The Vintage Dollhouse

I'm so sad this blog has sat still for so long.  I actually have a lot to share, but not a lot of time for documenting so I'll just do what I can, when I can.  I'm honestly not sure I can remember how to insert and re-size the pictures correctly but here goes.

This post is about a dollhouse I made over for my girl's Christmas present.  It's one of 2 dollhouses my dad made for my older sisters when they were little.  Of course, I didn't take a before picture, but just envision a dirty white old dollhouse, still charming but in need of love.

Most of the furniture was re-used from the old set.  A lot of it I painted and generally updated.  I used a "fat quarter" of darling Liberty of London printed fabric for the window treatments and bedding.  The prints are so cute and the scale was perfect.  I did buy a new kitchen set with appliances and a dinette set (do people still say that? dinette?)  Anyway...that purple chair/ottoman, side table and couch were handmade by my mom.  I never stop being impressed by her skills.  I spent a month updating this piece and my mom and dad spent a few weeks building/making/sewing everything pretty much from scratch (times two.)  Impressed.

The living room is my favorite.  Like I said, my mom made that couch, chair and ottoman.  I re-covered the couch in the liberty print and re-painted the fire place (which she also made, I think) with chalkboard paint.  The framed print is just a fabric scrap and I also made the matching drapes.  The rugs in the house are grasscloth cut to fit and trimmed in ribbon.  Yep, this family of orphans went custom.  The only "people" are 2 babies, one school-aged child and a teenager.  The mom and dad were headless.  Not a fun thing to see on Christmas morning so I left them out.

I wanted to paint a few of the back walls, besides the attic playroom which went pale coral pink, all the walls are currently white.  I planned to do the kitchen turquoise and the bathroom in the same bright coral pink from the front door and shutters.  The roof and chimneys were originally red but I re-painted them in the dark grey chalkboard paint.  I think I planned to draw on scalloped shingles but I forgot about that until just now while I was typing this.

Forgive some of the photography.  These rooms were super hard to shoot.  This room needs some paint on the wall,  but I love the color the little curtains and picture added.  The rug is made from Polly's old roman shades from her nursery.  This liberty fabric was my favorite from the group.

The navy curtains and bedding are original to the home, circa 1970 with a simple addition of some new liberty accents.  The bed is pretty messed-up, it has no legs.  I was going to try to use screws instead and paint them white but I ran out of time.  I should have painted the wardrobe a fun bright color but didn't work that out in the planning phase.  This is the second custom grasscloth rug.

This young lady is the oldest child in the house.  She's the responsible older sister.  She reads the paper and eats cake for breakfast.  How cute is that ruffled curtain?  I made that, and my mom made the chairs and upholstered them.

Ha, the scale is a bit off between the cradle and the twin beds.  The cradle is actually bigger than the beds.  Oh well.  The curtains in this room look a lot like Liberty but they are actually original.  I added the little orange ball-trim.  I always wanted an attic playroom as a kid.  Something about them just seemed magical to me, I don't know.  These kids got one and it's pretty cute, too.

Looking at these, I'm reminded of all the things I planned to do but didn't but I still think it turned out pretty cute.  I try hard not to over-parent when she plays with it.  I only cringe a little when she moves everything around, but I do always clean it up back to the way I like it when she's done.  Merry Christmas, Poll doll.  P.S. Happy March!

polaroid transfer

I really love the dreamy vintage look of polaroid transfer prints.  I ordered my Daylab 200 on Ebay years ago after taking a class at Paper Source in Evanston, Illinois, and have decided that it's time to pass on this piece of historical technology as I organize and prepare for a big neighborhood garage sale.  Since I knew the Daylab was leaving me, I decided to give it one last go and had fun making some prints from old family slides.  I kept a few and gave some as gifts to family members, truly one-of-a-kind gifts.  You can find polaroid transfers for sale on Etsy, but they are not always originals, sometimes they are prints of originals, which don't have the same luster as the real thing, in my opinion.  I also found this shop which will make a polaroid transfer print for you if you send in a slide, how cool.  

Come by the neighborhood garage sale on Saturday June 16th if you're interested, the set will be priced at $75 which is a steal from what I paid for the Daylab, the base, brayer and some watercolor paper.  If it doesn't go, I'll list to Etsy.

diy wrapped rope necklace

Several months ago, I became obsessed with a certain very expensive wrapped rope necklace.  I don't really feel right showing the particular brand I hacked because it is an original design, I didn't use all the same materials, so it's not an exact copy.  If you're crafty, the coveted necklace is somewhere in my pinterest, probably in the style section.  I actually waited to post this because I felt a bit bad about hacking it at first but then I saw a million other D.I.Y's, and some knock-off brands online so I didn't feel so bad.  The original necklaces are in the $200-$500 range, and I'll admit this is definitely a step down BUT, it was a super easy, fun, inexpensive and rewarding project.  I got the rope from the hardware store, and while I was there also found these brass "sleeves" used for plumbing projects.  There are different sizes of rope and sleeves so make sure you get 2 that work together, the sleeves should fit snugly just over the rope.

Picking out the embroidery thread was the hardest part, I stood at the craft store for probably an hour putting different colors together, putting some back, taking more, putting more back, taking more, it's really easy for me to second-guess myself but I am happy with the combo I came up with.    I made a necklace that can be worn long or shorter, so that I wouldn't have to make a clasp.  The first step is putting the brass sleeves on the rope and attaching the ends together.  I actually "burned" the ends of the rope then stuck them together using tinfoil to kindof smash it so I wouldn't burn my hands.  Where the melon color meets the white you can see a larger "bump" where the seam is (below.)  The next step would probably be planning for you type A's but I just went to town wrapping my necklace with the embroidery thread and switched colors as I pleased, tying knots under the brass sleeves.  I love the texture that the rope gave the necklace, that wasn't planned but was a happy accident.
Sorry, describing processes is not my forte but anyone has any questions, I'd be happy to answer them in the comments section.  Let me know if you make one, I'd love to see!

d.i.y. valentine

Funny, I was just thinking about this ole valentine and wondering where it went. I was organizing our dusty exercise equipment yesterday and saw it shoved in a corner. I gave this to my husband, before he was my husband, probably 7 or 8 years ago. It's a great idea for a thoughtful valentine that you can make yourself.

For the card itself, I printed on vellum and glued (probably Xyroned) the vellum onto zexy snakeskin/croc? decorative paper, then stuck that on a blank black card. Not sure why I had or used black, it seems an odd choice for me but anyway...

For the sentiments, I think what I did was just print all 50 on each piece of paper (I picked a textured white, a vellum and a red) then only used 17 or so little notes from each paper type, and tossed the rest. I'm sure I used a rotary cutter, too, I'm awful at cutting straight lines with scissors.

So, so easy and sweet, I think the hardest part was coming up with the 50 "things."

my top 12 etsy purchases to date

I was looking through the "purchases" section of my Etsy this weekend and realized that so many of the purchases I had made over the past few years were still making me happy every day. It was really hard to narrow it down but here's a list of my very favorite 12:

1) Seeing these in the nursery every day is like having a may pole or a carosel in the room, how could they not make me happy? $36.00 MyFavouriteDress

2) This guy is just so cheery and cute. Whenever I find him in the toy basket I grab him out and stick him on a shelf or stool, he deserves a showcase, don't you think? $30.00 Buttercupbloom

3) I picked these as part of my top 12 simply because I had been searching for them for so long. The $20 price tag didn't hurt, either. I painted them turquoise and hung them in my kitchen. PattisPolkaDots.

4) $30 for a giant, hand-letterpressed perfect sentiment. I own this in grey and yellow. Hijirik

5) A larger scale Alicia Bock print, perfect for my porthole frame. $50 AliciaBock

6) I know I should stick this in my daughter's room, but I'm keeping it for myself for now. $46 Neawear.

7) This sweet little bird is on display in my girl's room. Her bonnet is made of tissue paper. $25, KidsHaus

8) Can you tell I love to decorate kids' rooms? This is also a great new-baby gift, from Emilie Friday, $32.00.

9) Michele Maule is definitely a favorite, I have her Seven Wishes Screenprint ($15) and ...

10)...original mixed-media painting ($125). They're both in my entryway art wall.

11) This is one of my most recent purchases. The colors of the screenprinted hearts on this napkin are so unusual and bright, and the linen is so pretty. I'm a little sad that it's sitting in a drawer, waiting to be used for a dinner roll basket. I may need to get the tea towel and put it out on display. $14 lineacarta

12) I own two very similar original paintings by this artist and have them hanging together. $75 JKirchgraber. It looks like I've been his only customer.

So, what have been your top 12 purchases to date?

valentine's day decor...

...is ready for the season of love.

There's snow on the ground and love in the air.

valentine color story

Valentine's day is my favorite holiday for decorations. I'm certainly a fan of the actual day, but I'd be happy with some tulips and a sweet card, I'm low maintenance. It's not really the holiday I look forward to, it's the chance to liven and brighten things up a bit after the more, well, wintry colors of Christmas. I also enjoy giving gifts and cards more this time of year, it's less pressure, less expected and just sweeter, I don't know.

Last year, I used a lot of oranges and beiges mixed with pinks and reds for my Valentine cards and decorations. This year, I was inspired by the two images below from the current Lonny mag. Pink and turquoise are just lovely together, so perfect to combat the winter doldrums in Wisconsin. Again, consulting my 2011 intentions, I held back the urge to buy new pretty-pretties, and found more than I needed in my stash. I took a quick pic. (above) before everything turned into a big huge mess (not pictured.)

I made a "corsage" of sorts for my winter wreath and some mini heart-day banners for my feather trees, I've still got some cut-and-pasting to do so I'll wait 'till I'm done for show and tell.

a good mail day

The mail has been a bit of a bummer since the high season of holiday cards and catalogs ended. Last Friday was a fun little exception, with two surprises in my box.

The first was a sample pack from Hable Construction. Now, just to be clear, I ordered the samples, the surprise was that some of them came much larger than I expected.

I even had enough of the magenta to make this cute clock for my little girl's new room. The hands of the clock would be much better in white but I'm trying to use what I have on hand (it's one of my intentions for 2011.) Doesn't everyone have clock parts and embroidery hoops in various shapes and sizes laying around?

My second surprise was this new book by Bunny Williams: Scrapbook for Living. My friend Mary who works for her in New York sent it to me as a gift. It's even signed--too, too sweet.

There are so many sources of inspiration online that I visit regularly, but I so miss settling in with a good home decor mag in hand. I can't wait to dig in.

vintage apron to doll dress tutorial

One of my goals pre-holiday was to make some doll clothes for my girl's main Christmas present, her blabla doll: Trixie. I didn't want to do anything with elastic or buttons --nothing too challenging, and I despise working with patterns (my sewing skills are novice at best.) While I was looking through my bins of scrap material, I came across several vintage skirts I had purchased awhile back. They were so detailed and beautiful, I couldn't pass them up. With small patterns, I thought they would make perfect easy dresses for Miss Trixie.

The "body of the dress is the main part of the apron. With the blue, I used the "true" top of the apron and hemmed the bottom, since I liked the pleat at the top. The orange apron had a sweet ribbon detail at the bottom so I hemmed the top and used the true bottom.

Depending on your doll size and your apron style, the measurements and steps are going to be different. I did a lot of draping and pinning on the doll before I sewed anything. Each of the aprons had at least one pocket, which I removed and used for the "bib" part of the dress after I folded down the top corners and sewed them down to secure. The pocket for the blue went under the waistband, and I laid the pocket over the body of the orange one, since I knew I had to make a new waistband for that one.

I used the "ties" of the apron to make the straps and also the bow and waistband for the orange. The image above is the inside of the dresses.

Finally, I secured the dresses closed with one little tab of velcro for easy in/out. Each of these dresses took approximately 1/2 hour to complete.

For the entire image collection, visit my flickr set.

washi tape fun for my holiday cards

My goal for my holiday cards this year was to use only what I had on-hand for supplies. I had five or six designs using different shapes and sizes of cards and envelopes from my arsenal. It actually helped me keep going because making 80 of the exact same thing can get very boring. I started them Thanksgiving weekend and finished-up on Sunday.

So, most everything is checked off my list. I didn't bake the cookies as planned, and I made only one doll dress, instead of the multiple pieces I had planned on. It turned out pretty cute though, and my girl is only 2 so I've got some time to make up for it. Ah well.

fun with xyron

Since my studio is now clean and functional, I finished up a few easy projects with some of my supplies last week. My goal for the new year is to use what I have and not buy any more supplies. It shouldn't be hard, I have a LOT of supplies. I bought the Xyron sticker maker years ago when I worked for Paper Source. I believe it was during an employee 50% off sale. I decided to use it to help give a few of my things a more custom look, namely a little drop-spine box from a local chocolate shop, and a non-descript journal.

My Xyron looks a little different from this image because it's years older and must be a different model but they are essentially the same, from what I can tell. Here's a little video that shows you the "how to" for the visual learners.

My first project was to cover this little journal I've had for a while. I don't really journal but I do like to keep tabs on random thoughts, to-do lists, that kind of thing. I have tons of beautiful japanese paper and picked my wedding paper for this project. I still think it is so beautiful, 6 years later. Here are the steps:

1) My first step was to cut 2 pieces of the paper (for the front and back cover) about an inch longer than the book on three sides.

2) Next, I ran the paper through the Xyron to make it into a sticker.

3) With a steady hand, I adhered the paper to the covers and cut the corners at a 45 degree angle (with just a tad left at the end of each corner.) I completed one cover before starting with the other.

4) Fold in the overages and wa-la: a new custom book. The insides don't look perfect but I'm not a perfectionist.

I did basically the same thing to the little chocolate box, mainly to cover the store logo. I cut a piece of japanese paper long enough to go all the way around the top, ran it through the Xyron, applied and was done in about 5 minutes.

I don't really use the Xyron for making announcements and invitations like I used to, the cost of the refills is a little prohibitive for large jobs like that but for small jobs like these, it's tops.