Fairfield Dollhouse: ZZZZZ... The Bedrooms

 Sweet Dreams!  Got the art hung, so it's time to share the two kids' bedrooms - the boy's room on the third floor next to the attic sitting room, and the girl's bedroom on the second floor, next to the main bedroom. (Here's the last post: the exterior. See other post links in left column archives. Click photos for full size.)

Boy's Room: 

Like most parts of this house, the room had some small changes. I had this Cassidy Creations Campaign Bedroom Set stashed away for a looong time (and was lucky I found it!) I knew I wanted to use the set and that I wanted the bedroom to be based on this blue stars scrapbook paper. As luck had it, I also had this starry print fabric for the bed. It's hard to see here, but those are tiny Polly Pocket sneakers by the bed. (Still trying to get better photos, but the flash and angles won't cooperate.)

 I also decided that the little chair I was going to use in the attic room worked better here. Perfect place for the boy to sit and read his comics.  It's actually an older Michael's eraser I covered with fabric. Works with the lamp which I set on a small hatbox instead. Yes, that's a real moon stamp on the wall. Knew I had to save one for this.

Here's the desk with his stash of comics and a bookshelf with other stuff. Shh! Don't tell mom he took the box of graham crackers to his room!

Girls' Room:

I love this room. It's far from the typical girl's room, but I knew I wanted use that scrapbook paper and have a little bit of a circus sideshow vibe. So the art fit the wall perfect! I also used that large black frame below with Godzilla over the fireplace. The sneakers are another old Polly Pocket pair. 

The red chair is the resin one I covered with fabric from a tie. (The couch from the set is in the attic sitting room.) The  desk slipper chair is from last year's Half Scale group swap. The "rug" and carnival art on the left wall are actually cardstock art from a scrapbook kit. Thought the colors matched well. 

 The Egyptian figure in the corner I think is from those Toobs at Michael's. I only had a few of the pieces I picked up somewhere. I like how the wallpaper colors go with the brick. This really was a fun room to figure out how to do different than the usual "girly" room. The furnishings are painted vintage Tootsietoy pieces.

So, that's it for the moment. Finishing up the decorations on more rooms and added some other plants outside, so I'll show those soon. Thanks for stopping by again!

Ta-dah! The Fairfield Dollhouse Exterior Done!

 

Hard to believe, I finally got the outside of the Fairfield Dollhouse done! 

All I had left was to add some thin trim next to the roof on the under-layer. I decided to paint cloth-covered wire the same tan as it was the thinnest pieces I could find. Worked out well since I didn't want something that showed too much.

This is a hard house to photograph because of the angles, so bear with me. (Click photos for full size. See the last post-crates; see other posts in archives in left column.)

Additions:

The fencing, of course. Used the chipboard fence from Alpha Stamps, which I cut and glued into staircase railings.

Decided I didn't like the plain brick beneath the bottom windows, so I added some wood ovals painted black with gold accents. Then I used some of the pieces I cut off the fencing and made a kind of fleur de lis shape. For fun, I decided to add some bunnies for Easter. 

Here are the porches:

The chairs are neat, metal with a vintage print. Yeah, the giant egg is hokey, but I didn't want to leave the Halloween pumpkins up (and the other rubber shapes I have for Halloween fit even better- but later. ha!) Hopefully I'll find some plastic/rubber plant shapes or something for in-between.

I'm going to change that hanging plant on the top porch as I think a trailing plant will look better. Just wanted to put something there for now. And I have a fun idea for that blank wall next to the chairs on the first floor porch below; have to find the ivy leaves...

Here's the front door. Couldn't resist adding some "Easter eggs" in the pot. That other pot in the corner has a "bunny" hiding in it. 😏 Overall, I like how it all came out. I'd have done a few things different, but that's hindsight, you know. ha!

Photos of the finished girl's and boy's bedrooms are coming up next, so be sure to come back.

The dining room is also coming up with the kitchen, once I add the art in there. As the dollhouse shows are in April, I should have some more stuff to show too as I'll be looking for kitchen accessories and things like that. Then there is the annual half scale swap before that. So, some stuff to look forward to!

Below: here's a video of the exterior; excuse the background. 

(See YouTube link if it doesn't play right.)

Thanks again for stopping by! 

Fairfield Dollhouse: A fun miniature 'musical' surprise

 

I hate to say it, but... aren't they cute????

I have some of the larger ones in 1 " scale, but had the idea of looking for even smaller half scale, 1/24th sized crates. After all, what's an attic or house without some stored milk crates? (Click photos for full size.)

In case you're wondering about size, they are 1/2" square. I was tickled to death to find them on Etsy from All About Miniatures, 6 for $8. Nicely detailed. It's neat how many things are being made now by 3D printing. I didn't realize at first as I was searching for the best price that they also made the MCM chairs I have in my attic. See previous post. Also, here's the last post showing some changes and art in the house.

Of course, you have to have record albums for those crates! So, I hunted down some vintage LP covers and made a few. I've done these before, but I had to trim them a bit smaller to just under 1/2" (near 7/16" wide) to fit inside the crate. Just love them!

The "record" is a picture I found online and shrunk. I used a round punch that makes a 7/16" circle, then trimmed it slightly and colored the edge and part of the back with black Sharpie. (That's why I have a million punches. ha! Several circles and luckily I had this one.)

A fun, easy project. I really got a kick out of doing this. It's the "little" things that keep you smiling, you know.

Thanks again for stopping by! Check the archives in the left column for other posts and be sure to come back for more updates!

Fairfield Dollhouse: Looking Back and Ahead: Dining Rm, Living Rm Art

First planning photo

 It's hard to believe that my  Fairfield Dollhouse adventure (or horrors? ha!) began waaaay back in November, 2021 - the box was opened and the foundation was built as seen in the very first post I did on Nov. 29, 2021!!!!  I can't believe it's been that long, but I still remember that it took three times to open the box and look inside before the project actually got started! 

The fun thing of having this blog is I can look back and have a record of what I did when. Otherwise, who remembers? haa! 

In December 2021, I was also still working here and there on the Van Buren Halloween house at the same time, too. At least I was trying to finish that. So it wasn't until May 12, 2022 that some actual construction of the Fairfield got underway.  Now it's almost a full year that the house has been actually underway and...

Ta-dah! For the record:  Yesterday, Sunday Feb. 26,2023, I finally finished the exterior of the house! Some small trim still has to be added under the roof eaves and rooms are still being decorated, but the main exterior trim is all done!

After all this time, I admit feeling a little disappointed that it's almost over! haa! Now bear with me.... Before I share the final look, I'm going to cheat and stretch this out a little. So I'll show you a few more additions/changes I made to the inside: (click photos for full size; see past posts archives list and sign up for headline updates in the left column.)

The windowboxes... but all that trim is finished now. I'll show you next time...

Dining Room: I'm adding art yet and am finishing up the dining room table spread shown in the previous post, but I did switch a couple things here. I decided to change the front screen on the bottom of the fireplace and used another ivory-colored resin piece. Thought it went better with the two side pieces I also bought from All Dolled Up TDS at the dollhouse show last year.

I decided to use this carved frame with an eerie building scene as it matched the colors better. I thought it would be cool to get it to glow in the dark, but no matter which paint I tried, (and I have three kinds!) they all glow great in a big blob or in the bottle, but not on the picture. Sigh. Still trying to figure how to get that to work. Anyone know any secrets or a brand/type that'll work in small quantities or just used for outlining, please let me know.

I switched out the single bookcase for the double bookcase model as it fits the wall better. I've added more gold accents since this photo. I love these Gothic furniture kits from SDK Miniatures. The cool spooky books are a Horror Book Covers set from Jupitermoon3 on Etsy. The tea chest on the bottom shelf is part of a downloadable printies Tea caddy set from Zena's Miniatures on Etsy. I should add a bead-knob on the top yet.

Some of the books from the set. Nice front and back printing and clear images.

Living Room: I also switched the art and the fireplace screen in the parlor/living room. I cut a piece of gold metal filigree and attached it to a small wood strip.

I thought this picture of a Paris street scene fit the room colors better. I added glitter to the tree for a past half scale group swap. The frame is plastic that I painted.

 

That's it for the moment! Next time, I'll show the exterior and am still setting up the girl's bedroom. Then I can show you how both bedrooms turned out.

Thanks for visiting again and following along on my dollhouse journeys!

Yes, there's more to come and... guess what???? There's going to be another house to work on before I get out the next big project, the Park Avenue Mansion! Stay tuned for details. It seemed like a good idea to work on something smaller before I jump on that though it still takes me just as long I think to get all the details done.

Come back soon for more Fairfield reveals!

FYI: Season 2 Minis TV Show Canada

 

I was disappointed in not being able to finish watching Season 1 of Best in Miniature, airing on CBC Gem in Canada a while ago....  (See the show FB page.) Now there is a season 2 that just started on Feb. 19. (See list of episodes at the link, but hold off on clicking further.)

It looks worth watching as Preston Poling, known as The Bearded Miniaturist,  is a US contestant on the show this season. (Follow him on Facebook and new website.)  ** Check out the story about him using the TinyCircuits TinyTV in his project. 

If you'll recall, he is the creator of the amazing Frasier Show miniature set, The Frasier Project, which I saw and took photos of at the dollhouse show in Schaumburg, Ill. last year. See my photos here. 

So... according to Poling, there is a way to watch the show, and the CBC site also has the first season episodes online as well. If you're not in Canada, the CBC site will show a pop-up saying  you are not in the viewing service area.  ** But... watch his video on YouTube. Basically, if you sign up for a VPN service, you can then go to the CBC site, make an account, and then connect to Canada from there... The service he suggests is not cheap ($83 or so a year; may be short-term prices). 

Here's another suggestion I'm going to try and hope it works: I've been using Avast Free Antivirus for a long time, which has been good and always reliable. They also have a paid VPN -- which is free for 60 days....  so I'm going to wait until all or most of the episodes are on and then binge watch those and the last few shows I didn't see the first season. I don't know how many episodes they'll have but Season 1 had 10 episodes. I've tried other Avast services and they notify you when to cancel or buy the service. Hopefully I'll be able to hook up to the show with no problem. 

Let me know if this works for you. The nice thing, too, is being able to hook the computer up to the TV via a HDMI cable and watch  it that way. Actually I had liked this show better as contestants worked on their own house projects instead of a group making items for each of the rooms in one house as on the UK show, The Great Big Tiny Design Challenge. But I did enjoy that show too when I found them (and they also have episodes online if you haven't seen it, so maybe the VPN will work there, too.) 

Fairfield Dollhouse: Assorted Art, Furniture

 

Yum! Who's hungry?

While I'm working on finishing up rooms, (and that blasted trim. Can't you tell I'm not inspired to finish that? ha!), thought I'd share some furnishings I'm working on. Sometimes you have to step away from the construction part and do some kits! (Previous post: attic sitting room.)

I love making kits, so this is a fun, abbreviated tour of what else is going on in the Fairfield. I'll show the items and finished rooms in the house soon. (Click photos for full size.)

Assorted Art: Printed out some eerie (and a bit creepy!) art for the girl's bedroom. Still deciding what to use. The top coffee sign may go in the kitchen, but I have to see what'll fit on the walls.

Dining Room: I really like this Gothic furniture set (SDK Miniatures), so I decided to use the double bookcase here (to be filled with books and things yet) and switch it out with the haunted single bookcase in October. 

I wanted a larger table for the room, so I took the haunted tablecloth off the Gothic table for now and decorated it for a nice lunch menu. Still deciding on the set-up yet. Yes, have to add tea cups and silverware, too. Some "healthy" things but the kids like peanut butter and pizza - if they have some fruit and veggie sticks! 😏  I'd like to change the food offerings later for other holidays, especially Halloween!

Also painted and stained the chairs from the set. If I had to pick my favorite furniture and kits, then this is it. I like this kit so much I'll probably buy more pieces when I go to the shows in April in case it ever gets discontinued. (Hopefully not!) Eventually I'm thinking of making a library in a book box. There's also a double bench that goes with it, which I have set aside. (She'll be at the Spring Miniatures Show,  April 27-29, Wyndham Gardens Hotel, Schaumburg, IL.  I'm also planning to go to the Bishop Int'l. Show, April 29-30, Chicago Marriott O'Hare.)

I liked this washstand kit (also SDK Miniatures) and thought it made a good buffet.

Girl's Bedroom: The desk is a vintage Tootsietoy piece I painted. Bottles, faux lamp and basket from a past swap. I printed out some sketch notebooks for the basket and painted the scissors from some older Polly Pocket accessories I had. Luckily, I saved these and also have a bunch of teensy cute shoes, too. And I noticed they don't seem to make this stuff anymore, at least that I could find. 

On second glance, I thought the bed needed more pillows, and I also added a teensy toy dog. Also covered the resin chair (vintage resin couch-chair set (Georgia Matuschak kit 1995) with fabric from a vintage tie as I loved the shiny color. The couch is in the attic sitting room.

Kitchen: Still deciding on what accessories and wall art to add... For now, I switched out furniture and painted the farmhouse table kit (Jane Harrop, UK) and two slat chairs (which I think may be older Cassidy Creations kits). Funny that there's a lot of green in this room, not my favorite color, but I do like this Wedgewood green and a sage green also.

I took one of the chairs from the attic sitting room, so have to find another one for there, which I know I have... somewhere... But I'm also thinking of making a matching color slipper chair for the attic table instead. Funny that I have several, but not in the color or pattern I want there. ha! Isn't that the way it always is?

That's it for the moment. Thanks for stopping by again!

 (If you want to see more photos, check out the previous posts in the archives in the left column and also sign up for headline updates.)

The #Fairfield Attic Sitting Room, Kitchen Pieces

I have been working slowly on some things. Took a break, too, as I really didn't feel like doing more trim yet, as you'll notice. ha! (Yeah, ignore that untrimmed roof edge! 😏)

(Previous post: trimmed tower, attic bath, a few kits.  * See archives list for more posts and sign up for email updates in the left column. Click photos for full size.)

Instead, I got some furniture finished and decided to work on the attic sitting room, which is next to the boy's room. This was fun as it ended up with a kind of retro feel to it. 

There's a lot of fun stuff in this room. I had to add a bookcase, of course, with assorted books and some newspapers about the Queen's death. The small paint jars on top are from a past HS group swap. My favorite: I found this unpainted metal phone in my "buy it and I'll use it someday" stash and had to add it for a touch of realism. The phone cord is thin coated wire I cut off a tiny light bulb and painted. I also have a wall phone I painted for the kitchen. I made the vintage-flavored Eiffel Tower glitter picture for a past swap. I made the clock on the wall from a printie, rhinestone and a medium jump ring. 

 The reading chairs are '50s style MCM chairs from All About Miniatures. I decided to contrast the chairs by color with the blue floral fabric and the matching/contrasting pink print. The coffee table is from one of those Woodcraft punch-out kits of assorted furniture.

I did decide to cut off the top of the fake brick wall on a slant as it looks better since the back of the house is open. Luckily I glue things to hold but not that I can't pull it off with (hopefully) minimal damage. (There was none.) The textured red brick paper is from Starboc 2 in Greece on Etsy. Love her brick.

I am thinking of trying some white brick on the inner front walls when I eventually do the Park Ave. Mansion. Still have in mind to do a kind of rooming house, with the wealthy widow/owner living in the top floor penthouse apartment, which I'm leaning toward decorating in a Brooke Tucker style since I  now have the book and two lamps. (And sad to hear she died recently. Another miniatures legend gone.)

The fabric on the vintage resin couch (Georgia Matuschak kit 1995) is kind of busy so you can barely see that I decided to add a couple dirty spots and some stuffing sticking out. The lady of the house says the couch is too comfy to throw out. The kit came with a chair, too, that I'll use in another room. I like when I find these kits as they come out nice simply by gluing fabric on. The bottom section is grooved so you can tuck the fabric in. I made the hassock by covering a foam piece (shaped foam beads I found a while ago at The Dollar Tree) with fabric and bunka thread. 

The writing table (Vesper Narrow Table, Small Scale Living from All About Miniatures) has a typewriter from a past HS group swap and that weird "sculpture" plant whatever from Michael's. I got the chair as a kit at a show. 

The outer wall has an old radio (fun gift from last year's HS group swap.) It just seemed to work well in this corner.

Full view:

Kitchen pieces:

Working on some of the kitchen pieces. The baking table and stove are from TMC, Teresa's Miniature Creations (minitmc@comcast.net). She'll be at the Spring Miniatures Show at the Wyndham Gardens Hotel in Schaumburg, IL, April 27-29 as will SDK Miniatures. I like her Gothic furniture and flower kits. The Bishop International Show is also that weekend, Sat. April 29 and Sunday, April 30 at the Marriott Chicago O'Hare.) 

Before: (finishing up the sink yet.)

After:

I added some plastic confetti pieces, the top shelf and the orange seed beads for handles to the baking table. The pie making set is by Patsy M from a long ago swap. The tarts are Reutter Porzellan. I made the teeny jam jar.

The stove is so cute but ugh!! Those teensy-teensy beads for the handles and top of the stove burners are no-fun! I kept losing them and finally had to cut a couple tiny pieces of the square tube for a couple of the bead  "knobs." I gave up adding the beads to the side of the door and just painted the "hinges" silver. In case you're wondering and aren't familiar with 1/24, half scale sizes: the stove is 2.5" high and 1.75" wide. 

Here's another view for size: the chair is 1.25" wide and just over 1.25" high. Small, but doable. I've tried 1/48 scale which is much smaller. Too small for me. - Chris V. www.cverstraete.com

Thanks again for visiting. More updates coming soon! 

Fave January Read: Stephen King's Fairy Tale #fantasy

 

I like to mention books here occasionally between my mini-making, so I thought I'd share my favorite January read: Stephen King's Fairy Tale. (PS - he also has a new murder mystery, Holly, based on the PI from his Mr. Mercedes trilogy, coming out Sept. 5. There's an excerpt at his website.)

* Amazon - Barnes & Noble - see Goodreads.

I admit having reserved the library book previously, then deciding I wasn't up for a 598-page book. But I saw it again and decided to check it out: glad I did.

This is a fun, imaginative twist on a selection of classic fairy tales we know. Definitely odd in parts, sometimes scary, with some weird monsters but heroic moments. And it has a wonderful German Shepherd, Radar, whom you'll shed a few tears for. Being a longtime GS owner, I just loved the dog in the book and how she's saved. 

Some great monsters and villains here, and some great characters you grow to love. I can't comment much on the surprising or cool parts, as I don't want to give the surprises away. I didn't know anything about the book, so it was fun seeing where it went. Really enjoyed it and not a section of padding that I had to skip over despite the book's massive size. King really is on top of his game.

More Mini Collectibles are Coming Out!

 

Everyone seems to be getting in on the mini-mini trend of collectibles.

The Mini Brands  have come out with Fashion purses and mini food. Besides the Mini Brands Toys, I like the mini Disney and Star Wars figures in the Mini Brands Toys Disney version. I've always loved dolls so the teensy doll figures and princesses are hard to resist. Here's some I put in my mini Haunted Toy Store.

And now....

While I'm not a big Bratz doll fan, I was really surprised to see these mini Mini Bratz dolls at Walmart. (Amazon link.)($10 at Walmart; $7.99 on sale on Amazon at this writing.) I had no idea they were making these! How cute! This Japanese style figure is really cute. 

Then.... I saw an online post about mini Mini Funko Pops (not the mystery figures but tiny versions of the Funko box and figure) coming out soon. 

Haven't collected the full size figures either but I'm sure I'll get a few of the mini ones, too. I wonder who else will be getting on the mini bandwagon? Kind of fun seeing what comes out next.