Log Cabin: Getting close now!!

I have been working on and off on the log cabin dollhouse.  It has been a headache in some ways because this house was definitely NOT made to any scale!!!!  So nothing fits perfectly!   But that same non-scale dilemma has allowed me the freedom to fudge quite a few things!!  So a mixed blessing!

I have made the rope bed and matching trundle bed.    It needs sanded and stained/painted.  I am also currently working on the warm and toasty quilts for the bed.   The quilts are slow going as I have been cross stitching them.  Of course I started with quilt for the biggest bed...it is sloooow going!  Hopefully the trundle bed and cradle quilts will be quick to complete!!!  

Yes the fabric will soften up after washed.  

I have also recently decided that I need a work table in the kitchen...mostly because I found a cute rolling pin that I am dying to use!    

Other than those 'big projects'. The log cabin is mostly done....just little small touches to make it look totally livable!

What touches?    

**A mouse and a mouse trap (I had been looking and just found one at an antique store this week!!)

** a chamber pot 

** wash basin and pitcher (oh I guess that means I need a stand for that too.

** a few kitchen things for the work table 

** lanterns, lamps and candles 

** I need to weather the wash board!!!

This dollhouse isn't even done and I've started buying pieces for my next dollhouse AND for a room that I want to do!!!  Plus I have visions of a shop or two that I want to do!

What dollhouse next??? 1940's-1950's era.  I found awesome vintage kitchen appliances at a fair recently!!

What room???  A Christmas scene from the turn of the century...but a well to do house..not a log cabin!!!  I have the furniture I just need to reupholster!  

What shops?    A quilting/fabric store and a quilt shop selling quilts!  I have nothing...yet.  

Oh yeah this is addictive!!!!

Log Cabin: Braided Rugs

Those hardwood floors in my miniature dollhouse cabin seemed rather cold and stark.  I decided that I needed some braided rugs.  I had the perfect solution to procuring them too!

I gathered my supplies:

Scissors
Wax paper
Glue
Yarn (I used the cotton candy yarn that many crafters use for making wash clothes and dishrags....it's less fuzzy and thus would be perfect for a dollhouse)

I laid wax paper out on my work area and then spread my craft glue in a circle.   Starting at roughly the center, I curled up the yarn and started to wind it around in a circle on the glue. I simply made sure that each round of yarn was pressed tightly to the proceeding round.  I went around until I reached the desired size.

I 

I allowed my rugs to dry overnight and then I cut the excess wax paper off and voila.....instant braided rugs.

And the finished project!!!!

And pardon the dollhouse...the remodel is not quite complete.  (the fireplace needs finished and some painting touched up!)

Log cabin: Remodel

My grandfather made a dollhouse years before I was born. (My father said it was made in the 50's or 60's).  At some time in the 70's my grandfather (Pappy Clingan) gave the house to me.  There was no furniture, so my brother and I created furniture for it and my parents gifted me some items.  I played with the house.

In my adulthood, I noticed the house in storage and my dreaming began.  I dreamed of changes and plans.  The dollhouse was not at all scale and would pose challenges but it was always a dream of mine to 'do it up right'.   I worked on the Harry Hockenberry House and said that I would do Pappy Clingans house next....but years went by and no work was done.

It wasn't until I visited an art museum and went on the docent guided tour of the dollhouses that I got the urge and the motivation at the same time.  I came home from that vacation and started immediately!

I was/am a total novice at this process and very quickly learned that some of my steps were not exactly in the right order.  Oh well.....learning.

First up was flooring.  (Would have been much easier to paint first!)

The flooring went well and I rolled right into creating a fireplace.   What log cabin can exist without a fireplace??????

Or two fireplaces...they needed a fireplace upstairs too right????

Everything received a nice fresh coat of paint.  And I was ready to start working on the furnishings!  It was time to make this dollhouse a home!

Harry Hockenberry House

My ex was in possession of a house that had been built for a large Christmas Display that was at one time owned and maintained by family members.  I had long been interested in dollhouses, so decided to tackle this house as my first restoration and dollhouse.

As you can see the house was in some rough shape.  I stripped off the old stucco and we fixed the rotted wood.

 We re-stuccoed the walls.

 And it got a new roof.

Some of the windows received replacement trim.

We added a chimney!

We had some help.

It was then time to paint!

 The porch was fun to paint!



 Then it was time to add the fun things!