Dollhouse Update Tour

Hi Doll Friends,

I thought I'd share some scenes from the dollhouse today. If you've ever worked on a dollhouse, you'll know that a dollhouse is never truly finished, but they continue to be worked on and evolve much like our own homes. I am always on the lookout for new and old things to add to the dollhouse, and I have a plethora of dollhouse ideas just waiting to be accomplished.

So this will be a kind of tour of how the dollhouse looks as of today. Here is the exterior front of the house. Plans are to add lots of greenery and flowers, so the curb appeal will be changing soon.

Out on the veranda, is the new barbecue pit that I picked up at Michael's last weekend. On either side are red metal patio chairs.

A close up of the metal barbecue pit. The cute red gingham towel came with it.

At the other end of the veranda is the rabbit hutch and a twiggy chair.

Continuing our tour inside, we'll start in the kitchen. There are black and white checkerboard floors and red wallpaper. I custom built the rustic cabinets, island, and the appliances.

The dining table is set for a lovely tea party.

The style in the kitchen is a bit of vintage shabby chic with a touch of Mary Engelbreit.

Next door in the living room, you'll see my custom made ceiling fan. Click here for a tutorial to make your own ceiling fan that really spins with manual power. I am planning to make a shabby chic slip cover for the sofa and chair. This was my last room to buy furniture for, so a lot of finishing touches are still needed in here. Lamps, doilies, artwork, and much more to come.

Heading up the stairs to the 2nd floor brings us into the craft room. All manner of sewing, arts, and crafts goes on here. Mom is busy at the sewing machine, and her friend, the little primitive clothespin doll, has stopped by for a crafting party. She has brought a basket of craft supplies and snacks for the party. The french door opens out onto the upstairs balcony. The door on the left goes into the master bedroom.

The master bedroom has pink floral wallpaper and hardwood floors.

There's a comfy quilt on the bed and lace curtains on the bay windows. I found the little walnut table that's in front of the window at an antique store last weekend. The table has six legs and is marked Strombecker on the bottom. It is from the 1930's.

The bathroom is situated on the 2nd floor next to the master bedroom. It has dark blue tile floor and light blue walls with white wainscoting and lacey trim.

The metal washtub and washboard are next to the sink. The linen cupboard is filled with fluffy towels and tissue paper. Hanging above is the rose plaque that I painted on wood.

Finally going up the stairs to the 3rd floor, you'll find the kids room.

The back wall of the kids room has fairy garden wallpaper. The kids love dollhouses, so you'll see there are quite a few in their room, along with their various other toys.

They love the tiny Kewpie dolls that I bought last weekend at the antique store.

The kids decide to have a tea party to try out their new table and chair set.

On the other side of the room is the nursery where Amelia Thimble is babysitting quite a few little ones.

Inside the crib is a tiny Heidi Ott infant dressed in a white crochet dress and bonnet.  A tiny Pinocchio mobile hangs above her crib.

Two Renwal toddlers are playing in their 1950's Renwal playpen. I found a little Sunbonnet Sue quilt that fits perfectly in the bottom to keep them comfy.

Here is a final view of the whole inside of the dollhouse at once.

I hope you enjoyed our update tour of the dollhouse. Please leave your thoughts, questions, and suggestions in the comment section below. I'd love to hear from you!

 Hugs ♥

Thrifty Finds This Week

Hi Doll Friends,

We hit some of our favorite stores and antique malls this weekend, so I thought I'd share some of our thrifty finds. If you like miniatures, you should definitely check out your local Michael's. They have just put out a brand new selection of dollhouse miniatures. One of the two Michael's stores that I went to had placed the new miniatures on a completely different aisle, separate from their old mini stock.

I only picked up a couple minis from this new line, because I like to use a coupon to get a bargain. I'll definitely be going back for more though. There were so many cute new minis that I hadn't seen elsewhere before. I got this adorable metal barbecue pit. It is just so realistic. It was one of the more expensive miniatures at $8.99, but it was still only $4.50 with the coupon.

I thought these little metal guns were very realistically detailed too. They are actually made of metal, not resin or plastic. They came two to a pack for 4.99 before the coupon.

I'm planning some new craft projects, so I also picked up this set of 36 Artist's Loft watercolor paints on sale for just $2.99

At one of my favorite Antique Malls, I found this very old, antique doll trunk. It is made of metal and wood, and it is probably from the late 1800's.

My daughter has been collecting old primitive wooden boxes, and when she found this old doll trunk in our favorite primitives booth, I just had to buy it.

I'd love to know the history of this old doll trunk. It's fun to just imagine who it belonged too, where it's been and what treasures it held.

I also picked up this sweet little primitive stuffed sheep from the same booth.

I found lots of dollhouse miniatures at the antique malls too. These two tiny vinyl Kewpie dolls will be perfect toys for the dollhouse at just under 2" tall.

I also bought a miniature old fashioned metal washtub and washboard and a tiny brass umbrella stand.

This adorable miniature red wooden table and chair set is painted in a dutch style I think.

I really love the chippy paint on this little cast iron potbelly stove.

Here it is with my Gone With The Wind Mammy doll that I got at the doll show.

It must have been a day for finding stoves, because I came home with quite a few. This is another cast iron Queen stove to add to my collection. Mini American Girl Samantha volunteered to show you how big it is.

This is my third cast iron stove, but the neatest thing is that all three that I have found are different sizes. This latest find is a medium size when compared to my other two.

Mini American Girl Kirsten shows off another new stove. This is a vintage German MFZ tin lithographed stove, probably from the 1940-50's.

Ann Estelle is claiming this rusty old vintage Marx Pretty Maid tin stove for her kitchen. It is also probably from the 1940-50's.

Her Mary Engelbreit teapots look very new against this rusty old stove, but Ann Estelle thinks it will do for now.

Ruby, my Ruby Red Galleria Bleuette shows off this antique reproduction buggy that I found at an antique mall.

I added a tiny antique China to my growing little china doll collection. She's the little one in the rusty orange dress.

I purchased this little 6" China from my local doll club friend who travels to doll shows all over the country, buying and selling antique dolls.

The back of her shoulder plate is marked Germany.

I just love her tiny sweet face.

This last one was an eBay find, a 4" tall Itty Bitty Hitty. This 4" version is also carved from wood by Robert Raikes. She is dressed in a burgundy print dress with an ivory pinafore. She is jointed at the neck, shoulders and hips. Here is Itty Bitty Hitty with my traditional size 6 1/2" Hitty.

I hope you enjoyed seeing our latest thrifty finds. Please leave a comment below to tell us about your latest fun finds.  I'd love to hear from you!!!

 Hugs ♥ 

Shopping Finds & Easter Decor Tour

Hi Doll Friends,

I hope you are having a great Easter week. We've been having fun doing a little Easter decorating around the house. Martha just loves to help.

This post is a bit of a combination of our fun shopping finds and a tour of our Easter decor. Starting our tour is this really big pair of Annalee Bunny Dolls from Tuesday Morning. They are happily catching butterflies atop my doll cabinet.

Here is this year's whimsical Easter mantle. Please ignore the electronics. I just decorate around them and pretend they're not there. I purchased the Happy Easter bunting from Target after Easter last year. The letters are embroidered on pastel colored fabric triangles which are strung on jute.

I love decorating with vintage children's storybooks. I found "Home For A Bunny" at the antique mall, but my sweet daughter bought "First Spring" for me from Books A Million yesterday. It is a vintage reproduction version from the Wonder Books line. I found the tiny doll sized Easter basket at a thrift store. It is stamped Japan on the side.

I found the tiny Annalee bunnies at Tuesday Morning and TJ Maxx for around $7 each and the wooden bunny cart at the antique mall for $2.

Also on the mantle is this little clock with dancing dolls inside, they spin in one direction, then back in the other. I picked it up at my favorite antique mall for $12.50.

Another vintage book that fits right in with my Easter decor is "Mrs. Duck's Lovely Day". On the left is a wooden carved duck that is strung with a posable neck and legs. I bought him on eBay, but the seller didn't know who made him. On the right is an Annalee duck from Tuesday Morning.

I found the stacked bunnies for $2 at a thrift store and more tiny baskets and bunnies finish off this side.

More Annalee bunnies and vintage books atop a cabinet in the dining room. My husband bought the big white bunny with the basket for me at Tuesday Morning. The smaller tan sleepy bunny was a flea market find.

My daughter found this big Annalee Patchwork Bunny on eBay. She was so sweet to surprise me with her. The big vintage egg is from an antique store.

Decorating my china cabinet for Easter is this sweet bunny wearing a plaid dress that I found at an antique store for $4. As you can see through the glass, there are dolls in my china cabinet too. :)

My girls love to decorate the french doors with holiday clings. The doors are actually antique white with built in blinds, but the picture came out dark because it's so bright outside. My favorite clings are the big bunnies that look like they are peeking around the sides of the left door.

The bathroom even got a splash of Easter whimsy with this cute bathing Annalee duck from TJ Maxx.

In the dollhouse, everyone is getting ready for Easter to arrive too.

I fell in love with these big vintage eggs that I found at an antique store. My favorite one has Mr. & Mrs. Duck pushing a baby carriage. 

This one has a mother hen and her chicks. I just love these vintage pictures.

The smaller one has a brown bunny in a suit. I need to do some research to find out more about these vintage eggs. Please leave a comment below if you can share any info on them.

Of course, Martha had to come right over to see what I was doing with those big old eggs.

My daughter also brought home this adorable little Annalee mouse to me.  She is wearing a green floral dress with matching bonnet, and she carries her own Easter basket with eggs. 

I found this little jointed bunny at an antique store for just $1.75. The arms and legs are strung, and she is wearing a lace dress.  She has the cutest little face.

Martha loves her too!

I found two sweet kittens made of china at the same antique store for just $2.50 each. The little orange cat has a tag attached to it's neck that says "I'm Merry".  Gotta love that adorable little face!!!

The little white cat wears a blue bow around her neck and has a ladybug crawling up her leg.

It wasn't long before a kitty was in Martha's lap.

And then next thing you know...

While the kitties are entertaining Martha, I'd better tell you about my favorite Antique Mall find. I'm so excited to show you this wonderful little doll that I found in the Primitive booth. I talked to the owner of the booth, and she told me that she has had this little doll in her personal collection for over 35 years and she was very, very old when she got her. 

She is a primitive old clothespin doll with a stuffed head and body. She wears a blue floral dress with ric rac trim and a lace trimmed apron and slip. She also wears a red gingham bandanna on her head. Here you can see her old fashioned clothespin legs and the layers of her dress.

I am amazed that I don't have to worry about trying to balance her, she stands completely stable on her own.

She has a cloth head with a handpainted face. Isn't she just adorable?

I loved her even more once I got her home and realized that she is the perfect size for the dollhouse!

While I was busy at the dollhouse showing you how cute the primitive clothespin doll looks, Martha found another one of my antique store doll purchases.

Martha says, "A wooden dolly, she must be for me Mommy!"

If I can get Martha to put her down for just a minute to show you that she is a peg wooden doll. She is dressed in a tan, grey and red calico dress with lace trim and a matching bonnet. I found her at an antique store for the bargain price of just $5.

Her face and hair are painted on to her wooden head.

She also wears a tan slip and underclothes.

The paper tag under her collar reads Copyright Shackman 1960 Made in Japan.

The fabric tag sewed to the back of her dress reads Copyright Shackman 1962 Japanese Patent No 208916.

At about 8" tall, she's just a bit bigger than my 6 1/2" wooden Hitty Etta.

Speaking of Hitty Etta, I found this little wooden bed for her on eBay.

If you haven't read about Hitty yet, click here to read more about her. Hitty Etta is a carved wooden doll by Robert Raikes. When I saw that this little wooden Hitty bed was also by Robert Raikes, it went on my eBay watch list, and I was able to get it for a good price.

Hitty Etta trying out her new bed.

She likes it and brings it to her room.

The new bed fits snugly in Hitty Etta's room in my china cabinet. She even invited the little peg wooden girl over for a visit, and one of the kittens followed her home.

Another antique mall find was this tiny Raggedy Ann and Andy pair.  They are tagged Knickerbocker. Knickerbocker was licensed to make Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls from 1963-1982.

I found two Little Pullip dolls at Tuesday Morning that I thought would fit right in for Easter. First is this Little Pullip Humpty Dumpty Dal. She comes with a cute egg shell hat.

My other new Little Pullip Dal is dressed as a Rooster. These tiny 4 1/2" tall miniature Little Pullip dolls are such a great bargain at just $9.99 each. They come fully dressed with tons of details and even a stand is included.

Isn't this the funniest little Easter costume?

Here they are together, all ready for Easter.

Both of these Little Pullip dolls have the Dal face sculpt, yet you can see how their face painting and eye color makes them look different. If you'd like to read my earlier post about Little Pullip dolls, click here to check it out.

I think my last fun find to share this time is this cute quilted potholder, embroidered with a Sunbonnet Sue Doll applique. I found it at a thrift store for only 59¢. I have always said if I could find an affordable Sunbonnet Sue quilt, I'd buy it. I didn't find a quilt yet, but this old fashioned Sunbonnet Sue quilted potholder can certainly brighten my kitchen.

I'd love to hear from you. Please leave a comment below! :)

Have a wonderful blessed Easter!

Hugs ♥ 

 - Lisa