Dollhouse Floors

 I love wood floors. I remember being about 7 and telling my grandmother that I loved the wood floors in her house.

I hated that the American Girl dollhouse came with rugs printed on the floor. It looks so fake.

I also had my own plans for rugs. My older cousin Louise crocheted these beautiful yarn "dish clothes."

I always thought they were too pretty to use as dish clothes. I saved them and hoped to use them as doll rugs someday. That day is coming.

Louise now has arthritis in her hands that is very painful, so I think she will be excited to see her work in my dollhouse.

All of this to say- I covered the dollhouse floors in contact paper that looks like wood. No more printed rugs!

Of course, I COULD have just covered the printed rugs with my own rugs, but that would dictate where I placed my rugs. This gives me more freedom to change things up.

The contact paper that I got is here. It's called "MelunMer Wood Peel and Stick wallpaper."

Dollhouse Customization Links

 From the minute that I even thought about owning an AG dollhouse, I knew that I wanted to customize it.

I studied art history in college. I still love art and want to integrate that into the dollhouse.

I originally said that I wanted a vibe that would be somewhat Victorian, but also classic for any era.

Well, so far the Victorian is rather winning out.

It took me a while to figure out how to bring the vision to life, and I want to share that with you.

I worked on figuring all of his out BEFORE I started putting the dollhouse together.

First of all, I wanted cloud murals on the ceiling, so I added cloud cling film to the ceiling. 

I wanted wood floors without a rug design printed on them, so I got contact paper with a wood floor design to put on the floors.

I wanted bookcases to hold tiny books, so I bought these 16 inch cabinets. 

I wanted William Morris wallpaper. I looked at a LOT of ways to potentially do this.

I hope that I made the right decision. *crosses fingers.*

I ended up buying William Morris wrapping paper to use as wallpaper.

For my library, (formerly the kitchen) I wanted the seaweed pattern. It's very dramatic, but I hoped it would be broken up by the bookcases.

For the living room and bedroom, I wanted the Leicester pattern.

For my writing room (formerly the bathroom), I wanted the clover pattern.

Anyone who has known me for more than five minutes knows that I love stained glass and Frank Lloyd Wright.

I had thought of putting some of my own photos in the windows of the dollhouse.

I decided instead to add stained glass windows.

To do this, I again bought cling film, to place on clear plastic and to put in the windows. I was able to find some at the right size with Frank Lloyd Wright designs. They even had two of my favorite designs, the water lily design and the Lake Geneva tulip design.

I also wanted to hang up some tiny vintage-looking keys near the front door for the realism factor. I bought these keys, and was very pleased with them.

I am very, very excited to see all of this come together.

I hope that I am able to finish the dollhouse before too many years pass, haha.

I am definitely making this a more complicated process than it needs to be. However, I am making it into something that I can really enjoy and be proud of. That is worth the time.

Cloud Ceiling Mural

 I am adding a mural of clouds to the ceiling of the first floor of the AG dollhouse.

This is inspired by the Long Gallery at Harlaxton Manor in Grantham, UK.

Unfortunately, I am not much of an artist.

So instead of painting the clouds by hand, I bought a cling film depicting a blue sky and clouds, and used Mod Podge to attach it to the ceiling, before I put the dollhouse together.

If you do anything like this, I recommend unwinding the cling film from the spool for at least a day before you apply it, to let it flatten itself out a bit.

I used a squeegee to smooth out any wrinkles while gluing.

This makes me very happy, and it cost $6 for the cling film. It's far nicer than anything I could paint!

Here it is in place on the ceiling. I will trim the edges once the glue is dry.

New Wig For Camellia

 I got Camellia a new wig from Zazou Custom Dolls.

Well, originally I meant it for a different doll, but I think it's hers now.

The wig is a blonde French braid with loose wisps of hair, and it just makes her look younger and sweeter.

Here is her original wig.

And here is the new wig.

I am just seriously in love.

Apparently the Diana mold has a larger head than some Ruby Red dolls, and this wig came with a warning that it was slightly larger and needed a wig cap, so it's perfect!

Ruby Red Fashion Friends Pilgrim Bartholomew Part One

When I saw pictures of Ruby Red Fashion Friends Pilgrim Bartholomew, I laughed out loud, and thought, that's one doll I will never want, that beard is ridiculous!

I saw someone call him "Beardy Bart," which is perfect, really.

But there was a sale on him, and I really wanted a Luca mold, and I decided that maybe I could customize him into a girl.

I dampened the beard with rubbing alcohol, gripped it at the bottom, and pulled it off. That left glue and hair on the face. 

I used acetone nail polish to remove the glue. I washed the face after using acetone, as it can damage plastic. The acetone also removed the face paint on the lower face.

There is still a faint yellow line on the face. You could try micromesh to remove it, but I think I am going to count on covering it with a face up.

I plan to do a face up with very glam red lips and rosy cheeks, but it may be a while before I have a chance to buy the proper art supplies. I'm glad I don't have to do the eyebrows, those are my least favorite.

When the doll is done, it will be a girl. I am thinking of naming her Bertha. I think it's a pretty name, and it is similar to Bartholomew.

Pattern Review: Keepers Dolly Duds Hooded Cloak

 I made the Keepers Dolly Duds Hooded Cloak pattern.

This uses only two pattern pieces, the hood and the body of the cloak.. The pattern piece for the body of the cloak is so big that it involves cutting out five different shapes on the paper pattern piece and taping them together.

I am really proud of myself because I made it this week after work, working on it little by little.

Usually, after work I am too tired to do anything except exercise. Exercising AND sewing can be one too many.

I made the cloak black and white with red trim and lining.

I was a little worried that is color scheme looks so modern. I don't really have a use for a modern cloak right now.

However, I have been told that houndstooth existed in Scotland in the 1800s and was known as Shephard's check or Dogtooth.

History of Houndstooth Link

History of Houndstooth 2

I was determined to do the trim. This is a little dangerous, because even if the sewing is perfect, imperfect trim can wreck my enjoyment of a project.

I used the pattern and a ruler to glue the trim in place with tacky glue. Then I waited for the glue to dry and sewed it in place.

The cloak looks pretty good! You can always leave the trim off if it makes you nervous. I saw a gorgeous cloak on Instagram lately that didn't have any trim on the outer cloak, but had embroidery on the lining instead. It was perfect.

I thought that the hood seems a bit tall for the doll's head. I like the look better with the hood down.

If you don't make the hood, then you only have one pattern piece to use!

The fit of this pattern is very good.

Can anyone explain to me why on many cloak and jacket patterns, the bottoms of the lining and the outer shell of the garment are finished separately and not sewn together? This doesn't make sense to me. It seems to me that sewing the two together would make the garment stronger. Especially on doll clothes where reducing bulk helps create a smoother look.

Polar Bear Pajamas

 I made polar bear pajamas. I found the fabric in a pair of adult pajama bottoms at the clothes by the pound thrift store.

I thought that the polar bears were just too cute, and they are small enough to work in doll scale.

This is the pattern that I used- Simplicity Do537.

The pajamas were very fast and straightforward to sew.

I struggled a bit with the hem on the bottom of the pajama top. The stretchy fabric just didn't want to sew neatly.

I have enough of the fabric left to make another pair of pajamas. I am deciding whether to use the same pattern again or try a different one.

Snow Pictures

 I hope that everyone had a great holiday!

Here are some pictures of a few of my dolls enjoying the snow!

Merry Christmas from Mara

 Mara looks so snazzy in this outfit! She is ready for the holidays.

Tasha's Bake

What is Tasha baking today?

Tasha's Challenge

 Tasha is plating up a Showstopper to present to Paul and Prue. She takes a minute to check the decoration that she has created.

Tasha's Cake

 Tasha is mixing up something to wow the judges! What can it be?

Is it the chocolate cake with raspberries from the opening title of the Great British Bake Off?

Tasha's Pastry

 Tasha is ready to roll out some pastry!

I love this wooden rolling pin. AG really makes cool accessories.

Tasha's Decorating

 Tasha is  ready to put her piping skills to work and decorate some biscuits for an elaborate baking challenge!

Autumn Leaves

 I took some dolls outside to have pictures in the autumn leaves. I was in a highly visible spot, and I got a bit worried about being out in public with so many dolls. I wasn't very creative with the posing, but the pictures are cute!

Anneliese

Evette

Mara

Evette. She looks quite startled in many of the pictures for some reason.

Anneliese

Mara

Bonfire Night

 Today is Guy Fawkes Day!

   Remember, remember!
    The fifth of November,
    The Gunpowder treason and plot;
    I know of no reason
    Why the Gunpowder treason
    Should ever be forgot!

The dolls are enjoying a good bonfire to celebrate.

Tasha's Pie

 Tasha just took this pie out of the oven. It looks good on top. 

She hopes that it doesn't have a soggy bottom!

Tasha's Mess

 Oh no! Tasha made a mess and dropped an egg!

The clock is ticking, but she will use her skills to save her bake.

Tasha's Dough

 Here is Tasha mixing up a dough for the Great British Bake Off! 

She has to be careful with her time management, but she has practiced this, and she's ready.

Bread Week

 Here is Tasha presenting some slices of bread for the judges!

Prue and Paul are going to love it!