Plastic house makeover, part 3

One I had figured out how to do the windows, it wasn't a huge challenge to do the same in other rooms. For bedroom wallpaper I used Japanese handmade paper that I photocopied. The wooden floor is a printie.

The challende of this room, however, was the outer wall with a half-circle floor that folds into the room. I don't quite see the point of this construction, especially the circular shelf that I haven't yet decided what to do about. But this wall required some work. The picture below shows, once again, what a huge difference it makes.

I could not do anything about the corner because it has hinges. And I haven't yet decided whether I want to put back the blue clothes hanger, and generally I am not sure what to do with this wall. I have tried to put a small wardrobe on the shelf, but because the shelf it circular it doesn't look tidy. I am sure I will think of something interesting. Meanwhile I must make a bed.

This is what the upper floor looks like now - and what a contrast with the ground floor!

Yarn shop

I have already shared my project with a yarn display cabinet, and it is of course a part of a room box that will be a yarn shop. Even though it is not finished yet, I'd like to show the first steps. My first reaction when my daughter suggested a yarn shop project was: no, this will be very boring, what can you have in a yarn shop other than lots of yarn? But of course there are so many other things to do, like in any miniature project.

To begin with, the wine box I got for this project is a bit different from most other I have because it's broader which is good for a shop. If you have displays at the back of the shop you cannot place a lot of other stuff in front. Julia suggested that the walls should be painted white since it would be a good background for colour display. So I started by painting the walls and ceiling white, and then I put in some random boxes I had, as well as an old bathroom cabinet from the Victorian house that has now been replaced by a better one.

I have already explained how I made the yarn balls and skeins. A lot of work, but very relaxing. I took the basket from another house, while the bucket, too large otherwise, fit nicely here. The two glass bowls are for mixing sushi sauce. The knitting needles are of course toothpicks, and Julia and I did a piece of mini-knitting each.

 

It so happened that I started this project at the same time I got a new printer, and as I was exploring sites with mini-printies I found some flooring and wallpaper borders that I thought would go perfect with the shop. I find it remarkable how small details make a huge difference. Just compare before and after.

 

Among the many things a yarn shop would have are knitting books, and again I have already shown how I made some. Although I haven't bought any books, Amazon is pitching knitting books to me, so I have made some more. 

 

I need to make more shelves for all these books. I made one from a plastic container lid, with bits of foil glued on. Note some features in this photo. There is a till on the table, made from a printie. The paper bag on the floor is from the same site. The wool in the transparent box is real wool. The tiny lamb comes from a Nativity set.

This is work in progress. Please come back. 

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.

More drawing room details

The right corner of the drawing room is where the master of the house has his books and his collection of weird things. You can see where I ran out of wallpaper and had to take another pattern, pretending it was a purposeful design. There is a Dutch tile stove and a low chest of drawers to put trinkets on, most of which are from ebay and thrift shops. The cello is a fridge magnet. The old map is cut from a magazine, and the butterfly collection is made with stickers from the Butterfly House in Stockholm. A grandchild made the roses from modelling clay.

 With all the furniture back, the room looks crammed, as it should be.

The pretty turned table was inside another dollhouse that my husband found at the garbage collection (of which more anon). I made the candesticks from broken juwellery. The little table to the left is made from kit, as is the cake stand.

The Oriental smoking table is made from a metal buckle. I made the box of chocolates and the miniature book, which is The Children's Book, by A S Byatt. The smoking utensils and the pretty plates are from ebay.

New drawing room

This is the new drawing room as it looks today, four years after I started rebuilding the dollhouse. As it should be in a Victorian drawing room, there are millions of things - this is why the Victorian period is so attractive for dollhouse makers. There are many things from the old house and many new things, and as with the rest of the house, I needed to rethink how to make the best of the space. In the old house, I had separate drawing room and study, but I felt that if I put up a wall it would feel too crammed. Therefore I opted for a combined drawing room and study, whete the ladies can have tea while the master of the house is trying to work.

This is the left corner of the room, with most of the furniture removed to show the walls. The wallpaper is from ebay. The shelf is higher than the standard dollhouse furniture, therefore I decided to use wainscoting. It is once again my venetian blind. Wainscoting is usually higher than this, about a meter in 1:1 scale, but it will have to be like this so far. For cornice I used furniture ribbon. When I made lighting for this room, I drilled holes in the ceiling and drew the wiring over the shelf above, before I laid the floors, which is why when half of the lamps stopped working I'd now have to remove floors, and I am not doing it. The little table in the corner is made from a candlestick turned upside down. I made the sofa. The chairs are from ebay, as is the table lamp, made from a coin. All other things I made or found at flea markets..

 

Here is another picture of the same corner, with the chest of drawers that I made from building blocks.

The dolls are the same except that there is a little boy, wearing a dress as boys did at the time. The mantepiece is also the same, with the fine firescreen, but I made two sconces from paper clips and miniature candleholders. In front of the fireplace there is a coal shovel, that I bought in an antique shop at Portobello Road in London, and a set of tools that I made myself, using a paper clip and hands from a broken clock. The base for the tools is a chess piece, as is the base of the oil lamp.

Putting up walls

I have now come to the moment, about a month after I first started, when I had to decide whether I wanted more rooms in my house. I didn't have to, but it was a challenge. I had to make a decision because I also wanted to have floors and wallpaper. Reluctantly, I made some purchases from ebay (again, I will show eventually how I made much more intereseting floors), but I used my imagination when I made the wall between the dining room and the drawing room. The dining room wallpaper is self-adhesive shelf paper.

And, viewed from the other side

And the full view of the drawing room

There are quite a few new details that need description. I wasn't confident about regular dollhouse lighting so I got Christmas tree lights. Viewed from the five-year perspective, it was highly unprofessional and quite ugly, but I was pleased then. I painted the light-holders and even the wiring. The mirror was among the very first things I made, even before I had a mitre box, therefore it isn't very neat, but I have kept it for sentimental reasons. I made the coffee table from a bit of my favourite venetian blind with four chess pieces for legs. The tea set is from ebay, as is the table lamp, made from a copper coin. But I made the chandelier.

I saw when I took the picture that it was a bit lopsided. But I made it myself, following the instructions from a book by Eva Malmsten. It is a quite a job because you need to keep the threads apart. I will show in a separate post how to do it. The large circle is a bracelet and the small a matching ring (both junk). The crystals are beads which I have threaded on copper wire. The hanging icicles are Christmas decoration.