Opal Lee's Millinery Shop: Finishing Touches

I finally got my nerve up to use the table saw (so proud of myself) to cut a base for the corner store. I used the rest of the brick sheet I had and created a brick sidewalk.  I bought  two street lamps from The Dolls House Emporium. I mounted one of them on the base and ran electricity from the shop underneath the sidewalk. I am going to use the second street lamp with the Creole Townhouse on its base.

  

 

 

I trimmed off the excess with a utility knife after the glue dried.

I spray painted it the same as I did the brick underneath the stairs with the Fiesta Stone and painted the grout with the sandstone latex paint.

Closeup of the holes for the street lamp

I added trim to the second floor and  installed the windows. I intend to make fabric bolts and I bought some small thread spools from Hobby Lobby but I have run "out of gas" for that right now, so I will save it for later.

I used the same WireForm in the Michaels hutch that I used in the windows of the Mountfield Dollhouse http://jocelynsdollhouse.blogspot.com/2012/04/easy-diamond-pattern-leaded-glass.html I cut the wire mesh to the correct size and glued it to the inside of the doors. 

I gave the hutch an aged and distressed finish.

I spray painted the hat stands glossy white

I added moulding to the ceiling and baseboards to the shop

The Dolls House Emporium Blog Post about My Hat Shop Display Cabinet

I am so honored to have a post written by The Dolls House Emporium about the hat shop display cabinet that I made for the Corner Shop Dollhouse sold by them, now called Opal Lee's Millinery Shop. I have always admired their dollhouses and for years dreamed of owning just one and now I have three! How blessed I am and to have this written for my display cabinet and not the dollhouse's house it was made for is truly gratifying. It feels so good to be recognized in this way for something that you love doing for fun! Here is the link below to the blog post.

http://www.dollshouseblog.com/2013/07/12/10389/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheDollsHouseEmporium+%28The+Dolls+House+Emporium%29

Signs, Shelves and a Hat Box

I named my hat shop after my other grandmother, Opal Lee. My grandmother has always liked pretty things, so it is fitting that I name it in honor of her. She also gave me furniture for my first dollhouse. She is and has always been an inspiration for me.  I feel that I owe my "creative eye" to her. I did some research on the web for vintage signs and created a vintage design for the hat shop. I used Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop to create the sign and used an aged paper texture and dust filters to give it an old look, afterwards printed it out on antique parchment paper for laser printers.  Along with the sign, I made display shelves to go over the windows. My mom gave me a pair of earrings that look like little mirrors that I glued to the walls. I originally intended to make a hat box for every hat but soon realized that the boxes needed to be large to accommodate the hats. A box for every hat would need a lot of storage space, so I just made one. I added a copy of Degas' painting, "The Millinery Shop", I felt it was appropriate for the occasion!

This is a copy of the sign without the aged look and shelves

Here is the same sign with the aged look

This is the front with the new sign above the door

I cut out the original picture and added this picture from the Internet

This is the picture inside the shop

This is a pair of earrings my mom gave me for the shop

I used the hat to find the correct size of the box

I used the scissors to curl the paper

I cut a stripe for the side of the box and added trim

You can see how large the box is

This is a view inside the box so you can see it was a snug fit for the hat

This is a view of the shelf over the window

I reduced a picture of a vintage open and close sign and stuck it in the door

Ceiling Medallions made from 3D Stickers

I used parts of this set

I bought this set for the townhouse

I made the clock on the wall 

I used these to make the clock

I like that the hands are raised from the surface

Creating The Hat Shop

I am creating a small custom millinery shop on the ground floor of my Creole Townhouse. I know that many of the townhouses had businesses on the first floor. My house only has the hat shop on the right side and what would have been a second shop is now converted into an indoor kitchen.

 I made the manikin heads and hat stands with large finials from a craft store.

 

I made the display cabinet pretty much how I constructed the bar in the coffee shop, but I plan to use a glass sheet instead of real glass behind the shelf.

The decorative "carvings" are dimensional stickers that I will glue to the front after I paint it. 

I used left over wood trim from bakery/coffee shop and a chair rail and some brackets from my church dollhouse kit.

I bought the hats from
http://www.etsy.com/shop/JustForYouMiniatures they are excellent in quality and craftsmanship.

There was a delay in my shipment and she gifted me a extra hat, how sweet was that!

 

  Originally I had decided to try and make my own. I bought a package of 12 ready-made miniature straw hats for $3.77. I had planned to leave some natural and cover others with fabric. I bought some small trim to decorate them. 
But I think I am going to give this project to my mother. The mirrors I bought a while ago from miniatures.com. I still don't know the name of the hat shop yet.