Trees...

 

Christmas and Otherwise....

I Hope you will understand, Dear Readers, the enormous Joy that I feel when the tiny Christmas tree lights on the tree in The Lovely Old Dollhouse turn on! There is just something so magical and timeless and beautiful about a Christmas tree with the lights glowing, but even moreso when it is in a dollhouse! Of course, for Helen and Charles it is the "same old" tree in the "same old" corner of the Living Room and it has been just so for how many years? But never mind, the effect is always the same... Peace and Joy come into their hearts and Love for everyone and everything seems possible! 

 

 

"There!" said Charles with great satisfaction.

 (It seems it is always his job to set up the tree,

 but he really likes it that way.)

 "I think it looks better than ever" he adds happily.

 "You do such a wonderful job with

 the Tree, Charles," said Helen quietly. 

"It always reminds me 

of our first Christmas together..." she added.

 "Do you remember?"

 "How could I forget, Darling..." he replied gently... 

"The first major dispute of our marriage... 

and I thought it would please you

 to have the Tree a surprise!"

 "And instead I was so shocked

 that it was up already 

and nowhere near Christmas Eve 

when my family had always put it up....

 what was I to think...?" said Helen laughing softly. 

 

 

"Well, you told me quite clearly 

what you thought, as I recall..." said Charles...

 "Something about poor taste and 

lack of sharing...." he added with a grimace.

 "I wish you could have seen the expression

 on your face, my love..." replied Helen, sweetly.

 "It nearly broke my heart... " she said.

 "But we learned from it and built a better tradition

 for ourselves because of it, I think" she added.

"Always to do it together..." said Charles smiling.

"And never before St. Lucia's Day and 

Never as late as Christmas Eve..."added Helen wistfully. 

"I think it is just Perfect...." said Helen. 

 

And lest you think I have neglected the other Houses 

 

 

the tree has been lit in the Castle Great Hall...

 

 Where it is very dark, even in the middle of the day.

(I will have to bring out the accessory lighting...) 

 

And over at Sally May's and Chip's House

 the Tinsel Tree has been set up

 and shines brightly all through the day. 

Ernie and Blanche have gotten used to the "style" of the tree, 

even though it wasn't what they would have chosen.

They figure that since it is not their own house

 they have no business to complain! 

But the truth is they are really enjoying the glitter,

 no matter that it is artificial!

 

And over at The Cloud Palace,

 

The whole gang is gathered to admire the Silver Tinsel Tree!

As far as the Fairy Bears are concerned 

the Silver Tinsel Tree is the 

most Natural thing in the World!

Who wouldn't love  

a beautiful glittery silver tree

 to light the darkest Nights?

 

And if you look closely you can spot the

 little snowman ornaments made by Birgit herself!

 But that is not all, Dear Readers!

Do you remember the little table-top ceramic tree Gabrielle found? 

 

I assembled this little tree from a kit a couple of years ago.

 I love the ambiance it brings to The Folly living room

which is really too small to fit an ordinary Tree.

 

 

Even so, it radiates so much Peace and Joy!

And perhaps you remember that the Tree House itself 

once had a Christmas Tree in the Salon!

 

I had to hunt around a bit to find it...! 

Can you see it back there in the corner niche? 

I know it is a bit dark...

 

Can you see it better now?

 

But now I am sure you are wondering, Dear Readers,

 what I meant by "Otherwise" in the post title... 

and since we are on the topic of Trees a lot lately,

 I have more to show you of the 

Tree House Nano Tree House....

 

 

 

If you are familiar with the rooms of The Tree House itself, 

you would know that the third room up is the Library.

 But for the Nano Tree House I decided the Ratlings

 would probably wish for a bedroom

 to go with their kitchen and salon. 

So I am trying to make a very small version

 of the Chinoiserie bedroom with the Pagoda bed!

 You can see the fireplace has been attached.

 And the green base color for the walls has been painted.

 

And then I have to try to "suggest" the painted walls... 

which is where the Trees come in...!

(Please remember the walls are 1/4 inch tall!)

So I am just trying to "suggest" the elaborate

 wall painting I did for the Tree House itself.

 

Maybe you can see it better with the flash?

This is just the beginning... 

I needed to see how it looked in photos....

 

 

And here I have added "leaves" 

(okay, a few dots of green) to the trees in strategic places...

 

And the side wall too...

 

 

And, of course, I needed to attempt

 to imply a Peacock over the fireplace.... 

can you see his blue neck and green tail?

 

Oh yeah, and the black door frame and the painted door too...!

Does it remind you of the trees in the Folly Bedroom?

 

Well, Dear Readers, 

that was what I meant by

 "Trees, Christmas and Otherwise!"
 

Paradise Is A Garden

Spring Will Come.....

I left you, Dear Readers, with the very beginnings of the Chinoiserie wall murals, and I must confess, that they are taking longer than even I imagined they would to paint! They are not quite finished, but I must show you an update on their progress! I was on vacation last week and did almost Nothing besides paint these TINY walls... and at the end of my extended week off... all I could do was look at the walls and think "Is that ALL I have accomplished?"!! Because they are So Small! Well... let me show you how it went...
To begin with, I added the "glass" panes to the Balcony doors with my favorite painted mesh treatment...

You can see them below....

And then I began to add to the painted walls.....

And the interior of the doors is still not completed here....

 

And then tested the look of the decorative trim around the door...

I think it will make the Balcony feel like a little Pagoda from inside....!

And I started to paint the details on all the walls...

The back wall and the window wall shown here have most of the basic trees done 

and  the birds are underpainted for positioning...

And the above walls with the planters painted and the other wall too....

There is some overlap in the walls on the sides which will be trimmed 

when they are ready to be glued in place.....

And more details.... 

Here you can see the walls being tested in place in the room to see how the placement looks...

And the beginnings of the Peacock over the mantle...

And here the doors to the Balcony are shown....

With most of the birds painted.... 

and the "Gazebo " trim attached....

 

And here you can see the doors to the Balcony open....

Even though the door is still detached from the Tree for painting.....!

 

And then I decided the lower part of the wall needed some added shrubs...

They "ground" the composition more... 

and bring in more of that magical blue....

But I must confess I have No Idea what type of flower they are!!!

I try to paint plants I can identify.... 

but I did see a plant like this on one of the antique wallpapers....

So I am convinced it must be real...

and added some to the dressing room wall too, along with a peony... 

even though they will be mostly hidden behind the bed ...!

For the longest time I could not decide what to put over the Fireplace... 

and then I decided it was the only place for a glorious Peacock.....

You can see the beginnings here...

 

But then I looked closer at the real birds ... via the internet....

And amended my versions....

If you look closely you will spot the differences! 

I think they turned out rather well!

So by now we Must test the walls together in the room again....

It is really difficult to get good pictures of these walls in place... 

it  is SO hard to get the lighting and the focus even....

But it gives you an idea of how it is coming along....

This is a little further away....

 

And the back wall was still missing a whole lot of details.....

I could not decide what to paint on the door to the hallway....

And eventually decided to go with the herons....

 

And here is a closer view....

Usually they are shown standing in water... but this is a Tree House! 

So if you need to imagine them in water... 

it is right behind the shore they are standing on....!

And the side wall has had the window added.... and the birds painted....

 

So must we see them in place again...?

But it is Winter... it is Late and Dark... 

and the pictures are not lighting well.... 

Unless we add the Glaring spot lights.....

Which washes out the colors.....

And reveals all the flaws...

Here you can see the outer door open too...

 

And the side wall....

And maybe a better view of the whole room....

Unless you prefer the moodier shot from through the Balcony doors.....

Here .... come closer......

There's the Peacock.....

 

And the Herons too.....

I don't know about you, Dear Readers, 

but I Believe that a Garden is Paradise...

And even though this one is rather small... 

I think I will just sit here Dreaming...

Because the Snow is still deep outside my doors...

But inside, I Know that Spring Will come!