It's the early afternoon, but all morning I have been sorting and going thru my doll items. Earlier in this blog I had written a post the difference between hoarding and collecting....I'm beginning to think I am a sometimes hoarder, judging from all of the dolly stuff my dolls have.
Here are some pics of LaBelle's and the patissiere coming along.
I thought since fall was coming, I would do an all weather raincoat, travel luggage, umbrellas, and in honor of Scotland voting for its independence, throw a bit of plaid in there. The small red white and black plaid purse with scottish terriers on it is handmade by me from My Scottish Lassies collection last year. The interior of the bakery is ok, but not quite there yet. I have more tables and chairs to spray paint on this, and that might have to wait until I get everything sorted.
Speaking of sorted, here is some eye candy-
Icleaned out a plastic set of drawers and have moved them in.One is for stands, that is deeper,the other is for dishes and foods, beneath the stand drawer,and the top one is shoes and purses. By no means is this all of it! Havingto sort some of it like this because the Rement is in tiny bags out of its boxes.
have more, to post, but am still sorting dolls into bins so I can begin to organize the dollhouse. Have a great weekend!
I made much more progress on the doll room today. I got my other table in the corner near the window, purchased three or more plastic tubs to put dolls in, and also got the fake cafe storefront and fake boutique window set up on the large table display. My shelves are deep enough, but this morning I had planned to have two shelves for props and two for dolls. After prop placement, I figured out that I would need more shelves for props, hence the buying of bins for dolls. I don't want to put all of my dolls away- and I won't, but I have no choice. The town on the table is not as large, so I will have to have some dolls in bins when they are not in a scene or not in use.
Now to the jewelry cabinet. I did a great job on this- tidying up. I have had this Louis XV cabinet/curio in 1:6 scale for some time now. One of the most hardest items to keep track of is the tiny jewelry and purses of the FR dolls. I had previously kept these earrings, bracelets and necklaces in the bedroom of the dollhouse, but they were all over the place. So I decided to take some blue satin and line the glass shelves and do purse, shoe and jewelry and accessory displays. Here are some photos of the finished display.
Here Joan is shopping, probably hoping Roger will buy her something special and shiny. I did a quick placement of the dress form to make the scene look complete. Hopefully will have more photos as I make very slow progress on setting the town street up.
I have had a great morning, no, a GREAT DAY today.I have accomplished so much in my doll room. Much better pictures- not complete, but the massive work of moving items side to side is almost over with.
This morning I went and purchased a 6 ft folding table for the dioramas that were on the floor. Now they will be on the wall as you enter the room, with the plastic bins of extra dolls underneath, the dollhouse in the middle, another table for temp dioramas and photo ops and my two sets of plastic crayola shelves - one in front of each other for deeper shelf space for dolls and props. The room is coming along. I also went and stopped by Michael's and purchased a roll of that blue sky cloud paper. It is 4 ft wide by 8 ft long, and that is applied to the wall with packing tape. Here are some photos so far of my progress.
I have one little corner without cloud paper, this is extremely hard to unroll and tape at the same time. I may hide that part with trees and foliage. So far I have the bakery/patissiere on the table along with my contractor tiles and cobblestone sheeting for the sidewalks. I straightened up LaBelle's and took all of the old displays out which were done way early in this year. I am really hyped about this and hope to have more progress photos for you by this evening or tomorrow!
More incoming props in the collection for the Chateau Project. I sold many of these 1:6 sets of Bespaq bedroom furniture long ago, in 2008 when I first began selling.Unfortunately, I sold the walnut and mahogany. Recently I was able to snag four pieces from a private collector- a mahogany armoire, night table, chair and vanity table! Thank you Twisty!
As you can see, Louis is quite happy! For storage purposes, I may keep these pieces in LaBelle's when not in use and that can be a large salon for the two of them. Now that we have Marie Therese, and the Princesse de Lamballe, it will look normal for them to be in a room together.
More dolls are incoming- I am literally being pelted with dolls! I have ordered Mistress of the Manor from Barbie Collector and she is backordered until October 1st. Today I am expecting two club dolls from the W club- Victoire and the online Event doll Agnes! Convention will be here next month and then- more dolls!
I haven't been adding many items to the Etsy store as I have been so busy with working on the doll room. I still have way more work to do, but it's such a feeling of accomplishment after so much clutter. Feel like I have made headway so I can enjoy my dioramas now.
Progress has been made! I can see the window!
Looking good from here. The little desk to the left was my old desk in my room at home when I was in middle school. Little table stand will probably go to the side of the window, I am going to try and keep the vent clear underneath the window. Light switch is behind the dollhouse. Already planning to get some curtains or sheers and a valance and tie backs.
Onto more pictures of (shudder) what I have to move now to rearrange the room.
These three photos show the horror of the doll shelves. Dolls and props stacked. I had to put stuff on shelves as my town was mostly on the floor in a u shape. Now in order to get to the chest of drawers and move it, I will have to get the bakery and LaBelle's moed to the side along with my trees, then take everything off of those shelves to move them. I might use them both on the opposite wall as I have a ton of props that need resting places. The chest of drawers will be for temp dioramas and photo pics. I'm thinking of top and bottom shelves for boxed dolls and props that are not used much, middle shelves for unboxed dolls on stands waiting for a diorama.
I want to thank everyone for the positive comments- I really felt somewhat shamefaced to post these awful photos-- 'doll room gone wrong' lol....glad to know not everyone has a pristine doll room like some of my friends. It frankly amazes me at some of my collector club doll friends who have pristine glass cases, a few dioramas on their shelves, and the dolls on their proper stands, not laying about. (guess my dolls are just lazy like me, lol) Nothing out of place, and plus the doll room looks like a page out of Architectural digest to boot, with fresh fruit in the bowl on the coffee table with barbie collector magazines put in a perfect semi circle ....Though what is now my doll room is not 'designer' quality Ilove it. It is my stepdaughter's room when she was small before she movedinto a larger bedroom more 'teenager-ish'. It is right now my haven and like its own little kingdom with dolls here and there. Hubby came home today and loved the window being clear. Going to try and stick to my resolve of organizing this room...and after all...Christmas and thanksgiving are coming so I am going to have to move the props and dolls now aren't I? lol..
Thanks again everyone for your support and hope you enjoy my ghastly photos of my doll room mess organization progress!
Today has been a very rainy day and not much to do in the office, so I took some time out to 'organize' my doll room. A few months ago, I had made plans with hubby that we would revamp the house a bit and get rid of items that collected dust, get some new furniture, redo the floors, etc. That takes more work , time and funds than one might expect. It was never more apparent when I started work yesterday evening on the doll room.
It has been a pigsty for a few months now. Things placed here and there, the shelves are FULL...and some items I cannot even reach unless I spend a great deal of time moving dolls and diorama sets in the way...One main concern was to be able to get to the window - there is a 1:12 scale dollhouse in front of it- and change the room around a bit too.
Here is the picture that speaks volumes...
And it was more piled up on the floor in front of the cars before I got to this picture! There is a shelf that is vacant, but two lower shelves are full of boxed dolls and props. My camper which appears to be on top of the cruiser is actually on top of a box of props and clothing. The trees are grouped together. The haunted chapel is on top of the diner. I had actually moved a ton of foamcore walls, the happy family living foldup house, and another car before this pic was taken and cleaned off that shelf. Those props are in my dining room. You can see the disorganized dollhouses and bakery shop in the background.
So I can see where people would, er, uh, might think I might be a hoarder. But I'm not! Very fact I am organizing I think hastens to welcome me back to the fine doll collecting world. Yeah, I have a weakness for props, furniture, accessories, trees, and er, anything that can be used in a diorama...lol
The plan is to clear out the desk the 1:12 dollhouse is sitting on, move the dioramas on the floor, and the cars, take down the crayola plastic shelves- don't laugh- I bought these several years ago at BJ's for $12 each and they have worked. I have two more sets to the right as youcome in the door and I'm thinking of doing away with them and getting a larger set from Home Depot that are deeper. Then a 6 ft table will be put in and the 1:12 dollhouse(this is my very first wooden dollhouse my dad built when I was about 10) will be pushed underneath on that- it's on casters so it moves easily. That way my shops can be on the table top off the floor. LaBelle's is very large and takes up a huge amount of room, as does the bakery and the diner.
Hopefully, with time, the doll room will be moved to a larger bedroom in our home. I would simply love to take over the garage but that is not in the cards yet...My problem that is my biggest one is I hate to take my dioramas down. And I LOVE to build!
This is a long post, I know. But I think part of what seperates us from doll collectors vs. hoarders is the perception of people if that it is not organized, it's clutter, useless, etc. and so on. On one part of that I agree, the other- let's face it, life gets in the way. I know it has for me these past few months. But cleaning out my dolls and props did cause me to reflect on why I buy what I buy-and maybe get a control on my collection. Maybe it's time for some props or dolls to move on. (maybe not- I have four pieces arriving for the Chateau project for the King's bedroom, oh dear. )
Hopefully with this organizing more dioramas /scenes will be coming soon.
Lisa
These lovely new lemon white pound cakes in 1:6 scale and sculpted flowers and leaves are now listed in my Etsy shop Pumpkin Hill Studios for 15.99 with free shipping in the USA. Delightful for teas, as Victoire agrees!
Introducing Marie Therese, otherwise known as Madam Royale, the eldest daughter of Louis XVl & Marie Antoinette. Marie Therese is a mini American girl doll Elizabeth, purchased on ebay for $22 with free shipping. She is the older type of mini doll, with the soft upper body and vinyl limbs and measures 6 inches. American Girl has revamped the mini dolls and they have solid vinyl bodies and now measure 6.5 inches tall. I still need to get Ruthie for my Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler's little girl Bonnie.
Elizabeth is the best friend of Felicity in the American Girl retired historical line- that is another thing American Girl did away with- the best friends of the dolls or the historicals. No more best friends for the dolls! I am thinking of looking on ebay for the rest of the dolls I could not find before the BeForever launch. It was pure luck finding her at such a great price w/ shipping and she came with her hardcover mini book. The new mini dolls come with a paperback book.
I still have not finished Louis' coat and vest...so have a long way to go. But will probably have an update on his bedroom soon!~Lisa
Icleaned out a plastic set of drawers and have moved them in.One is for stands, that is deeper,the other is for dishes and foods, beneath the stand drawer,and the top one is shoes and purses. By no means is this all of it! Havingto sort some of it like this because the Rement is in tiny bags out of its boxes. 
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