Bex

"or made great kindling." *shudders* Perish the thought. I have to say, I'm attached to my first dollhouse. But my first dollhouse isn't a kit either. It's something my Grandfather took time and energy to plan and build. It's one of the few treasures I have. The house would mean nothing to any one else. I plan to finish it- wallpapering, flooring, lighting *cross fingers*, furniture, etc. Hopefully outer walls as well. I want a store front on the first level.

This one has been talking to me. I have an idea of what to do with it; just not sure how much I can do. Won't be able to see what it looks like til I build it. Plus, if only for the fun of it, I really want to enter that contest.

Someone mentioned keeping it closed and just having little heads poking out of the window and/or door (horse community). I also commented on a little girl's dream, wanting a horse so badly she'd keep it in the garage. I could show why NOT in this little diorama kit by turning it into a garage and over turning the place. Sort of as a joke. Maybe I should just get the kit and wait for it to talk to me. ;)

Yeah, we have a hobby lobby... but I don't remember seeing any miniature stuff. I FINALLY figured out what I want to do for the (miniatures.com) competition this year. Relatively simple too. Can't wait to get the kit and get started! Edit: OK, maybe not so simple as I thought. Either I need to get rid of the door/window wall and replace with a solid wall (how do you do that any way?) OR seperate the side door/window off from the rest of the area as a "tack" room. In which case, would there be enough space for even one horse to get into the run in? Can the side with the wide door be extended somehow? Help please.

At the moment, I only plan on swaps. I'm sure each piece will fit in somewhere! ;) Houses are EXPENSIVE. (I know, I know, I've been warned.) I'm considering getting the room box from miniatures.com and entering their contest.

I'm not sure I want to replace the paper on the umbrellas, at least for my American friends. Yeah, it'd be nice to have cloth (and I did see how to do it on YouTube), but... they're very very festive with 4th of July theme. (Still need to take pics of my haul. I crashed/fell asleep. HARD. Just got up not too long ago.) Maybe I can change the Canadian ones to orange and white cloth though. I guess I was more concerned about the paper flags, though... Maybe I worry too much.

"At this rate my craft room in my future house will be filled before we even buy the house." *rolling on the floor laughing my butt off* Cute, Kaelus. Real cute! chester, unfortunately right now I have to carefully collect things for my FUTURE house. I currently have a 1/2 inch that "belongs" to Grandma and Grandpa. I will probably have things for my 1" long before I HAVE a 1". But I could probably show you a picture of my tiny purchases later today. In fact, I probably will. I look forward to having my swap packages put together so I can post a picture of them.

I went to Party City today. I think they're good, but...If you got a swap package and the flag was paper, would you still like it? If paper would work, I might also be able to find a pattern online for toothpicks (for Canada)- or make my own. Also got a parasol... also paper. I intend to use them for beach umbrellas, and I think they'll do well. Hope they like what I send them. I'm so stressed that my packages won't be good enough. I'm new at swaps, so I don't know what to expect or how to SAFELY send something. Only what I see on YouTube. So nervous! Wish I'd gotten one package before needing to send one so I would have a better idea what to expect. Eeek! Picked up a doll for size comparison and every thing seems to work out all right. (WOW! I didn't realize how small a 1:12 doll is!) Of course, she doesn't bend at the waist (she's meant to be a sales associate), so making a chair pattern will be a little harder. I wonder if there's a pattern on-line? I guess I could always check. A friend is also sending me dolls- hope they bend a little more. Ooh! And I also managed to get a few horses... and a fish! Make a fish bowl/tank. For "horses", I got a pegasus for me (the only one I could find) and unicorns for the packages. Perfect size for a toy. Yipee! To be clear, Party City was not the only place I shopped. Also stopped by FanToystic (the little animals $3.60) and ToysRUs (doll $6). I got the umbrellas and flags from Party City ($6).

I need flags. I'm not sure how to go about getting them. I'm in need of 3 Canadian and 2 American flags. I have swap packages to send out next month and I thought I would go with the Independence Day theme. (Canada Day is July 1.) I was going to order them on Amazon, but I couldn't make it work. Either they were coming from 3 different sites or they were add-ons from Amazon- meaning I had to order a minimum of $25 non add-on items. What a pain! So I'm thinking I could craft them- if I could figure out how. (I'd much prefer cloth to paper.) Or trading with someone on this site. In which case, I know I should have put in trading and not here, but I'm not sure how to handle this. I was hoping someone with experience could help me figure out the right route to go. I want to get it out ASAP after July 1, but I THINK it's due (latest) by July 15. If trading- well, maybe you can pm me and we can figure out the details there? Sorry if this is the wrong spot for this. I used my best judgment based off of what I know (not much) to post this.

Wow! 7 years?! Where were you, Tibet? (Supposed to be a joke. "7 Years in Tibet' is a movie. ;) ) I'm a newb. Haven't done a Greenleaf yet, though it'd be nice. I am trying to finish my Grandfather's house. (A post all by itself, elsewhere on the forum.) Welcome back.

Yes, it is my house. I drew the plans. Grandpa brought them to life. ;)

My baby (Service Dog in Training partner, Reese) makes me smile every day. We have our disagreements, but we love each other. I had an episode today at checkout that reminded me of the fact. I was trying to keep myself grounded (calm, in the here and now), but the person in front of me had an issue with one of the tags on their food. It was taking a while for the manager to get there and I needed out now. I started tapping on a soda bottle I was purchasing- I must've looked like a jerk, but in reality, I was having an episode. Apparently the associate recognized me because she laid a calm, reassuring hand on my hand and smiled gently and reassuringly. She smiled and asked politely where my dog was. I told her he was at home because I was trying to run a quick errand (there's nothing quick about having a Service Dog; you have to make sure their needs are met and there's constant interruptions from understandably curious people who also want to tell you about their dogs...) and get food. I guess I can't go 5 minutes without my sweet boy. But he keeps me ticking!

rackey, I'd still REALLY like to do the walls... why does every one (including hubby) keep telling me not to put walls on it? The store front won't have a nice display window... without a window. ;) IDK, maybe I can find a way to put a display window on it attractively without walls... if you know what i mean.

Gee, I can appreciate that. They should not have told you private information. Did you mention that to them at the time? On the other hand, I would hope that people would not encourage people not to tell their doctor such and so. Doctors are there to help you get your life back on track. How do you do that if you don't feel free to open up? Some people actually do need a counselor. This life can be very traumatizing. Please don't think I'm trying to attack you personally. I simply don't agree with discouraging people from seeking help when they need it. CheckMouse, nice catch. And thank you for responding in my place. (I've been other wise distracted recently. ) Yes. I'm (also) PTSD. I don't know where I'd be without my Drs. They help keep me on track and I'm grateful to them (I should also say, that I'm doing well enough, I'm seeing my counselor less and less). I'm grateful to my dog, who is my right hand man. I'm grateful for hobbies to occupy my mind and is therapeutic. They all work together to strengthen me and make life encouraging. "Creative expression is one of the best forms of therapy..." my counselor said the same thing for months. I didn't know until I chose to pick up a pencil though. ;) Yeah, Rodent! Woohoo! "I'm always so excited when I talk about my minis that it's overwhelmingly evident that I'd take a swing at any one who said any thing bad about it." :clap:HAHA! You go girl! I was complaining earlier that there are no (dollhouse or horse) miniature stores in my area- only train and war. I am blessed in this, though. My husband doesn't complain about my hobbies. He takes part in it. His area is train. (So he has a store in our area and I don't. Phtb on him! ) LOL.

I did try the store locator, that's how I know where to find them at all. We're not lucky enough to have them any where else. I will try the Breyer store. My husband works out that way, so it works for us. For now, I probably will buy them online. There are Classics at Toys R Us, but only a few. Most of my model horses (yeah, I'm actually into that too- have 5 Schleich + 1 rider, Dressage- but there's plenty of THOSE around here) will come from online. Only need a few, Mini Whinnies that is. Also getting some flags for the trade- my month is July; Independance Day for both countries I'm sending to (US & Canada). Ya'll are so lucky. Every one keeps talking about going to the mini stores. The only ones we have here are railroad and war games.

Trust me, chester, I've been all over the place where I live looking for what they have. Mini Whinnies do NOT exist here. There is a Breyer store about an hour away that MIGHT have it, though. Whinnie the Pooh. Tehe! That's a good one. ;)

Would Mini Whinnies be a good toy in a 1:12 scale dollhouse? For those who may not know, a Mini Whinnie is a small horse toy Breyer makes. www.breyerhorses.com/mini-whinnies-surprise

*hands up* Ok, ok. It was just a suggestion. What works for some doesn't necessarily work for others. I apologize if I stepped on any toes. @CheckMouse I know what you mean. Recently, I've been delving into the world of horses again. It's brought to life a memory of a treasure I picked up for myself from an island in Lake Huron on a school field trip in 4th grade. I loved every thing about it. I brought it home, with the intention of keeping it safe for years- playing with it myself, but not letting others play with it. But when I wasn't looking, my annoying baby sister would take the horse any way even though she knew that that particular horse (and none other) was OFF LIMITS. She lost the horse's tack, wore off the skin on the poor horse's nose. Unfortunately, I don't know what happened to that horse. Wish I did, but a lot has happened to me since then. There wasn't a lot I wouldn't share either, because I'm just the sort of person to make sure others are ok and having a good time too, but that one horse was a no-no. And we had to share our room, so it was hard to keep any thing privately.

nice blue bear (blue bear, what do you see? j/k )- do you have any pics of the inside of the barn? I'd be curious to see the rest of this barn. or is it just a run-in?

Exactly. So far better never to say any thing at all. Bottle every thing up. So you explode from all the stress that comes with life and you need a counselor. Oh, but you haven't spoken to any one, it's become habit, so you can't talk to them either. Gee, as long as you don't pose a threat to others or yourself, it's illegal for them to share any thing with any one else (aside from court appointeds, that is). You're allowed and encouraged to tell them any thing you want. You need someone you can safely share things with- and, believe it or not, not every one has that. If someone is seeing a counselor, it's because they need someone to talk to. And people (in general) aren't likely to open up much to someone they don't trust. "We know that as long as there have been cities and ships and mules, people have been making small-scale models of them, and then have tried to explain why they made them. The ancient Egyptians made perfect little copies of bake shops and hair dressing establishments- of almost every thing they used in their daily lives. They said they had a religious reason for this; when people died, they buried these things with them, because they thought the dead would need them in the next world. There is no doubt that the Egyptians truly believed this. But it seems possible, too, that they found pleasure in the creating of these small pieces, and in just looking at them. Today we make what are known as "working models" of traffic lights and steamships and other wonders of the modern world.This is done because it is easier to study a large project in small scale, to move things from place to place, and to find out what may be wrong with the plan before it is carried out. We suspect, though, that the people who make and use these models must enjoy working with them just because they are small, or miniature. Miniature things cast a sort of spell, and not all spells can be explained..." 'A World of Dollhouses' by Flora Gill Jacobs, ©1965. So, in my humble opinion, why punish those who tell it like it is? I enjoy working with, re-arranging, even playing with miniature dollhouses. Who cares? (And we're not talking about crazy, nightmare dollhouse movies, either. Just your normal day to day.) I think people should be able to comfortably talk about their lives, their issues, and their comforts. You might be amazed how healing being able to speak openly is.

@Debra Awesome! An outhouse? That's what it looks like to me. ;) Has any one taken a look at the contest on miniatures.com this year? I don't know about you, but this kit is screaming barn to me... If I get the chance this year, I'm going to buy it and transform it into something special. Just one idea if someone else is wondering where to get a kit for a stable. http://www.miniatures.com/CategoryIntroWebpage.aspx?WebpageId=1826 As a side note, I'm glad to see I'm not the only one around here who loves horses.

My apologies, ya'll. I had the video done the next day, but forgot to post my plans to the thread.

Out of the mouth of rodents. I know that you've sorted out the issue, but this could still work. That way your daughter could keep her treasures safe if she wants. I wonder. Do you build every thing for the dollhouses? Or does she put work into those houses too? That could make the houses mean even more to her- because it would be a project she worked on with you. Maybe you can both work on Project Playhouse together. rodent, there are only too few doll house diys on the tube. I would encourage you to do a diy/quick time video (record yourself doing the project, then speed it up quickly). It'd be only too fun to see your house take shape.