Reflections on dollhouse reconstruction

I have now covered four years of rebuilding my Victorian house since we moved to Cambridge. We bought our own 1:1 house three and a half years ago, but when we moved I just fixed everything inside the cabinet with bluetack. The cabinet is now in the dining room, and most of our guests take no notice of it. Perhaps if it had glass doors... but then it would not be a mystery. Some people know that I have a dollhouse and ask to have a look and tell other guests to ask to have a look. Most people have a look and say "Ah" and "Oh" and turn away. Every now and then there is someone who keeps looking and suddenly understands what materials I have used and recycled, and looks more and is full of awe. I am full of awe myself when I look.

A dollhouse is never finished. Although most of it was made soon after we moved, I keep adding details, I make new things. I decorate the house for Christmas. I plan to put in new wallpaper here and there. I plan to put in more lights (and repair the ones that don't work). I am reluctant to replace things that I made at the very beginning because they have a sentimental value. They may look less attractive than things I can make now, with more practice, but they show my development as a miniature artist. If I had known then what I know now about my skills I wouldn't have bought things that I can make myself, but these first purchases also have a sentimental value.

I have felt enormous support from my discussion group. I don't know any miniaturists here in England and have no confidence to get in touch or attend a fair. But the virtual community has been indispensable.  Sharing your work with someone who understands is half of the joy.

Meanwhile, I moved on to new projects.

Doors and windows

Victorian houses have delightful, colourful front doors with lots of decorations. I made a fancy door and tried to put it on the outside of the cabinet, but it didn't work at all. The effect was lost. Still I wanted this door, so I put it on the inside of the cabinet door, which is a bit odd, but then I am playing with space inside my house anyway, with doors and stairs that don't lead anywhere.

The door frame is made from wooden strips and a bit of a photo frame. The half-moon frosted window is hlaf of a plastic lid with lace glued onto it. The door knob is an unidentifiable metal bit I found among my jusk. The letter box is made of tin foil, and the door clapper is a piece of an ear-ring. The drain pipe is a drinking straw, and the lantern is made from another unidentifiable something with a brass button on top. The brick wall is paper.

The  windows are also on the inside of cabinet doors. The sconces by the white window are made from pen caps.

Kitchen lights

This is how I made kitchen lights. I cut two small pieces of strong metal foil, glued on bits of buttons and used thumbnails to fix the sconces to the wall. Then I took candle bulbs, drilled holes at the back of the cabinet and pulled the wires through.

It is still rather dark in the kitchen, but the servants are not supposed to complain. 

New kitchen, part 2

In the middle of tke kitchen, there are two dolls, a housekeeper with a bunch of keys, and the kichen maid who is preparing to serve the ham and the chicken. I have shown most of the details before, including the milk bottles, made from eyedrop containers, and the kitchen sink at the back. The eggs in the basket are vitamin tablets.

In the right corner, the cook is supervising the little maid while she is cutting cookies. Most of the things here I made myself, including utensils, jars, coffee grinder, sugarloaf, pie forms and the cookie cutter. The chandelier came with an ebay lot. The kitchen stove cannot be seen well behind verything else.

New kitchen

As I have repeatedly pointed out, kitchens are fun to make because there are so many objects in a kitchen, even if it is minimalist, and why would you want a minimalist miniature kitchen! Most of the furniture and utensils are from the old kitchen, but I have already shown the flagstone floor I made for the new kitchen. I made new wallpaper with splash technique so it looks exactly like the old one.  I had to use the space differently because of the depth of the shelf. Now I will show the details, beginning with the left wall.

The shelf with splendid copper kettles and plates, made from old coins, is from the old house, as is the work bench underneath it. All tin or pewter-looking objects are painted plastic, while the copper is from ebay or thrift shops. The two wooden ladles also came with some large lot from ebay. The bucket is made from lolly sticks, and the mop from a bit of kitchen string wired to a grill stick. The delivery boy came as a bonus when I bought something online. He carries a basket, which I don't remember where it came from, likely a thrift shop, and the fruit is from old potpourri.

Here are some more utensils, including a set of clay pots from ebay for which I made the shelf. The "copper" pie forms are made from inside of a chocolate box. The milk jar is a hotel schampoo bottle. I showed before how I made the wash-board. The scullery maid is a celluloid doll; I made her clothes. She is preparing lobster that I found in Christmas crackers. The pie forms are from make-up sets. The baskets are from various ebay lots. I made the larger pots in my pottery class. I explained before how I made the stove.

Tea table

The tea table is the focal point of the drawing room. The table itself is a wooden candlestick turned upside down. The table cloth is a plastic glass coaster. Somebody gave me the cheese board and the vase, although I have similar that I made myself. I made the glasses from disposable champagne flutes, simply cutting off the tip and the holder around it. I made the plate from air-drying clay, and I made the Swedish saffron buns, although I am not sure they would have these in a Victorian house. But let's say that somebody's aunt was Swedish. The tea set on the side table is from ebay, but the little brass kettle is a bracelet charm. And then of course the centrepiece:

It's a most amazing thing, and I have still not found anything like it on the web. I got it from my daugher's mother-in-law, and it had been in their family for ages, which makes the gift very special. But she didn't know where it came from originally.

Picture frames

I know that you can buy dollhouse pictures and picture frames by the dozen, but I like to make them myself. I cut pictures from magazines and paint them with varnish to make them look old. For frames I use lolly sticks, paint them and decorate with lace. I have also made some more elaborate frames.

 

 First  a single frame and then another on top, to create a sense of depth and weight.

 

 Then I glued on several layers of grill sticks. When you look at the stages of this process, it's amazing what a difference it makes. Then I just painted it gold