Catching Up

I get so caught up in working on the dollhouses that I forget to update the blog. Right now both houses are on a brief hold. I have so much to share with you, so get yourself a hot cup of tea or cold drink, put your feet up and come along to see how the houses are progressing. First we will take a look at the Ballet Studio.

Look how cute it is turning out. I ordered the hanging baskets that grow strawberries (much like the hanging baskets that I had growing on my pergola last summer). I am sorry, but I do not remember where I ordered them. They were expensive, $11. a piece, but I have decided that I am all in. I figure that I save when I make some of my own items, so when I want something special, I get it. The little bicycle comes from Hobby Lobby. It was red and I repainted it using model airplane enable paint. I made the little window boxes, filling them with flowers cut from stem flowers purchased at Hobby Lobby. It can be challenging to find very small plants. Hobby Lobby also sells miniature bird houses that come in a package. I took out the other perch, painted the little house white, sanded it to shabby it then glued on a doorknob.

Applying the Shingles

Shingling the roof has been a chore. Instructions say to use Liquid Nails to apply the very thin shingles to keep them from curling. I did plenty of research to decide which would be the best way to adhere the shingles. They are very thin and will curl if water based adhesives are used. While I may have read on some sites to use hot glue, the company instructions said not to. I followed the instructions, using liquid nails that I purchased at Ace Hardware. The shingling process has been harrowing, even frustrating. I began with the porch roof by applying three short beads of Liquid Nails (LN). While the adhesive did hold the shingles in place firmly so that I didn't have hold each one until the glue set (as with wood glue), the shingles did curl. So I taped them tightly in place using the blue painter's tape. Most days I am able to apply only one row of shingles. When they do set, they are firm and flat; however, if I don't get enough adhesive laid down, the shingles pull up when I remove the tape. No big deal, I just re glue them. The process has been painstakingly long. I had a major mishap with a bottle wood glue, spilling a big glob in my box of shingles, running them. I called Real Good Toys for replacement shingles. They have arrived and now I have to dye them, another lengthy delay as it takes several days for them to dry.

Inside, the studio now offers playtime with all of the structural work now finished. I switched out the cabinet for a smaller one. 

I added a new doll, the seamstress. Another ARC rescue.

The dancers are planning for the next show. In this photo you see the balance bar on the floor waiting to be installed, a wooden skewer taken from the kitchen drawer.

The little white doll is new, too. I am sure she will dance her little heart out, thankful to have been rescued from ARC.

With the balance bar installed, the dancers can get down to tough workouts. I made the hangers for the bar out of jewelry findings.

I have added some artwork. These little ballerinas are my granddaughters: Elinore in the smaller frame and Lucy in the larger white frame. I scanned their ballet studio photos and cut them to size. I have discovered that printing on photo glossy paper lends wonderful results, so I may redo those photos. Small frames are Spare Parts jewelry bezels and work perfect as picture frames. The larger white frame also comes from Hobby Lobby's scrapbook section.

 You'd never guess who the two little girls are. Certainly not ballerinas. Well, me on the left with my life long best friend Patti. We are dressed in our matching Easter outfits that our moms sewed for us so many long years ago. We dressed alike a lot, often passing for twins.  

With the Ballet Studio on hold for the moment, I have continued to work on the blue farmhouse.

As a reminder here is the front view of the rather large house. I am learning that renovating a dollhouse is not much different than doing a real home. We have done plenty of house work over the years in the three homes that we have owned all the way from painting a room to wallpapering, to a full kitchen remodel. We found that each house has its own secrets that once we began to strip away the layers, the secrets were revealed. No, we never found stashes of cash or jewels hidden in the walls. 

Working on the cleaning up the dollhouse getting it ready for decorating has been a long and tedious chore. This is how it looked when I settled it in the basement. You can see that the kitchen was sorta finished with the wall covered in black and white fabric. I ripped that out right away. The second and third levels had been covered with heavy card stock type paper as a primer, I suppose, for the wall paper. Someone had tried to remove the paper, a tedious, tough job. I finally bought a heat gun used to strip paint to help melt the glue that held the paper in place. I also use alcohol to help dissolve the glue.

I really wondered what the last person had in mind. Luckily the black decor stripped off easily.

The putty knife was the least helpful until I purchased a new on with a very sharp edge, but the the heat gun worked the best. 

You can see that the first layer of wallpaper, a pretty sort of blue toile. I left it in place because I just did not want to have to redo all of the wiring, so I applied the primer over the mess. Only you and I know. The house still has secrets.

Not perfectly smooth. I will sand a little more to get the rough spot out. You can see the tape wiring and the little switch that was installed crooked. I have repaired the tape wiring so that all circuits work, all rooms are wired, and I didn't want to mess up the two lines by scrapping and sanding. For a perfect wall, removing the tape wiring would have been the smart way, but I did not trust myself to get it work once I replaced the tape.

The kitchen is now clean and smooth, ready for the ceiling covering, the wallpaper in the lights, and flooring.

While this electrical line in the ceiling does work, I decided to install new wiring on the floor above the kitchen to make installing the lights easier. I will drill two holes for each light and attach them to the power on the upper floor. Much easier than standing on my head to install them in the exiting line.

Wallpapering

Ooops. Not unlike the really thing, dollhouse wallpaper requires careful handling. I am using Yes glue that I ordered from ItsyBitsy.com It is a thick hard to apply adhesive, but I like it because as I put the paper on the wall, it slips and slides easily for perfect placement, that is unless you tear it first.

Unable to get the tear to match up, I decided to patch the wallpaper. I purchased the wallpaper from a store in Denver on Saturday. I bought 3 sheets, thinking that they would be plenty. This house is a bit deeper than kit houses, so I did not have any paper to spare. I barely had enough to cut my patch.

Using my iPhone to take a picture of the seam so that I could how the paper was matching up, I was able to scoot the patch around until I got a pretty decent matching of lines.

Not a perfect match,  but by the time furniture and wall decor are added, only a close inspection will reveal my booboo.

Here I want  to show how I marked the back side of the wall paper so that I did  not apply glue to the spot that covered the window. I cut the wallpaper to size than held it against the window and traced around the widow from the outside of the house. Once I had the wallpaper placed on the wall I used my trusty old credit card to make sure that the paper was tight in the corner. I also used it to smooth out the air bubbles. Wallpaper always tends to bubble up or ripple. Real wallpaper requires the same smoothing out, using the proper tools. 

I will tell you about Norm's Dollhouse store later, but that is where I purchased the wallpaper. It is carries the name Itsy Bitsy. I used it in the Lafayette with success. It is glossy and thick, making it easily to work with and a bit forgiving. I have also used Hobby Lobby's wallpaper. I am deciding that of the two, I like the Itsy Bitsy best because it is heavier. I always work with a wet rag at hand to wash off the excess glue that I get on my fingers. Once the paper is hung, I like to take that wet cloth and wipe down the wallpaper to remove traces of glue and to help ease out the bubbles. While the Hobby Lobby paper is easier to cut and work with, it does not like to get wet and will tear easily,  making cleanup harder. 

You may have noticed, too that on the back wall I cut the wall paper 1/2 an inch longer on each side to wrap around the corner. I like to paper the back wall first, wrapping the excess around the corner, then apply the paper to the side walls with the edge tight in the corner to make a clean seam.  I didn't do that with this room because I didn't trim off the white border on the ends.

                 

Another draw back to Itsy Bitsy wallpaper is that it has to be trimmed. Cutting a perfect edge is very difficult, especially the top border.  I will also avoid plaid, checks, and stripes--any pattern the requires matching. 

Even with my straight edge taped down, I still had problems getting a good cut. I am just hoping that no one notices.

With the wallpaper now installed, I still have work to do. I will add a wainscot to the wall with the door and window trim and probably baseboard around the floor. I have not yet decided about the floor. This is the original floor that was not glued in. Nice as it appears, at the moment is not level. If I use it, I am hoping that once glue in and weighted down as the glue dries, the unevenness will work its way out.

I have taken up plenty of your time, so I will tell you about Norm's Dollhouse store in Denver at another time. I hope you have enjoyed watching me work. 

See you soon and thanks so much for stopping by. As soon I do spell check, I am headed outside in the glorious pre spring sun to dig in the dirt. Hubby is already running the rototiller and I must take photos for the Garden Spot blog. The dollhouse is on hold for the moment until I get more supplies tomorrow. I will be back soon. In the mean time, you can catch up with me over at Welcome to the Garden Spot where I blog about the garden and everything else that goes on here. I am bit more chatty there. 

And if you have any great hints, tips, or questions, be sure to comment. 

Back to Work

Well, Hello. Seems that I have taken a rather long hiatus from both this blog and working on the dollhouses. If you know me, you have been following me over at Welcome to the Garden Spot where I post at least weekly, generally participating in Mosaic Monday hosted by Judith at Lavender Cottage each week. Sometimes if I have anything to say, I will submit a post on Wednesday.

There, we are mostly gardeners whiling away the days until we can get out into the garden. Until then I have been keeping busy unwinding from the holidays. I put away all of the dollhouse tools so that I could work on Christmas gifts and cards. Then I spent a lot of time creating cloth valentines for the little granddaughters and their mommas and pretty cards for the grandsons.

 I also did some sewing for Barbie. My friend has sent me dozens of hankies from her dear aunt who past in her '90s a few years ago.  Aunt Rose was much my Aunt as my own aunties, so I wanted to do something special with the hankies. I decided to make Barbie dresses out of the hankies for Aunt Rose's two little great-great nieces. I had a Barbie pattern and bought another one at an antique store. One of my pastimes that I indulge myself in along with my daughters is my addiction to thrift shopping. I have very specific things that I look for: dollhouse furniture (which is very hard to find), very special pieces of glassware or china--no chips, cracks, dents, stains or made in China pieces. Lenox and Lefton figurines, especially swans. At Christmas, I was drawn to Christmas village houses.

And Barbie. Some years ago I began rescuing them from the Goodwill. I gave up the rescue for a long time since I figured that I had plenty and they just ended up a tub that the little granddaughters now play with. Then I began again. I have been looking for the perfect ones to make the hankie dresses for to send on to my little friends.

The two are my latest finds. Barbies are generally naked packaged in plastic bags at ARC. I look for ones that appear not to have been play with too hard with decent hair.

I love this one's curly hair. They each get a bath in Dawn dish washing liquid, hair included then I soak the hair in very hot water with my own hair conditioner in it. The tangles come out very easily. I have not to been able to learn how to style Barbie's hair. Often it looks decent when I comb it out.

I think they like to watch me sew. One my rescues was this lovely ballerina. I was determined to make her a tutu. My first try didn't turn too badly, the blue one. I had a pattern for a long formal gown, so I cute the skirt down and added lots of layered tulle underneath. I used material that I had one hand. For Barbie, the material has mohave small print and fine texture. Fat quarters for quilting work well.

Barbie patterns are so delicate and small and even hard to work with, so I have tried a couple of ways to preserve them. I scan the original cut out pattern and print it on regular printer paper, which works fine, but I like even better transferring the pattern to interfacing. I use pencil to transfer the markings. The interfacing lasts and can pinned and repined and it holds up to the use of a tracing wheel, if you use one to mark patterns. 

For this second tutu, I used an iron on facing material to give the fabric stability and to limit the frayed edges. It turned out fair. The top is nice, but the skirt was uneven as I gathered it onto the bodice. Sewing for these very small dolls requires patience, but the clothing goes together much like sewing for a real person, but it is very tedious.

This dress turned out so cute. I made two of them, the print dress and blue satin.

I still have not made the hankie dresses. What I thought would be a simple project turned out to be quite challenging trying to get the pattern pieces aligned on the hankie to make the most out of the pretty printed material. I will keep working on that project. 

Now, I am ready to down to work on the dollhouses. I have much to do.

I have ballet studio back on the craft table ready to put the finishing touches on it. I use a solvent based liquid nails  to glue on the shingles. I am excited to get the studio finished. I also have the big farm house that I bought just before Christmas at the junk store to restore. (You can see it in the background of some of the photos here). It needs the tape wiring repaired. I replaced some of the tape wiring and will add more. I want to add the lights and paint the interior walls. Right now I don't know that I will wallpaper the house. First, I must remove the remnants of the old wallpaper that a previous owner had stripped out and some of the interior door jams have been removed, leaving globs of old glue that I have to figure out how to remove.

I do promise to spend more time here at Dollhouse Dreams. I've had a break. I am ready to get some work done before it is time to head to the garden.

Thanks so much for visiting. I love it when you leave comments--all two or three of you. (LOL)

Happy Valentine's Day.

The Ballet Studio Opens

Hello. Thank you for stopping by. I am so excited as I put the finishing touches on the Alpine Farmhouse which hence forth will be known as the Ballet Studio. I still have to do the window boxes and the roof, but I just couldn't wait any longer to see the little house on the blog.



We will begin our tour with the exterior front, not yet finished. I made window boxes for the porch, but I need to find dainty little flowers or make some them. The pots also need flowers. I love the little bicycle that I painted lavender. Originally it was red. I used Testers enamel paint. Rather tedious. I blog about it later.



The purpose for building this little house was to practice and learn skills for the large Bellingham Farmhouse that I will build. You can see I had a boo-boo. I had the light installed perfectly and it worked Then when I had a black out, I started at the wrong end of the electrical line to trouble shoot, thinking that the fault was in the installation of the light, which it was not, I reinstalled it, changing the way I had it wired. I thought the connection was bad where I hard wired the light, so I rewired it to plug in. Dumb but a common error for a beginner.

 Twice I did trouble shooting at the wrong end of the wiring system. As it turned out the the cheap 12 volt transformer that came with the kit I used failed. Lesson: before disassembling lighting and fixture, check the transformer.



Aside from the wiring, the upstairs looks nice. I did have a heck of time cutting mitered corners for window trim.





I spent a lot of time making a bed and bedding for the second floor, but then I asked myself why would a dance studio have a bedroom upstairs. I decided that it would, of course, have a workroom, a sewing room where all of the costumes are made. I need to find a seamstress.



I found a pattern for the tutus on line. It was in a foreign language, so I just followed the good photos to make rough little tutus.



I wanted another mannequin for the sewing room, so I decided to make my own. I did find patterns on Pinterest to cut out the body, then just made up the rest.



I am not the best at sewing these tiny pieces, but I will get better. I do know that I need take more time.



Love this little chair that I made. I will make the next one better.



It is hard to see, but there is throw rug in front of the chair in the corner. I printed it directly on a piece of muslin. The color is a bit faded, but on a white carpet it looks pretty.







Downstairs, I need to decide how to attach the mirrors and I need to make the dance bar.



I am still learning how to make the chandeliers, but I like this one, one of my first. I have found smaller lights that will be more delicate and I hope not so bright and overwhelming.




A house needs inspiration for good results. In the beginning, I no idea as to how I wanted to decorate the house. I knew that outside it would be be pink and gray. Since I am pretty much obsessive about pink, I couldn't resist a pink and white interior. Nor did I want to buy more paint.

Now meet the dancers:



Owner and teacher in her work clothes Shey. A hard working taskmaster, she demands perfection from her dances. She pays attention to every little detail, which pays off when it is show time. Carol,  dressed in her fairy costume works hard, dances hard, but loves to read and play with the cats. Krissie will always be late practice. (Don't tell the girls, they don't have long memories, but the were once Happy Meal toys who ended up in plastic bag with an assortment of other little dolls at the Goodwill. They would be heart broken if they knew the truth. Thankfully a kindly grandma rescued them. Alan is the only guy in the little troupe. No one really knows what he looks like because he always comes to class in costume. Silly guy.




Always at the bar Lucy, practices so hard to get her steps perfect, while Ellie dreams of riding her pony after dance class. These girls don't remember their humble beginnings when they were discovered at Hobby Lobby in the Christmas tree ornaments aisle. Here in the dance cottage they dance every day, never knowing the agony of spending 50 weeks of their year in a box in a closet.

The youngest member of the troupe, Sissy works very hard to get her positions perfect so that she can have a place in the recital.

The dance troupe has gathered this afternoon to plan the winter recital,  Alan hopes to do the Nutcracker--again--so he comes dressed the part, hoping to convince Shey that they should do it in pink this year. Little sister Sissy has come for the afternoon. Maybe she will get a part this year. 

Shey rescued the kitty family. They, too, were found in a suffocating plastic bag at the local thrift store ARC. Everyone loves them and hopefully they will keep the mice away. (Do you see the mouse?) 

The Ballet Studio is now open.

The dollhouse tools and material are put away until next year as I get the craft area ready to work on Christmas gifts and decorations, but I have plenty to share on how I did things and where I went for instruction, inspiration, and help, stay tuned. 

Thanks so much for visiting. 

The Alpine Farmhouse Begins

With the Lafayette finished (with only minor things left to do, actually), I began work on the Alpine Farm house. 

Let me tell you about this little house. The box aptly describes the two story two room house made out of mdf (manufactured wood), unlike the Lafayette made of very thin plywood. This house then is sturdier, heavier, but I think a bit easier to work with. I found it online, wanting a small house to assemble to learn how to work with the mdf wood and it has been a learning experience. Check the link to check out Real Good Toys  web site's description of the house. I especially like this company for the workmanship, quality, was of assembly, and especially that it is a made in America product.

The house measures 19Wx16Dx20H, making it nice size as a starter home. It has all of the features that teach us how to assemble larger homes. Be prepared for the weight of the house as the thick manufactured wood product is heavier.

Step 1: Carefully read the instructions. Sort out all of the pieces to familiarize yourself with them. Read the instructions again. Read them one more time. Read again. Unpack the kit, take an inventory of all of the pieces, making sure that they are all there to familiarize yourself with the kit pieces.

Step 2: Learn the pieces:  Dry fit the pieces together to get a feel for how the house will go together. I used blue painter's tape, but then realized that masking tape holds better.

Step 3: Painting:  Read instructions again. 

I wondered if I paint before or after assembling the house and opted for painting pieces before based on the trouble I had as I refurbished Heather's house. It is much easier to paint before all of the gingerbread and trims go on. So, while I didn't photograph the painting process, I painted the exterior with two coats of a satin enamel as the the can says. I was told at ACE Hardware that the paint was a semi-gloss latex. I trusted what they said. It worked, but instructions call for a good quality latex flat paint. In the research that I did as I questioned paint, one house builder said that a good paint job requires good sanding. The MDF does not need to be primed or sanded as the plywood does, but sanding in between coats does improve the second coat. I even gave the second coat a light sanding to make a nice smooth surface.  One caution to remind yourself is to be sure not to paint the surfaces where the glue will be applied because the paint will weaken the glue bond. This kit has nice notched edges that don't require taping off to paint the exterior surfaces. I used a light sandpaper 220 weight.

For the interior, if you already know how you will decorate the interior, you can paint prior to assembly for it will be much easier, or at least prime it. Do keep in mind that if you electrify your house using the copper tape, as I did, you will paint and paper after the tape has been installed which is done after the house is assembled. I painted the ceilings before assembling the house.

Step 4: Gluing. I was really quite nervous about gluing the house together. MDF absorbs moisture so you DO NOT want to get it wet, so choose carefully the products that you. House builders, how-to sites, and other instructions say to use white glue, i.e. Elmer's. I did not use Elmer's; instead, I used Sargent Art white glue that comes in a tube, acid free, non toxic, and had a nice pointed application top.   While it is water based, white glue must be used instead of the yellow wood glue that will turn yellow when it dries. 

As you apply glue, you want to do so carefully so that you do not have glue that seeps out of the cracks, even the white glue. I simply ran my finger along the joints where the glue seeped out to wipe it off. Keep in mind, too, that paint will not adhere to globs of glue.

Step 5: Clamping. You have to find some way to hold the pieces in place once glue has been applied because it will not hold together. On the very small wood pieces, I used rubber bands, but for the house I purchased regular wood clamps. They aren't cheap, running about $30 at ACE, but they do hold and I will use them again for the next house and I am sure that after the house building, they will be used for other projects. If you do not want to use clamps, follow the company directions using masking tape to secure the glued pieces together until the glue dries.

While the white glue does dry quickly, I gave the glue 24 hours to set.

And here is a preview. I have the house assembled, wired, papered, and all of the little trim pieces painted. At this point I have not yet glued the railing in place. You can see that I have made some modifications. 

You can see the changes that I have made: carved posts for the porch and adding two more, shutters for the windows, and I built window boxes that I will add instead of the kit's fake ones. 

When I began the Alpine house, I had no idea as to how to decorate it. I needed inspiration.

Regretfully, I a thrift shopper. My daughters and I love going to ARC and Goodwill looking for stuff. I have set some rules for myself, but I always look for dollhouse furniture which we rarely find, dolls, but only certain, special dolls. At Goodwill one day I found a bag of little dolls that had this cute little girl, a Madame Alexander doll that was a MacDonald's Happy Meal toy-- a ballerina. Boy did she get lucky because she will soon open her own ballet studio.  I sorted through the dolls and gave the grand daughters little dolls and keeping the ballerina for myself.  Both of the grand daughters have taken ballet, and little Lucy continues her lessons. I am so excited and I cannot wait to show you the finished house, but before then we have a lot more to do: painting little pieces, electrical wiring, wallpapering, flooring, gluing the front on, shingling the roof. 

Next time the trials and tribulations of an electrician. Stay tuned.

Thanks so much for visiting. I love your comments.

Finished--Well, Almost

Hello again. The Lafayette is almost done. I need to do a little more work around the front door. I ran into some problems with getting the door molding to fit. I was able to get molding fit around the kitchen window perfectly, but the living room window gave me problems and the molding ended up crocked. I mitered cut the molding for the door, but for some reason I cannot get the pieces sized so that they fit. So I gave up. That's why you see bits of blue painter's tape still holding the pieces in place. So here it is:





I really am pleased with my first attempt. I have to remind myself that this was a restoration, so as in any remodel job unless you are working with a true professional, some things just do not turn out perfectly. But for the most part, I am satisfied with my results. The house sits on a little table in front of a basement window that gets ample afternoon sunshine, so the girls can have  afternoon tea with sun shining through the window.



I haven't decided if the little mermaid is sad or tired. I am sure that she misses the sea.



I used the small Mattel bathroom fixtures though they are out of scale, but they fit better than the larger bathroom set that I have. I do like the room screen. It turned out so well.

Downstairs Jaya entertains her kitty friend. 

 I decided to add the room divider to give the house more wall space and definition. I need to finish the wall on both sides. I will add a chair rail on the living room side. On the kitchen side, I need to paint and add wallpaper. I am out of the paper I used in the kitchen so I am waiting to get to a dollhouse store in Denver to see what sort of selection it has. I am in no hurry.

Dollhouses are very hard to photograph. Getting exposure, lighting, and focus are very hard. I have found that my iPhone works nicely for closeups. For today's post, however, I used my Canon DSR with the 75-300mm lens with the flash on and the available sunlight providing back lighting.

So now I am working on the Alpine Farm House. I have the first coat of paint on the outside, the windows and doors painted and fitted in the walls. I have been reading and studying on how to add the wiring using a tape system. I will glue it together first then add the wiring. Right now I am at the point where I really do not know what I am doing, so I am taking my time. It is a simple two room, two story, so I shouldn't have too much trouble. Right?

I have decided that it will be a little ballet studio, inspired by a little doll I found at Goodwill. I'll introduce her the next post.

Thanks so much for stopping. I enjoy your comments.