A Mini Man Makeover

When I'm looking for dolls to live in my dollhouses, it's easy to find cute women.  But men are bit more difficult (that's saying a mouthful right there, isn't it?).  I love these little women (they're called Edi dolls), so I pick them up when I find them, but I've got several females who are very lonely!  So I'm always on the lookout for men of the right scale that would look like a good match with the women. 

 

As I was browsing Ebay recently, I came across these vintage Native American Indian men dolls.  Perfect height and scale for my lonely women!  But the chaps, not so much...

 

 So off the chaps went, and I stitched up some quick pants made from felt.

 

 Then I added shirts (not quite as easy as the pants, but still not too bad), belts and ties.  I also painted some black shoes, because I don't think many offices would allow bare feet!

 

 Woohoo!  Immediately, two of the women snagged these handsome dudes up!

 

And they lived happily ever after... although I think these women had better sleep with one eye open, because I have a feeling some of those other women may try and steal these handsome guys!

Sneak Peeks and FOR SALE!

Well, I've been busy the last few months.  I showed you Noah's "new" room in April, which also required me to rework Riley's room (haven't quite finished in there yet) a bit.  What I didn't mention is that Avery is also getting a "new" room.  Much as I LOVED her old room, she was starting to outgrow the toddler bed (this girl is super-tall for her age!), and the room was beginning to get too cluttered.  I love the junior loft bed in Noah's room so much for all the extra storage it provides, so we decided we should get one for Avery as well.

 

 As long as we were getting a new bed, I decided to go for a bit of a decorating update as well.  After all, she is growing older (a kindergartener next fall!), and while I like to get very "Vintage 1940's Nursery" in her room, she's starting to have her own opinions about what is in there!

 

I found this ADORABLE fabric at Jo-Ann's, and the concept for the room was born!  I absolutely love the color combination here, and it worked along with a lot of the items we already had for the room.

 So, even though the room isn't quite done, I'm showing you some sneak peeks of what's evolving.

 

 I have to say I love the way it's going so far, although I will really miss her old decorating scheme- sniff, sniff!

 

 

And speaking of sniff, sniff, I bring you to the other portion of this post...

 

With great regret, I am selling her toddler bed and little vintage dresser...

 

 As much as I have tried (and believe me, I've tried!) to find a place for these items, we just really have NO ROOM to store them or repurpose them...

 

 The bed is just a standard size toddler bed (mattress is included) that has been finished to give it a vintage look.

 

 The dresser is a real vintage piece...

 

 ...with a precious decal on the cabinet door.

 

 I'm selling them for $200 each, or I'd definitely make a deal on the both together.  I know it's a long shot that someone lives close enough to make the drive for these (I'm in Jacksonville, FL), but I thought it was worth trying.  I know you guys that read my blog at least "get" this kind of furniture!!

 

 I hope everyone's having a super summer!  We're still in the honeymoon stage here, where I'm loving the freedom of our schedule, and I'm not completely sick of the kids yet!  I'm sure we'll get there, but for now, I'm enjoying it!  I will be sure to show you all once I have everything finished in Avery's "new" room.

 

 

Birthday Art- 42

If you've read my blog for a while, you know that I always try to do a piece of artwork on my birthday.  Well, my birthday was two weeks ago, and I honestly forgot all about it until the next day!  It took me a few days to carve out some time to work on it, then a few more days of going back to it to finish, but I'm finally done!

 

The painting represents a few personal things that have occupied my past year, plus it's got pretty colors and images, too, which are always a requirement in my book!

 

  I just love this little paper doll girl, and I've used her numerous times for various projects.  In this case, the top portion of the doll is the actual doll, and I've continued the painting to create her whole dress.

 

I added the number 42 to the dresser so that I have a record of the year I created the piece.

 

If you'd like to see more of my birthday art from previous years, you can follow the links from this page.

The Month of May...

Well, last month was jam-packed, as May always seems to be.  In addition to Mother's Day and my birthday, there's so much to do with the kids' schools at the end of the year!  So anyway, I just thought I'd give you a glimpse into what I've been up to lately!

 

 I managed a Mother's Day photo with 2 out of 3 kids smiling nicely (not quite sure what that expression is on Avery's face!) before going out to brunch with my sisters, mother, and mother-in-law.

This little girl graduated from preschool!  How did that happen?  I've been dropping kids off at that preschool for six years now; how can it be over already?  I remember taking Riley in while Avery was still in my tummy!

 Over Memorial Day weekend (also my birthday weekend), we took our pop-up camper on a camping trip.

 

  It was such a nice time spent with my favorite people!

And then, we were lucky enough to get to watch Avery in her dance recital!

She did a routine to ABBA's Happy Hawaii- isn't that funny?

 

Aaah, my beautiful girl!

 

And speaking of my girl, she's been enjoying the last couple weeks as an only child (at least during the boys' school hours!). 

 

 The two of us took a little trip to the beach yesterday morning- it was just gorgeous there!

 

 

 

 

So I'm sure that at least some of you are wondering whether I got any exciting goodies for my birthday, and of course the answer is yes!

After we returned from our camping trip, my mother came in town and brought me this dollhouse.  It's one I saw on Craigslist a few months ago near her house.  I forwarded her the link (hint, hint!), and she bought it for me!

 

It's a Rich Toys house.  It still has the chimneys and door, although it's missing the windows.  I'll have to make some soon.

 

It even still has a working doorbell!  I have a few Rich houses with spots for doorbells, but no actual doorbells, so this was exciting!

 

Hubby also got me these adorable pieces of furniture from Etsy.

 

And this wonderful set as well!

 

Oh, those decals- get me every time!

 

This set is actually a larger scale- more along for the size of a Ginny doll or slightly larger.

 

 And finally, my mother also got me this little set!  I am in love!!  So, so wonderful!

 

It's also slightly larger in scale, but I still think it works well in this house.  By the way, I LOVE the way this house is shaping up- hopefully, I'll finish it soon so I can give you a tour!

 

Another shot of this sweet set!

 

Well, I hope everyone else has survived the busyness of May.  I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to Friday, when my boys get out of school.  This past year was a special kind of crazy with everyone's schedules, and I am REALLY looking forward to doing a little relaxing with them this summer!