(Almost) Nothing To Show...

The 200th Post!

I hope you can forgive me, Dear Readers, for being Completely Unprepared for the Momentous Occasion of This, My 200th Post!!! I would have liked to have some thoughtful commentary prepared..... or a summary of the Life of this Blog to show.... or perhaps an update on all the ongoing projects..... or perhaps even a giveaway contest planned..... but, Alas, I have none of those to show! Instead, it was one of those weekends where the RL Chores ate up all my time and I got Almost Nothing Done in my mini worlds! I did manage to add a couple of rows of bricks to the top of the Chimney for the Conservatory.... in fact, I decided that the top of the chimney needed to be a little taller and fancier.... so what should have been only three or four more rows of bricks, grew to ten or twelve rows of bricks.... and it is still Not Quite Done!

Here you can see the brick portion in place.... 

between the halves of the Conservatory.....

I think the chimney looks more realistic when taller....

And here is the view from the side.....

Please forgive the poor lighting.....

It is that dark time of year!

(And now that all of the Christmas Lights have been put away :(

It Feels even gloomier...!)

That was all I accomplished this weekend, Dear Readers, 

so rather than leave you with So little to show...

I thought we could have a Closer look 

at the Dollhouse Annabelle got for Christmas!

(Several of you mentioned that you wanted to see inside it...!)

I made this little doll's dollhouse in 1974.....

(I was still a teenager)

And I had very few materials to choose from when building it.

It is simply painted cardboard.

It is front opening (unlike the Lovely Old Dollhouse)

and the front doors are "hinged" with strips of linen sheet material.

I carved a wooden peg as the latch to keep them closed.

Inside are four rooms and the central Hall with stairs....

On the right downstairs is the Dining Room....

With china and silverware painted on the table....

And a Maid ready to serve....!

And the upstairs is the Children's Nursery....

And on the left downstairs is the Parlor....

and Upstairs is the Master Bedroom...

The Parlor has a mirror over the fireplace made of Tin-foil!

And the sofa and chair are painted cardboard....

painted to resemble dark blue velvet (I think!) with brass tack detailing!

The visiting guests are "paper doll" cutouts... as are the Resident Hosts!

They appear to be dressed in the fashions of the Victorian era....

Here you have a better view of the Hallway and the stairs going up....

It is rather difficult to get good shots of these rooms.... 

the Parlor is only 1 and 1/8 inch wide!

The entire house is less than four inches long and 

about 3 and 3/4 inches tall including the Widow's Walk on top!

Here is a view of the Master Bedroom and the upstairs Hall...

(yes, that is my thumb in the upper corner!)

(And no, I don't have giant hands!)

The bed is also made of painted cardboard.... 

with an American Patchwork Quilt!

Upstairs in the Children's Nursery 

two children are playing with building blocks....

Once again, "paper doll" cutouts....

I even painted the candle sconce on the walls... 

visible on the right!

In places the paint has "crazed"....

but it really has held up very well over the years!

 

 

You can see that my measuring and gluing was a little off....

The floor is definitely higher on the left side!

The attic is not accessible..... 

and it is interesting to note that this cardboard is a good bit thicker 

than the average cardboard available now!

I hope you have enjoyed this Tour 

of Annabelle's Antique Dollhouse.....

Because without it, Dear Readers, 

I really would have had Almost Nothing to show you...

On This, My 200th Post!