Topic: Christmas photos of the dollhouse

[kratz7]

 Hi Everyone,


 Here's a few photos of the dollhouse as it's finally decorated for Christmas.
















Merry Christmas

[patches]

Hey, Charlotte, your house looks really GREAT!!!    Geesh, I was wondering what happened to you since I hadn't seen you around.  One day when I saw you were here I tried to PM you, but your PM box was full so I couldn't do it.  You might want to clean out your PM box!!!   

[kratz7]

here's a few more, Hey patches.... I did some pm housekeeping so now I should be able to receive more pm's. I didn't realise I had a full house....lol

I had alot of fun decorating this year.......







Kratz7

[Jim]

Looks great. 

Don't you wish you could decorate your actual house that much.  On second thought, forget I said that. 

[patches]

I didn't realise I had a full house....

Good one, Charlotte!!! I'm sure glad I didn't raise you!

Thanks for getting your Christmas housecleaning done on your PM box.  I like how you decorate your house for all the different holidays.   I can really tell how much enjoyment you get out of your dollhouse.  It's a wonderful world to escape to with the little people, isn't it?   

[kratz7]

Hi there ,

Thanks for the idea Jim, and yes I'll forget it right away as that would lol take alot, both in decorations and time to do it. Besides I don't think my hubby would climb on our house like that. lol
And yes Penny it is fun to escape to a mini world. A mini mind never stops..... and in the mini world it can run wild.....





Charlotte









Hubby said I needed  to find a new hobby, (I don't spend enough on money  I guess) so I figure that was permission enough to  shop for the dollhouse and deck it out for each of the Holidays. ....lol       He's probably wishing he hadn't said that. But actually he knows I have fun with it   ...... besides he has his own hobbies....... remote controlled toys for the Big Boys..... airplanes and trucks.......

[patches]

Okay, Charlotte, inquiring minds really want to know...Who actually spends more on their hobby?    Hmmm, I'm trying to figure out if those snowmen in the windows are decals,  if not what are they?      

[kratz7]

Hi everyone,

I can honestly say I think it would have to be a tie as far as who spends more money on their hobbies. I tend to buy little thing for the dollhouse that add up......(all the scrapbooking Holiday decorations and "real life things" that make a house more like home)
And hubby tends to spend more money all at once. Between his r/c toys.....he also likes to ski....which also is a bit pricey....even if you own your equipment. But now if you're talking about combined hobbies I also do the photography thing and that is also a straight up front cost, but provides tons of rewards. So really we are probably even.......
 We don't have children so that's not a factor.......... If we had children our lives would be dramatically different....... you say dollhouse..... (like mine) kiss it goodbye.....lol

The snowmen on the windows are actually scapbooking material.... more cardstock with a small piece of foamy double sided tape. I like this as I can usually use it ans still peel it off without damaging anything.




Almost all of the decorations were intended for scrapbooking......but they are perfect for my hobby

[MassMama]

  your doing such a great job decorating for christmas Charlotte! I like the little snowmen

[patches]

Charlotte, believe me, I know all to well how quickly the "little" things can add up.   Many times I paid the same, if not more, for some of the miniature things I wanted.  I once bought a miniature table saw that cost three times what a full-sized table saw would have cost!!!    Of course, the saw blades cost more too!  It was custom-made and had to be special ordered. 

[kratz7]

Thanks ladies,

I just love decorating the dollhouse for each Holiday.... I even decorate for Winter, just to take away some of the gloominess.....lol The dollhouse sits right in our living room so that's part of the reason as if it's going to take up space, I might as well decorate it and change things around.

The whole reason I wanted a dollhouse was so that I could decorate it. I really enjoyed seeing it come together, but the intent was decorating. I look in dollhouse catalogs now and see even cooler ones.... but I don't think hubby would help me do another one. And I certainly don't want to do it myself.  So I enjoy this one.....and have a blast with it. I also enjoy doing photos of it and sharing.......
I can't imagine spending that kind of money for the tools, but hey looking at the things you've made.... you put it to great use. How about posting some more of your things........







Charlotte

[patches]

Actually, Charlotte, I needed to put the money into excellent tools that would serve my purpose, because I wanted some of the things I made to be done in the same way they were built originally. Okay, I know they didn't have power tools back then, but they were working with full scale pieces and in miniature scale it was impossible to do without some of the tools I bought. At the time, I couldn't get quality wood (e.g. walnut, cherry, etc. in a thickness that would match my scale, so I had to cut them down to make them work or they would be out of proportion with everything else.   

As soon as I get things wrapped up at school for this semester, I'll try to look up some of the other things I made.      

Geesh, I'm really not into scrapbooking, but it sure looks like they have a wealth of different things that could be used in and for a dollhouse.   

[Penny]

Charlotte, i just love looking at those pictures, you do such a great job, i loved the wee windows with the snowmen in them, so cute!!

[christy]

wow! realy looks great!  ya did a awsome job on it!
love the bears ,snowmen n peguins on the porch, looks like there gettin ready to go caroling together.
have ya thought of gettin that white fabric stuff for snow around the house n roof?  think ya can get it at the dollar store.

[kratz7]

Lol, that would be a good idea too.... I have to check it out.Maybe for nrxt year it will have snow..... with all of the messy weather we have gotten, I wonder if we'll have a white Christmas.

[patches]

Geesh, Charlotte, your pictures are really terrific and I enjoy seeing them.    When I saw the wreaths in the windows they reminded me of some Christmas wreaths I made some years ago.  I don't how clear my photo will be, but here it is. 



There's a nickel there for Patty, so you can judge the size of it. 

[kratz7]

Hey Patches that wreath is awesome!! What did you use for the greens? It looks perfect.........I have made little qilts and blankets, but no wreaths.....that is cute. 

Show me more please........

Charlotte

[patches]

Darn it, Charlotte, I figured you were probably going to ask me that that,  and I can't remember exactly what it was.  I used to buy it from a florist shop here in town, and I used it to make all my wreaths, Christmas trees, shrubs and the other floral decorations for my miniatures.  I'll look through my stuff and see if I can find a piece to show you.  It's not artifical,  it was actually alive at some time and it's some kind of dried fern or something.     I'll look through my stuff and see if I can find a piece to show you.   

[kratz7]

Thanks Patches, 

I was just out on Saturday and picked a few snowmen for decorating in January... I thought I would do a Winter theme like Winter Wonderland......





I couldn't resist this Santa Claus though....lol


Please dig out some of your stuff, I would love to see it.
Do you still do any minis?
I just bought a miniature Nativity Scene..... but I'm in the process of repainting it. I like the piece, (detail) but I didn't like the paint job. I  tend to do that alot, I always go back and make sure all of my paint lines match. And when they are painted by a machine the lines and things are a mess.

I couldn't really get into scrapbooking as it would be "scapbooking gone wild" I have way too many pictures and I know how I get, I need one of everything.....at least.......
Do you scrapbook?

[patches]

Hey, Charlotte, I really love all the things you picked up, especially, the Santa Claus.  He's adorable!!!   

Well, maybe over Christmas break I will get a chance to go through some of my things.    Actually, I've still got my head into my miniatures, but not much of my hands, because I haven't had a chance to get my workshop set up here yet.     I still research a lot of the furniture styles of the different periods, and I mess around with drawing up plans that I hope to be able to bring to life some day.   

Nope, I don't do scrapbooking!  I've already got too many expensive habits!!!     I have few friends who do it and it really looks interesting, but I think I will just enjoy their work from a distance!   

[patches]

Okay, Charlotte, I found a piece of the stuff I used to make the wreath and here's a picture of it, but it's not too clear. I don't seem to be able to get decent closeup pictures without it getting fuzzy. I don't know if you can see one of the candy cane I made laying on the branch.   

[kratz7]

Hi Patches,


Oh my, I would really like to see some of your works. I would love to be able to make furniture and maybe picture frames, that would be so cool. How many years ago did you get into making minis? I have collected mini things ever since I can remember......I guess it starts young. :grinnnn:Do you knit or crochet too?

 Lol, and I must agree about the scrapbooking.... I would get too engrossed into it and that would get really expensive real fast. I tend to go full force with things I'm interested in. lol




I also bought some mini Christmas ornaments....includin Sesame Street characters......(I thought they were cute)



Some of the decorations I found at Walmart.......like the little borders on the second floor.

What grade do you teach?


Wow! That's really tiny...... where on earth do you buy that tiny stuff?

[Tonya]

Love the decorating, Charlotte!! I would never have the patience it takes to do that....I barely have enough patience to decorate my real house Keep the pics coming!!

[christy]

great pics kratz,
wow patti you must have steady hands to make that! grea job it looks real

have yins ever thought of making shadow boxes with minitures in it? that would look neat

[patches]

How many years ago did you get into making minis? 

Geesh, Charlotte, I don't know if I really want to tell you this!     Oh, what the heck, it was about 40 years ago, and I guess there's no way I could ever convince you that I was 2 years old at the time.    

Actually, there were a group of us women who would fix up donated toys for children who wouldn't have anything under the tree from Santa if we didn't do something. Well, we didn't have any money, but we did have the time, so we kinda became Santa's little elves!    Since I was handy with tools and woodworking, I got my first dollhouse to work on.  Well, this worked out great, since I had always wanted to be a carpenter when I grew up, but that was a BIG NO-NO at that time.    Funny thing, it really was my very FIRST dollhouse, since I never even wanted one as a child.    The way I see it, God really did answer my prayers since I finally got to be a carpenter, even if it was in miniature!!!      

Do you knit or crochet too? 

Nope, don't do either, but I've found ways to compensate for that with my miniatures by going in the back door.    Guess I've always believed "Where's there a will, there's a way"!  If you can't do it one way, then you just have to find another way to do it, so that's what I did! 

What grade do you teach?

Actually, it's no grade since I teach Psychology at the college here in town. 

Wow! That's really tiny...... where on earth do you buy that tiny stuff?

Hmmm, what's tiny?    Charlotte, I guess I'm really not sure what you're referring to?   

ever thought of making shadow boxes with miniatures in it? 

No, Christy, the miniature furniture would be too big and the accessories are just that, since there's nothing special enough to be put in a shadow box.    Besides, I would probably have to make too many shadow boxes to hold everything.