Let there be light...

 I have added a few new things to the living room in Victoria's Farmhouse.  I made a lamp for the table between the two chairs.  I wired it so that it works.  I also added a lamp on the piano that is a Tiffany style lamp. It also works, Yea!  I made a rug for the floor as well.  The room is definitely coming together. 

 I've also attached the cushions on the chairs now, so they are complete.

 Here are the lights all on.  I think they look so warm and cozy.  I think the molding will make the room even more charming once it's installed.  It's bugging me that the door is unfinished. 

 I even added working embers to the fireplace.  So fun and cozy.  I just need a soft throw blanket draped over the couch and some coco and cookies.   

Until next time...

Victoria's Farmhouse Dollhouse Living Room Update!

 So, I have been working on the living room in the Victoria's Farmhouse Dollhouse.  I'm loving how it's coming along.  It's still very bare, but things are starting to look like a real room and I can envision the finished room.  I haven't glued down the wallpaper so it's coming away from the wall in some places.  I also haven't added baseboards or crown molding, both of which will be in the final room.  They will be white.  The curtains need a few adjustments, but overall, I think everything is looking how I had hoped. 

 I made a coffee filter wreath for the fireplace window in the exact same way that you would make a real life sized one.  I think it turned out cute. 

 You can see that the chair's upholstery hasn't been glued down either.  I don't like to finalize anything because I have a hard time making decisions.  But hopefully this gives you a feel for what the room will look like. 

 You can see that the door is falling out of its frame.  This French door leads into the adjoining dining room.  I have to trim the wood floor so the door will sit flush against the floor.  Then it will fit in the frame.  But for now, it is too tall. 

Anyway, I'm excited about the room coming together and will post more pics as it gets finished.

Carousel

I just finished making this cute little carousel for the nursery in Virginia's Farmhouse Dollhouse.  I am really pleased with the way it turned out.  

As always, there are a few things I would have done differently the second time around.  I got the tutorial from the cutest little site,CAROUSEL TUTORIAL.  It has other tutorials, but I couldn't resist making this carousel.  It was rather simple to make, but I had to do some adjusting.  I had to print the border around the top and bottom twice, because it wasn't quite long enough as is, to cover around the whole thing.  I also printed at 90% because I felt like the original was too large for scale, and my 1.25" hole punch fit the circles perfectly at the smaller size.  That cut down on cutting out circles, since I used stacked circles for the base and top, instead of the thick stuff she used.  I also added the bead cap and bead on top to give it a little more dimension.  She adds beads around the bottom, which I may add later, but didn't have on hand.  

I think it goes quite nicely with the nursery.  I definitely need a few more toys and things to spruce it up.   But for now, the baby has at least one toy to play with.  :)

  

Chevron couch

I couldn't let a year go by without doing a post.  And it's almost been just that.  Life is very busy with three children, but have no fear... I am always doing minis.  I just don't always get time to post about them.  My latest creation that is actually finished (minus throw pillows), is this chevron couch.  I saw the fabric at a quilt shop and couldn't pass it up.  Needless to say, I created the whole living room to match it.  I used Kri's tutorial for her chair, and just stretched it out and changed the back.  It worked wonderfully, and I think it turned out very nice for my second couch ever.

Besides that, Victoria's Farmhouse is coming along slowly but surely.  I have wallpapered almost every room, and will be working on molding soon.  And most of the shingles are done on the roof.  Woot!

More Shingles and Carpet

I have started shingling the roof of Victoria's Farmhouse Dollhouse. The shingles came out a different color than the first house I did, even though I used the same technique. I actually wanted this color for this house, so that's a good thing. It's really adding to the finished look.



I found a place mat at the Dollar Tree that I thought was perfect carpet. It reminds me of Berber carpet, which was what I was hoping to have in this room. I wanted a neutral color and this one also matches the color of the hardwood floor throughout the rest of the house. I'm pretty happy with it. I haven't glued it down yet, so there are ripples in the picture. And now you can't see the patch. Yea!




I finished the wallpaper in the master bedroom as well. It looks more complete.




And this last picture shows the room dividers installed in the kitchen/dining area. I like them both and will keep them there.

Back to work!

Progress

I'm almost done with the Alison Jr. I decided I need to finish at least one dollhouse so I can claim something is finished. I've glued the house together and finished the windows and outside railings. I still need to shingle (of course) and patch a few things. I plan on adding molding too, but I'll do that later probably. Some of the wallpaper was a little off when I put it on, so I also need to fix that.

Anyway, I moved in temporary furniture so you can see what rooms are what.


I need to glue in the partitions as well, but I left them out so I could work on the dining room set that I'm going to make, without the partitions in the way.



The stairs also need railings. I patched the ceiling where the stair hole used to be. You can't hardly tell it was there unless you're really looking for it.



I had to make a new floor for the bathroom to hide the patch. I really liked how the pink and white diagonal tiles turned out. I was going for a linoleum look.




You can still see the patch in the floor in the nursery. I need to come up with a carpet of sorts to cover it.



The master bedroom is the biggest room in the house. I cut a square hole in the ceiling so the tower room can be reached. I'll make a ladder that allows access.



This is the little reading nook in the tower. It will have a bookshelf as well and a chair similar to the one shown. I think it adds some serious charm to the master room.



And here's the outside. I think it's coming along pretty well. I have all the trim painted, it just needs to be applied. A little patch job around the balcony door and it will be done. Wahoo!




And here's a little more explanation for my big house (Victoria's Farmhouse). I wasn't very clear on the room situation before. This shows the bathroom, which is on the other side of the master bedroom which is in the front of the house. I made the floor the same way as the pink and white. It still needs to be glued down. You can see the master door across the hall from the bath door. There will be a round stained glass window behind where the door opens in the bathroom. I have to have a window in every room. It's too gloomy without it.




Here's a view from the nursery (next to the bathroom) and you can see the door that goes into the master bedroom. Hopefully that makes the layout more understandable.

I also made all the floors on the first and second floors (some still need stain), but that was a big process and I can't believe I got it done. I've actually been procrastinating it because I wasn't sure exactly what I wanted to do. Also, I thought I had to have the lighting all installed before I could put the floor in so that I could bury the wires. But then I realized that I could make all the floors removable so I can still access the raw floor. So, they are all removable, and I think this was a road block that will allow me to continue, now that I've over come it.




This is the door on the third floor that goes into the front room.



This shows how to access that front room. The roof is going to be hinged so it just lifts up and you can play in this room as well. Now I just have to find the right hinges. :)

This shows the side access panel which allows access to the living room on the first floor, and the master bedroom on the second floor.

Victoria's Farmhouse by Real Good Toys

And the final dollhouse that I own right now is the Victoria's Farmhouse by Real Good Toys. This is my baby. It's hard to have a dream dollhouse because I love so many styles, but this is my ultimate dollhouse. It's pretty big, for me anyway. I've seen lots of big dollhouses, but this is the biggest I think possible for me to undertake. I've been working on it for over a year in my spare time and I'm just about finished with the outside. The shingles still need to be added of course, and then I need to finish up the foundation (egg carton stones), and touch up paint and trim. I also need to stain the front door a wood color, and add the board and batten to the eaves.

Sorry for all the debris in the pictures. I'm messy when I work on my dollhouses.

My vision for this dollhouse is to finish it in current day interior design. That means I will have to make a Victorian dollhouse some day because I've always wanted one. However, it scares me to make things in period, since I don't know much about the Victorian era.

A family will live in this house. They have a mom and dad, a baby girl, a brother, and a sister.



As you can see, I have changed quite a bit from the original kit. There are certain things I like to include in my dollhouse and the original kit didn't allow for it. I think I secretly find pleasure in kit bashing also. I'm never satisfied with the original design.

I added windows to the attic rooms, and created more space in them by raising the back to be room height. I also added the whole side addition, which includes a formal dining room, a nursery, and then a craft/guest room (that's the plan right now anyway). A side panel towards the front opens to reveal the living room and the master bedroom. I also made the roof open on the front eave so I could have a room in there as well. That will be the boys room. I also put a roof where the upper porch was supposed to be, because it seemed more charming and farmhouse-y to not to have a balcony. I also added the roof (it's just taped in place for now) over the bay window because it seemed weird to just have a large flat area.


Some of the walls are missing (they're built, I just forgot to put them in for this photo because I was in a hurry), but I'll try to explain the floor plan as best I can. My daughter also put all the furniture in the house as well as some of her toys, so I will try to get a better picture of the house set up the way it's supposed to be asap. You'll have to use your imagination for now.

From left to right starting at the bottom, we have the laundry/mud room first. This is where you see the French door which opens into the side backyard. The other door opens to the porch. Next to the laundry room is the entry way with stairs. From the entry way, you can enter the living room (the door is behind the stairs next to the front door), or go into the kitchen at the back. There will be a wall separating the two. Next to the kitchen is the formal dining room, which can also be accessed through the living room by a single French door.

The second floor from left to right has a study/library. The door leading off of this room will enter a little hall that is only like 3" square. A door on the left will enter into the master bedroom in the front of the house, and a door on the right will enter into the bathroom. From the master bedroom, there is a door that leads into the nursery. I hope that all makes sense. I'll have to stage it better so that it does.

Anyway, the upper floor from left to right starts with the daughters bedroom. The lucky girl gets the large dormer and all the charming roof angles. Next to that is the family room, and next to that is the craft/hobby room and maybe guest room. In the front of the house (the door leading off of the family room) is the boys room. I may possibly make that the guest room and not have a boy, but I have some fun ideas for a boys room that I want to use. So we shall see. Maybe I'll make a room box for the boys room :).

So that's the tour at a glance. I've started the round wiring and am about half way done (it's a lot of work for a house this huge, especially since I've never wired a house before), but I think I may pause on that and just make the floors removable, so I can finish the lighting with each room, instead of doing it all at once.

Wow, it looks overwhelming. But if I just do a little at a time, it will slowly get done. I'm very pleased with the way it's turning out.

So that's my final house. I'm sure it won't be the last. I seem to switch from house to house as I work on things, so the posts are sure to be random as work progresses.


I feel like I have been so welcomed into the miniature world already with so many followers. Everyone has been so nice in their comments and I love all of your blogs. You are what inspires me to keep going. Thank you!