The Fairfield

This is another Throwback Thursday post.  My next house, after the RGT Bungalow, was the Fairfield by Greenleaf.  It seems to be a rite of passage for all half-scale builders, and I really liked the L-shaped layout of the house.  However (and I know this is heresy), I did not enjoy building it.  The wood was poor quality and rough; pieces had to be punched out of stamped sheets; slots and tabs didn't align, requiring much filing, trimming and sanding; and there were warpage issues.  Honestly, if this had been the first house I built, it would also have been my last. 

Nevertheless, I persevered, and, in the end, I had a house that didn't turn out too badly. In many ways, it was never truly finished, though.  I think I was so frustrated by some aspects of it that my heart wasn't really in it (plus, I was very anxious to get to my next project).  As I've been putting together this tour, I've been seeing things I'd like to redo, fix, or complete, and I've been making a list.  

I did buy the upgrade kit for the windows and doors, which I think was a great improvement.  I also added a stairway from the first to the second floor; turned the porch roof into a balcony, which included swapping out a window for a door; and closed off the second exterior door from the kitchen to give me more wall space.

Someday, I intend to put steps down from the kitchen to a little kitchen garden, with chickens pecking happily in it. 

I think the kitchen was my favorite room to do.  Its era is probably a little older than the era of the house, but I had been having fun studying Victorian kitchens, and really wanted to reproduce the feel.

This adorable dry sink is made from a kit by AlphaStamps.  Unfortunately, I don't think they sell it anymore.  All of their kits are chipboard, so I veneered it with wood scrapbook paper, painted the sink, and added some little "hinges" (the doors don't work) made from painted heavy-duty aluminum foil.  The pump is a Phoenix Models kit.  The wash tub was made from cardstock and thread, and the soap bubbles are clear microbeads.

The veneering worked so well that I built my own little ice box from mat board and veneered it.  Only the top piece and legs are solid wood.  Again, the doors don't open, but I made little hinges and latches from painted aluminum foil and wire, and there are ice tongs made from wire and a tube bead hanging on the side.

Cupboards were uncommon in Victorian times, so I added shelves and a set of hooks for hanging pots and utensils.  (In the most recent picture, you can see that I have trimmed the shelves with laser lace from Stewart Dollhouse Creations.)  I made the little coffee grinder and box grater myself; the meat grinder is a charm I found on eBay.  Its handle really cranks.

Below you can see a close-up of the coffee grinder and a little flat iron I made from mat board, wire and a tube bead.  Because there was no way I could write "Coffee" that small, I used a  freezer-paper transfer technique  to stencil the "Coffee" onto the front.

The stove is a die-cast pencil sharpener (painted) with a thick bendy straw for the stove pipe and a washer for the wall flange.  

The kitchen is rounded out with a kitchen table kit by Jane Harrop, a spice rack and rocking chair from Mini Etchers, the shelf that came with the dry sink (hung over the ice box), and various kitchen items, mostly from A Trifle Small. 

I'd love to add a braided rug someday.  That's an item on the to-do list.

The dining room has more Bradbury & Bradbury wallpaper and an Eastlake dining room table and chairs from Mini-Etchers kits.  Although it's a little hard to see, the painting on the back wall is a real painting by MikeUK (for those familiar with his work on Greenleaf).

The sideboard was a kit from Karen Benson miniatures.  It was the first time I made my "Chippendale" drawer pulls from chain links.  It's topped with a lace doily from Stewart Dollhouse Creations and a toast rack, covered dish and silver coffee set from A Trifle Small.

The rug was taken from this pattern that I found on the Web and painstakingly graphed in Word.  I got rid of the border and changed the background to blue to work better in my dining room.  It is worked on 36-count Evenweave.

I also wanted a Wardian case.  I was inspired by the miniature terrariums by Lady Jane, but they are too big and definitely out of my price range.  So I made my own with the 1:12 scale greenhouse lantern kit from Mini Etchers, a bit of left-over trim, and some cabriole legs from SDK Miniatures (unfortunately, she only sells them in quarter-scale now).  Inside, I put some moss, some floral tape ferns, an orchid made with paper punches, and a tiny shell.

Here it is in the dining room.  A Bespaq shelf I picked up at a miniature show has little painted tea cups made from grommets.

On the mantel are plates I picked up at the Good Sam show and a metal clock I painted.  There is really not much I would change in this room.

Both the dining room and living room have openings for fireplaces.  Inspired by this post, I decided to try to make my own Victorian mantels. 

Although they ended up being a little different than my original design, they were constructed from mat board, strip wood, resin roses, silver branch charms, a rubber gasket, some bead-like chain, cardstock cut with a craft punch, and metal jewelry plaques.  They don't look very impressive pre-paint, but after they were given a coat of oil-rubbed bronze spray paint, I think they don't look too bad.  The two upstairs fireplaces were painted white.

The living room fireplace is flanked with two china fireside dogs from A Trifle Small.

Here is the rest of the living room.

The rug is actually a quarter-scale rug meant to be worked on 48-count gauze, but I worked it on 28-count Evenweave, and it's not bad in the space.

Most of the furniture is from the Eastlake collection by Mini-Etchers.  Most of the upholstery came from men's ties, with the exception of the (blue) printed petit point chair.

The exceptions are the coffee table, which kit came from Melissa's Mini Wereld, and the curio cabinet, which is from the Greenleaf living room set.  On the coffee table are a candy dish, a silver teapot, and, of course, a half-scale Godey's Ladies Book.  I have filled the curio cabinet with the kind of items Victorians liked to collect—an egg made from polymer clay, butterflies under cloche domes made from gel caps, a bird's nest that is actually a charm with painted eggs, shells, and real crystals.  The door isn't actually hinged; it just attaches with museum wax, to hold it in place but allow me to remove it when I want to change something out.

The bird cage is the same kind of charm I used in the little greenhouse; they came two to an order.  I had to poke my paintbrush through the bars to paint the bird, then painted the outside cage.

In this room, I kind of feel like I might be able to do better on the furniture.  Now that I've made my own tables and chairs, I'm considering replacing some of the furniture in this room with something I make myself.

In the foyer is the Victorian hall stand from Karen Benson, with painted umbrella charms.

Upstairs, the bedroom (which I think of as the Rose Room) has the Mini-Etchers Victorian bed and a night stand from Melissa's Mini Wereld.  Once again, the bedspread and valance are made from a man's tie.  (I find them essential for miniature upholstery.)  The rug is simply printed on velvet paper.  I prefer not to cross-stitch rugs for my bedrooms, because it's a lot of work for something that gets mostly covered up by furniture.  I added a non-working Reuter porcelain lamp, a crocheted throw and pillows, and some boots made from charms.  It's annoying, but I can't find these charms anywhere now.  I got them at a swap meet in Arizona—five charms for a dollar.  I think they're riding boots, but I painted them and added black microbeads for buttons.  As you know, I have a thing for shoes in a build, and these make such perfect half-scale, high-button boots.

Along the back wall is the Victorian armoire kit from Scale Designs, with a little surprise inside.  I simply couldn't resist.  😉

On the right-hand side is a fireplace in white, along with the mirrored Eastlake dresser kit from Mini Etchers.

The upstairs fireplace inserts are an ornate gold metal scrapbooking embellishment/frame cut in half (one half for each fireplace) and spray-painted oil-rubbed bronze.  I swiped this idea from someone else's blog, but I cannot remember whose.  I could have sworn it was Emily's, but I don't see it there.  I'm sorry I can't give attribution, because I love the elegance of the inserts.  The fire screens were plain metal minis that I painted.

Rather than have two bedrooms, I turned the second upstairs room into a lady's sitting room.

There is a little teatable from SDK Miniatures, topped with a Reuter porcelain tea set.  The treats are a combination of goodies from Sue's Little Things and Life of Riley.

The day bed from SDK Miniatures is a very nice day bed, but I think it is too large for the room and doesn't really go.  It is one of the things I'd like to replace.  The table next to it was a white plastic table from AlphaStamps.  I gave it a coat of gloss white spray paint, then picked out details in gold to give it a more elegant look.  While I also love the etagere from Karen Benson Miniatures,  I think the pots need to be replaced with something a bit more in keeping with the rest of the room. 

The little desk in the back of the room was made from Cassidy Creations Lady's Desk kit (CC5022).  I was lucky enough to find one at Dollhouses, Trains and More, but you can keep an eye out on eBay.  They do come up from time to time.  I love the tiny pigeonholes (which were a pain to do, but worth it), and the desk actually opens and closes.

The sitting room rug pattern came from the Internet.  The wonderful thing about making your own rugs is that you can choose the colors.  I went to Joann's with my wallpaper (Brodnax Papillon in peach)  in order to match the colors as closely as possible.

In the hallway, there is a grandfather clock from SDK Miniatures.

Now here is my secret shame—the bathroom.  It has a tub from Mini-Etchers, a pedestal sink from Cassidy Creations, a high-tank toilet from a set of minis I picked up at a miniature show, and nothing else.  No curtains, no rugs, no mirror, no toiletries.  I really do need to go back and finish this room!

On the third floor is the attic.  Some people partition their attics to make more rooms, but I chose to go with a true attic.  I had wanted some old, worn-out furniture up here, but there is no room! Part of the attic is filled with toys, collected from a variety of sources.  The train set is by SDK Miniatures.  The doll carriage is from Karen Benson.  The Alice in Wonderland doll and the mold for the baby doll head both came from Margaret's Mini Bears.  You may recognize the toy xylophone; the popper push toy and Raggedy Ann doll are also from swaps.

The sweet little bookshelf, which fits so perfectly in the space next to the chimney, I received in a swap, along with the doll bed and toy trucks.  The bookshelf is filled with some adorable toys from A Trifle Small, a few Peruvian ceramic beads, and, of course, some readable children's books, including a Kate Greenaway Mother Goose. 

The maid's room, with a simple iron bedstead, a washstand, and a chest of drawers, is on the left.  I want to do the washstand over—it did not turn out as well as I'd hoped.  It looks a little chunky.  I also need to paint the little chest of drawers.  See what I mean about so many unfinished projects?

For me, an attic would not be complete without a trunk, so I made up the Cat's Paw Small Jenny Lind trunk (1:24 scale) (which, unfortunately, seems to be out of stock everywhere).  Everything came with it, including the tiny hardware and the lining paper.

The final room is the tower room.  Did I say the kitchen was my favorite room?  Hmm.  Maybe it's the tower room instead.  😊  Because there is no access to the tower room, I felt it had to be somewhat magical, so I made it into a sorcerer's room with a bit of steampunk thrown in.  (Hey, if you can get to Narnia through the bedroom wardrobe. . . .)

For Doctor Who fans, do you recognize what's on the wallpaper?

I can't remember who made the kit for the desk.  The chair is a spare Victorian chair from Mini-Etchers, with some copper paint, black upholstery and watch parts.  (It was supposed to have wheels, but they kept falling off, and I finally gave up on them.)  I added a small table with a watch face for the top; a potion bottle; tiny steampunk books (with Latin titles, of course); a telescope made from a miniature spy glass, toothpicks and watch parts; and Phineas T. Corvis, the steampunk crow.

I love his little monocle and top hat with feather trim, both made from watch parts.

The front porch has a floor made from coffee stirrers and a porch swing.  I have always loved porch swings; I couldn't build a front porch without one.

Upstairs on the balcony are the round table and chairs from Alpha Stamps.  They aren't truly wrought iron, but they are a good size for the space.

The beautiful railings are Duval by Heritage Laser Works.  The fish-scale siding is made from the chipboard shingles from Alpha Stamps.  As with the other siding, I painted them both before and after gluing them in place.

The color scheme is based, in part, on a very well-known apartment building at 400 Duboce in San Francisco.  I used to live about a block away from it.  I've seen it many colors over the years, including mustard yellow and bright purple, but I think its current color scheme is a lot more sophisticated.

Outside the front door is a swan planter from Timber Ridge Studios.  It needs to be filled with flowers.  In fact, the whole exterior needs more flowers and a bit more gingerbread.

So I guess my next project may be revisiting this house.  Part of the reason I never quite finished it was that I was so anxious to get started on the half-scale Merrimack. Now that is a house I truly loved doing.  But before that one, I'm going to tell you about the half-scale porch I made for my mom.

Library Books Done!

The books are done!  Final count—492 books.  Yes, I kept a spreadsheet.  😊

I ended up making a couple of extra that then didn't quite fit on the shelves, but that's fine.  I am so thankful that job is done.

You may notice from the pictures that I am toying with the idea of putting a photo of the hallway over the door.  The picture is taken from the Google Art of Sagamore Hill Web site.  I had to edit out the gates, as they would obviously not have been there when the house was occupied by the family.  Not sure if I will keep it.  It does hide my messy desk on the other side of the doorway. 😊 

I've also started work on the final rug.  This is the original.  Sorry for the somewhat odd picture.  This rug is apparently the pivot point for the 360-degree view of the library, so the center of it looks like a bad acid trip.  I've covered it up with a side view of the rug, and between the two you should be able to get an idea of what the rug looks like.

This is my pattern for the rug (created in Word).

And here it is in progress.  As you can see, this rug will take much less time than the last one.  I only started it last Friday.

I also forgot to mention I have added another Teddy bear to the room.  In June I went up to the annual sale at Peg's Dollhouse in Santa Rosa.  She has an amazing assortment of miniatures, as she takes in collections from miniature enthusiasts who have passed away or are needing to downsize.  You could look for hours and still keep seeing something new.  Many of the items she has are antique, no longer in production, or simply one of a kind.  One of the things I found was this little fuzzy Teddy—an adorable treasure for the library!

Once the rug is done, the library will be, for all intents and purposes, complete.  There are some things I have left out because I'm afraid the room would be too cluttered with them, but I think I have a fairly good representation of the items from the original.  None of them is a perfect match, but I hope that anyone familiar with Sagamore Hill would recognize the room.  😊  It has taken me longer than the year I predicted, but that's OK.  Along the way, I have learned quite a lot, including:

• If at first you don't succeed, . . . .  😊  Do-overs are just part of the process, and every time I've tried again, I've been happy I did.  I think my skills at both upholstered furniture and wood furniture have improved.
• I'm better than I thought I would be at making animal heads out of clay and flocking them, even if mine do tend to be cuddlier than the originals.
• I can make my own rug patterns from scratch.  I've always relied on finding existing patterns or using picture-to-pattern software, but I've found that I can just make designs myself in Word, and they turn out alright.
• Theodore Roosevelt had a lot of books.
• I don't need to make absolutely everything myself.  Sometimes relying on what's out there in the miniature market is OK, too.
• Miniature amigurumi is very likely beyond my skill set.  This doesn't necessarily mean I won't try again at some point, but see the preceding item.  😊
• I really enjoyed the challenge of trying to match some of the items in the library.  Sometimes the things that were the weirdest were the most fun to make (like the birds' nest candlesticks).  I also had quite a time trying to find a blue glass pitcher, and ending up making a glossy blue pitcher from quilled paper.  The funny thing is, I've now found a half-scale blue glass pitcher, but I think I'd prefer to keep my own.
• The encouragement and support of other mini-makers is priceless.  I truly appreciate each and every comment that readers have made.  They have buoyed up my spirits, offered helpful suggestions, provided information I needed to complete the room, and just made my heart happy.  I have also learned to be braver in making comments on other blogs because I know how much they mean to me.

And that's a wrap for this week.  Thanks for stopping by!  Have a wonderful weekend!

The RGT Half-Scale Bungalow

Here is another Throwback Thursday post.  I am back on track with the library, and hope to have a new post on that next week.  

Having had so much success with my little greenhouse, I decided I wanted to build an actual house.  I chose the half-scale craftsman bungalow from Real Good Toys because our real-life home is a craftsman bungalow, and we have a lot of mission-style/arts-and-crafts pieces in our house.  (And, as you'll see, it also allowed me to indulge in some fantasy wish-fulfillment for things I'd like to have.  😊)  I think this was a great first choice for a dollhouse.  The construction is relatively simple, everything is well made and fits together cleanly, and the siding is already milled in.  The instructions were very clear and detailed, and, except for the electricity, which is never my favorite, I had a wonderful time with this build.  I always think of this as "our" house.

I didn't modify very much.  I moved the right wall of the bedroom over a bit, to give me more room for furniture.  This means the room isn't centered on the window, but I don't care.  I left off the cricket roof, which I didn't particularly like, and I added some "stained glass" (made with my color printer and transparency sheets) to the front door, because, in its original state, it seemed more Victorian than craftsman.

I'll start the tour in the kitchen.  The kitchen includes two of the first pieces I ever made from scratch—the kitchen sink unit (based on a tutorial from Melissa's Miniaturen) and my monitor-top refrigerator, made from mat board, the lid from a bottle of ear drops, the cap from a tube of ointment, a button, a plastic fork, and tube beads.

The door doesn't open, but I was ridiculously pleased with how it turned out.  The wonderful Hoosier cabinet, complete with flour bin/sifter, is from a kit by Mini-Etchers.

Here you can see the completed kitchen, with my little homeowner hard at work making cookies.  I tell people she has just realized she is out of icing sugar, so has tossed her apron over the back of the chair and run to the store.  😉  The stove and table are both Cassidy Creations kits (unfortunately, the stove is no longer available).  I made the cupboard from scratch, and the plate rack is from Mini-Etchers.  It is filled with "china" made from paper.  

The living room contains a lot of things I'd love to have in real life.  It has wallpaper from Bradbury & Bradbury and fireplace tile from Motawi Tileworks.  The tile was just printed on cardstock; I then used a bone folder on the grout lines and coated it all with clear nail polish to give it a sheen.  (Inspiration fireplace in the upper left-hand corner; the remainder of the photos are from the Bungalow.)

One of my favorite things in the living room is the bookcase.  It was a simple, unfinished Houseworks bookcase, but what makes it special are the books.

Each of the books on the shelves was chosen by a friend.  I asked all my friends to name a favorite book of theirs.  I then made up the books, with real pages from the originals, and put the name of the friend on the inside cover.

Another item I love in the room is the rug.  I have always loved this rug, so the bungalow was the perfect opportunity to "own" it.  I created a somewhat simplified version of its design in PowerPoint, saved it as an image, then sent it through a picture-to-pattern site on the Web.  I worked it in cross-stitch on 36-count Evenweave.  And voila!  I (or my imaginary homeowners) now have the rug I love. 

Here is the completed living room. 

The Morris chairs were from kits by Theresa's Miniature Creations.  (Unfortunately, I don't think she is selling any longer.)  The table is a kit from SDK Miniatures; the tiny radio on top was made from Popsicle sticks.  The curio cabinet was purchased from the Monticello gift shop (yes, that Monticello).  They were having a clearance sale of 1:24 furniture that had been created specifically for them--$5.00 per item.  Who could resist?  The telephone table under the stairs is a magnet, and the prairie sofa is the very first piece of furniture I ever made from scratch using strip wood.  I followed Theresa's lead in using mulberry paper to cover the cushions because it looks surprising like real leather.  Now that I've gotten a little better at making furniture, though, I may replace the cushions with actual leather.  I still have some of the left-over brown leather I used to make Theodore Roosevelt's chair. The throw pillows were just designs printed on fabric.

Of course, over the mantel, I have the wonderful painting that Samantha made for me.  The clock is a kit from SDK Miniatures, the bear fetish figurine is a bead, and the vase is my quilled-paper attempt at creating Ephraim Faience-style pottery, another favorite of mine.

On the second floor, there is a little area left over from the staircase.  (Yes, the staircase is a bit odd, but that's the way RGT designed it.  The funny thing is that someone on Greenleaf posted a picture of a real-life staircase that looked just like it!)  To make use of the space, I made a little sewing nook with a sewing machine magnet I had.

I made a sewing book, sewing box, patterns, and a thread caddy with painted metal spools, then put them on shelves over the sewing machine.

The ironing board was made from matchsticks and mat board, and in the full photo of the nook you can see a soda bottle that has been "converted" to a sprinkler for the clothes.  I remember my mother using one of those. Can anyone else remember them?  😊  The iron seems a bit large, but that's another one of those scale issues.  *sigh*

Most of the furniture in the bedroom comes from the Arts & Crafts bedroom kits by SDK Miniatures.  All of the drawers really work.  Unfortunately, I made them before I learned that you stain, then glue when you are working from kits, so you may see a bit of unevenness in the finish.  The wardrobe was another of the pieces I bought from Monticello, and the Arts & Crafts mirror over the chest of drawers was a kit by Jane Harrop.

I crocheted the bedspread and pillows.  I was going for a chenille look on the spread.  Didn't quite achieve it, but I was happy with the way it turned out anyway.

The "hope chest" at the foot of the bed is from a kit by Karen Benson Miniatures.  I filled it with blankets and quilts.

There are tiny clothes in the dresser, too.

And here is the bathroom.  I used the standard half-scale bathroom set, but painted over the gold embellishments, as I thought they looked too Victorian.

I made the little cabinet from mat board, and filled it with bars of soap, toilet paper rolls and towels made from baby washcloths.

Of course there's a toilet paper holder, although it's somewhat obscured in this picture by the sink.

A full shot of the interior.  

I put the house on a revolving base and landscaped it, using green scrubby pads for the grass, as well as flower-making techniques I had learned while making the greenhouse.

To make use of the areas on the sides, I put a croquet game on one side (the hoops are paper clips, the mallets are dowels and toothpicks):

And a walkway and lawn mower on the other.  I made the lawn mower from card stock painted silver, rubber washers, watch parts, and toothpicks.  The stepping stones are made from "granite" polymer clay.

The Adirondack chairs are kits from Mini Etchers.  The sweet little blue jay and squirrel are by Barbara Ann Meyer of MiniGems.

The glider was a bronze mini I found on eBay in rather sad condition.  Some paint and soft furnishings brought it back to life!

And that's the Bungalow.  Hope you enjoyed the tour!  My next house was the Fairfield, which I didn't enjoy quite as much.