Yellow Keystone Dollhouse Tour

 You know, I took photos of this house a couple days ago for a tour, only to look back at them and realize the house had no curtains!  So I whipped out a few yesterday, and retook photos today!

 

This may be my favorite house to date.  It just has such character!  I love the yellow, and love the garage!  Read here to see the story of how it came to be mine. 

 

 I'd like to introduce you to its inhabitants, the Golds (gold like their golden-yellow house).  There is Father Gold, Mother Gold, Twin Baby Boy, Twin Baby Girl, their three puppies, and of course, their maid.  Maid wasn't quite sure whether she was to be included in the photo, so she stood off to the side a bit.  As you can see Mother Gold is a little vertically challenged (her baby girl seems to be almost as big as she is!), but she manages just fine.

 

 Here is a shot of their whole house, so you can see how the rooms are situated.

 

 First we'll visit the kitchen, where Maid is busy cleaning up.

 

She still needs to clear away the morning's dishes, although they're so pretty, it would almost be nice if she left them out!

 

 She's so happy that the Golds bought her a pink mixer to bake with!  It makes working seem a little more fun!

 

 Next is the dining room. Mother Gold is getting the tea service ready to serve Mr. Gold.

 

 Once that's done, she'll need to run upstairs though, because she hears the babies crying!

 

 They can wait for one minute though, since Mr. Gold has been waiting for his tea for a while...

 

"I'm ready for my tea now, sweetheart!"  Looks like the puppies are ready for something, too!

 

 "Here it is, here it is, sweetums.  Would you like cream and sugar?"

 

 Now she must get upstairs to check on the twins!

 

 First to the master bedroom to check on Baby Girl.

 

 As you may guess, Baby Girl was actually quite the surprise when she was born, as the Golds were only expecting one baby.  So for now, she sleeps in a cradle in the master bedroom until they can figure out other arrangements.

 

 Looks like she has fallen back asleep, so now Mother can check on Baby Boy.

 

 Lucky boy, he gets the whole nursery to himself!

 

 At some point though, they're going to have squeeze another bed into the room for his sister!

 

 Okay, looks like Baby Boy has gone back down as well.

 

 And the final room is the bathroom, of course.  Father is washing his hands after having his tea.

 

 He wishes the mirror was a little higher over the sink- he practically has to stoop down to see himself!  

 

 "But I guess Mrs. Gold needs to see herself, too, and it's not worth a fight!" he decides.  That's a good husband, Mr. Gold!

 

And so there you have it!  A little tour of one of my favorite houses- hope you enjoyed it!  I'll add it to my other dollhouse tours over on the right sidebar.  I'm getting close to finished on a couple other houses, so I'll show you those soon, as well!

Some More Decorating...

 As I've mentioned before, we're slowly redecorating our family room. We got new couches which oriented the room a bit differently, so I've been working on this wall where the old couch used to go.

 

 Here's a shot from the kitchen area looking in.  You can see a bit of the sofa table I showed here.  I'm still looking for the perfect large chair or chaise to go in the spot where that basket is sitting.

 

 My globe collection has grown...

 

 It's so nice to be able to look at some of my favorite things every day...

 

 The three vintage puzzles represent Avery (kitty), Noah (puppy), and Riley (cowboy).

 

 And the vintage books represent the three kids as well!

 

 The cabinet originally had glass doors on all the sections, but I removed the ones on the two sides so I'd have more display space!  The baskets behind the glass doors hold our DVD's.

 

 Oh, how I love this little phone!  I splurged and bought it for myself a couple birthdays ago.

 

 I always love plants scattered around...

 

 Some of our books, organized by reading level for the boys.

 

 Such pretty, pretty colors!

 

 My little tin dollhouse has plastic furniture inside, so that the kids can play when they want.

 

 Just some of the many pieces of doll furniture in here!

 

 

 

Guess where more vintage doll furniture ended up?  On my mantle!  You saw it with the vintage books here.  I didn't figure it would stay like that for long, but I like this arrangement quite a bit, so maybe this one will stay a little longer!

 

I added the burlap ribbon and the trees to jazz it up a bit.

 

 Just like on the other wall, I've represented the three kids with these three little dressers and the books on top.

 

Riley is the little boy on the largest dresser,...

 

...Noah is in the middle, and Avery is Little Bo Peep on the smallest dresser!

 

 

I know I've only showed you bits and pieces of the room.  That's because the rest is still in flux, awaiting more furniture and more DIY efforts by my husband.  But I'm having fun with what I can, as you can see!  And, if you know me, you know that a lot of this is likely to change within a few months anyway!!

 

Avery's World

The big kids started back to school this week, and I have to say, I've felt more busy than when they were home!  How is that possible?  Avery's been home with me (her preschool doesn't start until after Labor Day), and I realize how much I rely on the boys to keep her busy during the day!  Entertaining a four-year-old can be mentally exhausting!  But between the occasional moments of weakness when I caved and let her watch Dora for a bit, and those wonderful occasions when she got caught up in a story with her Little Pet Shop animals, I was able to do a bit of work in her art journal!

 

 

I did a spread about being the flower girl at my sister's wedding in April.

 

And another one about performing in her first dance recital in May.

 

 These were the first two spreads in her newest journal, since I finished her last one a few months ago.  (You can see all of her past journal spreads here.)  It most likely will be her last art journal, if I follow suit with the boys and switch over to Project Life when she turns five...

 

 Since I was in her room taking pictures of her scrapbook, I thought I'd take some quick photos of what her room's looking like these days.  It's still close to when I did her official room tour, but a few things have been added or changed around (not to mention things are a bit messier now!).

 

 I put this little dresser in her room, and she keeps her play jewelry, play makeup, and other little bits here.

 

Messy bed and lots of toys!

 

 I also moved this dollhouse in here, since my studio's obviously a little full these days!  We put a lazy susan on the bottom, and it works really well over in the corner.  I wouldn't say she plays with it a ton, but she does every so often, and it's just so pretty there, isn't it?

 

Anyway, just a little peek into Avery's world lately.  I love her to bits, but I'll be happy to have some time to myself in a week! 

 

 

Look Who's Four!

Miss Avery turned four yesterday!

 

I dressed her in a little vintage Polly Flinders dress, and took some birthday photos of her.

 

She reminds me a lot of myself as a girl in these photos.

 

While I definitely was a bit more "cheek"-y, I still see the resemblance!

 

I love the above photo- I wish it were a little sharper, but still so pretty!

 

 When all the serious photos were done, it was time to go on the swings!

 

And since I'm showing comparison photos, here are a couple.  The one on the left is from her second birthday, and the one on the right from her fourth.  My goodness, is that even the same girl?  Such a baby then, and such a real GIRL now!

 

 She opened a few photos while still dressed nice and pretty.

 

 Then she changed into more comfortable clothes (I made that "4" shirt for Noah when he turned four!) and opened some more.

 

 One of her gifts was this cat I made from a vintage pattern.

 

 

He's made from a beautiful teal velvet, with a vintage sheet used for the underside.

 

He's a little difficult to take photos of, because of his position, but he is definitely nice to hug!

 

 She also got this adorable kitty made by Diane Mars of Saturday Finds.  I've always admired these cute little figures she makes, and knew Avery would love a kitty cat.  Diane was sweet enough to rush my order to me (I forgot to order until last week!), and as you can see, Avery loves her kitty!

We've all had a fun couple of days celebrating with our little sweetie.  She's such a fun girl, and we're so glad to have her in our lives!  Happy Birthday, Avery!