers" on it. 

The Toy Store

I am taking applications for the store, now.

You have already met this little girl, my eBay purchase. She and the chair will be in the Toy Store.

And who does not love Buzz Light Year from Toy Story?  You don't bend, Buzz, so you won't very useful and you are a bit out of scale.

Buzz! This was not your shot.

Pink is one of my favorite dolls. She is a thrift store rescue, and so is Buzz who doesn't seem to be bothered that she is so much taller than he is. And that is a problem for him, so he will remain on the shelf. 

Tinker Bell came down off of the shelf, too, to try-out for a place in one of the houses.

She is quite the show girl.

Pink is pretty confident, too.

Really, Buzz?

Tink, I think you are too large for the toy store.

Pink has returned, this time with her purse. She is a serious shopper, you know.

I can tell that Pink will be the best customer for the toy store.

The Texas Farm House

Pink may shop at the toy store, but I think that her home will be the Bellingham farmhouse. She just seems to think that she owns it.

The Blue Farmhouse Now Pink

My first renovation was this huge house that I bought at a junk/antique store for $100. It required months--years--to complete. 

I am not remembering where I came by these two kiddos, maybe with a metal dollhouse. They spend their days in the porch swing.

These are just little decorative porch people. They remind of a couple that I know.

There she is, Pink in the Blue Farmhouse bedroom. She is visiting her friend. They share the same secret. They are thrift store rescue dolls. They were in the same plastic bag at the thrift store. I original bought them for the granddaughters who didn't seem to like them. They, too, were McDonald's Happy Meal Toys--poor girls, but their story has a happy ending.

This lovely lady lives here. As a mom of 4 kid, she is very busy. She is baking birthday cake for the twins.

The twins are a handful. They spend all of their time in the Peter Rabbit nursery in the Blue Farmhouse (now pink)

They have a lot of toys

These girls were bag mates with Pink and her other friend. The hang out on the balcony of  the Blue Pink Farmhouse.

So there you have it my little collection of dolls that may or may not live in my houses.  Pink obviously is my favorite. 

And what about you? Dolls or imaginative personas for your miniature projects?

Thanks for visiting. 

(I am so glad that I ordered different wallpaper for the toy store!)