The Christmas Tree Room
Hey look, a finished project! Made in November 2006 and updated in November 2007, this little room was built around that lovely tree
Date: 11/23/2007
Last year this looked lovely and I had many nice comments around Christmas when I had it on a shelf in my cube at work. This year it looked like it needed a facelift, so I added the plaster ceiling and the crown molding. Now it is just about perfect.
Ready for Stuffing
The stockings are hung and all is ready for a visit by St. Nick's big helpers
Date: 11/23/2007
Members of the ATM toy swap from last year may recognize their creations under the tree. The hobby horse, jack-in-the-box, baby doll, yo-yo, fuzzy bear... and a few others, are from the swap. I made the fireplace and the stockings myself, but I pressed Li'l Bea into service with her Crayola clay to make the figures for the nativity scene, plus the milk and cookies on the mantel.
Christmas Eve
With a nativity scene on the hearth, lights on the tree and milk and cookies on the mantel, everything is ready for Christmas
Date: 01/13/2003
By the light of the tree... I love Christmas Eve and putting out the last of the gifts.
On the shelf
Way up on the shelf for now, but soon coming down for display on my desk at work
Date: 11/20/2007
It will be a tradition that I take the Christmas Tree Room in to work and display it during the weeks leading up to Christmas. Traditions are good and mini traditions are even better :)
eBay Find
Sturdy cape with the shell mostly complete, including windows, door, clapboards, roof shingles and stairs. Best of all, it was wicked cheap.
Date: 11/23/2007
One of my eBay finds. I bid the minimum, never expecting to get it so cheaply. Now it will be my spare time project that I'll work on between other projects or while waiting for glue to dry. I'll do it in American Country just as a little break from Colonial and Early American.
Country Cape goes red
What say we do the little cape in a coutry red?
Date: 12/17/2007
Red house, white trim, brick foundation, and leave the roof a weathered natural. Yeah, I think that will work. The inside will be country and Americana. After all, my girls have their houses, so my boy should have one, right? Well maybe he won't want it now, but I can still work on it. I'm doing Americana because he was born on the 4th of July :)
The Little Charity House
Way back when I was working on the project, it looked like this
Date: 11/23/2007
This was a round table project. A dozen or so people, brought together by the AllThingsMini.com forum, shipped this project around the continent and each did our part to build an amazing sea-side cottage. I had it second and did the roof, the window and door, and the siding.
Inside the Little Charity House
I beefed up and shingled the roof, added siding, and put in the window and door
Date: 11/23/2007
It was the image of a ship in the frosted glass of the front door that gave later participants the idea to make this into the cottage of a sea captain's widow. You can see the whoel thread and the results HERE.
A Bread Box?
This is a five dollar yard sale find. Unused and just begging for a mini makeover
Date: 05/27/2006
So there I am at a yard sale with my wife, looking at musty books and used shoes, when I spy a little bread box on a shelf at the back of the garage. I was surprised to find a price on it. Seven bucks. Sold! From the first I knew that I could fit a mini kitchen in that thing.
In a Breadbox
What would you do with this great little room inside of a bread box?
Date: 05/27/2006
The ceiling height is just a tad low for 1/12th, but so what. I'm doing a depression era kitchen scene with a table on which a pie will be in progress. It is coming along slowly, but well.
Kitchen in a Bread Box
In my mind, this bread box was just begging to have a kitchen put in it before it gets put in my kitchen
Date: 04/10/2003
Pine floors, simple wall paper, plain chair rail and some swirled ceiling paint have started the transformation of this breadbox into a kitchen. Soon I'll figure out how to put a window on that back wall...
L.L. Bean Rangeley Log Cabin
Li'l Bea just loves log homes, so when this cabin showed up at the flea market next to where I worked just in time for Christmas... how could I resist?
Date: 01/07/2003
One Friday in November of 2005 I walked next door at lunch to visit the indoor flea market being held in another part of the building where I worked. I was amazed to find two ladies set up with tables full of minis to sell. Two houses were displayed, but only this one was displayed. How could I even hesitate to pay the very reasonable price of seventy-five dollars for this L.L. Bean log dollhouse?
Cabin at Christmas
Each year we use the little cabin as a special decoration for Christmas
Date: 12/25/2005
It was about four weeks before Christmas when I bought this cabin and I knew I'd never be able to hide it in our house or even the garage for that long. Sooo... I kept it at work, right outside my office, set up as a Christmas decoration. The employees loved it and it gradually got decked out for the season.
Decked
We decked the halls, the walls, and the roof the first Christmas. I don't recommend spraying snow on your dollhouse!
Date: 12/25/2005
Day by day, as this little house sat in the lobby of FHC, Inc., decorations and furnishing accumulated. I added a tree and lights, one of the ladies who worked with me added some candy canes, and a lady in the production department brought in some little food items to set the table for dinner. I think I got a bit carried away when I sprayed it with fake snow. That stuff does not come off easily four weeks later!
Rear View
Cabin from the back.
Date: 01/07/2003
This house is made of solid wood that is milled with logs and shingles. It is plenty rugged to stand up to heavy play from a nine year old... and her friends.
Hinged Roof
Fairly plain on the inside, the cabin is sturdy and a perfect first dollhouse for a little girl
Date: 01/07/2003
The roof folds back giving access to everywhere at once, which is really great for busy little Beas. Call it a three room cabin, with living, kitchen and loft areas.
Cabin Dining
This set was another bargain from the same flea market vendor
Date: 01/07/2003
The kitchen as it looked shortly after Christmas, before Dad finished the cookstove. The icebox came along right after the stove, and a hutch finished the kitchen furnishings. They and the sink with pitcher pump were made from a Realife kit.
Sears Catalog House
This faded old Sears dollhouse has been with us since my oldest was young. She is twenty now, and still has a soft spot for this old house
Date: 02/15/2006
This faded old Sears dollhouse has been with us since my oldest was young. She is twenty now, and still has a soft spot for this old house. She has furnished it it a mostly Victorian style, even though the house is more Colonial Revival. We would like to add some Victorian touches and a more detailed finish to the exterior, but maybe we should leave it the way it is for the sake of nostalgia?
The White House
Sometimes we get to thinking that our projects are too big for us. Then we pull out this book about the White House in miniature and we realize that our projects are very small
Date: 03/14/2006
This is one of my favorite dollhouse books. Not only is this huge and full of great artistic and historical detail, but the story of how the White House was built and how it traveled and was rebuilt month after month for years, is just amazing.
White House Book
Date: 03/14/2006
The fact that this copy is signed by the artisan is a special bonus.
The Study
Captain Stone's Study, a Primrose built as an ell for a Colonial home.
Date: 11/26/2007
Yes, it still needs door hardware, but the office of Capt. Joshua Stone (Ret.), Shipping Agent is open for business. It doesn't look much like your average Primrose kit. Doesn't even feel like one, but that is how it started life.
Inside of the Study
It will be a little while before the furniture is all ready for this display, but the captain can get a bit of work done the way it stands... as long as he doesn't want to go in or out of the door... no hardware!
Date: 11/26/2007
The detail level is pretty high. Polished floor, planked attic with beamed ceiling, wainscoting with chair rail, crown and baseboard moldings, individual clapboard siding, added depth to walls and roof, and a plaster ceiling all work together to give the illusion of high quality... to what is actually the cheapest dollhouse kit on the market!
Second LL Bean Cabin
Found another LL Bean DH, this one for $50
Date: 01/01/2003
Here it is in the back of the mommyvan. I just picked it up. Came with "stuff" rattling around in the house and more in a bag.
Why Buy Another One?
First, it was a bargin... second, it's so cute!
Date: 01/01/2003
Ever since Li'l Bea got hers two years ago, I've been thinking of projects that I could do for this house. However, I've been very wary of modifying the original piece. Now I'm not so tentative. We can keep one in original condition and modify the other all we like!
Sweet Little Cabin
It is dirty and has a few dings, but this little cabin has somebody to love it for the first time in a number of years
Date: 01/01/2003
It looks like it has been neglected lately, with the thick dust inside and out. It has also met with a few knocks, which I'll catalog.
Random Junk
Inside there were several of the original pieces of furniture and a lot of "other bits"
Date: 01/01/2003
The original furniture is there, but then there are some junky pieces of generic DH furniture, broken items, dalmatian puppies, plastic toys, and a little lost ninja.
Looks Promising
I was very pleased with the condition of the paint and the structure and the fact that the original accessories were there
Date: 01/01/2003
I was very pleased with the condition of the paint and the structure and the fact that the original accessories were there. The first chore is to sort out and clean out.
Damage #1
A crack in the gable end by the chimney
Date: 01/01/2003
A crack in the gable end by the chimney, but with a dab of wood glue and a clamp this will disappear.
Damage #2
This tiny section of wall is loose
Date: 01/01/2003
This tiny section of wall is loose, but it will be as good as new with a minor adjustment and a little wood glue.
Damage #3
A ding in the plywood base in the middle of the front porch
Date: 01/01/2003
A ding in the plywood base in the middle of the front porch. Not much can be done about it, but it is minor.
Damage #4
Column got whacked leaving a little crack at the bottom and a missing brace at the top.
Date: 01/01/2003
Column got whacked leaving a little crack at the bottom and a missing brace at the top. Again quite minor and easily fix. All in all it is in better shape than the other one, which has a chunk out of one cornet of the base and some other blemishes.
Mixed Corn
Most of this stuff was junk to begin with, then it was mistreated
Date: 01/01/2003
Most of this stuff was junk to begin with, then it was mistreated and now it is going to line the bottom of the dust bin.
Amoung the Claptrap
Mixed in among the useless items are the original furniture items that were included with the house
Date: 01/01/2003
Mixed in among the useless items are the original furniture items that were included with the house. If I hadn't been told by the nice lady who sold me the first one I might have missed them.
Original Furniture
Although the scale is rather dodgey, these came with the house if you bought it from L.L. Bean back when
Date: 01/01/2003
Although the scale is rather dodgey, these came with the house if you bought it from L.L. Bean back when. I have yet to locate an original catalog page with this in it, but I do remember seeing them in the store a dozen years or more ago.
Store Display
This is about what it looked like inside when they sold them in the retail store
Date: 01/01/2003
This is about what it looked like inside when they sold them in the retail store. There might have been another item or two in there, but without the catalog page I have no idea what else was included.
