I don’t think I really need to tell anyone that most toys these days are plastic pieces of you-know-what. Why should they be anything else, really? Kids have such short attention spans with their toys because so much advertising is thrown at them. They go from one toy fad to another, so long-term use doesn’t seem to be needed.
There are a few things that I think kids will play with for a longer term. For boys it is generally their cars. With girls, it is dolls.
My grandmother made this doll bed for my mother. My sister and I played with it, too. I had to do a bit of refurbishing of it, but now my daughter plays with it.
When I was little I really wanted a dollhouse. My sister and I made do with temporary makeshift “dollhouses”, but it was something that I think I would have played with a lot. When I saw an unfinished dollhouse at Michael’s (for only $30!), I knew what I wanted to get Anya for her birthday from Mommy and Daddy. I’m hoping that it will become a family heirloom, and be passed along in the family.
My timeline was somewhat limited, having only a few weeks to do this project. Add in trauma’s galore and a kitchen renovation, and I wasn’t able to do everything I wanted. At the very least, I wanted to have it painted, with the basic decorating completed in the rooms. In order to get some input from Anya before giving her the big present, I asked her what color she would like and let her pick some of her favorites out of the scrapbooking papers I had. I had set aside a bunch of pink and sparkly ones…she chose them all. 😉 I then used them to create her rooms.
I didn’t buy any paint for it, and just used what I had. I had a quart of purple that I mixed with white to get a pink color. I had some cans leftover that had a Ralph Lauren pearly paint, which is the sheen you see above. I mixed the pink with the gray and cream pearly paint to get the different colors. I had a stamp for the fleur-de-lis and painted the other wall decoration freehand.
I used modge podge on the scrapbooking papers for the floors and some ceilings. I’m not so sure how well they will work, but I can always “redecorate”. 😉
Now comes the tasks of getting/making some furniture for it. I’m not going to rush, just so the stuff I make has some quality to them…hopefully. I’ll post them as I get it done.
I also made this dress for her birthday, too. It’s a new design and had some good twirl factor to it, as she likes. It took me around 3.5 hours to make it, including drafting time and making mistakes. She was pretty happy with it. 🙂
Do you ever get tired of hearing us say, “Wow, Stacy, amazing”? Cuz really, amazing. She will treasure that house forever. And the memories of you making clothes for her…priceless.
The dollhouse is fabulous ! You’ve done great work !! And I love the refurb you did on the doll bed !! Looks great !
AMAZING! Love love love the bed.
Anya is the luckiest girl! And I love that you can just “redecorate” the dollhouse…in case you run out of rooms in your house! Ha!! Nice work as always!
The dollhouse looks so good!! I have a dollhouse that my dad made for me that Harper now has in her room, but it is desperate need of remodeling. Using scrapbook paper is an excellent idea!! I also love the new dress design. So cute!!!
I still love that bed you refurbished, and now I love the dollhouse too! I always love the creative spin you put on everything you do. Pink and purple and sparkly and unique – what little girl wouldn’t love that dollhouse?!
Wonderful dollhouse, someday she will pass it onto her daughter.
Oh my gosh I LOVE the dollhouse and the dress!! What a great idea for the dollhouse (btw I’ve used Wallpaper paste to glue scrapbook paper onto wood – to line drawers – and it worked REALLY well). I would love to see your fabric stash, even if it’s messy – I KNOW you have the kind of stash I dream about 😉
Great job on everything! I love good sturdy wood toys that I know are quality. So rare these days. Her dress is too cute. I’m sure she loves it!
I love these posts of yours. Such great ideas! The doll’s house turned out really well didn’t it? Did she love it? And the doll’s bed looked much loved after a revamp. I had a swinging cradle when I was little and I think it ended up in the ‘wendy house’ (house corner? playhouse area?) at Mum’s Nursery School. They sure made things to last then. Still, I think your doll’s house will do well over time too. In fact redecorating it from time to time could be fun. Come to think of it, we can’t afford to do any redecoration here in real life so maybe I should get out the BA’s doll’s house and give IT a makeover instead!!!
Oh and love the dress too. Especially the unusual bodice.
How DO you find the time to do such amazing things?!?! You’re innately artisitc, and you’re point of view is so defined. I truly admire you and all you do.
Oh wow! Those are such lovely gifts…straight from the heart!
Hope she had a great b-day and you a lovely Mother’s Day~
I love that all of these things have your signature style to them! They will truly be heirlooms that your daughter will treasure for a lifetime!