Swaps - Marlene sent me a book

Marlene

from Somerset House sent me this cool book.

The dollhouses shown in this book are beautiful!

There are some very nice projects.

 

For instance the book gives the technique on how to do 

the marble floor in  Sans Souci.

I would have uploaded some photos here but,

I didn't know if I was allowed to do so.

Time to dream!

Thank you Marlene!

Thanks for visiting me!
Hopblogger

DOLLS - THE CHINA DOLL - MEET MARINA

MARINA'S HAIR IS FINISHED!!

And I just love it!!

She turned out much better than what

I expected.

I had no idea that an OLD CHINA doll could

be made into a new doll.

I have not seen or heard of anyone doing this before!!

It is possible that I could be the first

that has ever put hair on a china doll.

Any imperfections however small they may be, always

show up in a photograph.

I thought that I had gotten all of the hair off her, but it

is apparent that I missed some hairs.

Perhaps a mini vacuum cleaner is needed!

I was going to use black hair, to mimic what the

doll had already, but decided against that idea.

It was better to soften up her features with some

dark brown hair.

Anyway once I held up the dark brown hair up to

her face - it spoke to me!

Marina has a little black speck on the side of her

nose. That is her mole.

Marina has now become one of my favorites!!

 MEET MARINA

Marina's hair is cut into a bob.

This hairstyle suits this kind of doll very well.

There are not many pictures here

so I hope you can see it.

The matching hat came as an after-thought.

Marina looked like she needed something

and a hat was the answer to this.

That piece of re-sis-tance - so to speak.

However, I think that I might put the hat

in her hand and leave her head and

hair free.

 Hair on the china dolls look great

from any angle.

You really do need to try this!!

It gives a whole new look to the china doll.

If you never liked a china doll before - maybe

just maybe, you would like to have one now.

I used cheap hairspray to keep her hair

from flying around. It needed to

stay straight.

A china doll's head is bigger than

the normal miniature dolls head.

Do take that into consideration.

You can always give her a hat.

Gee - I forgot to remove her hat!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Conny

DOLLS - THE CHINA DOLL - MARINA IS DRESSED

She is/was the ugly china doll that was
in the last posting on the
left side of the photo.

Painstakingly I scraped and scraped more glue
off of her legs.
There is still plenty more

to scrape off but I got tired of scraping. 

Decided I would take a break from that and just

dress the doll.
I can scrape more later when I feel

like messing with it.
Anyway, her legs are hidden.
Marina looks

a sight better than she did before. 

She is dressed really different.

I felt that there wasnt any need to

try to dress her to a particular period since I dont

have any period fabrics.
Besides, stripping off her old

body proved that she wasnt an antique!  
There weren't any markings on her.

So I believe that I can do with her

what I want.

Marina is a short woman.
I measured her before and thought
for sure she was 5.5 inches high.
Measured her again cause she
looked so short!
Marina is a short woman!
Her length is 5.25.

Her dress is made from a pair of 
baby pants.
I found them at the thrift store 
with the price tag still on them.
It is just a simple dress
that I made for her.

I like the pink and green combination.
Love the flowers on the green.
Love the pink with white dots on
the ruffle.
It looks sweet on her.

Marina's shawl is a lace applique.

I wanted to use this applique since it

seems like I have owned it forever!

The lace applique is about 4 inches from

the 2 widest points.

It was too pretty not to use it.

I am really surprised that  fit around her

and that it worked!

To attach it around her ,

all I did was thread a piece of pink ribbon

thru the first 2 holes of the

applique from the backside.

Then knotted it.

I know you can't see the knot, but it's there!!

Here is the back of the shawl.

It drapes so nice on her back.

Looks so pretty.

I hope you like Marina!

Thanks for stopping by!

Conny

DOLLHOUSE 'ASHLEY' - Laid Craft Sticks For Floors

I have been very busy doing my miniatures

and home life.

 

I was able to cut and glue down the craft sticks

for flooring on the bottom floor.

 

Not painted yet, but they will be white

the next time you see them.

 

This is the first time that I have ever laid a floor with

craft sticks.

It is really simple.

 

 

I meant to get a pic closer to the bay window on

the right side of this pic.

Apparently my aim was off.

 



Since this was so easy, I just might do this

again to one of my apartments.

I still must fix the floor that had the stairs.

 



 

Thanks for stopping by!

Conny



DOLLS - BOUGHT 2 CHINA DOLLS TO MAKE-OVER - DOLL ON THE LEFT

Went to an antique store, saw these
2 cute china dolls.
Have seen these china dolls
around a lot throughout the
years.
Thought that $6.99 each was a good/fair
price for them.
So I bought them.

Perhaps both china dolls were very much
loved by a little girl.
I do not know the age of either one
of these dolls.
These china dolls are 7 inches high.
Clearly not a miniature.
Clearly both china dolls had different owners
with different sewing skills.

The doll on the left was not made

very well.
She did have some nice cotton cloth
for her body.
And it is so pristine white.
I took her bloomers off
cause they did not go

up to her waist.
She has a long torso.

The bonnet is not too bad,
do not know if it re-usable.

Her dress

was also cut crooked and the deep purple

ribbon had ran pink onto the dress.
Maybe it was washed in warm/hot
water.

Time to take the china doll on
the left and take her apart.
Her body must not be too old, it
is stuffed with polyester fiberfill.
I will attempt to re-use what
I can before throwing anything
away.

Her body came apart really easy.
Her legs are REALLY MESSY with glue!!
The arms are okay.

Look how bad the inside of the breast

plate is.
There is a huge mess in there!!!
It is possible that this doll has been fixed
many times over.
Perhaps they used hot glue cause there is
a little crack on the left side in the china.

OOOoo I do not know how I am going to
clean that mess out!!
All that glue on her leg is a mess too!!

I wonder if they sell glue remover
for porcelain!
Still I think even with the

work that I have to do to fix her that

the china dolls are still a good deal.
I do like to try and fix things if I can.

Thanks for stopping by!
Conny