Tuesday, February 26, 2019

Swan Ridge Custom Dollhouse Continues

The construction of Swan Ridge dollhouse is coming near an end.  I'm loving the very clean lines of the front.
There are now bricks as the foundation for the porch.  The exterior is all birch siding. 
I did have an issue with an interior wall of this house. I wanted a nice big wall surface. I looked online for ideas and I saw a house with the wall like I have it below.  Having finished it I didn't like it! So took my new and sharp box cutter knife and...

AHHH!  Much better!  Sometimes things look fine on paper but once you try it out in real life it just looks a bit odd.  The wall still has plenty of surface so I'm quite happy with the result.

Until next time!
hugs,


Friday, February 22, 2019

Swan Ridge Dollhouse

For my next project, I designed a brand new custom dollhouse for Barbara. This is Swan Ridge.
First thing the woodfloors are glued in place. The stairs are not in place yet. I just put them there to look at the design of the floorplan. These are the larger Popsicle sticks for a more country cottage look.
This house has a double door/French door as the entry.  I got them from miniatures.com. I wanted to center the stairs on the entry. 
Now all the plaster has been done, the floor painted. The front wall and fireplace wall has large board panel siding.  The mantel is not glued in yet.  I still need to put the fire element in and age it.
This is the kitchen above. The beams are in pl;ace on the ceiling. They are made with regular size Popsicle sticks.  One window has trim.  I will put a sink under it.
The wall behind the steps is lavender. The kitchen wallpaper has lavender and pink in it. The upstairs bedroom paper has pink. This way the whole house relates in colors.
hugs,

Tuesday, February 19, 2019

Santa FeStyle Adobe 1/6Scale Custom Blythe Dollhouse Finished

It was a first, an adobe style dollhouse.  It's all finished and ready for Christine's little friend to move in!
 This scale is Barbie like scale for a doll 10"-12".
 It measures 25" across x 20 1/2" deep x 23 1/4" tall.  The interior is 15 1/2" deep x 24" wide.
 Everything is a mix of plaster and concrete layers. 


 I bought all the greenery at Hobby Lobby. It's just 1:1 size. It happens to work perfectly for this house.
 The peppers too are from Hobby Lobby. We just aged them a little because they were way too bright.
 I made the lantern because I couldn't' find any out there.  But it turned out to be very easy. 





 Inside is very traditional.  The floor is wood pieces painted and glossed to look like tile.
 I found this little ball of twine at Hobby Lobby near the grapevine wreaths.  Stuck a light inside and it's a perfectly rustic light fixture.


 I had bought this door online. I think from miniatures.com. It has been waiting for the perfect project.


In the chimney,  I put all my batteries and push switches for the lights and fire.
For the next commission it's back to 1/12 scale.
Thanks for coming over!
hugs,


Wednesday, February 13, 2019

Santa Fe Style Adobe Blythe 1/6 Dollhouse #2

A little update on the Santa Fe style house for 1/6 scale dolls.
 Since the last post everything got painted. The ceiling beams are still not in place.


 The Terra Cotta tiles are actually wood pieces painted the orange/brown/reddish color and glossed. Here's the link to them: https://www.hobbylobby.com/Crafts-Hobbies/Painting-Surfaces/Wood/Square-Wood-Shapes/p/28595
 I think the roof overhang will have to be trimmed back a bit. We will see once I get those outside beams in place.
Decided to cut it off!   And added a ornamental piece on top instead and the logs coming straight out of the wall like a trellis.
I also made an old lantern out of wood and cardboard.
And inside the beams and twine light fixture in place. 
hugs,


Thursday, February 7, 2019

Santa Fe Adobe Style 1/6 Blythe House

My next commission is for Christine. She ordered a 1/6 scale Santa Fe style adobe house for her 10"doll. This house will be about 24 3/4" across x 19 3/4" deep x 22 3/4" tall.

Having never made  this style before, I thought it would be a great project to share with you.

To start I need a plan. Just a rough sketch of what I plan to do.
Then I gather materials. My base wood will be tempered hardboard.  It's warp proof for a dollhouse project. But if you are building a dollhouse for yourself you are not limited to a certain wood since you will not be shipping it.

I'll need lots of plaster for this project.
 The beginning structure is very simple. Front wall, 2 side walls (going at an up angle towards the back and a floor that I have glued 1" off the ground.

 I've got the door and windows off to the side to leave room for a corner fireplace. The floor tiles are wood pieces already cut up I bought at Hobby Lobby.
And here is the start of that corner fireplace.  We decided to use Styrofoam.  This is a ball and a flat edge wreath. There is one coat of plaster on so far here.
Now we need to glue on the roof to put the fireplace in place.
The blue stick is a straw. It's keeping an opening for wires later.
The top long flute part is a Styrofoam cone.  Everything is covered in plaster. This will take a few layers of plaster.  Make sure you let each layer dry completely.  Also put a straw or dowel in your firebox if you intend to put lights inside to look like a fire.  It will make it easier to wire later.
 We added the mantel made of a Styrofoam flat wreath ring and coated the whole thing with concrete for added firmness.
Also carved the stones at the bottom.
Another coat of plaster.
 We're using larger birch siding planks on the ceiling.
 The door is weathered grey tinted under with a chippy aqua latex paint on top.
And I made 3 decorative tiles for the mantel.  I topped them with a glob of glossy ModPodge and they look surprisingly like real tiles!
Thanks for stopping by!
hugs,