Beacon Hill part 2

(See my previous post for the back story). These pics are of my childhood dollhouse, just as I left it years ago. She's home now and there is so much work to do! This is the kitchen. It's hard to see but I tinted the walls with a yellow wash. At the time, I thought a yellow and blue kitchen was so cheerful. You can tell it was the 80's! Teal blue and seafoam green?! And why did I paint the bays 2 different colors? :)

You can see that I tried to paint a panelling effect on the side of the stairs. The wax spots on the stairs were for holding the red corduroy carpet runner into place.

Pink and white below in the little girl's room:

This is the brightest yellow ever. Again, I must have loved the blue and yellow color combination. The painted triangles on the window were a great touch though!!

My Beacon Hill is Home!

It was Christmas, 1987 and I was hoping for a dollhouse. When I tiptoed out into the living room early Christmas morning I realize that the enormous cloth covered mound near the tree was probably it! I lifted just one corner and saw what seemed to be plastic. Putting that together with the size, I thought Grandma was giving me a big plastic Barbie house. This wasn't what I had anticipated, but I knew my reaction would mean a lot to her. Quickly getting back in bed, I planned a whole dramatic scene; hand to forehead, a gasp of surprise and several planned exclamations to express my gratitude and amazement.
When I was officially allowed out and the cloth was removed, my pretend amazement routine was officially forgotten. I had a wooden Beacon Hill Dollhouse complete with Christmas wreath on the door. I was genuinely stunned and the exclamations were real. It became more that just a toy but a whole other world for me. I spent hours arranging and playing and fantasizing that I was living in the victorian era.
Fast forward 22 years and picture that well loved dollhouse sitting dusty in storage several states away from my home. Then just 2 days ago, my wonderful husband helped make a miracle happen...my Beacon Hill is home! I can't express how ecstatic I am! There is so much happy work to do as you can see in these pictures:
See all the dust? Yikes! The greasy marks on the walls are from the wax I used to put up wallpaper in this dining area. The picture below is of the bathroom just the way I left it. The "valance" is a cupcake wrapper! I painted a frosted effect on the lower pane with glue. At least that effect is a keeper!

Here's an overall view of the house below. I evidentally wasn't afraid of color!

Come in and put your feet up!

Hi all! This is an amazing virtual tour of a dollhouse that is so realistic you may want to check what's in the oven. In fact, that's exactly what you should do because there is something in the oven and in the shed and in every nook and cranny of this beautifully crafted house! Once you enter, move your cursor over the page to find all the embedded links that will take you through doorways, upstairs, and closer to wonder details. Get some hot cocoa and enjoy!

http://www.lindas-miniaturhaus.com/Sites/spielhaus/SPH-start.htm

Westville Bedroom

Since I posted the quilt tutorial yesterday, I thought I should share what my Westville bedroom looks like now. It still needs pillows and a couple more accessories but it's on it's way! The sun might have been a little too bright on that furniture! I just picked up the guitar and case at a local show and the dresser was at a flea market.

See the lovely crocheted blanket? I get no credit because I bought it also. :)

I know I've mostly been posting about my Orchid but here's an early picture of the bedroom of my Westville. I used a couple different shades of cream and yellow to weather the walls and five them a bit of a glow. The rug is a circle cut out of scrapbook paper. A little fringed fabric glued under the eduI love Graphics 45 for beautiful vintage designs! They have Shabby Chic to World War II era and each paper is double sided so you have 2 coordinated patterns.

I've been so inspired by the beautiful mini-quilts made by others (see below) that I tried my own, including a real life shortcut. Here's a couple inspiration and tutorial links:
Quilt tutorial (This one is so clever!)
Liberty Biberty Quilt tutorial (Mercedes does a wonderful job of letting us in on all the details with pictures).

Beautiful, huh? My shortcut (because I am lousy at sewing!): Instead of cutting out itty-bitty squares, I cut 1 inch wide strips and sew them together, side by side. This makes a large square of "striped" fabric. I then turned that block sideways and cut across the strips, again 1 inch wide. This makes a long strip of tiny squares already sewn together. Match those up and sew those square strips together and I have the quilt you see above. Happy sewing!

Details

Sometimes photos like these give you just the details that your need to complete or recreate a scene or time period. Click to enlarge any pics (I hope I've gotten it right this time!) Enjoy! Architectural pics will come soon!

Antique Simplicity and Texture

My favorite antiques are those that are worn and textured, having been held and used for generations in caring for loved ones. I would love to one day have an entire kitchen full of these wonderfully simple tools. These are pictures that I took near Savannah, Georgia, at the Tybee Island lighthouse. Click on the pictures to enlarge them:

This is my favorite!