A Sister house, the Greenleaf Buttercup

I recently finished building a Greenleaf Buttercup dollhouse for a special family, with the colors chosen by the new owner, Linsey. This house will be in the same bedroom as the pink Dura Craft Ashley dollhouse I built about a year ago for her half sister Jenise. 

Linsey has a different personality then Jenise so she chose more fun bright colors for her house. She also chose purple for the front door color. I gave both of the girls these houses bare so they could add their own decorations and furniture, etc. I managed to get this done just before Christmas, so I hope they're enjoying them both!

 

 

I also uploaded a quick video of the completed house on my YouTube Channel Mini-Shack, with more detailed interior and exterior photos. As with almost all my videos, there are clips of the building process at the end of the video. Here is the video on YouTube:

 

 

Now that I have built both the Dura Craft Ashley and the Greenleaf Buttercup, I can say they are pretty much the same size and take the same amount of time. Originally the Ashley dollhouse kit came with a spiral staircase, but I chose not to use it and built a straight set of stairs instead. So when I started building the Buttercup and realized it doesn't come with any stairs at all, I decided to use the spare set from the Ashley! So in case anyone has noticed - YES, the Ashley spiral staircase is installed in the Buttercup. 

Since the Buttercup is done now, I started working on my new Cape Cod Skilcraft house. It was my Christmas present to myself, and even though I have so many other exciting projects to choose from I couldn't wait to open the box and get it started. It's not a large house, so I don't anticipate taking too long to complete it. I really wanted cedar shake siding to make it as authentic as possible, but was dreading the task of applying the shingles by hand. So I went to one of my favorite dollhouse websites miniatures.com and did a quick search. I was delighted to find exactly what I was looking for: a sheet of pre-molded shake siding. I painted a few layers of different tones of grey, did some rubbing, and the weathered look came out perfect. I'm excited to get the rest of the house together, as I'm doing a little bit of kit bashing as well. More on that later!

Thanks for visiting :-)

~ Mini-Shack

Mia's House

Just finished Mia's house! She's going to be so excited, and I wish her many years of imagination play in this custom house, made just for her. She requested these colors, and I must say they turned out lovely.  I left the house very basic so she can add her own curtains, lights, rugs, pictures, furniture, etc.

This kit was an older Whitney Tennyson, and the wood was rather challenging. Not good quality at all, but overall it's a GREAT house to build. This version of the Tennyson requires a lot of trim, and I'm referring to extra trim not included with the kit. They're pretty generous with trim in the kit too, but again the wood quality was really bad I had to use my own.

I ended up using a set of stairs that I had in my stash instead of building the stairs from the kit. With the wood quality as bad as it was, I didn't feel like slicing my fingers up any more than I had to. I was shocked at the porch balusters however, as that part of the wood was in decent shape so the porch and balcony railings came out good. The doors all open and close, and they're reinforced with a strip of ribbon holding them in place. When I glued the roof peaks together I also ran a strip of electrical tape across the tops for some extra reinforcement. I added a foundation since the kit doesn't come with one. The stone exterior is actually strips of wallpaper.

I would be very, very interested in getting my hands on another Tennyson kit and doing some major kit bashing and upgrading. When I was dry fitting the house, prior to adding the third floor peaks, I definitely saw an Art Deco modern Miami style house. Would love to explore that further!

Please enjoy this short video, as it includes the building process as well:

Here is the front and back of the finished house:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now I need to figure out which project to start next! I have so many waiting, plus quite a few room boxes. I may do a few room boxes so I can get those hung up on the walls. I've always wanted to do that, and I managed to find just the right ones. For now though, as I do after every build, it's time to clean up and reorganize.

 

Happy Sunday and Thank you for visiting!!

 

~ Mini-Shack

Key West Inspired Renovation

I've had this dollhouse for a while now, it was rescued from a thrift shop and in pretty good shape. Originally I thought it was an Alison Jr. by Real Good Toys, but then realized the floor plan is reversed. After some research I found the original kit, and now I know it's a "Petite Dreams Victorian". It's practically identical to the Alison Jr, but built with hinges instead, and the trim on the outside is a little different. I've also noticed the doorways are more narrow than a standard RGT house.

After staring at it for several months, I decided it's better suited as a Key West - New Orleans - Charleston style house. I wanted it to be colorful, but didn't want the colors to get too overwhelming so I made the base house color white. That way the soft pastels and the green landscaping would "pop" a little more. I live in South Florida, so I've seen many houses as inspiration for both the exterior colors and the landscaping. I don't usually landscape my houses, but this definitely needed it. I bought a 2ft x 2ft plywood board at Lowes and sealed the house to the board before I began. It's a permanent part of the house now.

I haven't started the inside yet, but my intentions are to make every room white, and use my collection of white wire metal ornate furniture throughout the entire house. As you can see from the photos below, I've included some pieces outside already. Each room will have a very faint pop of a pastel color. I've been collecting white wire pieces for almost 10 years now. Some are Alice Lacy brand and some are Windsor Collection brand, and some are just beautiful unbranded pieces with intricate ornate designs. I've been buying them based on my taste, not so much brand name, but I have a feeling my collection is worth a pretty penny by now!

Once the inside is complete I'll do another video for my YouTube channel and post pictures here. For now though, please enjoy the exterior photos:

Thank you for visiting!

~ Mini-Shack