A Face Lift

The little Storybook house badly needed a face lift. I am guessing that it was built in the '80s then sat on the shelf for at least two decades, collecting dust and absorbing cigarette smoke. I have purchased four houses by the same builder at the antique store here in my little village on the Northern Colorado planes. The first one was a large farmhouse with all of the furniture along with a general store for 'free'. The general store has everything a turn of the 20th century general store might stock. I was new to world of miniatures. I just wanted a dollhouse, so when I found a magical farm house, I purchased it.

And the rest is history.

Then three more houses showed up the shop's window and I bought them, too. Next, I suffered buyer's remorse. Now, I am renovating the Storybook, originally a toy store. It was in the beginning dedicated to bears, lots of bears that came with it, but I have been collecting toys, lots of toys.

For renovations,  I first decided to just replace the wallpaper; out of respect to the original builder, I thought I'd leave things original, but the more mored I worked with the little house, the more I wanted to make it my own. So last night I took a bold step and painted the exterior wood trim.

Here is the original cottage.So what color will I go with for the wood trim?

Before I began painting, I did some shopping. I meet my oldest daughter Heather and little grand son at the Denver Doll and Toy Museum Mini Show that hosts local artists and miniaturists. I came home with a nice section of toys.

A hand made rocking dated 1991.

My daughter insisted that I buy this hand crafted replica of the characters in the Christmas classic, Rudalph, the Red Nosed Reindeer. Years ago, someone whom my husband worked with decided that he looked like Hermi, the little toy maker elf who wanted to be a dentist, and mistakenly began calling him Herbie. For years he was called Herbie. A must have for a toy store, I'd say.

The Bellingham Mistress collects cactus. I should have purchased more because they were so authentic.

Childhood classics

Handmade Bert and Ernie

I think the vendor my favorite, Dave, said the barn is 1:24 scale. I've been trying to make one out of paper, with fair results, but this one will authentic.

Good finds at the show. The museum will sponsor another mini mini show May 4th. Should I go?

Buzz Light Year, Etsy. 

Tim Allen is a favorite actor, and I admire Buzz. The mini is actually a Polly Pocket, now no longer available in retail

Also from an Etsy store, two rugs:

Love the red truck--learned to drive my grandfathers 1950 stick shift, red Chevy pickup.

The second rug will go in the Roy Rogers bedroom on the Bellingham.

And doesn't this bring back childhood memories. I still have the girls' little school bus, the people, and the dog!

 I found this one at a Hallmark store under the label of "The World's Littlest Toy. There is an entire collection. Love it. It is a bit large for the toy story, so I'm not sure if it will go in.

More Etsy fun: a collection of tiny horses.

This super hero girls represent Girl Power in the store. They are craft buttons, but so cute. Buzz likes them.

A Hobby Lobby hutch. I love the look, but I am wondering if I will use it because it makes the store look like a bedroom or a toy room. I'll see.

The American Girls love the spotlight.

Okay. Here we go. Before new wallpaper: fuzzy bear wallpaper. I know that the previous builder built  this little house with a lot of love, and I do feel a bit guilty covering up all that love.

 I was very nervous making this first cut. I don't know how many times I cut and recut the templates to make sure that I had a perfect fit.

One problem: the wall is taller than the wall paper sheet, so I had to leave the white border meant to be trimmed off. I will install decorative trim to cover it.

IT FITS! Just as perfectly as it could.

The front wall with the door and the bay window is particularly difficult to fit. I fit and re fit it several times cutting templates and finally got a good template, but it fit very tight.

I ended up with a tear, but it doesn't show. 

I took the piece out, but realized that I had to use it regardless of the tears. There will be so many toys in the store that it won't be noticeable.

 The right wall was a challenge too with the bay window, but I got it to fit--finally.

Flooring, next.

I decided to play with signs. On left is a vent piece that I didn't put on the Bellingham. I painted a faux sign. Hate it. 

I ordered a sign from miniatures.com, but even at scale it seems large. 

 This piece has possibility, but I am not a sign painter. I will keep playing with signs until I get something that looks authentic.

 Floor and trim have been installed, but not glued down.

So, last night I was home alone and went downstairs to see what I could do to keep me entertained. I have mess in the work area, which makes it hard to decide where to start. I decided to just do it: Paint. 

First I taped the windows to keep paint off of them.

The door trim around the door was easily removed, as was some of the other trim and a window.

It adds a very dramatic look and the store is beginning to take on a new character. I think the original builder would like it.

I still have some touch up to do, but I need to re tape the windows and find a time when my hand feels nice and steady, mostly my wrist. 

I love the new look. It seems more authentic. More English. 

The carousel horse fits perfectly in the front window and sets the theme for the store.

I like  love it.

Yep. I love it.

Now I need to clean up a very messy work area.

The original builder didn't install stairs or the house didn't have any, but since there will be a rocking horse gallery upstairs, its needs some sort of access, so I working on a ladder. If it doesn't work, I won't use.

I am so thankful that you stopped by. I hope you enjoyed your stay. 

UPDATE: Sorely behind on my posting, I did make a ladder. In a few days, I'll tell you all about it. 

I love your comments, so if you stop by from Face Book, say 'hi.' 

Thanks visiting.