Back with another dollhouse update. As I mentioned yesterday, I searched high and low for a kitchen set for the dollhouse, but just couldn't quite find what I was looking for. I even made a sketch of the kitchen that I had in mind, thinking that would help me find it, but I still couldn't find anything like it. Finally, I decided to just build it myself from scratch. Just a few supplies and some imagination was all that I needed.
Welcome to my little Shabby Chic Kitchen...
The kitchen is not finished yet, but I wanted to share what I have so far. I still need to make curtains for the window over the sink and I'm thinking about adding an island.
To build the kitchen, I bought a bag of random size pieces of
basswood at Hobby Lobby for $5.39 ($8.99 - 40% off coupon).
I used the same tools as for the trim, that I discussed in the previous post (
Building a Dollhouse, Part 4), so I didn't have to buy any additional tools. I cut every piece with the utility knife and the metal straight edge ruler, unless it was small enough to cut with the Easy Cutter Ultimate. I didn't use a saw to cut anything. The only power tool I used was a drill to drill a few holes.
I should have taken more pictures during the building process, but I spent most of the time just trying to figure out "how" to do it. It was a lot of thinking, sketching, measuring, cutting, gluing, and a lot of trial and error. I stained the wood before painting, so that I could sand off the paint in places to give it the shabby chic look that I wanted. I mixed the Weathered Glass and off-white paint to make it a softer, lighter color.
The refrigerator was built out of basswood too. I cut little strips of basswood to make shelves on the door. I painted the refrigerator first with Gesso, then with white acrylic paint. If you haven't used Gesso before, it is a great craft supply to have on hand. Painting with Gesso first will provide a smooth, finely textured surface on canvas, paper, wood, or plaster. Artists use it to size (prepare) their canvas for painting. I bought a small pair of hinges to attach the refrigerator door.
This kitchen has some elements from my own kitchen, and some are just dream kitchen. I have an apron front farmhouse sink, so I knew I wanted to make a miniature one like mine. I glued together little pieces of basswood that I had cut to size, to make a box shape. Once dried, I sanded the edges to make them rounded like my sink. I drilled a hole for the drain. I had never used a power drill before, but I learned how for this project. I even learned how to change the drill bit to the size I wanted. I painted the sink with Gesso, which gave it a smooth porcelain-like finish.
Then, I painted the sink with white acrylic paint, and around the drain with gray and silver paint. I made a little curtain for under the sink. I made the faucet from copper wire leftover from when we built our house. I used pliers to bend the wire into a shape that I liked. I used a mixture of Tacky Glue and copper colored paint and applied it with a toothpick to make a little ball on the end of the wire for the spout. I dipped the handles in the mixture too to fill in the loops. I rounded a piece of wood for a faucet base, painted it copper, and drilled holes to fit the faucet and handles. The faucet and handles can be turned.
In my house, all of my cabinets have doors, but I did open shelves in these cabinets so I could see all of the adorable little miniatures that will eventually be in this little kitchen.
I wanted an old fashioned style refrigerator, instead of a modern stainless steel one like mine. I sanded the corners to give it a rounded top. The line on the front is just carved to separate the freezer on top, but the door is all one solid piece. I knew exactly what I wanted the handle to look like, "old fashioned". I looked around the house, and found the perfect item to use as the handle. Can anyone guess what the handle actually was? Hint: it is made of silver metal and it came from an ordinary everyday household object.
The top two shelves are the freezer compartment and the bottom three shelves are the refrigerator. I'll make some ice cream to go in the freezer soon. I glued a tiny magnet on the door, and I cut a piece of metal from a picture hanger to glue inside the refrigerator to catch the door magnet, which keeps the door closed.
In case you noticed that the freezer needs defrosting (remember this is an old fashioned refrigerator), here's how I did that. I painted the inside surfaces of the freezer with Tacky Glue, then I sprinkled Fun Flock on the glue. An instant frosted refrigerator. You can get Fun Flock in the scrapbooking and embossing area of the craft store. It's been in my craft supplies for a long time.
The stove is made of basswood and painted with Gesso and white acrylic paint just like the refrigerator and sink. To make the stove top, I first glued 4 silver beads where the burners go with E6000 glue.
Next, I glued two different sized stainless steel washers for each burner.
For the top of the burner I used four rubber O-ring seals from the plumbing department at Lowe's. I also used
Size 3 Hook and Eyes from the sewing department at Hobby Lobby. I clipped off the hook part and slid 4 hooks on to each seal to make the black grate part of the burners. I glued these on with Tacky Glue since I needed a glue that dried clear (E6000 dries white).
I shaped the stove knobs from silver polymer clay. The oven handle is carved from basswood and painted silver.
I painted the inside of the oven with grey paint, then speckled it with black and white paint. I glued a piece of clear plastic cut from packaging on to the inside of the oven door. The door is hinged by drilling a tiny hole through the door frame and into the door on each side at the bottom, and inserting the thicker part of a toothpick with some glue. It works perfectly as a hinge.
I added two drawers to hold silverware, etc.
I shaped two tiny pieces of basswood and attached them to a piece of dowel to make a towel holder on the end of the cabinet.
Here is how the stove and cabinet looks in the kitchen.
Above the stove are open shelves to display some miniatures. Behind the shelves, I attached a piece of the same fabric that I used for the curtain under the sink. On the shelves is a Cherry Tea Set from Hobby Lobby, a set of Cherry Canisters from Michael's, and two unusually shaped glass bottles with corks that I found in the jewelry department at Hobby Lobby. Inside is real Olive Oil in one and Balsamic Vinegar in the other.
The backsplash is made from a sheet of dark brown embossed paper from Hobby Lobby. It looked like tile to me, so I wrapped a piece of basswood with it and painted it with Gesso. This is what the paper looked like before painting it with Gesso.
After painting it with Gesso, I painted it with white acrylic paint, then I dry brushed it with my Cottage Rose paint, so that it just picked up the color on the raised parts. I finished it with a coat of Glossy Mod Podge to make it shiny.
Here is another shot of the stove, the shelves, and refrigerator.
Some very excited dolls have been waiting patiently to try out this kitchen.
Twinkle climbs to reach the shelves and Amelia Thimble helps with washing up the dishes. :)
Little Pullip Stica is ready to go to work as a maid in this little kitchen.
Mini American Girl Kirsten cooks up something delicious for her friend Felicity.
Kit gets the dessert out of the freezer.
My daughters keep asking me who is going to live in this dollhouse. This dollhouse is the standard 1:12 scale or 1 inch scale, and I built the kitchen to that scale too. In case you're new to dollhouses, this means 1 inch = 1 foot. So the countertops are 3" high, which is equivalent to 3 feet high in real life (standard kitchen counter height). The ceilings are 9" high, which is equivalent to 9' ceilings in our houses.
The mini American Girls fit, but they look a little large in there. This makes sense because they are 6" high, which would equal 6' tall in real life. Six feet is fine for adult height, but mini AG dolls look like little girls, which makes them look a little big in this scale.
Amelia Thimble (Wilde Imagination) and Twinkle (Fairyland RealPuki BJD) are a little small, but since Amelia is a little girl and Twinkle is a fairy, you would expect them to be smaller than adults.
Hmmm... who should be the residents of this house? What do you think?
Don't forget to leave your guess below about what the refrigerator door handle originally was.
Hugs,
Lisa
