dollhouse.love Posted June 17, 2014 Share Posted June 17, 2014 Thank you for the great references! I just requested from the library 3 of the books mentioned above. Last weekend I picked up McCall's Big Book of Dollhouses and Miniatures. They have detailed templates for a few houses. The Victorian template is quite elaborate (in my opinion). They lost me with some of the more childish, felt projects, but I guess you could say there was something for everyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted June 17, 2014 Share Posted June 17, 2014 Cristin, Patricia King's books are wonderful starter books for making your own furniture and accessories from found items, because you can achieve some wonderfully detailed items that way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moonberry Posted June 17, 2014 Share Posted June 17, 2014 I just ordered two of them this morning! Lots of Little Loos and Fireplaces & Stoves. I've found a lot of little sauce bowls that would make great bath tubs, but the toilets are a problem hehehehehe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted June 17, 2014 Share Posted June 17, 2014 Tiny plastic sample medication bottles and the really small plastic fillable eggs make nice commode stool parts, and I have used seashells and barnacle casings to make bathroom fixtures: I have also sculpted commode stool bases out of white polymer clay> For the McKinley, the lavatory is a seashell basin set onto a barnacle base. The commode is a stylized sculpted dolphin base with a plastic egg half bowl, and the bathtub is a large clamshell set on a sculpted polymer clay base (the hotwater geyser is a plastic cigar tube with cutout bits of paper lace doily painted silvery). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheverly Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 A book I was REALLY disappointed with is "Dollhouse Accessories; How to Design and Make Them" by Margaret Duda. Of course I should've known since it was published in the 70s, but still. One of the projects in the book was to make a log pile... cut a bunch of sticks to fit your fireplace and glue them together so they don't roll around. Find a plastic squirrel to glue on top and "dress up" (actual wording) your log pile. You can also "add a plastic ax from one of the toy gumball machines". Great book with lots of projects for young kids... for miniaturists, not so much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 Helen Ruthberg was published in the late 1960s or 1970s (my copies are all out back in the shop and I'm in the front of the house) and her accessories are a lot nicer. So are Patricia King's and Andrea Barham's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WyckedWood Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 Just spreading the news in case you hadn't heard. Christine-Lea Frisoni's fabulous ( but previously only published in French) book Le Grand Livre De La Maison Miniature is now available for pre order on amazon (reasonably priced) and now published in English! I was so happy when I heard this news. Will be released the first week of January 2015. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheverly Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 Woohoo! Thanks, Karin! I knew it was coming but didn't know just exactly when. I've pre-ordered my copy! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chapchap73 Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 I just came to this thread to check out a strange post and found the news about Christine's book. Thanks so much for posting about it; I am pre-ordering it today! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shareb Posted November 28, 2014 Share Posted November 28, 2014 Okay, so I've been going through this list and I've ended up ordering 8 books through Amazon - most of which were under $5 - but of course with Shipping to NZ it works out just under $10 each. Now I'm looking at the Christine-Lea Frisoni book. On the book depository site - www.bookdepository.com it states that it is due 6 January 2015 and will ship to NZ for NZ$45.26. However on a NZ website - www.fishpond.co.nz it states it was published in 2014 August and will ship for $49.99 for Christmas! Hmm....strange..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sable Posted November 28, 2014 Share Posted November 28, 2014 The August one looks like a U K release. The jan one is USA release 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mk56 Posted December 7, 2014 Share Posted December 7, 2014 I read a good review online of Miniatures en pate polymere (Miniatures in polymer clay... So is duck pate duck clay?) by Peiwen Petitgrand. The review said that though the book is in French the photos are good enuff to enable one to easily make the mini food. So, I bought it. I am a noob to Fimo-like clays and mini food. I think that I would need the verbaige in addition to the photos. But, her talent is awesome and the food so realistic I just had to have the book to give it a try w/o explinations of what's going on. I am really pleased with the book. Since making food is subjective I should be able to handle working from just photos. I'm going to tove it the old college try anyway! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted December 7, 2014 Share Posted December 7, 2014 There's Angie Scarr and Kiva Anderson if you want poly clay food tutorials in English. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Selkie Posted December 7, 2014 Share Posted December 7, 2014 There are DVD series by some of those pros too and of course tons of U-tube videos available for free. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theatre207 Posted December 30, 2014 Share Posted December 30, 2014 Hello everyone! I just stumbled across this thread and boy do I have a list for Amazon!!! Do any of you recommend a good book on upholstery? I have a couple of wingback chairs I got for a song on eBay and they need to be recovered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted December 30, 2014 Share Posted December 30, 2014 Very gently disassemble them and use the old upholstery pieces as patterns to cut new pieces. You want a book? Janet Storey's Making Upholstered Furniture in 1/12 Scale is nice, I scaled down her Knowle's settee and made it in 1:24 for the Fairfields. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chapchap73 Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 This is an update to an earlier post. I received Christine Lea Frisoni's book last week and can say it is definitely A+++ The whole book is a treasure, wonderfully photographed and her directions are very straightforward. A wonderful addition to any mini library. I also recently got a book by Derek Rowbottom, Miniature Dolls' Houses in 1/24th scale. Splendid resource with lots of photos and templates. Finally,a needlework project book by Pamela Warner called Miniature Embroidery for the 20th Century Dolls' House. Lots of great charts and project ideas; it is one in a series of several books she did. I have Miniature Embroidery for the Georgian Dolls' House ordered so I will leave another review when it gets here. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna Posted August 23, 2015 Share Posted August 23, 2015 Just wanted to ask about the book by Sheila Smith, "Making 1/12 scale Wicker Furniture for the dolls' house" as I am trying to plan ahead this time for while we travel next year in February. hugs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted August 23, 2015 Share Posted August 23, 2015 Anna, I used her book to make the dining table and chairs for Maggie:and then I moved it into the kitchen: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna Posted August 23, 2015 Share Posted August 23, 2015 Anna, I used her book to make the dining table and chairs for Maggie:and then I moved it into the kitchen:Looks great Holly! Have emailed a seller on Amazon/UK to see if I can purchase it. Hugs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted August 23, 2015 Share Posted August 23, 2015 I used #20 white crochet thread. foam core and some bare aluminum wire we had lying around. I haven't tried it with the floral wire, yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsbeth Posted December 21, 2015 Share Posted December 21, 2015 I came across a book entitled "In Praise of Dollhouses: The Story of a Personal Collection" - by Catherine Callicott from the 1970s. Mrs. Callicott had a huge collection - a mixture of antique houses from the 1800s - early 1900s, and houses she had built from plans. The book has lots of photos of lots of houses -though I wish there were more. What struck me was she obviously had a lot of resources and money, but her collection is like anyone elses would be...she seemed to discover houses and just had to bring them home. All houses appear to sit together in a big dollhouse room. I liked this book because I have a lot of books where I am in awe of people's insane skills and attention to details...but Mrs. Callicott (who had ample resource$ and a yen for older houses) seems to just have the mini-bug. I recognize some furniture pieces, and some chrysnbon, mixed into some of her houses - and then she has some Schoenhut and Bliss houses...and Tynie Toys...it's so much fun. Her collection is huge and varied. She died in 1981. The book is a wonderful look at her collection. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vbharrington Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 I've recently been on a book buying binge myself, both for DIY books as well as some collection books. I've read The White House in Miniature, America's Dollhouse, as well as Patricia King's Making Victorian Furniture, Lots of Little Loos, and Making Stoves and Fireplaces (still waiting for it to arrive) . I have also been reading a blog that has me fascinated http://dollhouseescapes.blogspot.com/ . This lady has blogged her miniature journey with hundreds of posts over last four years. I spent my snow day reading all of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ladymelissa Posted February 1, 2016 Share Posted February 1, 2016 i have this nice pop-up Victorian dollhouse book....but i never put it out, it's so big....maybe i should see what i can do with it.... http://veiling.catawiki.be/kavels/1932863-uitklapbaar-victoriaans-poppenhuis-en-cindy-mouse-pop-up-boek Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathieB Posted February 1, 2016 Share Posted February 1, 2016 What a darling book, Melissa. Here is a link to the page in English. For some reason, my Chrome would not translate it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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