Just In Time For December!

 We got started with Christmas decorations early this year- I swear I was ready as soon as Halloween was over!  It's taken a couple weeks of working here and there, but I'm just about done.  Anyway, this post isn't a full tour, but I wanted to show you the new advent calendar I made this morning.

 

 I've seen trees like this around the web, and knew I had to make one for myself when I found the rustic wood strips at Hobby Lobby (like I used for this frame). 

 

I raided my stash of vintage ornaments and found ones that were a good size.

 

  There are twenty-five nails, one for each day of December.

 

 Here you can see that it still looks pretty even when it isn't full of ornaments.

 

 I put these wire baskets out to hold the ornaments until they are hung.

 

 And here it is with no ornaments- still just as pretty!

 

Now it's ready to begin the month tomorrow!  I think I'll let the kids take turns picking out which ornament to hang- I wonder which one they'll choose first?

 

Cutest Doll Furniture Ever???

A couple months ago, I won this amazing doll furniture on Ebay.  It is seriously SO ADORABLE- I can't get enough of it!!  And I got it for a steal, because the listing photos were really terrible.  But I've got an eagle-eye when I'm scrolling through Ebay, and I was able to see past those terrible photos- ha ha! 

 

It's actually larger than typical dollhouse furniture- I'd say it's more of a Ginny doll scale.  Since I've got almost an entire house worth of furniture, it's too bad I don't have a larger scale dollhouse to furnish!

My absolute favorite room is the bedroom.  I mean, don't you just want to gobble it up, it's so cute???

 

And there are no shortage of decals on these pieces- whichever Grandpa or Daddy made these is a man after my own heart!

 

Next there is the dining room.  This set had some broken pieces, but I was able to glue them back together, almost as good as new!

 

I mean, look at that measuring cup and mixing bowl on the table- I've never seen doll-sized decals like that!!

 

Last is the living room.  A couple of these pieces were broken as well, but as you can see, they're all patched up now!  And how cute is that little side table?

 

I love that whomever made these even put decals on the backs of the chairs, so you can see the cuteness from all angles!

 

The crime in all of this is that I really don't have space to display a lot of the pieces right now, especially not as a group.  So I've place separate pieces in various spots until I can come up with a better solution.

 

The bed holds a rusty metal orb...

 

And the dresser and vanity are up on the mantle.

 

These are my two favorite pieces, so I wanted to be able to see them all the time!!

 

I'll be sure to let you all know once I come across some wonderful large scale vintage dollhouse, so that all these pieces can live together again!

 

Framed Portraits

 You may remember these portraits I did a few years ago of the kids (aww, look how little they were then!).  I've always just hung them unframed, but I got the idea in my head recently that they needed to be framed in one big rustic wood frame . 

 

I could picture it perfectly in my mind.  Unfortunately, I didn't have any small strips of rustic wood or a willing husband to cut down a bunch of large pieces.  So the project sat on the back burner for a few months.

 

Until I went to Hobby Lobby last week and saw pre-packaged strips of rustic wood!!!  Exactly what I needed!  So I bought a bunch of packages, went to work, and a couple days later, I had this frame!

 

  It fits perfectly on this narrow wall in our hallway.

 

Plus, I can also see it from our kitchen/great room.  You can find me standing here at various times of the day, admiring it!

 

 I didn't do any kind of tutorial, but it's pretty self-explanatory.

 

 I just painted the strips of wood, allowing some of the wood to show through in places, then I cut the strips down to size.

 

Noah's portrait has a little more of an orange tone, and I felt it needed something to tie that "orange" into the rest of the piece.

 

 So I added these strips of vintage wallpaper that had a similar color.

 

 The strips are glued together, but I also added some long pieces on the back to make everything more stable.

 

 I like how those extra pieces on the back of the piece make it float out from the wall a little bit as well.

 

I'm in love with the finished product!!  And I'm in love with the strips of wood from Hobby Lobby- I have a bunch more future projects in mind for them!  When I asked whether these were something they'd be carrying in the future, nobody seemed to know, so I bought all they had at my store!

 

 

FAO Schwarz Keystone Dollhouse Tour

 Today I bring you a new dollhouse tour!  I've had this house for a couple years, and have finally finished up with the inside.  It is a Keystone house that was sold exclusively at FAO Schwarz in the 1950's and 1960's, from what I understand.  It's the largest model that Keystone made, which made it fun to decorate, since there's so much space!

 

The occupants of this house are the Meyers.  They are the first Erna Meyer dolls I got, thus their name.  You may remember them from last year's Christmas dollhouse.  Actually, you'll probably remember some of the furniture and layout from that house as well, although this is actually a different house (same floor plan) than that one.

 

In this family we've got Papa, Mama, Big Sister, Little Brother, Baby, Kitty, and also their beloved Mammy.  Mammy actually came with my 1906 dollhouse, but she fell in love with this family, so has decided to work for them instead!

 

 Here is the house as a whole, before we start the room-by-room tour.

 

 We'll begin in the kitchen.  Mammy is working on some lunch, while Mama puts Baby in her high chair to eat.

 

 Looks like the Meyers' could use a new kitchen table, or at least some new paint on their old one!

 

 Mammy loves the extra storage space in this kitchen- not many dollhouse kitchens have a separate pantry cupboard!

 

 While Baby is eating her lunch, Mama will show you her dining room.

 

 She's very proud of her matching dining room set, and loves having dinner parties to show it off.

 

 Although her serving cart is empty right now, be assured that it's nice and full of party beverages when guests come!

 

 She'll play a little piano music while you look around her living room.

 

 And Papa will entertain you with his singing- anyone up for a round of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow"?

 

 Even Kitty likes to sit in the comfy chair and listen to the beautiful music!

 

 Let's go upstairs and see what the children are up to in the nursery, shall we?  Looks like Little Brother is riding his horse toy, and Big Sister is playing with her doll.

 

 Now that they've got guests, they want to show you that they each have their very own beds!  Little Brother still needs a little step stool to climb into his though.

 

 They also have a little writing desk in the corner and a nice big dollhouse of their own up on the chest.

 

 Mama comes upstairs with Baby.  She's finished her lunch, and Mama's going to rock her a bit before her nap.

 

 Right now, Baby sleeps in a crib in her parent's bedroom, but soon she'll be able to move into the nursery with the older kids.

 

 Night-night little Baby.  Have a nice nap!

 

 Finally we make our way to the bathroom.  Mammy has come up to do some laundry.  The Meyers are very lucky to have a washer and dryer in their house!

 

 Mama wants to check her hair and make-up, and Big Sister wants to help!

 

"Can I put on some lipstick, Mama?  Please??"

"Alright, but don't tell your Papa!"

 

And there we have it!  That's the whole tour- here's another shot of the whole house.  I really love this house, but of course, I say that about all my dollhouses!

 

I've got several other houses that are close to ready for tours as well.  Most of them are pretty much finished, but just need final touches like curtains, bedspreads, knick-knacks, etc. 

 

If anyone is interested, I'm actually selling this same dollhouse model on Ebay right now.  I ended up with two of the same house, so am selling the other one.  It's a really fun model- you know you want it, right??