Once Upon A Time

Field Trip!!!

So Pezza and I decided to take a bit of a field trip this week to a toy store in Vienna (about an hour away) called Once Upon A Time.  First my friend Christine told me about it then my Mother In Law told me about it so i figured it was a sign we needed to go check it out.  WOW!  totally worth the drive!

It is a toy store like the old fashioned type - meaning the really good toys - playmobile, american girl dolls, you know TOYS.  not battery operated hunks of plastic junk.  then in the back was the dollhouse area.  my oh my....

This is just a small picture of it from their website - i didn't realize i would need my camera - but it will come with me next time.  why? well do you see the small portion of completed dollhouse on the right and the table with the green drape?  that is a HUGE platform with about 8 or so completed, furnished dollhouses set up around a miniature fully landscaped courtyard. SO. FREAKIN. COOL.

we didn't do much buying that day - just several hours of taking it all in.  i did buy a few items for some furniture i want to make and an unfinished bookshelf for a roombox i am planning.  Hollyn behaved perfectly and came home with a few new miniature items herself.  i think i could have stayed there all day!

now if only i could get all my work done so i could get back to work on my own dollhouse.....

oh look what i found!

hi all!
i am so sad to say that i have not gotten much work done on my dollhouse recently.  instead we ventured off for the weekend in our new camper trailer - heavenly!  i DID take my stack of back issues of Dollhouse Collectibles magazines.  i think i have read through them each a dozen times!  so now i have a head even fuller of ideas and how-tos.  in addition i have poured over whatever i can find on the internet.  one of the things i stumbled upon was a garden scene inside of a birdcage - LOVE!

so i began hunting around for a cheap birdcage.  not much luck.  then i went in to Home Goods on a whim and found THIS and on clearance to boot!

now i need to decide what i will do with it.  like will i paint it?  will i build garden walls new orleans french quarter style? decisions decisions...what i need is a good bunch of inspiration photos to work from.  i have a couple of great books to start with on new orleans architecture - gorgeous pictures!  i may have to consult with my brother on this too!

I am heading to the DC Big Flea tomorrow - YAY!  treasure hunt time!  i also plan on getting the trim finished and windows started on my dollhouse.  i hope you all have a great weekend!

Painting...& painting...

Hooray for fridays!!!

does anyone have big plans for the weekend?  we are supposed to get a break in the high temps and only be in the 80s - that will be a welcome change!!!  it has been stifling here on most days!  and boy does Pezza need to get outside and burn some energy!

a big thanks to those who have voted on my next house so far - i hope to hear from more folks!  right now Plum Pudding is definitely in the lead!  Check out yesterday's post for pics and then scroll all the way to the bottom of the blog to cast your vote!

I am currently working on getting all of the rest of the bazillion itty bitty trim pieces painted.  BAZILLION folks!  i have finished all of the shutter components:

You can see bits of the green gingerbread at the top of the pic - i have all of those painted as well.

This is the basic shutter configuration.  the shutter base is green, the panels on top are pale yellow and the flower boxes are dark purple.  when i get to the actual window frames they will most likely be pale yellow also.  i can't decide how i will do the flower boxes.  there are some amazing miniature artists out there that create flowering garden type things.  but i also might use some Flower Soft too....

This is the pile of trim i still have left - these will all be dark purple but i ran out of paint.  so i have been working on this set of things today.  who knows - maybe i will get the rest of my work done so i can glue a few bits on!

I need your help to decide!

hi everyone!

fun news today - it turns out Real Good Toys (makers of the dollhouse i am currently building) just loves to sponsor charity dollhouse builds!  They offered to sponsor me so I have narrowed it down to TWO choices but i can't pick.  so i thought i would solicit some votes and see what y'all think!  it is between these two:

Cranberry Cove

or
Plum Pudding

I think the biggest difference between them is the second story porch on Plum Pudding.  So what do y'all think???  BE SURE TO VOTE - scroll all the way down and look for the poll - it is small.  i wish i could make it stand out more.  but it's there so help me decide!

Me: look honey, i put the porch all together on the dollhouse
Hubby: um...what about this unfinished edge that you glued the railing and gingerbread too?
Me: huh?
Hubby: Well how are you going to cover that up?  do you have to cut out all of the areas where it will go around the porch railing and stuff?
Me: uhhhhh......well i don't know.  i haven't got to that part yet...

skip ahead a few days - time to paint all of the trim pieces.  but first i have to figure out exactly what each one is so i know what color to paint it.   hmmmm....small trim pieces...i can't find this anywhere in my steps to come.....uh oh.  i look backwards...ooohhh.  it's the trim for the porch...you know, where the railing is glued on....that hubby mentioned......daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaammmmn.

SO the whole porch (that i showed you proudly in my last post) had to come apart.  *sniff sniff*  BUT boy does it look good with that trim in place!

 The piece that was missing is the dark purple strip (painted by pezza) where the railing meets the wall.  I also added the rest of the vertical dark purple strips of trim that cover the raw edges of the house body pieces. - this whole process takes ALOT of tape:

it really does make the house look good!

 I also got the rooftop on - gotta love all those old textbooks i held onto after graduation!

you can also see the kitchen items Pezza picked out.  I will be adding some paint to them once the dining room furniture arrives so they won't be plain white.

Next up - the rest of the trim - little decorative brackets and such, shutters and WINDOWS.  i have glanced (perhaps this time i will read it a little more closely than i read the porch instructions......

Pezza's House: trim

welcome!

This is our first post on the official Dotted Daisy Designs dollhouse blog.  of course we have no followers/subscribers so it's kinda funny - i have no idea if it will ever be read :P  but you gotta start somewhere right?  so here i am.  i did the blog design myself which i love to do.  right now i am working on my first dollhouse EVER and i am LOVING it!  it will be for my daughter Hollyn (we call her Pezza).  It is an Allison Jr by Real Good Toys and I have been extremely pleased with it but of course i have nothing to compare it to either!

Next I will begin a project for charity which is what this blog is really for!

But on to the current house.  the shell has been completed other than the very top.  It was time to work on the porch and my first trim portion.  This was exciting because i go to see how my other colors would all look together.  the house itself is pale purple.  the trim colors are dark purple, pale yellow and medium green.

The instructions had what is probably the BEST painting tip i have ever read anywhere - paint on wax paper.  your pieces won't stick like on newspaper DOH!!!  BRILLIANT! (that's my fave coffee cup in the background with my fave saying/response - "really" - it works for ANYthing!)  the trim was not NEARLY the nightmare i thought it would be.  of course i have only done the trim that is part of the front porch - i have QUITE a bit more to go!

The porch floors and main poles are the dark purple.

the other trim is the green and the foundation and rails are the pale yellow.  i am using the sample jars from benjamin moore - creamy yellow, homestead green & cupid's dart.  the house color i had to get mixed because i needed so much - it is lilly lavender.  while these sample jars are a great size they are flat and i think they might be better if they were semi-gloss.  i will try that out next time...

i hope to get the rooftop on this weekend and begin all of the outside trim pieces and windows - at least the painting of it all!  it's a bit intimidating but the whole thing has been easier than i expected every step of the way so i hope this part will be too!