Oh, For Tiny, Nimble Fingers!

I have been sewing itty bitty dollclothes. When I bought these little naked darling three inch antique dollhouse dolls, I thought, "How hard can it be to make them clothes? A scrap of cloth, a little stitch here, a little stitch there. Piece of cake." And I stand by that thought. As long as you are a five inch fairy with tee tiny hands the size of birth control pills. My patience has been tested. Not to mention my eyesight. I made two of the outfits last night (it took hours!) and then this morning, I sat outside and made the one I embroidered. It was much easier working with the daylight than hunched over under a lamp.
This doll is about 3 inches high and I've made her look slightly rotund with this fabric choice. It was a scrap cut off of a piece of an old skirt and is linen. I used three strands of embroidery floss to put blanket stitch around the edges and to make the little flowers.
The little boy doll is missing an arm and has a chip in his ankle(he came that way). I strung him back together as best I could and then used an old silk tie from the thrift store to make him a housecoat. He's still bedridden, recovering from the amputation of his arm. I would just like to say that making that robe was a real bear! I had to improvise a little pattern and handsewing silk is a tricky endeavor! At first I thought everyone would get a couple of sets of clothes but after making the first outfit, I became very enamored with the thought of sewing the clothes onto the dolls permanently. It's much easier than trying to make them removable. The little girl in the middle is wearing the first outfit I made. I used a scrap left over from making the quilts and a piece of antique lace I had.
At least this morning when I worked outside, I had something pretty to look at.

To Bed, To Bed, You Sleepyhead!

So with the recent acquisition of the dollhouse, I now have an excuse to make itty bitty quilts. The blue and pink one I made from squares of 1930's reproduction fabric I had. The embroidered one is made from an old vest I had that I cut up and sewed to make a little bed cover.Oh, the fun I am having. I made the white pillow and stuffed it with rice. The pillow case is from an old handkerchief.

Solution for Clutter!!!!

I have come up with a way to solve the dilema of my prediliction for collecting clutter. I'm going to miniaturize it! Now that I have bought a dollhouse, I can focus my attention on buying teeny, tiny clutter and cluttering up my dollhouse instead of my real house. I'm thinking this is a stroke of genius. So the saga of the dollhouse is this. I had been looking for ages for an old dollhouse on ebay. Everytime I found one I liked (with that kind of clunky 1930's homemade feel, but really sturdy), the bidding would just get way out of control. It seems I have the same taste as everyone else on ebay looking for an old dollhouse. This one had a reserve price so that was a little discouraging. It also had two questions from bidders and 12 bids on it already. The only encouraging thing was that the auction was over at 8:30 Sunday morning, a time when I am actually up, as opposed to late at night. Also the seller lived less than 2 hours away so I could go pick it up and not pay for shipping (which is ridiculous on big things like this). So I bought it for $150 and the next day packed up the kids and the beau and went to pick it up. I was surprised at how huge it was! I had the measurements, but visualizing 40 x 25 x 35 in thin air is much different than seeing it in wood and paint. It was pouring rain the whole way and I decided to take a "short" cut home, but that is a-whole-nother story.
I am terribly excited about it! The kids are equally excited and we've had some territorial disputes. Today I helped them make quilts for their own dollhouse (which actually cost more than this one!)as a way to alleviate my guilt over indulging in my obsessive-compulsive need to make tiny dollhouse curtains and quilts and pillows and rugs late into the night.
This dollhouse is so perfect! It has electric lights which just gives me the goosebumps every time I turn them on. And on the side it has two more rooms, a bathroom and a kitchen, witht the sweetest little green and white tile paper. The kitchen has old linoleum on the floor and the bathroom has a little built in medicine chest. I can't stand it!
I couldn't wait to fix it all up before I put stuff in it. I still have lots to do and of course I had to go shopping today at the flea market, consignment shop, and antique store to see if they had anything the inhabitants of my dollhouse couldn't live without. And naturally they did.I had a great time cutting up an old vest to make the quilts on the pink beds. I cut around all the embroidered little bits to make it look like I'd worked a lot harder to make it than I actually had.
I'm making a polar bear rug out of an old collar off a child's jacket. I've cut it out but haven't finished yet. Still trying to figure out how to do the teeth.

I found this wonderful 1930's dollhouse slideshow while trolling on the web.

June 2006 Update of Favorite Old 1930s Dollhouse

Dog Portraits

Okay, I'll be the first to admit I have a little bit too much free time on my hands today. I take an equal number of pictures of my children, I just don't post them on the web.

Insects and Waterlilies

I did actually get to take a few pictures before Henry came out and distracted me. Because of the lighting, it looks like the waterlily is on a black background, but that is just the pond. Yellow jackets like to sip water off the lilypads and the dragonflies are actually very curious and will fly almost right up to you. They just won't be still for long.I think this is a blue darter, but I don't know for sure. I'm not really up on the bug world. We were so excited last year when we got to see a dragonfly nymph emerging from her shell and drying her wings on a rock.

Caught In The Act!

Saturday morning and I'm out feeding the fish and trying to photograph dragonflies. They're flighty devils and won't sit still long enough for me to focus.
Then out of nowhere, Henry brazenly approaches the waterfall.
Without so much as a by your leave, he waltzes right in and takes a sip or two.
He then turns and exits the other side.
He saunters off into the shade where he will walk through mud and mulch that he will later track into the house. Notice he never lifted his head. I think he thought if he didn't get his face on camera, we wouldn't be able to make a positive i.d. However, his distinctive markings gave him away. We have seen him sit in the center of the fall and lap at the water as it comes over the edge. He can't seem to resist. Any time we let him in the backyard, he ends up in the waterfall. I suppose it is just a matter of time before he takes a flying leap into the actual pond.

Sweet Nostalgia

What a delicious little book I got from the Salvation Army for $1.99. I got sucked in by the dancing girls cake with the paperdolls on top. The parasol cake flipped my skirt, too. I have such a lovely time when I go to the Salvation Army sans children. I get to just drift along daydreaming about what I could do with this piece of junk or that piece of trash. Nevermind I could sometimes buy a new one cheaper by the time I finish fixing up the old one. That's not the point. It's just fun to problem solve and create.

Front Yard Snippets