Ertl 1:7 scale DeLaval Cream seperator model

Besides the wringer washer, Ertl also made a 1:7 scale replica of the Delaval cream seperator. These made seperating milk and cream something that took a matter of minutes whereas before, it took longer, and saved dairy farms money and time. It also saved farmwives a ton of time skimming milk by hand.
I have shown some photos here of Vanessa, a Fashion Royalty doll, doing her daily chore of straining the milk while Victorian Lady Barbie has picked this somewhat inoppurtune time to chat the day away when there is work to be done...you can tell she's a 'town' girl, lol...
It just arrived today and I cannot be more pleased. This really adds realism to the Victorian kitchen diorama!
~Lisa

Victorian Lady Barbie has arrived!

Well, yes she has finally arrived. I won this doll on Ebay back in November. There was a problem with Paypal's hiccup system of my payment processing. The seller was a gem and Paypal finally processed my payment. I've never had this happen before, but I guess there is always a first. Well, Victorian Lady Barbie arrived, and I love her. Here are some quick pics I took of her today. They do not do her justice.

 

One of my biggest problems is being 'enabled' by the doll shows and pictures of dolls I see on the doll boards- and being fascinated with that dress, and so on, only to find out it came on a Barbie from years ago- so onto Ebay shopping I go. I saw Victorian Lady barbie at the recent doll show in November with a bunch of others, but wondered if I could do better on price than I could at the show- she was going for about $15-20 at the doll show. I absolutely adore her dress.

 I think she looks wonderful in the Victorian style kitchen I have going on. She will be an upcoming character in a Victorian family for my historical diorama storyline I am currently collecting for, so stay tuned for this lady to have a prominent role. I have alot more dolls I have to collect for to assemble the 'families' in the storyline I am currently working on and writing for, so until I have all of the dolls to begin with, in place, I won't do the 'reveal' so to speak. I am hoping I will be able to get the main family of characters together by Christmas- that is my main hope, which amounts to about five dolls. More to come on that project in the works, but the Victorian kitchen is part of it.
Enjoy the pics!~Lisa
 

Some pics of the Barbie club Christmas party...

This past Sunday on the 2nd was our club Christmas party. I belong to the Virginia Fashion doll club and all of us get together and have alot of fun. The feature of the Christmas party is always not only the food, but the Chinese gift swap. I have been running on full gears this week, so have not had time to really post that much, but here are pics. The party this year was held at a club member's lovely home and we also got to tour her doll room. She is heavy into reproduction and vintage!

First pics are of the trees throughout her home, the tree in the kitchen was a Barbie ornament tree. The centerpiece in the dining room with the food was a silkstone dressed in a lovely golden outfit to match the sleigh. Janice had taken her collection of Barbie Angels and put them ontop of her china hutch, and they looked marvelous in person, just dreamy. (Going to club meetings always enables me to shop on Ebay for dolls I do not have!) She also had adorable little vignettes using the past Christmas dolls from Target, as well as the cute brandy snifter with the Kellys and Tommys in the sleigh....must not give in to shop for past Christmas Kellys and Tommys! The last photo shot is of some of the presents that had been put under the big tree in the parlor, these were not all of them! But the one I finally received was the stocking you see-  it says Naughty on one side, Nice on the other and it was filled with cute stuff.
I have some photos of Janice's doll room- the neatest thing she did was to take her ballet dolls and place them on clear plastic risers - the risers and a string of white lights were covered with white tulle covered in gold stars. The effect was amazing!

Forgive the pictures, the light was not that good but the effect was wonderful on her display in person. Her collection is boxed and she has a wonderful way of displaying the dolls. I love looking at other's displays because it gives me ideas how to make better use of the dolls I have with just a few tricks.

Enjoy the photos- I did not get as many as I would have wished, I had way too much fun! My doll time has been severely cut short on working on photos and outfits for the Victorian diorama, which is frustrating, especially with the ideas on the drawing board I cannot finish!More soon- Lisa

1:6 scale Bespaq items on Ebay auction

I am sorting thru items from our remaining store/shop stock and found this lovely 1:6 scale mahogany Bespaq Bonnet highboy chest, it has minor damage to the middle decorative piece and one brass handle that has come unglued- this is a minor glue repair. Chest is 13 inches high 7 inches wide and made of wood. Item is currently on our Ebay Auctions this item ends 12 /10/12, so get it now in time for Christmas! starting bid is $9.99

The Victorian kitchen diorama....

Well, I worked on the walls for the Victorian farm kitchen I am currently working on...this is essentially to do prop placement on figuring out how much room I need for my Victorian family (the characters will soon make themselves apparent as they appear, ) One of the reasons I got started on this today was because of the stove- it is a large piece and needs a proper display. And also, because I was expecting this little beauty to arrive today, which it did!

The Ertl Maytag wringer washer!

Isn't it wonderful? The wheels that connect to the 'motor' really work. My husband fell in love with it- years ago he had bought one at a flea market and used it to wash his really heavily stained workclothes, he showed me how it worked.

I started on the farm kitchen diorama set up in my den because I have a couple of other victorian era items coming- and the stove needed a proper farm kitchen backdrop. I have a table that will get a red gingham tablecloth, as soon as Anja gets a proper apron and calico workdress, that ensemble she is wearing is a little too elegant to be washing clothes and baking bread.Here are some more shots of the kitchen so far-

the window is a traditional playscale houseworks window, stained and painted. the Farm picture is cut from a calendar.
The walls are of foamcore, covered in wood grained shelf paper.

 

And here is a view of the whole kitchen, with the stove turned against the rear wall.Forgive the wrinkles in the back wall of the shelf paper, this stuff is very hard to spread cleanly without a mistake.

I think it is coming along quickly. I am configuring my farm family that will be with these items, and still working on the storyline of the Victorians, who are the ancestors or 'founders' of Barbietown. So it will be neat to time jump between the two.

Enjoy the pictures!~Lisa