Fairfield #Dollhouse Progress Update!

 I know, it's been awhile, but it takes a lot of planning doing this house and lots of trimming. So much wood to paint and cut! Here's the side I'm working on. Don't be too disappointed; I've only got stuff done on the bottom two rooms though the tower and hall on other side is papered; what will be the kitchen is part papered and I'll be working on that soon. (click photos for full size.)

I found with this house that to do one thing you have to do a bunch of other things first. First electric, then wallpapers, then floor, then put in door trim before adding wainscot trim. The parlor alcove inner roof had to be painted and the inside papered, and all windows done before it's attached. That's next. 

Then...  I painted the outer windows on the alcove sections a lighter purple and... I didn't like it.  

Nothing harder/worse than repainting windows already attached but at least it was doable. (Ignore any sloppy parts that have to be touched up and there will be strip trim added top and bottom also.) The lower wall is beige/tan mixed with some sand. The inner windows are all the same color. The outside parts of the windows are now a cherry red.  The window in the second floor tower on the other side got cut out for a door, too, so that's the door color as well. It's not looking too Halloween at this point, but the decor will be. Well, you  have to go with what feels right and I've done enough purple and orange already on other projects. Time for a color change.

The inside is the fun part - the designing. The worse is all the awful trimming and wood to cut. Then I lose pieces and have to re-cut and repaint. ha!

I had these scrapbook papers saved and really liked the blackboard effect of the floral print. Plus the floor has circle designs with a part shiny surface. So black and white is the theme in these two rooms. The dining room floor is the black/white tile paper I seem to use in every house. I wanted to do matching papers since the two rooms join. The dining room on the right has to have trim and windows put in. There's also a strip on the wall dividing the two rooms.

The ceiling is a textured paper I had a few pieces of. It gives it a kind of old-fashioned Victorian feel. 

I love the alcove. I have trim for the bottom of the wall once it's attached. 

I used a pearly stone paper on the front and side panel of the fireplace on the first floor between the rooms. I'll put a thin white wood trim around the top. I decided to cover a piece of mat board also with the stone paper for the hearth instead of using the thicker wood pieces from the kit.

The front of the fireplace will be kind of different. I found these beads ages ago at a shop at the Renaissance Faire and saved them for a project. They got cut in half, so I can use the bottom designs on the other side. I'll paint all the wood pieces and the shaped trim black.

Ceiling in dining room. That split wall on left will be divided from the striped wall with a painted wood strip between the rooms.

It's know it's not a lot done, but it's taken a while to get to this point. Feeling better about this project as I go on.

The kitchen next to the tower on the other side will have an orange floral paper and a orange/green tile print floor paper. Since it has an old-fashioned look, I wasn't sure what style the kitchen would be. The stairs are made but once I saw this stove and sink set from Teresa's Miniature Creations at the last dollhouse show, I knew I had to have an old-fashioned kitchen. I'll be using the vintage Tootsietoy metal refrigerator that I have instead of the one shown here and have to order the sink since she ran out of that kit at the show. (Thanks to Terri Shuping Correll of the FB Half Scale group for the photo.)

So, slow progress but getting there. Hopefully I'll have more details to show soon. Thanks for stopping by! 

More finds at the #Dollhouse #Miniatures Shows

 

Ron Chase, D-Tales Miniatures clock, shelf

Fun once again to be out and seeing stuff. Nice to say hi to a few people as well! 

* Check out the cool show displays too  - Frasier Show in Miniature!

Some things I found: 

* I've fallen in love with the filigree work by Ron Chase of D-Tales Miniatures. I have this wonderful shelving unit by him in my big HS dollhouse that I luckily got in a previous HS group swap. I also have another clock and radio. So I had to get this small wall shelf and clock this year. (See top photo) And he kindly made some dish drainers for me. More photos of that to come when I get another one done. I got the first one in the kitchen cabinet kit I bought from him at the last show. 

I buy mostly half scale kits these days as I have plenty of 1" scale furniture and I do half scale mostly now (running out of room!) Any 1"scale things I do if I get in the mood will mostly be vignettes or small settings in book boxes or jewelry boxes that I find at Goodwill. But I do have a roombox set aside that will be a fancy library at some point since I have furnishings saved for that. There is another roombox that was once a bar that I might refashion into... something.... at some point.

* Neat resin decorative carved/castings from All Dolled Up TDS. She does some nice fireplaces and furnishings, too. I plan on using some of these to dress up the fireplace fronts in the Half Scale Fairfield.  The bottom left pieces also have faces on them which should look cool once painted. The right side package was a gift since it was broken.

* I thought this wall panel would look good above a fireplace instead of the usual art or a mirror.

* I wanted to see CastleCrafts (South Africa and NY) at the Bishop Show since it was their first time in this area. I had some accessory kits in mind, not realizing they had 1:24 - half scale, so I naturally honed in on that instead as they had some unique styles. They had a nice chaise lounge and a clock that I'll have to pick up at a later date, I think.

* Teresa's Miniature Creations has some really nice 1/24-half scale furniture kits. I have her library table in my den in the big HS house and I think I have a side table set aside yet. I like finding more unusual pieces and fell in love with this old-fashioned stove. I have some "magnet" stoves, but this looked pretty authentic painted white and it's a bit different in style. I wasn't sure what style the Fairfield kitchen should be, but as I'm using a vintage-looking "tile" floor, this will fit well. Photos will be coming of the papering so far. I like the colors I'm choosing though the rooms may be somewhat "normal" in style but the furnishings will be spooky. I do plan on making the outside more aged, though.

Unfortunately, she was out of the vintage sink kit (which is just like the real-life sink that was in the first floor apartment in the two-flat I grew up at in Chicago), so I plan on designing one myself.  Pretty intrigued by this challenge! She used earring backs as faucets so will have to figure how those will look. I have a vintage Tootsietoy monitor top metal fridge I've been hanging onto for years for the right project, too.

Some Ideas:

* Otterine has the larger sink and fridge in her 1" scale 1920s kitchen on her blog, so I'll be looking for some inspiration! Here's a real-life vintage sink at Old House Journal. Btw, in real life these old cast-iron sinks are going for big $$ on ebay - $650 to $4,000!

* Here's what they call a "farmhouse sink" on legs. Looking at this. The real-life one I used had steel legs with a drain board on left and a large sink on middle/right.

* Saw a perfect sink at this Instagram post

Odds and Ends:

Couldn't resist this tiny dinosaur toy and the baby. Plus these miniscule alcohol bottles!

Just because: 

Even tinier jars and a bottle for the FF kitchen. Yes, the lids come off the jars!

Bargain of the day:

Cool printed vintage-looking rugs for $1!

More to come once I make some progress with the FF /Fairfield. (Putting trim and ceiling in parlor; just cut the dining room floor. Those rooms are a neat black/white theme. Have to trim that room too.) 

I have to try to get some things done as garden planting time and cleaning up outside is coming soon!  We get our plants at the sale Friday. Already! But we usually can't plant for a few days with rainy weather... we'll see. 

I do have to plant my Morning Glory seeds and get my sunflower seeds in. But I'll still be working on things once summer is here, too. I like to sit on the deck and work on stuff out there once it's warm.

Here are a couple of the real-life flowers from a previous year:

Thanks again for visiting! Until next time!

The Annual Spring #Dollhouse #Miniature Shows!

 

Lots to see at the two shows, the Bishop International Show in Chicago by O'Hare Airport and the Spring Showcase show by T&D Miniatures in Schaumburg, Ill. (Click photos for full size.)

This year there were some cool displays at the Showcase show.  Of special interest was this roombox above called The Frasier Project by Kentucky miniaturist Preston Poling, "The Bearded Miniaturist." The replica details the Seattle apartment of psychiatrist/radio host Frasier Crane (played by Kelsey Grammer) on the Frasier TV show, which aired from 1993-2004 on NBC. 

Lots of great detail in this down to the dog "Eddy" in the chair -- but I have to say that chair really looked way rattier on TV. haa! Very cool project. There's also a Facebook group for the project. (And  his YouTube - oops! Repairs were needed!)

Kitchen and side view:

Also of interest was this mini Seattle-area Record Shop, also by Poling. I love that outdoor sign and the electric meter caught my eye as did the realistic a/c unit on the roof!

Check out the console!

Another interesting project were these theater rooms. I'm showing just a few. (I'm trying to find the information on these. I believe they were to be auctioned off for donations to St. Jude Children's Hospital.)

I found some neat kits at the Bishop show, too. I was looking rather than taking photos there this time since it's a much bigger show. More on some of my finds from both shows in another coming post. All in all, it sure was nice to be able to see and shop for minis again. And luckily we got home early enough as there are some pretty bad storms and tornado warnings coming as I wrote this Saturday.

Until next time! 

HS #Minis Swap, Off to Shows!

 

Yay! I'll be off to the annual Dollhouse Shows in Illinois tomorrow! (Bishop International and The Spring Showcase) I'll try to get photos of displays, etc. and show some of the things I find.

So...in the meantime, figured I'd show the fun items I got in the annual Half Scale Group Swap a few weeks ago. (Click photos for full size.)

Look forward to this every year. Been doing it for years and never disappointed!

The theme this year was Antiques. It's a starting point, but you don't have to stick with the theme.

Top: assorted items. 

Fun stuff! I made the award and dog picture. (The little white package are the checkers; not opening that until I glue them down!)

I made art and the trophies. The statues could be smaller but it's what I found to work with... Trophies, of course, are all sizes...

This was pretty cool. Love this hat and stole set! Maybe I'll make a small stand to hold them.

See you when I get back from the shows!

UK #Dollhouse #Miniatures Show Videos

 

These have been staying up online so I'll post the link:

The latest Episode 5 (and the first 4 episodes) of the UK minis show, The Great Big Tiny Design Challenge, are (so far) still viewable online.  See link. to catch up.

#Miniature Tea & Toy Store 2; Happy Birthday to the Queen!

While I'm working on the Fairfield (yes! I have papers cut and ready to go in; paper and trim for the fireplace and I can add some lights! But... the problem with this house (so many!) is all the planning. Do one thing, realize have to do something else first. It gets tiring. Why I start and then get nothing else gets done. More on that later. Sigh.) 

Moving on... I added some new things to both the Tudor Tea Shoppe and the Haunted Toy Store, so thought I'd do a combined post. (Click titles for last posts or look in left column archives. Click photos for full size.)

The Haunted Toy Store

Never say never. I saw mentions online of people finding the Disney Mini Toy Brands, which got me curious. Well, since I came across some at Meijer, I bought one. (But!!! I see some people sharing a mini Dumbo! Oh, I love Dumbo so I keep searching as I don't want to pay $12 for one mini figure.)

Anyway....pretty cute. This one also came with a small shelving unit to assemble. Interesting is they also now have Mini Fashions Brands with purses and shoes (but Barbie sized.) Cute, but I'm not going to start on those (though I could set those up in the Mego Cher doll dressing room I have which is put away... I better not think of that! Running out of display room!) 

I know a few of the items are larger, but in comparison, they work as toys for the Living Dead girl doll. I can also change her out to a creepier doll, too, but she seems to fit in here. 

I also added some of the Lemax haunted toys I got last year  to the wall shelf.  I'd bought two packages then as I thought they were cute and I've learned - they never reissue the same items though they did have new mini gnomes again this past Halloween that were slightly different than last time.  

I also added a Big Bird I found at Petco. It's getting full now like a toy store should be, with lots to look at. Glad I changed this project as these are fun things to look for. (Hey, I still have some wall shelf space I can fill!) 

* * * 

The British Tudor Tea Shoppe

Happy Birthday to Queen Elizabeth, who just turned 96 and is celebrating 70 years as monarch!

I probably made this project some 20 years ago, but looking at it again, I realized my big oversight - no Union Jack teapot! Gasp! Well, when someone online shared a photo of a set they'd seen (Timelines brand) at Hobby Lobby that I'd never seen there before, of course I had to find one! Naturally they were out of them at sale time, but I went back again and found that plus this pretty set of pitchers for flowers and a nice silver tea set. I'll save those for other projects. (Funny that I went back again and the sale was back on so I got another British teapot set, this time at half price!)

The Union Jack tea set really adds something to the bottom shelf here, don't you think? (The blue book is a Dateman miniature photo book from the UK.)

I also decided to add some flag bunting and a small Jubilee sign outside, plus some more flowers. It thought it looked kind of bare before. It needed a few pops of color, right? This project probably sat for 10 years or so, so it needed updating. I added the new newspapers, too, and the Queen and Prince Philip portrait inside.

Some other additions include these really nice handmade pillows from a UK maker at Etsy (LadybirdandPenguin), so I had to add a couple. (And they were so reasonable, just under $2 each!) I think they really add a nice touch.

I also added the ceramic Jubilee sign (a button) and a thimble from Birchcroft China/Etsy, also in the UK.  I like adding things that are British made for authenticity. Even the food as that meal plate on the table (second picture above) and the large black tea container on the floor (partially shown at right below) were from a dollhouse shop in London when I went there years ago. The silver model below (and a toy dragon by the shelves) are from Westminster Abbey. The photos on the wall are from the trip, too.  I'm sure I'll keep adding a few new things, but I'm running out of room!

Thanks for stopping by again! Hope you enjoyed the tour! 😃

Stay tuned for more posts. And the dollhouse shows in Chicago (Tom Bishop International Show and the Spring Showcase show in Schaumburg, IL) are next weekend, so really looking forward to that! Will share photos of what I found and things I found interesting.

 

Miniature #haunted house update

I was going to post this at the end of March, but time got away from me. Anyway, here's an update of a few thigs I got done since the last post. Yeah, I know, slow progress but...? 

The roof is done (ghastly project) and I think it came out pretty well. Any goofs I covered with moss in strategic places...  ha! I got the fence from Alpha Stamps (I cut and used the smaller pieces on my other Greenfield haunted house) but I also got a bat border which I might use in front. Have to add those around the roof edges yet.

I put a vine on the side, too, for many reasons including that I lost the original top window piece and had to cut a new one which wasn't quite perfect. But I thought the vine added something.  I also made a section of ferns and wisteria blooms (purple floral soft/shredded foam glued to cloth wire) to add to the front yet. As you see the octopuses are not on yet, either. ha!

Also made a few flowerpots to put on that really too small for much else balcony in front. I'm thinking of making a new patio/outside front yard to put some statues and things, maybe some seating areas with gardens and shrub borders. Have to figure it out yet. The idea: I'd like to add a semi-formal eerie garden with animal topiaries (like in The Shining) could be cool. I found a couple small plastic toy animals I saved to cover in green grass (that's why you have all this weird stuff!) Stay tuned!

The fun part: some inside stuff: 

 The gothic bookcases turn out to be too tall for the second floor since I didn't want to cut off the front cross. So I shaved it down a bit and decided to use the single one on the first floor. I'll use the double set in the Fairfield (which I checked and since the second floor where I want to use is only 4 1/2" tall (the first floor is 5" tall) I'll probably cut the top crosses and re-glue them. (from SDK Miniatures.)

The small bench is a southwest style piece from Annie. This was fun: once I saw this spiderweb table set at a show some time ago from Michelle's Miniatures, I knew the quarter-scale table would work as a half scale side table. (Oh I see she has a cool spooky face Adirondack chair in half scale that would be fun to get!)

* The 'I Thought of It, So Now I Have to Do It' Idea:

Once I thought of that light under the stairs, well, I knew it would bug me unless I tried something. (The photo is red as I covered the flash to show the blue light.)

Soooo...  The back wall here actually was pieced since I had changed the original staircase top tread and had to fit a new back. I filled it in with three pieces since I didn't think I'd be pulling it out again. 

I decided to use the round piece with a switch from one of those cheap tea lights. I changed it so I had to solder a new blue LED light to the metal. Next, I measured a new full back using picture framing mat board, stained it (Gloss Mod Podge tinted with Brown Umber Acrylic Paint) and then cut out the hole. I glued the switch in with Quik Grip and then glued the picture back on over it, cutting out a small slot for the switch. 

Ta-dah! It's all lightly glued so I can take it apart to change batteries and then re-glue when needed. It's more a novelty so I won't be lighting it that much though. Next time, (yes there'll be a next time if I plan it ahead!), I want to try using one of those blinking LED's. There are tea lights with those but I didn't have one handy.

 

That's it for the moment. I added a few things to the toy store and the Tea Shoppe, that's for another post. Even more fun: got some cool things in the annual half scale swap and the dollhouse shows are coming up at the end of the month. Be sure to come back for more photos!

Next?

And.... yes.... I got the Fairfield out. Again. I'm determined and just don't want to quit on this yet. The two sides are glued. Realized I left one small wall part out that I can't fit in now so I'll have to cut it into two pieces for each floor. And next will have to wallpaper the inside of the tower to fit it in and put brick paper on the fireplaces. I studied and restudied those instructions, trying to ID pieces so it's (kinda) starting to make sense. Changing some things, of course. Will share again when I have some real progress. 

Thanks again for stopping by!