Vintage Skipper bed project...

Today I had some time to myself and decided to work some more on my diorama projects I had started. Months ago, I won this wonderful vintage Skipper bunk bed for a whopping $16 including shipping on Ebay. It did not have some of its original bedding, just the frame. I had long wanted to put it into the One Sixth Scale dollhouse, but it would not fit. So I am going in my travels to look for more foamcore to make a Skipper scene, as I simply love this bed.

Unlike some Barbie collectors, I have always loved Francie, Stacey, Tutti, Skipper, Scooter, Todd, & Kelly far more than Barbie herself. I think as a child PJ (not really known to exist anymore) was more appealing to me because of her ponytails and hair ornaments. My Malibu PJ lies in my Barbie case as testament to this, since she was actually one of my favorites.

Today I made mattresses and pillows with pillow cases for the beds. It was actually quick, easy and fun, just the sort of project I like. I have a vintage Skipper, but couldn't locate her in time for this photo. So Growing Up Skipper, Tutti, Kelly and Mini American Girl Emily are all in the pic. I've always thought Skipper's bedroom would be more fun to do, with pre adolescent toys, bunk beds, pillow fights, sleep overs that remind me of my own teenage years. Especially with that Brady Bunch color scheme, moddish yellows and pinks, it will look really great. For now, I used the kitchen set up on the shelf to take the pics of the bedding. I will probably make a trip to Joann's for some mod fabrics to go with the bedding. Also, some posters of Donny Osmond, Shawn Cassidy, and so on and Skipper's bedroom should be cool looking.

UPDATE ON the Vintage Sindy Kitchen project: This project is coming along. I won a vintage Sindy side by side fridge and it's being shipped- what a great price for a vintage piece- $15!!Her cabinets are harder to get ahold of, but am working on it.

UPDATE ON THE Tinies' dollhouse restoration-This is coming along as well. The attic rooms will be made to look like Kit's bedroom in the historical series- Mini Kit is coming to live here, as well as Mini Rebecca! So soon the dollhouse will be overrun with Mini AG's...and I need to start sewing. lol . Today am cutting the stripwood to make the rafters/timbers in Kit's bedroom. I'm working from one of the older Pleasant company American Girl catalogs and it is really coming along.Hopefully will be able to find a mniature bed similar to Kits that can be painted green and go into that room.

Enjoy the pictures! Here Tutti is having fun climbing on the ladder and mini Emily is enjoying the top bunk!
~Lisa

More 1:6 scale fun with vintage Sindy furniture....

After the loads of pics of Mini Emily and my tiny bjd's with the whole dollhouse restoration project going on, I have been working on making enough room in the 'display' room for the actual One Sixth Scale Dollhouse- my fashion dolls have been languishing on shelves and tubs, only being taken out to take a quick snap with a piece of furniture that I'm listing for sale, or just for my own fun. Since moving from the shop, the dollhouse has been stored in the barn. I know when I finally do get things arranged and the dollhouse moved in, it will need loads of touchup. In the midst of the sorting in the display room, I decided to make full use of the shelves, and display other furniture sets that usually are stored in containers. I originally purchased this Sindy kitchen set on Ebay last year for the dollhouse. I have decided to look for a Kenmore kitchen set or another Sindy kitchen set, for the dollhouse and have a vintage kitchen set up like one of my friend Riekie, whose album is on Flicker. I loved the way she did this display using the Sindy furniture, not impossible to find in the UK, hard to find on Ebay in the USA.
Here are the pics of what I have so far constructed for the shelf display, using foamcore and posterboard.

As you can see, the whole setup looks nice but the laptop cabinet will probably disappear, since it appears to be too modern and not as in scale as the Sindy furniture with the Rement! Holiday Thanksgiving Feast Barbie and Mini American Girl Emily look right in place with the miniatures I did for placement. I am thinking of taking the pieces which are simply taped together right now and making them into an actual roombox that fits into the shelf space, but the foamcore pieces adhered/glued together for a more permanent and stronger structure. I was really pleased at how well the scrapbook papers matched this color of the Sindy items.

Mini Emily is ready for breakfast, lunch and dinner with Barbie standing nearby ready to provide turkey if that isn't enough to satisfy the Rement appetite.

More on this diorama later, and more photos can be found in my Flicker album.
~Lisa

Doll size comparisons

It has been a rainy day here this Sunday morning, so I knew that I wouldn't get much done on the dollhouse restoration, which is moving along quickly. I have some exciting ideas for the attic rooms on the third floor, so must get materials together before moving forward on those rooms.
Since I was a little bored, I decided to take some comparison doll photos of the Mini American Girl Emily doll I received,with other small dolls. One of the most unusual things about these dolls is they are more in scale than the current Mattel Chelsea- who is far too thin and skinny for a little girl- she is so oddballish. Why oh why did they do away with Kelly....
anyhow, here are some of the photos! Enjoy!

On a lighter note, I was able to get pics of Mini Emily visiting Minuette's sweet shop. I think she loves Rement!

Hope everyone has a great Sunday, and God Bless!
~Lisa

Door exterior finished..More dollhouse Restoration!

I got alot done this morning on the dollhouse. I finished wallpapering the 2nd floor bedrooms, and did some on the parlor as well- except for the stairway wall. Kitchen baseboards are stained and installed. But mainly, the thing that was stumping me a bit was the front door- it would have to be built up with stripwood, which I did as you can see here. I will probably get a curved pediment and glue it over the door, but for now, I am thinking it looks pretty good. I used golden oak miniwax  for that and the baseboards in the kitchen, and it turned out nice.

Here is the upper right hand bedroom finished with its paper, and the closet door framed in. I decided on this because it is such an oddball height- 8 inches and 1 7/8 inches wide!! My dad wasn't too exact on convenience for the dolls back in 1975...lol. So I used stripwood stained and framed in the doorway. The borrowers will probably move into that space....lol. Here you can also see the Kitchen finished as well with its baseboard trim. Sorry my pictures are so bright, but I work outside in the cool of the morning on two large tables in my yard, near the garage office, and it is convenient to move about in.

April Mae and Mini Emily loved the new renovations, and April Mae said '..it's about time! This is alot more space and I can't be cooped up with all those OTHER dolls!' She made herself right at home upstairs. I didn't have the heart to tell her that ALL of the tiny dolls would be living there...

I stopped work on the house attic rooms because though I had purchased wallpaper for them, I had an idea that I might do something a little different..........more updates later!

~Lisa

More Dollhouse Restoration continued...

Well, more dollhouse restoration is continued on my old dollhouse. Working on this house brings back tons of memories, good ones, when I played with it as a kid. I remember about this time loving that school was going to be out so I could play with it even more and create more items for the dolls, such as clothes, food out of polymer clay, and so on. This old house is special to me, and it feels good again to be making it beautiful again, after so much neglect.
I purchased the wallpapers for all the rooms and am pleased with the colors. I got one of the upper bedrooms papered today, and the kitchen as well as all of the floors done too. When the house is totally papered I can being to work on cornices and floorboards, and then the windows.

Also, today a surprise came in the mail- Mini American Girl Emily! She came in her box with her small book. The mini american girl dolls stand about 6 inches high, and are perfect for the dollhouse, since its scale is so wacky. I took a few pics to see how she would look in the dollhouse, and she will work out fine. The tinies haven't met her yet, but Big American Girl Kit has...
I am hoping to do some more work on the dollhouse tomorrow, which will make wonderful new memories for its history.....out with the old, in with the new!
~Lisa

Happy Memorial Day weekend...

Happy Memorial Day weekend!
Everyone here at the 'Patch has been attending to their correspondence, and keeping Finch Express busy, busy ,busy with sending letters and cards. Annabelle is no exception, and had her letters neatly tied with ribbon for Marigold Finch to deliver to all her doll friends at Pumpkin Hill, from the One Sixth Scale dollhouse.
~Lisa

Anja is finally deboxed!

Regal Solstice Anja, my new Fashion Royalty W club doll, arrived about a month ago- in early April, but I waited until yesterday to debox her. She was still in the box when I attended last month's Va. Fashion doll club meeting for show and tell. This dress is so lovely, it reminds me of the photographer Cecil Beaton and the fashions back in the fifties with the elaborate embroidery on filmy, gauzey fabrics. Sheer perfection, so feminine. sigh...would love to dress this way, sorta timeless.
Haven't yet deboxed my Dressmaker Details fashion I won in the W club lottery, Starry Night. What???you say?? Dressmaker Details, W club dolls just sitting about in their boxes?? no deboxing???lol. Yes. My 1:6 scale dolly budget has been severely cut back. I am trying to decide which Barbie should come home soon, I'm thinking probably Jack Sparrow, as I kind of like the whole pirate thing. lol.

Yesterday I did loads of work on the house, getting pieces of wallpaper off, alot of scraping, and getting glitter glue off one or two of the steps as well. In this before  picture you can see where I had to scrape it off the wall and one of the steps taking off finish. That's ok, because the floors will be done as well. I still marvel at how well my stepdad did the workmanship on this house. I came up with some ideas to add provenance, or history behind the house as well. My stepdaughter originally had a name plate over the door, which I pulled off and set aside. The windows and door have to be customized for this house. Above is a picture of the nameplace, and the date she received the house. I plan to put another one on the house, with ny name and the date of my nineth birthday as well, but will probably put both on different places in the house, as well as my own signature and maybe my dad's signature as well, since he built the house. The house is almost 30 years old, and has held up incredibly well.
All for now-
~Lisa