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Thursday, March 13, 2014

Thursday Tidbits

It's been awhile, I hope all is well with you. There are 40 days (and nights) until the deadline for the Undersized Urbanite Dollhouse Contest and I still haven't dug into my entry. But, my mother is in remission for her two cancers, so there is good news (and a good excuse for my delay in starting)!

Given the time constraints, I will be working on something small and I will start rolling out the project in my next post (and I will post a tutorial for the Elsie de Wolfe's chair).

In the meantime, here is my latest Dollar Tree find, pens that turn into miniature carafes, pens, and candles:





























While I decide on my small project for the contest, I thought I would share some of my, too large, dollhouse collection. It is not as grand as Barbara Streisand's collection, and I don't travel abroad with my own personal dollhouse decorator in order to find furnishings (as Barbara does), but I enjoy my collection and the freedom to decorate whenever and however I choose.

My Walmer. This house needs a lot of work.








My next project is to redo it as an Art Deco period house, like this house:




These houses also need much work:

A Keystone Fold-away house with two fold out rooms. A prior owner papered it with Contact paper. When I have time, I will fix the roof and walls.











An East German Vero house, probably from the late 1970s or early 1980s.








A 1947 FAO Schwarz dollhouse. My house is still in pieces, this is what it should look like.




A 1957 T.J. Cohen dollhouse. This is one of my favorites because of its Mid-Century Modern exterior and interior design:




























An "unknown" plastic dollhouse that a friend found in a thrift store. I love the MCM exterior and its modern, compact kitchen with a fold-up counter. (I wish it wasn't so pink!)






Debbie's Dreamhouse from 1964




A Rich Dollhouse from the 1940s,



An unknown dollhouse, bought for $10 off of Craig's List. Rebecca pointed out a similar one on the UK eBay. It probably is German, I love the arched doorways.




















A ceramic dollhouse with a Victorian or Edwardian interior. I don't gravitate towards that style, but this reminds of the interior scenes of Sherlock Holmes's house in the BBC drama "The Return of Sherlock Holmes."



















A 1930s British Triang dollhouse. This house has Art Deco fireplaces, and a wonderful hallway room and staircase. The house is built to 1:16 scale, but the doors are 1:24 scale.



Although it has Tudor markings, it still reminds of these semi-detached houses found in London's suburbs.




This is an old theater I built about four years ago, and, yes, it still needs work.



In another post I will show my Lundby collection, a few more MCM dollhouses, and my improved Art Deco bungalow.

Wishing you only good things, Neen

(A few photos are unsourced. If you know the origin of one or more of these photos, I will be happy to post it.)

18 comments:

  1. I am glad your mom is doing better! You and I both enjoy remodeling houses. My collection is not as extensive as yours. Have fun with them!

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    1. Thank you grandmommy, my mother is now zooming around. I wish I had her energy, I would be remodeling and decorating like crazy!

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  2. There are only 40 days left?!!! Oh, jeez I have some tiny construction work to do. ><

    Glad to hear that your mother is doing better, and I love your dollhouse collection. :)

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    1. Thank you Kyle, I know your house will be fabulous!

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  3. Great collection Neen. I look forward to seeing more of your collection and seeing your UU entry.

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    1. Thanks Sharee, if my house is half as good as the one you built for your sister I will be happy!

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  4. Wow, what a collection. I would love to spend time tinkering on those.
    Wonderful news about your Mum, I hope the remission continues for decades. Good luck with your Urbanite entry =0)

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    1. Pepper, mi casa et su casa (plural). Maybe in another 50 years I will be able to decorate these houses as well as you. Thank you for the lovely wish for my mom!

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  5. I'm so glad your mom is in remission! Great collection, Neen! I especially love the German and MCM ones and the theater. Can't wait to see more. Gotta love the dollar store!

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    1. Thanks Cyd for such a nice comment! Yes, dollar stores (and thrift shops) can be a treasure trove for a miniaturist and any crafter. If there were still 5 and 10 cents stores, you probably would find me there as well!

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  6. Neen, it's great to hear about your Mom being in remission, My Mother is in remission too and has been for the last 8 years..never give up! I love your collection of houses .

    I too am a bit behind on my Undersized Urbanite submission but I plan to get it underway this weekend, thanks for the tip about the dollar store crayons I'm going to check it out.

    Hugs
    Marisa

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  7. Marissa, that is wonderful news about your mother! I hope my mother's remission also continues for many years. I am looking forward to seeing your Urbanite house, you always have such creative posts and your teacup house was fabulous! (And I also have cats that love to "help" with my endeavors...)

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  8. I like your collection of dollhouses.
    Great idea with the pens.

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    1. Thank you Fabiola, now I need to remodel or decorate most of the houses!

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  9. Neen, I'm thrilled to hear your mother is in remission! What fun dollar store finds. I didn't realize your collection was so large. Very cool. I'd say take the house the needs the least amount of work and go with that for the Undersized Urbanite contest. Let's not have those be 40 sleepless days and night. ;) Good luck!

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    1. Thanks Megan, I appreciate your kind thoughts about my mother and that is excellent advice about the contest!

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  10. Such good news.

    You have a wonderful collection, thanks for sharing! (And I had no idea Barbara had a collection too...will be looking that up immediately.)

    You do have a little more time though! The contest ends on May 5th, so you still have 40 days from today. :)

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  11. Thanks Christina, that is good news on the extra days, and I would love to see what you dig up on Barbara's collection! I don't think I have seen any of her dollhouses except one that for sale.

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