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Do it yourself projects


Lyn

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I saw this project in a dollhouse mag when my boys were little-they're in their 20s now-and started saving all their little gumball machine containers (We called them 'bubbles'). Well,real life got in the way and I forgot about them until I came across this version of the tutorial a few months ago. Guess what-I still had the 'bubbles' in my mini stash!! You can use burnt match heads,wood or paper,to simulate charcoal,and painted plastic needlepoint canvas for the grate. The original version didn't have wheels,but I think little black or silver buttons would look good. When I open my photo album I'll post a photo of mine.

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  • 1 month later...

I don't know if this is already posted but there are some great DIY sites that I like to use.

http://www.jennifersprintables.com/ Has a lot of printables for packaging wallpaper, exterior walls, and furniture, As well as a tutorial on how to build a house from scratch.

http://www.youtube.com/myfroggystuff Family friendly youtube tutorials for doll crafts at different skill levels and scales.

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Tomorrow, if all goes as planned, I will take delivery of the two 'fixer upper' Tri ang doll's houses I recently bought on eBay. One is just a shell; the other is in better shape but still in need of serious repair. I bought them to hopefully further my dream of creating a moderne house. Together or separately they have the potential to realise my hopes.

I will post pix later if I can.

They are vintage houses, desirable in their own right. Tri ang is sought-after, particularly when a house offered for sale has been lovingly restored. But they were designed for children and their 'cuteseyness' reflects this. I've looked at so many real and miniature art deco houses online, they're all jumbled up in my head! But I will be creating my moderne house as I go along, and the design will be my own.

I hope to evoke in the interiors a Fred and Ginger 'feel' - how far I will succeed in evoking this period, only time will tell!

Edited by elfprincess
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Suddenly I have a dilemma.

As I posted a couple of days ago, I was awaiting delivery of two vintage doll's houses bought at bargain prices on eBay. When they were delivered yesterday - thankfully, undamaged! - I decided to try to track them down online. The first one I researched is a Triang house. The windows and doors are missing and the roof damaged, but the shell is sound. I bought both to use separately or together to create an art deco dream house.

However! That Triang shell is in fact a Model S (1958 -61) and is considered a comparatively rare find. Restoring it would involve a ton of work and expertise. I've read that renovations, spruce-ups etc actually lower the value of a vintage house. I am a beginner so an adequate restoration is probably beyond my capabilities. In any case I'm not crazy about old Triangs (except for the beautiful, original 1930s art deco one that pops up fairly regularly!). But I love and respect vintage items, and I feel bad about wanting to convert the Model S into a moderne house.

I am still trying to identify the other house, also Triang. It's in better condition than the Model S and would be easier to preserve but, again, I am torn. Do I have a duty to leave these houses as they are? I'm not thinking about possible resale value, just feeling guilty about wanting to radically alter one or both houses!

I can't work out how to post pix of these houses.

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I couldn't find an edit button to alter my previous post!

I appear to have created a Gallery! No idea how to link you to it but it should (hopefully) be easy to locate. I will post pix of my other (as yet untouched!) housed and shops in due course.

Members who are currently working on the Worthington or the Willow - please let me know. I hope to learn from your experiences.

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Pauline, here is your Model S:

gallery_52453_6599_13548.jpg

and here's Triag house #2:

gallery_52453_6599_2819.jpg

How I did this was to go to your album and click on each picture. To the right of the picture there is an option button to click on, and one of the options is to share links; I highlighted the url for the image share and came back to the post box and clicked on the wee image icon in the toolbar and pasted the url into the box and clicked OK.

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No miniatures or hobby place where I live. I hate to destroy either Tri-ang house, but the Model S, whilst structurally sound, does need a fair bit of work. The furniture inside is also Tri-ang and supplied with this model, only, ready glued in place. If I was a vintage house fan, or even a Tri-ang fan, I wouldn't dream of messing with either! I'd take the best restoration advice I could find. But, whilst I think they're cute and I love the fact that both - the Model S, in particular - are collectable and precious to many, they don't make me faint with joy.

Achhhhh! I need to think some more!

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In that case, and considering the shape they are in, why not bash with impunity?

Refurbishing to enhance its original glory is one thing. Bashing with impunity to turn it into something else altogether is another. I'd opt for the former, avoid the latter, but that's just me.

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If she wants to restore them to their former glory and $ell them for gobs of money on the internet, that's also a plan, because then she can get all the kits and houses she wants.

Like all aspects of dollhouse building, there are no right answers. One of our members, whose initial is h, has said several times, "whatever floats your boat" :)

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It's not a question of profit, truly it is an ethical dilemma. I am growing fonder and fonder of that Model S - it's more than half a century old - but it needs serious and probably costly restoration. On the other hand it would probably have been dumped had I not bought it. Still 'thinking it over' LOL.

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Pauline, how is the bash going to cost less than a restoration? If you're careful and can reproduce missing parts yourself or from available components, you can have your Model S and the second Triang. You can take your time to draft the Mechanics Illustrated plans and reproduce the house with matboard and stripwood.

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Holly, those 1937 plans are unfathomable to me. I mean, truly. I found them online in July as a consequence of having googled 'art deco doll's house plans' and, captivated by that gorgeous wee house, I decided that I must find a way to build it. Six months later, on Pinterest, I found an American gal selling the plans and thought - hmmmmm - maybe they've been somehow converted to a usable state. So I paid ($6!) to download her version. Alas the download was identical to the free version. There are people on US eBay right now selling those same plans for around $10 - but all you have to do is google 1937 art deco doll's house plans and WHOOSH a link appears!

There is no way that I, a total novice, could ever hope to build a house from a set of measurements. I've always been good at crafts but that set of plans strikes me as very challenging. The Model S, with its prominent centre front panel (which I planned to extend) offered the opportunity to craft a white deco house with extended front panel. I would have substituted a flat roof, topped with a square white sun deck, and replaced all windows with (where possible) elongated rectangular ones. The 1937 house is beautiful, with deco curves, but I haven't a hope in heck of creating workable plans from it!

I just don't have the necessary skills at this stage.

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