After much struggle to find a theme for
Dad's Dollhouse, the house my dad built me when I was a child from a 1970s Sunset magazine plan, I finally realized something. Dad's Dollhouse is a Mouse House. Whew! Once I figured that out, I was able to complete the project to my liking.
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| Mavis Mouse bakes brownies in Dad's Dollhouse kitchen. |
Some of you may remember an earlier project, the
1920s Lovers Cottage, a romantic honeymoon cottage. That building is now
Bluebelle's Cake Shop, but I took many of the items from the Lover's Cottage and made them part of the story in Dad's Dollhouse, a 1920s late-Victorian farmhouse. The people who lived there included a sailor and his new bride. The sailor had to go back to sea after the wedding, and the bride lived there alone, busying herself reading Farmer's Wife magazines, waiting for her man to return.
The only problem with this scenario was that I always seem to get bored with people for characters (except for Strawberry Shortcake!). ;-) So after finding vintage felt Mavis Mouse and her mother (Grandma Mouse) at thrift stores and after more time, I finally realized that I needed to add more mouse details to this mouse house, and now Dad's Dollhouse is basically complete! Yay!
So here's a little tour of Dad's Dollhouse Mouse House. First, the Victorian parlor:
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| Overview of Victorian parlor with Grandma and baby mouse. |
I made the
Victorian pump organ from a Chrysnbon kit. I printed the
matriarch ancestor mouse image for my own personal use, painted it with Mod Podge, and framed it for some fun "mousiness." I made the curtains and carpet, designed the calla lily arrangement, modified Grandma mouse from her original state, and made baby mouse from vintage wool felt.
The sofa is from my original childhood collection, as are the yellow doilies and the real candles in brass candle holders on the fireplace mantel. The wallpaper is from my childhood home, a real life Victorian house. This room is full of special gifts from blog friends, including the handmade paper flowers, needlepoint pillows, and memory box in the foreground.
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| Ancestor matriarch mouse painting is a new "mouse" addition. |
Next, Mavis Mouse's kitchen:
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| Overview of Mavis Mouse's country Victorian kitchen. |
I made the hutch, table, and chairs from Chrysnbon kits. I also made the curtains and tablecloth. The cast iron stove and dry sink are from my childhood collection, and I recently found the matching vintage ice box at a local miniatures show for $1!
The wallpaper and flooring are from my actual childhood home. This room also contains many special gifts from blog friends, including the handmade paper flowers, water pitcher, salami cookbook, and foods. My husband made the mini loaf of bread on the hutch cutting board.
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| Mavis Mouse is a great cook. Her husband is a very lucky mouse! |
Here's the master (and only) bedroom:
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| Overview of the master bedroom, showing the new bride's arrival. |
I made the bed's canopy from a vintage handkerchief, the carpet and curtains, many accessories on the bed, and a perfume tray on the dresser. Blog friends have contributed many of the pieces, including the gorgeous bedding, wedding dress, books, luggage, purse, shoes, and hat. The dresser looks like the real life dresser in my parents' bedroom. The wallpaper is from my parents' real life bedroom in my childhood home.
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| The cheese plate on the nightstand is a new "mouse" addition. |
And the bathroom:
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| Someone is trying to repair a plugged toilet! |
I made the towels, toilet seat, curtains, and flooring. My husband designed the flooring on the computer. All of the furniture, aside from the medicine cabinet and the footstool, is from my original childhood collection. The pot-bellied stove is one-half of a salt and pepper shaker set given to my by my mom way back when. Blog friends contributed the footstool (kitty's favorite spot) and the seashell wall hanging above the bathtub.
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| The cat is eyeing that cozy hand towel in the sink as a place to sleep! |
The Victorian study filled with Asian art and sewing room are both in the dollhouse attic, with no windows, so they are difficult to photograph. First, here's the study:
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| The focus of this room is travel and Asian art. |
It's full of Asian art from the sailor mouse's world travels and includes a wall map, Victorian photo scrapbook, and several memory boxes. I wallpapered the room and made the calla lily arrangement, the photo scrapbook, many books on the bookshelf, and the memory box on the floor. The chair is my first miniature purchase from my childhood collection. Gifts include the Oriental vase, Christmas cactus plant, paperweight, wall map, and mini Buddhas.
Finally, it's time to show the sewing room:
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| Kitty plays with his toy mouse! |
I made the sewing table chair from a Chrysnbon kit as well as a scissors box. The iron, tiny mouse, and pair of scissors on the sewing machine are from my childhood collection, and the wallpaper is from my real life grandparents' bedroom. The many gifts from friends include the sewing kit, art prints, needlepoint kits and patterns, memory box, and thread holder.
This house has been a collaborative effort from the very beginning when Dad built the house and wallpapered it and my mom introduced me to dollhouse miniatures until today, as the house has become filled with precious gifts from blog friends. Thank you to everyone who contributed to the completion of Dad's Dollhouse!
Thank you, too, to anyone who has read to this point in the post. You are a real trooper! I will keep my eye out for more "mouse" items--accessories that let you know a mouse lives here. Does anyone have any suggestions on what those items might be? Until next time, keep it fun! xoxo Jennifer
