Update on the vintage dollhouse

It has been so long since I blogged here. And when I checked, it has been an even longer time since I blogged about my vintage thrift find, the dollhouse I am going to be decorating for Annabelle and Marie Terese, my French Fashion reproduction dolls. 

So here are some photos I took over the weekend, with my camera. 

The whole house

Annabelle & Marie Terese in the kitchen

Marie Terese in the kitchen

Kitchen & dining room

Annabelle in the parlor

Marie Terese in her bedroom

Annabelle in her bedroom.

I have found two beds on ebay that I am currently hoping to get, just have to save up the funds for them right now. My problem in finding suitable beds was size for the dolls and to fit the rooms, and also period correct. 

I have had alot of inspiration on my backstory of this house. 

Marie-Terese is the little sister of Annabelle. I haven't decided on their last name as of yet. Since I live in the South, I am thinking of making them live in their family home/plantation farm named Queensfield, after a plantation near me here in King William County. It received a charter from King William and Queen Mary ll and looks like a large brick farmhouse with dairy barns, etc. I think I might have the story they inherited the home from their parents who died during the war of fever or perhaps their mother died when Marie Terese was small and Father died just recently after being an invalid. 

I have been neglecting the house lately, I purchased it about two or three months ago. It sits in my garage since it is so large, on a table behind my desk. Since it is beginning to get warmer now I will be able to add furniture and pictures on the walls. Suitable chairs for the dining room will be difficult, but I have a couple in mind. The rooms are small so I cannot put too much in them. 

I am hoping to get in the future, a beau/gentleman doll that will be Annabelle's beau or husband and possibly a doll that can be a maid or housekeeper. You can't have too many french fashion dolls! lol. Right now I am attempting to find the time to sew some new clothes for them for a picnic challenge for the French Fashion Doll group I belong to. We are creating picnic outfits and doing scenes with our dolls for them. I would love to do an adorable red and white striped dress for Mare Terese with a butterfly net and a nice white lace dress for Annabelle with a straw hat. So much sewing!!!

I am currently working on a small quilt, just for fun. Lately it takes forever for me to finish projects, so hopefully it will be done in time. 

We are having some very bad weather- it has been pouring here in the county where I live so I was unable to go to my fashion doll club meeting yesterday. The roads were so flooded it was unsafe. 

Hopefully that will clear up soon. Enjoy the pics! Lisa

Furniture placement...

I did some furniture placement, to see how well and how much room Annabelle and Marie Terese would have. I had to go to the storage unit to pick up my iron cookstove for Annabelle. Her kitchen will be cramped. She also has a cream seperator that I cannot locate in my stash. 

Right now this is the kitchen with the handmade wood table and chair, I am missing the other chair! The cookstove looks well in this room but is cramped with the table and chair in there. With Annabelle in there cooking , it would be even more cramped. I wanted to put a shelf /cupboard in there for dishes, but I don't think it would fit. 

Here is a photo of my round Bespaq tea table in what would be the dining room. I would just need two chairs for it or three chairs and some pictures on the walls . I like the gold color of the wallpaper, a nice carpet underneath and it would be complete. It will be cramped with chairs in here if I use this house for the french fashion dolls. It is hard to believe these rooms are about 18 1/2 inches wide, and 16 1/2 inches deep. I think the problem is the ceilings are barely 14 inches high. They need to be taller. 

I have a nice fireplace that would go well in the parlor, by Jim Coates and would match the wallpaper.  I might have to purchase a Victorian style era settee or chair for this room and I do not have beds that are suitable for either doll. Luckily the bedrooms are nice and big to accomodate beds that will fit them. I have been looking on ebay and other places for vintage style beds. 

I have been thinking of naming this Pumpkin House in honor of the dolls' house from the book The Dolls Christmas by Tasha Tudor . In it, the dolls Sethany Ann and Nicey Melinda live in a huge dolls' house called Pumpkin House. The book was written and illustrated by Tasha Tudor and based on her own dollhouse she called Pumpkin House created by her mother and was considered magical, because of Cinderalla, and all things are magical when pumpkins are involved. 

I want to incorporate alot of unusual fairytale things with these two dolls that are reminiscent of Tasha's magical world. I have an artisan Finch bird that is in charge of our own 'Finch Express' mail with the dolls named Marigold, (named after the sparrow Marigold from Stuart Little) and a mouse I sculpted from clay that I also want to use as a very proper postal carrier. I haven't figured out a name for him but Sir Tom Thumb may be a good one. I will get photos of these two characters soon. 

I have been attempting to sew for Marie Terese but real life has got in the way so I may work on finishing her dress today and starting another one. I am not completely satisfied with it, hence the starting over again! lol. Annabelle is sadly lacking in the clothing department too. With projects I find it hard to settle down and finish when I am distracted as I like to remain focused, which is hard to do, and once I am interrupted, it is hard to pick back up. But that is the fun of working on doll projects, it is never ending. 

Shopping at Costco....

While in Costco yesterday I had heard of the deals on American Girl dolls and accessories but never expected to see items for the fashion dolls. I was blown away. The item I really was taken with was the Frozen Snowflake mansion. 

Standing a whopping 52 1/2 inches and it was about 46 inches or more wide, with light up chandelier, fountain and ice throne, and a price tag of $159.99, it was awesome. I had already been to Hobby Lobby and thought, wow, I could dress up my Out of of this world Poppy like Elsa and my starlight Poppy like Anna....and there are those silver trees and blue trees that would go well in this hallway...and the diorama queen in me went nuts. I hate the blue stairway but figured I could work around it and spray it silver or something. Something about this dollhouse just screams to me even though I've never even SEEN Frozen and I hate the song after hearing it on the radio repeatedly. How WEIRD is that? BUT I LOVE THIS HOUSE. Sigh. The dilemna of a dollhouse nut in 1:6 scale......

Next on the aisle was the Grand Estate dollhouse...and so was the price tag at $149.99

This dollhouse was even larger than the Frozen mansion. A child would need a stepstool to play with it! It has a garage or a horse barn, depending on their whim, looks like a horse stable to me. An elevator that looks like one, a winding stair, a patio, lots of room. I could really do something with this even though the rooms are pokey, I was looking at it and I could paint that particle  board with the ugly graphics on it or paper it to look better. With a few select fine pieces of furniture, this could be a really modern home for my Fashion Royalty ladies ....
I really do like this dollhouse....

Onto the American Girl stuff. On the American Girl facebook groups, there have been alot of talk of sets. Here they are-

The Samantha Set. She runs about $119 and I am SOOOO tempted as I have wanted her but not willing to pay just that for the doll. She comes with her meet dress and two outfits. So yeah, am willing to pay that for her. Plus, I had to sell my two other American Girl dolls Felicity and Kit earlier this year. I would love to have Samantha as she is Victorian and would go well with my Rebecca. 

The Bitty Baby sets. They are running $99 and you get alot of bang for your buck if you're into Bitty Baby stuff.  Not my cup of tea, but it saves alot of money if you have a little girl who wants one.

The American Girl horse, complete with saddle and bridle, reins. $49.99 This one I am VERY tempted and will probably go back and get as I really want the carriage which does not come with the horse. This is very well made too. 

I want to order a reproduction Davida Huret resin 15 inch doll this year if at all possible and the horse would be perfect for her if she has a riding costume. Alot of the AG stuff is in perfect scale for the chunkiness of the Huret reproduction french fashion dolls. So that is one method to my madness of collecting the big stuff. 

American Girl stuffed pets. These were running about 24.99 and came with accessories or /and a book. Probably a better deal than from American Girl.

Mini American Girl dolls with books. They were running about $38.99 and they had Melody, Samantha, Julie, Mary Ellen, and Kit from what I could see. 

I also forgot about this Barbie house, but that was because it wasn't as spectacular as the Frozen mansion and the Grand estate house. I forgot the price tag, but it wasn't as as large as those two. Probably because it was so much smaller than the other two. People were taking pics like me of those two dollhouses.  

So run out to Costco and make room for one of those dolls or dollhouses! LOL...