Closet? Who Needs a Closet?

In my last posting, I talked about how I make molding panels to add details along the stair wall of my Westville dollhouse. When it came time to attach it, I started thinking... a dangerous thing! That closet under the stairs was a big waste of space! I could put cleaning supplies and storage on display under there but I already had a whole attic for that. Hmm.. what if I take off the doorway... Better already! The elf will have to move out!

I then used any and every tool that I could think of to hack away at the wood. I have a dremel but I really need lessons in how to use it. For me, sometimes hand tools like a utility knife just feel more satisfying as I hack away. The painted area of wall was the only visible wall space before.

I test fit part of a Michael's hutch to work as a "built in" bookcase and with a lot of sanding, finally made it fit. I then found a scrap of foam board to replace the side wall I had just cut out. Remember, I was just hacking away with the knife. If I had planned ahead I could have left that section of wall intact. Hindsight is 20/20!

Foam board also smoothed out the underside of the steps so there is a smooth sloping wall. I used textured scrapbook paper to line the back of the bookcase. I love how it imitates bead board! I had to patch in the wood floor before the final fitting, but again because this was a spontaneous "bash" I accidentally used the wrong stain. Sigh.

I trimmed it out with scraps of molding and a shelf on top of the bookcase. I used the same bead board look scrapbook paper on the side wall of the stairs to mask the foam board patch. Finally, you can see a couple of the wood panels I made in the last posting. I will be making a couple of final adjustments, like that mismatched angle, but finally, a little more floor space! I'm picturing a rocker and blanket to make a little reading nook. Time to rearrange furniture!

Molding Minus Math

I've often admired the molding and paneling details in so many dollhouses and wondered how anyone could make it look so beautiful and straight! Perfect angles too. I would still love to know from any of you who have ideas for me... please share your expertise. Since I didn't know how, I made it up!

First, I put newsprint against the wall I wanted to attach the molding to. In this case it was the wall under a staircase. Can you see the railing openings? I took a rubbing of it, just like back in elementary school when we'd make leaf rubbings!
I then drew lines with a ruler (this helped with the straight part!) wherever I wanted the moding to be attached. I needed really narrow molding which I didn't have and so decided to make my own of that too. In the picture below, you can see "ceiling and door trim" from miniatures.com. It was too wide of course so I cut strips of it. Voila...narrow molding! It's even the right size for picture framing.

The next step for me was to smear a little glue stick over the pencil lines so the molding wouldn't slip around. I laid a strip down, marked where it touched the pencil line and cut. I continued the same way on all my drawn pencil lines with a little sanding here and there and a touch of glue in the corners. I still have no idea what degree each angle is but I didn't have to using this method, thank goodness!

The fact that each piece was glued to the paper was very handy to when it came time to paint. I painted each piece and found that the paint filled in and covered up some of my poor cutting! I let it all dry and glued each square/triangle in place. I'll post the final pic in my next posting. Keep checking in! ;)

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!