Kitchen Tour

I began the Dura Craft Manchester Country Home January 2021, after assembling two other full sized houses, the Dura Craft Bellingham Farmhouse and the Real Good Toys---that I built for my youngest granddaughter, Lily. I didn't quite stumble on the Manchester by accident--I just got lucky searching CraigsList with a posting in Denver. I couldn't pass up the 1990s vintage kit for $40. Daughter Heather lived close to where the kit was and purchased it for me. 

Similar to Real Good Toys Vermont farmhouse, I decided to add an RGT two room, two story addition to the house, making the project even bigger.

And I decided on 3 rules: Everything had to be hand made or purchased from artists who designed and made miniatures, and I had to use as much product from  stash of minis--be it building supplies or accessories. 

As a result of those three rules, it has taken forever to finish this project, but I am close. So close.

We will begin with the kitchen, to room that took the most work because I built all of the cabinets. This link is a good place to start to see that adventure in building a full set of kitchen cabinets. 2022. I began assembling the house January 20, 2021, so you can begin there if you want to see more specific details and tutorials. https://annsdollhousedreams.blogspot.com/search?q=Manchester+kitchen&max-results=20&by-date=false

Project Manager Pink will give us a tour of the kitchen, the first room I started--the one that took so many months to complete.

From the front porch, we can see the Mistress of the Manor--Abigale--finishing what looks to be a peach pie. I hope she serves us piece after the tour. 

With the front door open, we had a chance to catch a glimpse of the dining room. Looks to be lost somewhere in the '60s by the looks of that retro chair. That should be interesting, but today Pink will give us the grand tour of the kitchen.

Abigail is a very sweet young woman but still in therapy for her horrible experience at the thrift store. She and Pink really bonded after sharing space in the plastic bag with other MacDonald's Happy Meal girls. Today she is living her best life in the Manchester. She loves to bake. But good grief, she needs to do something with that hair before it catches fire from the stove.

 

With a can of Pringles in hand, she'll head upstairs to the craft room while Pink takes us through the kitchen. 

The window shade and the wallpaper are printed on computer paper. I found the plaid print on a random Pinterest search; downloaded, and printed. I found a YouTube tutorial on how to make widow treatments and to make a pleated window covering. Mine didn't quite fit right, so I turned the vertical shade horizontal and trimmed it down to fit inside the window frame. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqYQtry-HvU&t=5s)

I printed all the wallpaper for this house, locating the blue tile from Hot Pink Lime Shop on Etsy. I printed this tile on glossy ink jet photo paper for very nice results. 

To fill my cabinets, I purchased dishes and mixing bowls from various online shops, where you can find an amazing selection of dishes, but the stacking mixing bowls are especially special.

In 2022 our favorite miniaturist Jodi Hippler at My Miniature Madness invited followers to participate in her first marketing adventure to test her line of 3-D printed kitchen accessories. Luckily she chose me to test her product line. Once she had the results, she opened her Etsy shop where you can purchase her STL files to make the cutest kitchen baking necessities. 

I also used the toaster and the dutch oven in this kitchen.

One of my favorite items in this kitchen is the pot filler. I once considered remodeling my real kitchen that would require relocating the cooktop so that I could have pot filler. I purchased this 3-D printed item and the sink faucet from Paper Doll Miniatures on Shapeways MarketPlace . She may have her items now listed on an Etsy site. 

I made the hall tree out of a door that was removed from my  first BIG dollhouse project, a renovation of the Blue Farmhouse Now Pink. I also made the plant and the basket. The little gift basket on the bottom shelf has thank-you gift items that Jodi Hippler included in one of her orders. The oven and dishwasher are kits ordered from the UK: Elf Miniatures. Easy to assemble, but non opening. I made all of the cabinetry using my Cricut Maker. 

I ordered the 3-D printed cooktop from Jodi, as well. 

The blender on the bottom of the bake center needs to be painted. I order it and a miniature Cricut machine from an Esty shop in Nevada, Shop MiniDecoreandMore. Love both of those 3-D printed items. You'll see the Cricut later. 

The hanging pendants are handmade, using clear Christmas decorations. The tutorial is someplace in the blog. 

Items on the bake center came from various sources: flour sifter from Jodi's collection--love it. Do women even use one today? I do. Mixer and bowl from online shops, peaches in the bowl by me, the pie a random find along with the bowls on the bottom shelf.

I don't even remember where I found the refrigerator--an online store. Filled with all kinds of goodies for the Memorial Day picnic. The items came from various Etsy and other online shops. So much fun filling the fridge. I made the baked chicken, all the fruits, and most of the vegetables from Fimo bake polymer clay. Lots of great tutorials are on YouTube.

Here's Jodi's toaster. Love it. I don't know why I added the breakfast. Maybe just to show off my feeble attempt to make bacon and eggs. Actually quite easy with a Youtube tutorial. 

The little ducky may end up in the bathroom. It's a gift from daughter Jennifer. The hen I found at the Denver Miniature Show or was it Good Sam in San Jose? Guess it really doesn't matter for it is one of a kind. 

Jodi included the blue pump bottle as a gift in her test kit, too. I made the rhubarb and other fruits in the pan.

The crock pot on the bottom shelf I found at Good Sam Show in San Jose, CA when Heather and I went nearly two years ago. Pot and bowls random Etsy buys. 

Find the missing K-cup and you have better eye sight than I do. I dropped the tiny cup and could not find it, so I use my phone's flashlight and there it was.

Genies Mini House Shop on Etsy located in Florida has the coolest miniature where I ordered this mini coffee maker and with coffee pods and stand. Love it.

So this the kitchen in the Manchester Country Home. It took so long to build. 

In your comments, please don't mention that I included an out-take photo. Pink would quit and frankly despite her personal problems, I couldn't do this with her. 

Thanks for stopping by. Have a great week.

God Bless our Veterans and their families who made such great sacrifices for Americans' Freedom. Happy Memorial Day.