Painting the Dollhouse Entrance

 The front door of the dollhouse is set in a wall that is plain grey plastic.

I guess it has modern vibes, but I thought it was ugly.

It has a lot of gadgets, including the door, a working light, a doorbell, an alarm, a doggy door, etc.

All of this would make it really hard to wallpaper over.

So I decided to paint it instead.

On the inside, I painted the grout and the doorway antique white.

I was so worried that I was going to ruin the whole thing!

Then I painted the bricks a brick red, and the doggy door brown.

In some cases, several layers of paint were needed.

I didn't mind if a little grey showed through on the bricks, though. I felt that it added realism.

On the other side of the door, I painted the doorway and the house number black. I painted the doggy doorway and the box for the doorbell brown.

I left some of the grey on this side of the house. I felt that it was okay for a house exterior.

I also added varnish on top of the paint. The paint I used was acrylic and chipped very easily.

I am not going to lie, I am very proud of this. 

It's not perfect, but it's a huge improvement over a dull grey hunk of plastic.

The other thing is, the paints that I used were paints from my grandfather. 

He used them to make toys for his grandkids in the 90s. It made me feel close to him, and it helped me to remember him as a warm, doting grandfather.

Dollhouse Curtain Rods

 Even the curtain rods were a project in this dollhouse.

All the reviews of this dollhouse complained about the curtain rods, and how the curtains wouldn't move smoothly.

They're basically unpainted blocks of wood.

So instead of complaining about them, I decided to work on them.

I have to overcomplicate everything for this project!

I sanded them down first.

Then I painted them brown.

I covered the brown paint with a very subtle gold sparkle paint. I only like it because it's subtle, haha.

Last, I varnished the curtain rods.

I need to attach them to the dollhouse walls, once I made the curtains.

I can either screw them into the wall, as the manufacturer intended, which would make them permanent.

OR I could mount them on velcro so that the curtains can be swapped out.

I don't really have any plans to swap the curtains in the future, but I might try the velcro anyway, just in case.

Anyway, the main idea is to have functional curtain rods that don't take attention away from other parts of the dollhouse.

Making Mini Books!

 I have been making more mini books for the dolls lately!

You can see that I am a big Agatha Christie fan. And she was so popular. Kit, Addy, Nanea, Maryellen... they could all read her books.

I am also a huge fan of Jessica Townsend's Nevermoor series. I can't say enough good things about it.

The Paddington book was inspired by a friend, and I have a mini to plush to go with it!

Dollhouse Fireplace Customization

 I SAID that I was going to work on curtains or windows in the dollhouse next.

Turned out that I was lying to myself.

I kept saying to myself that I could do the fireplace after the dollhouse was finished. But I couldn't resist.

I liked that the dollhouse came with a fireplace. It has a lovely fake fire effect. 

However, it looked super plastic. I knew that I could improve it.

I started by painting the bricks antique white.

The brick pattern was embossed on the existing plastic. However, since everything was white, it wasn't very visible. The paint made it stand out and look more realistic.

Just that on its own was a huge improvement.

Then I painted the bricks a brick color. They were so small that some of them are a little uneven, but I am telling myself that this adds to the antique effect.

I painted the logs several layers of brown and green.

I painted the back wall behind the logs black and the box under the logs black.

Then I started adding marble contact paper.

I liked the idea of the storage spaces in the fireplace, but it just looked too modern. So I closed over the front with a sheet of plastic and marble contact paper.

We all need whimsy in our lives, however. Before I closed off the storage spaces for good, I added a scroll with my name and the date, a treasure map, and a rubber duck inside. It makes me happy.

Here is the fireplace for now. I would like to add marble columns to the front someday maybe. 

I may also add some grey chalk behind the logs to look like ash on the back wall.

But for now, it looks great, and perfectly fitted for a Victorian dollhouse.

Making doll food?

 I am just going to put it out there that this tutorial from Epbot should be perfect for making doll cupcakes and cakes!

I would like to try it... but I have a million other projects I also want to do.

Doll Stethoscope

I am very thrilled to be able to show this post. Someone locally, whom I barely know, showed me a complete doll outfit that she had made with scrubs, a doctor's coat and a stethoscope. I was particularly impressed with the stethoscope. I had never heard of anyone making one.

She made me my own! So sweet and generous!

Here is the stethoscope on its own. She used rubber coated wire. There are beads for the earpieces. 

The part that doctors used to listen is made from a fabric-covered button, minus the fabric.

It's so creative and it looks so great!

It's really hard to get good pictures in the winter, sorry.

The dolls can really wear it in their ears!

Anne is starting to consider a career in medicine now!