"Sunflower House" aka Victoria's Farmhouse

My design influence came from my two favorite houses created by Robin Carey, "The Glenview Drive Blue Victorian Dollhouse" and The Darling House. I combined everything I liked about them and some ideas of my own. On the first, I love the color scheme, the yellow of the sunflowers and all the trim on the second.

I found this color guide with all the right colors plus a picture of a sunflower. I knew it was on the right track!

The major changes I did to the kit were to add a screen porch and change the rails, rearrange the location of the walls and doors. I left off the shutters and false eaves on the dormer because I wanted  the trim to be the focus against the clean lines of the house. I showed a little distress on painting the porch, trim and weathering the roof.

 I used yellow as an accent color in the outdoor furniture.

I incorporated the sunflowers in the windows and doors. I took pictures from the internet and used Photoshop to create the look of stain glass. I then printed decals and placed them on the doors and windows.

Windows and doors are not permanently attached to make it easy to paper the walls

I lost the original hinges, so I replaced them with these from Hobby Lobby on the access door. I think they support the door better.

Painted Shingle Farmhouse Roof

This was only the second time that I have installed wood shingles on a house. The first time was 35 years ago with a hot glue gun, it was just awful! I was less experienced and didn't know any better. I was so disappointed that I stopped miniatures/dollhouses altogether for years.

I used Quick Grip Glue this time:) and I decided to paint instead of stain. I was going for a weathered look. I have not used shingle dye before and I wasn't sure it would give me the effect I wanted. I can fix any mistakes better with paint.

I used Americana Decor Chalky Finish in "Artifact" which is a medium gray, as my base color. I used FolkArt Home Decor Chalk for shading-Maui Sand, Castle, for highlights Parisian Gray and Spanish Moss-for a little moss effect.

I am sure most of you know how to shingle, so this is really for me and anyone else who is intimidated by shingles. (So I will know what I did good or bad in the future). 

I decided to shingle my roof unassembled and flat. I felt I could see my mistakes better and I could paint without worrying about the house underneath.

I drew the lines according to the directions; I used a whole shingle for the first starter row and added an inch in-between lines.

I painted and glued the chimney and dormer window I bought to the roof.

I glued the gable together only.

Once dry, I reassembled the roof with tape and placed it back onto the house. The attic ends were already permanently attached to the house for support.

I drew the outline of the gable roof on the front roof, so I could see what area not to put shingles.

I started the process of shingling and trimming shingles along the gable outline as I went row by row. Once I had finished the shingles, I started painting the roof after 24 hrs just to make sure it was set.

I will glue the parts roof together to the house after the paint is dry to avoid any excess glue getting on the shingles and interfering with painting.

I went back and touched up a few areas once it dried

On a little side note this is my new favorite, Bench Circular Saw. 

I have a large table saw in the garage but it is not safe to cut these small parts. I developed tendinitis in my wrist from cutting small parts for the porch and beds by hand. I knew there had to be a better way. I found this on Amazon and after the first couple of cuts it had me at "Hello".  The cuts are so straight and precise, love it.

Peter Rabbit Themed Nursery

I have always loved the illustrations in Beatrix Potter's Peter Rabbit. 

When I found the furniture pieces in MyMiniatureWorldShop on Etsy, I knew I had found the theme for the farmhouse nursery.

 I made a second youth bed in the same style as the crib I created. I then painted the crib and youth bed to match the other furniture.

I found this cute bedding for the room in creativecraftsforU on Etsy.

I bought a cheap 1 inch foam seat cushion from Walmart and made mattresses by cutting cushions to size. Then covered them in matching blue fabric.

Farmhouse Screen Porch

I love screened porches! When I bought the Victorian Farmhouse, I knew it was my chance to add one. I looked at a lot of pictures of screen porches to see how they were made. I basically made a frame with a floor. Nothing is permanently attached to the house yet, I'm still in mockup stage.

I purchased the screen door and built the frame around it. I made it to sit on top of the porch, so I could slide it out, in case I changed my mind. I left the back open to the rear of the house for access. 

I started with a piece of craft wood for my floor and cut it to fit the porch. I used square wood dowels and a porch post to form the frame and ready-made porch railing at the bottom. I added unfinished wood flooring to the bottom of the screen porch in the inside. 

I recycled a real life window screen, I cut down to size and used screen it to cover the mini screen porch. (The screen is left unattached until I paint the porch.) I used porch posts, square dowels and thin unfinished wood picture frames for decorative trim on the rest of the lower porch. 

I also finally got a chance to use the porch swing I've had for years, I used mini hooks and screwed it into a beam. 

On the second story porch, I replaced the original railings with ones I ordered from Real Good Toys and newel posts. I cut and used the original kit posts and added large furniture buttons, finial caps and small squares to the tops and bottoms.

P.S. Can someone tell me why I can no longer make comments or replies to my blog or anyone else's under my google account??????

Or see the pins made from my blog in Stats???????

DIY Farmhouse Beds

I made the beds but I purchased the bedding. These are double beds, the attic bedroom is large enough for both. I used wood filler for any gaps, then I stained each bed. I also bought unfinished chests and night tables from Dollar Tree and stained those. It stained unevenly but I felt it worked with my homespun furniture concept.

To begin, I cut square dowels to the desired length and cut notches in them to fit more securely around the bed corners. The I cut wood strips and mounted them on along three sides of the bed. 

I left the headboard off the second bed because of dormer's height in the room

For the head board, I used wood doll pins and cut them in half for bed posts. Afterwards I applied some small unfinished wood appliqués and letter for child's initial.

 I cut the flat base and head board of the bed from craft wood.

I used cheap foam seat covers for the mattresses and cover them with brown fabric. 

Then I dressed the bed with sets I bought at WendyDollhouse on Etsy.

I also bought a lovely red toile design for another purchased bed. I really love her work. I hope to redress all my beds one day.