Spring Cleaning

So it's time to take inventory, because I've acquired enough dollhouse kits to last me the rest of my life. The way I see it though, I'm setting myself up for retirement. Not financially, I mean something to keep me busy, HA! Here is my current situation:

Dollhouse Kits in boxes:

Walmer Mint Julep with Left and Right Wing Addition

Greenleaf Emerson Row

Greenleaf Rosedale

Greenleaf Buttercup

Greenleaf Orchid

Greenleaf Travel Trailer

Real Good Toys Princess Anne

Real Good Toys Beachside Bungalow

Real Good Toys Victorian Cottage Jr.

Dura Craft Pioneer Log Cabin

Dura Craft Newberg

Artply Highland

Artply-Whitney Tennyson

1/4 Scale Town Kit

1/4 Scale Village Kit 

 

I couldn't get them all in one photo, because they're scattered all over the house now, but here's a few:

 

 

Here's how some are stored temporarily (pardon the mess! Construction zone):

 

 This is the Travel Trailer and Quarter Scale 1/4 Building Kits

 

 

 

Houses in progress:

Greenleaf Harrison Partial Build

Greenleaf Harrison Rehab

Petite Dreams Victorian

The base of the Artply Highland

These are just the dollhouses. I have 9 room boxes and 3 lanterns that could be done at any time too. It seems I have managed to also acquire quite a bit of furniture, fixtures and construction parts. It was time to reorganize my stash and thin out the parts/pieces I didn't need to keep. By the time I was done, there wasn't much in the "get rid of" pile but I did manage to rearrange all my stuff in appropriate bins. It also gave me a chance to take a look at everything again, which was a pleasant experience because I forgot about a lot of really cool pieces I have! 

I also spent time repairing pieces that were set aside because they needed work. While I was repairing a side table I noticed how beautifully detailed the carvings on the wood were. Once I found my reading glasses and tipped it over I saw that it was a Bespaq™ table. Nice little surprise. 

So for now I'm getting ready to build the Tennyson that will be given to a family friend, a 9 year old girl. She request turquoise and yellow as her colors, so this will be a fun and bright colored house. This will be only the second time I've built a house for a little girl to actually play with, so I won't be furnishing it, just giving her the house. More photos and details to come!

Thanks 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

Mini-Mini Brimbles Mercantile - BB SWEETS!

The quarter scale Village kit and Town kits from Greenleaf are really cute, and fun to build. Needless to say, they don't take long to put together. The first house I grabbed was the mini Brimble's Mercantile, which was the whole reason I bought the kits to begin with. As I was building it I was reminiscent of BB Sweets and how much fun it was to complete. I wanted to replicate the original as close as I could, I think it turned out adorable! 

Here it is next to the 1:12 scale version - Brimble's Mercantile, "BB Sweets"

 

 

I tried to match the shingles as best I could, and of course the columns and vines in the front. This particular house is completely sealed, so there was nothing to decorate on the inside.  Here are some closer photos:

 

The kits also include a mini Arthur, I will post photos of that one when it's done. I'll be making it a mini replica of my 1:12 scale Arthur as well. I may even try to do real stucco on the quarter scale version. I'm pretty sure I still have the original paint color from the Arthur. The colored shingles may be a challenge however.

Meanwhile I still have the beginnings of my Artply Highland under construction, plus the multiple built houses that need rehab, and oh yeah the stack of kit boxes that have houses screaming my name, plus the room boxes that are sitting empty, and/or half decorated. I guess I know when I retire I will never get bored!

 

Thanks for visiting :-) 

~ Mini-Shack

The Sparrow Lane Video

They say you're never really done with a dollhouse, and I have found that to be true. I could keep going with this one but I really do have other projects screaming my name. So for now, here's how she'll sit. Enjoy the quick little video!

Thank you for visiting!

~ Mini Shack

Miniatures of Miniatures and another Travel Trailer

One of my first miniature builds was the Greenleaf Travel Trailer, which I gave to my daughter as a Christmas gift. Recently I received an email from Greenleaf that the Travel Trailer was back in stock so I went ahead and bought another one. While I was on their website I decided to go ahead and order the Village Kit and the Town Kit too. The Village kit includes a miniature Arthur, which I have built in 1:12 scale, and the Town kit includes a miniature Brimble's Mercantile, which I also have - BB Sweets. Both kits include many other cute little houses too, but that's the main reason I bought both. There's a cute little Tudor house in the Village kit that I already have, I received it free when I acquired a Harrison Dollhouse. These houses are 1:48 (or 1/4) scale and I plan to decorate them the same as my 1:12 scale houses.

I haven't decided yet what the decorating theme of the Travel Trailer will be, I've been looking around the internet to get inspirational ideas. My first one was a traditional red/white retro themed, so I'd like to do something completely different this time. I'm leaning towards a surfer, California beach trailer with a deck off the front. 

Quick shout out to Greenleaf Company- my box arrived in less than a week, I appreciate the quick shipping!

 

For the weekend I'll probably get these little houses together - as I'm also still in the middle of building my Artply Highland mid-century modern house so I need to make some space in my craft room!

Currently waiting for another house to arrive in the mail, I was able to find an Emerson Row brand new sealed in the box! More on that later....

Thank you for visiting! Happy Weekend!

~ Mini Shack

We have a name!!

It was really bothering me that I didn't have a name for this great little house I just acquired. I posted photos of it all over the internet asking for help identifying it, because I knew it was from a kit. It was recommended to me on the Greenleaf Forum that I contact Gary at Real Good Toys Company, as he'd been in the business for about 30+ years. So I sent an email to the general info email account along with a photo of the front and back. The next day I got a reply with an ID from Gary! Not only did he reply, he attached the original assembly instructions and schematics. 

Drum roll please........

THE SPARROW LANE by BATRIE

Model DH 26K

 

The original owners built it exactly as the instructions provided. It seems the stucco kit must have come with the original dollhouse kit since it's included in the instructions. I actually thought it was odd that this was done so well in stucco, and now I know why! It's the one thing on the house that I did not have to touch. I even liked the color!

Here is a before and after photo:

 

It's good to have the assembly instructions on file too - I keep a folder with all my assembly instructions and schematics for all my builds. I have paper copies and .PDF files for them all. You never know when someone might need them! 

I'll go ahead and park these here in case anyone needs the instructions: Batrie DH 26K 

Thank you for visiting, and a special THANK YOU to Gary at Real Good Toys!

~ Mini-Shack

The still un-named house has a makeover, and a fun game room!

This was a pretty well built house, the original owners did a decent job building it so I didn't have too much to do really. I made a foundation, added exterior features such as new shutters, new paint, hanging Chrysolite lantern and welcome mat (with a key under the mat), new roof trim, new siding in the peak, removed all the gingerbread trim, new flat white roof, white trim throughout. 

On the inside I took out one of the walls upstairs and opened that room up to be a game room - loved having a lot of space to work with! Added interior doors, custom made staircase railing, staircase rug, new flooring, new wall coverings and window treatments.

Here's a few photos of the makeover:

 

I have more detailed photo, I just didn't post them all here. As usual, I took photos along the way so I will get together a video and upload it to my YouTube channel. I'll post it here too :-)

 

Thanks for visiting!

~ Mini-Shack