Diorama Update Plus New Cupcake Cottage Dollhouse!

Today's the day! I'll be installing my miniature diorama at Green Bean Books this afternoon. I'll be putting up a brand-new miniature scene, and it's a big secret until the unveiling! I'll show it to you in an upcoming blog post. Now, on to some exciting dollhouse news! ;-)

Cupcake Cottage dollhouse dreams!

I won this Greenleaf Storybook Cottage dollhouse kit on eBay for a steal. I was so happy, because I've been wanting to make a girlie shabby chic bakery for a while now, and this house will be perfect for it! I've been calling it "Cupcake Cottage" in my mind for months now. :-)  I'm thinking something like Shop Cinderella Moments (this post) meets Once Upon a Time (this post) meets Knotty By Nature (this post) and Petitevictorianrose (this post)!

It won't be red--it'll be cupcake frosting pink!

I'm still in the dreaming stage, but Cupcake Cottage has wanted to express itself for a while now, so I have a pretty good idea of where I'm going to go with it. It's all about vintage, pink, shabby chic, girlie fun!!!

Once I create the story behind the dollhouse (the who, what, where, when, and how of it), the dollhouse will almost create itself. At least that's what happened when I got that kind of clarity around the Lovers Cottage, with the help of some fantastic comments from all of you. :-) Until next time.... xoxo Jennifer

Visit to The Knittn' Kitten Vintage Craft Supply Store

Yesterday I visited one of my favorite places, The Knittn' Kitten: Portland's Vintage Fabric and Craft Store. Whenever I go there, I come home loaded with vintage fabric, buttons, beads, embroidery floss, and yarn--and I don't have to pay an arm and a leg for it either--yay!

Ethel and Rome, mother and daughter, are the proprietors of The Kitten. If they don't have what I'm looking for in the shop, often they can get it for me. The best is when they go into their storage room and dig a little. Usually they return with craft supply treasures! ;-)

Ethel greeting me at the door

Yesterday I bought beads and felt. Last time I was there I bought gingham fabric, lace, and ribbon. It's just a fantastic way to recycle, get the craft supplies I need, and save money over buying from the big box-type craft stores. Maybe that's why my fabric and craft supply stash is so big! :-)

Let me give you a little tour of the place:

Ribbons and lace, Rome in the background helping a customer

Vintage notions and fabrics

Vintage buttons and beads

Miniature bear rug for your dollhouse, anyone?

If you're in the Portland area, The Knittn' Kitten is a no-brainer--definitely stop in for a visit. They're located at 7530 NE Glisan Street. The phone number is (503) 255-3022. If you can't make it to Portland, Ethel and Rome have an Etsy shop too--woohoo! I hope you enjoyed my little tour of one of my favorite places. Until next time.... xoxo Jennifer

Where Have All the Dollhouses Gone?

I've gotten rid of some of my dollhouses. Bought with hopes for future fun, several of them looked different once I came out of my buyer's fog. ;-) I'd mentioned in a previous post that I was having second thoughts about the first house I bought, the one I called My 1970s Dollhouse:

It was made of old particle board, was heavy, and wasn't to scale. It was more of a child's dollhouse and needed redecorating. I decided to donate it to a charitable organization, along with this one:

It was also a child's play dollhouse. I found it in pieces at a thrift store for $5. Once I got it home, I realized it wasn't the antique dollhouse I had imagined, so I cleaned it and put it together, and took a couple of photos of it in the back of my truck before I hauled it away for donation along with the 1970s dollhouse.

The third dollhouse I want to mention is the one that also was a 1970s dollhouse, but I called it My Shabby Chic Cottage. Again, I had high hopes for this one. It had "good bones." It was a to-scale dollhouse miniature collector's house with siding, hardwood floors, and a beautiful staircase. The problems for me were that it was heavy, it took up a lot of space, and it needed a lot of work (mostly wallpaper removal). I also didn't care for the fact that the rooms were really deep from front to back of the house.

Finally, after hemming and hawing about what to do with it, I decided to sell it. I sold it last weekend to a mom who wanted to work on it with her daughter. I sold it for what I paid for it, but I kept all the furniture and family (also kept all of that from the 1970s dollhouse too!). So, I feel I've come out ahead. The furniture and families are worth more than what I spent on all of the houses, and I know I'll use more of the furniture (besides what I've already used in Dad's Dollhouse) in future projects.

Now I have two dollhouses left. There's Dad's Dollhouse (did you notice the new link at the top of my blog that takes you to a page with ALL of the Dad's Dollhouse posts?), and there's also my new Shabby Chic Cottage, the one I won from Tam toum's giveaway. I like that this house is compact and lightweight. Next post I'll show you some work I've been doing on it. Until next time.... xoxo Jennifer

Gifts of Caterina's Holiday Swap 2011

Caterina just published all of the photos from the Holiday Swap 2011. Now I can show you what I made and sent AND what I received--yay!

I was a little nervous about making minis for the swap, since I'd never made any before, but I decided that challenging myself with this swap would be a good idea. I was right, because it helped me to overcome my fear and just do it.

Most of my supplies came from thrift stores, which is how I prefer to buy things. When I can, I buy used and vintage, to save the earth's resources. I also considered my partner, Stacy from Texas, and what I thought she might like. So I tried to learn about her from her blog.

Here's what I ended up making:

They are items for a little visit to the beach. There's a bamboo roll-up mat, a beach towel, a red polka-dot bikini, flipflops, a beach bag, a sun hat, and a book to read while wearing the bikini. The book is called How to Lose Weight, and it is vintage from the 1970s, from the second dollhouse I recently bought. I also included a couple of tiny shells from my great-grandmother's beads. They are at least 25 years old, and probably older.

Now here are the gifts I received from my partner Erika in Italy:

She made a platter of stuffed tomatoes and a second platter of sliced watermelon with a cut watermelon bowl filled with colorful melon balls. How cute! Erika also included a beautiful hand-written note in Italian with a recipe for making her homemade stuffed tomatoes. How thoughtful! Thank you again, Erika! A big thanks, too, to my friend Savina. Her family is originally from Italy, and she visited my home and translated Erika's letter for me.

I thoroughly enjoyed participating in the swap and will look for other opportunities to participate in miniature swaps in the future. I received so many different "gifts" as a result of the swap that I feel it was a big success all around! Until next time.... xoxo Jennifer

Cute Vintage Plush Critter Finds

As many of you know, I love going to thrift stores, estate sales, and flea markets to search for craft supplies, dollhouse miniatures, and fun vintage items. Yesterday I went to my favorite all-purpose thrift store, and look what I found:

It's a cute little plush house with matching plush furniture and a bear family to go with it! I just love the blue and white gingham! The bears look very kawaii (Japanese for cute), don't you think?

Then, a few weeks back, I found this vintage Fisher-Price Toys 1979 squirrel family with an adorable plush log to live in. It even came with the "wood" chair (but not the table, which I found later). What a find! Are they the cutest ever?

"Who are these for?" you might ask. "Are they for a child in your life?" Why yes, they are for my inner child, the little girl inside of me. She squeals with delight when I find these treats. Now I keep them in my craft room, where I can see them and be inspired by them. I hope seeing them does the same for you, my friends. :-) Fun! Until next time.... xoxo Jennifer

New Dollhouses: My Shabby Chic Cottage

Remember when I said that I'd found two dollhouses recently? I told you about the 1970s dollhouse that I'm planning to refurbish and possibly sell. Now here's the dollhouse that I plan to turn into a shabby chic cottage-like house:

My husband and I were heading out of our neighborhood a few weeks ago, when I saw an "estate sale" sign. When we got there, my husband headed to the lower level of the house, while I stayed in the first room I walked into, on the upper level.

Within a couple of minutes, my husband came back upstairs and waved to me to follow him. He said that he had something to show me. I followed, and when I got to the bottom of the stairs, there was this dollhouse and a box of furniture, all included, for $50. I was thrilled and mouthed the words "Thank you!" to my husband. In the end, my husband negotiated the price down to $43, so it was really a bargain! Here's the lowdown on this house:

Minuses:

1) It was filthy dirty inside and out. Insects, mice, and something bigger had all lived in it. Yikes! (I have cleaned it thoroughly, by the way. :-))
2) It is covered with wallpaper that will need to be removed.
3) I'll need to wallpaper it and finish it with moldings.

Pluses:

1) It is made from wood, not particle board.
2) It is 1/12 scale.
3) It has a front door (not currently attached), windows, a stairway, and hardwood floors!
4) The outside is covered with siding and a shake roof.
5) Lots of nice furniture and accessories were included.
6) The price was very reasonable! Yay!

I plan to turn it into a shabby chic cottage-like house. It will be fun to "distress" the floors and some of the furniture. Right now it kind of looks like a haunted house, with the torn wallpaper, but that's not really my style, so shabby chic it is!

Downstairs, in what would be the livingroom, I will turn it into a shop, either a book shop or a ladies' hat shop--I haven't decided. Tea will be served in the shop as well, so the kitchen next door will have the accoutrements for serving tea and pastries to the customers. The upstairs I plan on being living quarters for the shopkeeper--fun! All in shabby chic--yay!

Look at all that furniture, including a brass bed--woohoo! Check out the groovy 1970s family I got with this house too! The father is wearing bellbottom pants and a nylon shirt. The mom is wearing an Indian skirt. I love it!

So that's my second "new-to-me" dollhouse. I am really looking forward to finishing the 1970s house so that I can get to work on this shabby chic house. Until next time.... xoxo Jennifer

New Dollhouses: My 1970s Dollhouse

I recently had the good luck to find and purchase a couple of used dollhouses. The first one was listed on Craig's List, a web site for buying and selling items locally. This house turned out to be a child's dollhouse from 1978 with two shoeboxes full of dollhouse furniture and accessories included.

Minuses:
1) Not a 1/12 scale dollhouse. It's just a little bit bigger, like my Dad's dollhouse.
2) No front door, no windows, and no stairway.
3) Made from particle board instead of hardwood.

Pluses:
1) Unfinished inside, so I can finish it to my liking.
2) Includes two boxes of 1970s dollhouse furniture and accessories worth much more than what I paid for everything.
3) Lightweight and not too big--good size for a simple project.
4) Price. I got it for $30!

As you can see, the outside is pretty clean. There are just a few missing shingles that I'll have to replace. The yellow shutters are cute. I'll add a front door to it.

Inside, I plan to do a white basecoat all over, except in the children's bedroom, which is already wallpapered in a fabulous funky 1970s red and white gingham paper.

After the basecoat, I'll wallpaper the inside of the house with funky 1970s-style wallpapers and cover the floors with colorful matching felt. I even found a brown fuzzy felt that looks like shag carpeting! Super fun!

The furniture and accessories that came with the house are great! I've moved a few of the pieces into my Dad's dollhouse. The rest of the pieces are so 1970s fun and funky!

The kitchen has a ceiling lamp from that era (currently sitting on the table in the picture below), a cute radio on the counter, and a metal painted dish set in the cabinet.

The livingroom has a modern-style fireplace, the bookcase with books that I always wanted as a child (yes, the same exact model!) with separate blocks of wooden books that slip into each shelf of the bookcase, and my favorite find (which actually came with the second dollhouse I'll tell you about later), this 1970s stereo turntable with record and disco record album sleeve. Isn't it cute?!

As you can see, there is a miniature family (mom, dad, two older kids, and one baby) from 1978 too! When I complete the house, I may sell it to someone who appreciates vintage retro style or who has a child who would enjoy playing with it. I'm really looking forward to decorating the walls and floors of this dollhouse in the style of that era. Maybe it takes me back to my childhood a little bit! Fun! ;-)

So that is the grand tour of the first dollhouse I bought, which I'm calling the 1970s house. Next, I'll show you the second dollhouse I bought and tell you what I intend to do with it. More fun! Until next time.... xoxo Jennifer

Miniature Finds in Cannon Beach, Oregon

Yesterday the weather in Portland was incredible! It was sunny and beautiful and in the mid-60 degrees F. Hubby and I decided it was a perfect day to drive to the coast. It took a little over an hour and a half to get to Cannon Beach (it would have been shorter, but there was some road construction). And again, the weather was glorious!

This photo of Cannon Beach is from the front cover of the Cannon Beach Visitor Map (www.cannonbeach.org). Can you believe I forgot my camera yesterday?! First, we went down to the beach to walk and collect driftwood for a  miniature driftwood bed project I saw on A Little More Minis. Then the only thing on my mind was finding some miniatures!

First, a little background on Cannon Beach. It is a beach town that is close to Portland, Oregon's largest city, and it is known for being a little bit upscale. Higher-end shopping is a big part of the experience in Cannon Beach. So the prices aren't as low as it can be in other beach towns. But still, when I found the shop I was looking for, I was thrilled!

The shop is called The Butler Did It Antiques. That's where I found some lovely vintage miniatures. I walked around the whole shop, until finally, in a basket on the floor, I found some vintage miniature dollhouse accessories. First, a mini set of baby books:

These came with an adorable mini calendar with some Beatrix Potter images. Here's one of Peter Rabbit:

It is printed with the year "1900" on it. Very cute! I've saved the best for last. I found this in a glass case on the check-out table. It's a miniature ironing board, hand made, and signed by the artist!

The iron is mine, also vintage now, since I've had it since childhood (!). Here, the underside of the ironing board is signed Tohill and 10-80 (made October, 1980, I figure).

I don't know anything about this artist. If anyone does, please comment here to let me know! I spent $15 for all these things plus a mini rolling pin for the kitchen. What fun!

As always, I love to hear from you, my dear readers. And I love to have blog friends! I noticed today that I have 40 friends or followers of my blog. I'm so grateful to you all! I've decided that when that number reaches 50 followers, I will announce a giveaway drawing on this blog. So, let's keep our fingers crossed and hope that this blog can reach 50 followers very soon! :-)

For those who are new to blogs, to become a follower, just look for the picture of the two cute kitties at the top of my blog. Just under the picture, it says "I love new friends!" Click the "follow" button just under that, and follow the instructions. Thanks a bunch! And we'll have a giveaway drawing on Plushpussycat very soon! Until next time.... xoxo Jennifer

Dad's Dollhouse: An Update

Since I last wrote about the miniature dollhouse my dad built for me when I was a girl, I've been inspired to complete some work on it. I always had grand plans for my dollhouse--plans that my pocketbook could never accommodate! The height of my interest in the dollhouse (until now!) was probably from age 8 to age 16, and I never had enough money to do what I wanted with it. I still don't! :-)

Now, however, I can see the project from an adult's perspective, and I really want to finish some of the things I started on it.

My previous photos showed the dollhouse empty. Since then, I gave it a thorough cleaning and set up my existing miniature furniture and accessories. Plus, I got some birthday money, and just like when I was a kid, I put it all toward the dollhouse. Yesterday I put in a big order to complete some of my empty spaces. I can hardly wait to receive my package!

Here are some current photos showing where my dollhouse is today:

Here's my miniature Victorian country kitchen (with a few extras). The lamp and T.V., which I picked up at a flea market and the Goodwill bins respectively, are not of the era. I think I've decided that with this dollhouse, since it is a family heirloom and not a true-to-scale "masterpiece," I'll be flexible on what goes in it. :-) By the way, I got the china cabinet pictured above at the Goodwill bins recently too.

I've always wanted to complete the kitchen with a country kitchen ice box, so that is one of the things I've ordered for the house. I think it will go in the corner next to the china cabinet. There are also dishes, potholders, and more coming--yay!

Here's my little Victorian livingroom, set up for Christmas. Like the kitchen, it is wallpapered with real wallpaper from my childhood family home. The wallpaper is not to scale, but it means a lot to me. I want to put a fireplace where the couch is now, and I want to add a front door (I have the hinges!) and curtains (I want to put curtains in all rooms with windows). I also want to change the carpet to something that is more to scale (this pile is at least 1/2 inch thick, so it looks like a raised livingroom!).

Here's the master bedroom, with wallpaper from my parents' bedroom. Oh, the "lovely" wedgewood blue and mauve of the late 1970s to early 1980s! I plan to change the carpet and put a quilt on the master bed, which I happened to find at the Goodwill bins recently. For those who don't know, you pay by weight at the bins. That bed probably cost me all of 50 cents! Not bad--miniatures on the cheap!

OK, here's my miniature Victorian bathroom. I recently purchased the rubber ducky at a flea market. I want to get some faux tile in this room, wallpaper, different towels, and of course, curtains. The fan on the windowsill was given to me by my grandmother, and it is probably from the 1940s.

Here's the child's bedroom, full of toys. I will change the carpet, fix up the bedding, add a toybox, and add more toys. Probably wallpaper it too!

This was always going to be the dollhouse attic. As a child, my plan for this room was to get a big old trunk and fill it with stuff. Slightly scary and fun at the same time! Now I plan to turn it into a sewing room, which is appropriate considering that the wallpaper in the room is from my grandmother's house. You see, Grandma was the one who taught me how to sew. And she gave me my first sewing machine, a 1965 Singer, which is still going strong.

I'm going to really have some fun with this room! The scissors are already there, as is the pot-bellied stove (an antique metal salt shaker my mom gave me). I plan on a basket with balls of yarn and knitting needles, lots of sewing notions, and an antique-style sewing machine (the latter is coming in my order!). 

Miniatures are turning out to be fun all over again! And while I'm finishing long-uncompleted projects in my dollhouse, I can use the same items in upcoming vignettes with my plushy critters! Double fun! Until next time.... xoxo Jennifer

Fun Outing!

There's no doubt about it: spring is in the air! This is a view from my livingroom window. The neighbor's plum tree is in full bloom.

Whenever it's this time of year (first spring flowers, green everywhere, birds singing, rays of sunshine peaking through the clouds), I get the urge to get in the car and go on a fun outing. Yesterday all of my original plans fell through, so I had some time on my hands. I decided to go out to Beaverton, just a few minutes from my home in Portland, Oregon, and hit a few fun places. Hey! My birthday is just around the corner, so birthday money is burning a hole in my pocket too, OK?!

So first I picked up a used book on blogging at Powell's. While there, I came across the cutest section full of Japanese cute kawaii items. You know, things like notebooks, stickers, AND this cute kawaii lunch bag I found! It is woven from 95% post-consumer material (used grain sacks) by BlueQ.

Actually, I'm going to use it as a craft bag that I'll take with me when I attend craft circles around town. Thrill!

OK, next I went over to the Beaverton Goodwill and picked up a 1980's craft book, this surfboard (shown here with one of my handmade frog plushies) for one of my vignettes,

and this ceramic car for another vignette. Check out the fun license plate on this baby! And watch Houndstooth Puppy behind the wheel!

Finally, I stopped over at the Kinokuniya Bookstores (the one inside the Uwajimaya in Beaverton). I looked at so many cute things but finally settled on these fun erasers to add to my collection. I'll use these in upcoming plushy vignettes too!

It ended up being an awesome few hours, and I spent only $21 on the items I show here. Not bad! This spring fever thing only lasts a couple of weeks, so I might as well enjoy it while I can. :-) Until next time.... xoxo Jennifer