fov Posted September 12, 2016 Share Posted September 12, 2016 There's a neat roombox on eBay right now... it rotates and is divided into four parts to show the four seasons: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dollhouse-Miniatures-OOAK-Round-Four-Seasons-Display-Box-on-a-Turntable-/291870723601 I have a container that my mom got me years ago at a thrift store. The space inside is ~5 inches high, the right height for half scale. I thought about dividing it up like this roombox, but assumed I'd show interior rooms. But this got me thinking, what about a four seasons roombox, but instead of showing four different scenes like in the one on eBay, make all four exactly the same except for the seasonal touches? This is the container. It has glass on each side that slides out. I think it was meant to be a photo box (put photos behind the four pieces of glass, and then store additional pictures inside). My power-tool-savvy partner cut me two pieces of plywood with slots in the middle so they slide together. I can remove this from the box to do the siding, painting, etc. and then slide it in. It doesn't have a bottom so I'll have to reach in through the sides (with glass removed) to do the landscaping. For each panel, I'm thinking about a door on the left and a bowed window on the right, so I can glue seasonal stuff to the inside of the window (Christmas decorations for winter, potted plants for spring, etc.) I also had an idea to get a cat in four different poses and have the cat doing something different in each season. I won't have much space. Here's how it looks with a door and stoop from other houses, just to give an idea. Has anyone done something like this before? I feel like I've seen this sort of thing before but my searches are turning up empty. Joann Swanson did one in a 1996 Dollhouse Miniatures issue (it's a Father's Day roombox) but other than that I'm not really finding any. If other roomboxes like this exist, I'd love to see some pictures and get some more ideas... 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CraftyMtnMom Posted September 12, 2016 Share Posted September 12, 2016 I think that is a great idea! I don't believe I have ever seen or heard of what you are describing, but I love the concept. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalesq Posted September 12, 2016 Share Posted September 12, 2016 I like it... Looking forward to see how you finish it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathieB Posted September 12, 2016 Share Posted September 12, 2016 Your creative train has already pulled out of the station. I like the way you're thinking. This is the only 4 seasons themed mini found in a quick Google search: http://tulsatinystuff.blogspot.com/2010/01/four-seasons-room-box.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
otterine Posted September 12, 2016 Share Posted September 12, 2016 I love the idea with the cats! I can't wait to see where this project ends up! I've changed the season outside the windows with some holiday decorations inside but I love the idea of each one being a permanent scene.http://www.otterine.com/blog/blog1.php/seasons-minis-and-the-backdrop 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fov Posted September 12, 2016 Author Share Posted September 12, 2016 Kathie, thanks for the link, I hadn't found that! The structure is the same one from the Dollhouse Miniatures article. Brae, I love your backdrops. It's neat to see how much the view outside the window changes the mood! I keep meaning to do something like that with my houses but haven't gotten around to it. (The closest I've come to something like that is putting a snowy "across the street" scene in the windows of my http://www.greenleafdollhouses.com/forum/?app=core&module=search&controller=search For this roombox, I was thinking I would need to put some sort of backdrop *inside* the windows that hints at the house inside. Besides the bow window there will (I think) also be a window in the door. But I'm not sure what I could put there and have it look realistic. When you look into a window you just see pieces of furniture - the edge of a couch, part of a wall - and I don't really know if I could pull that off with a photo that will be very close to the window. Instead I might try some different colors of scrapbook paper and see which looks best (could be gray for a dark room, yellow for a lit-up room...) I think Dollhouses Trains and More has the cats and I will be in the area tomorrow, so I'm going to stop by and hopefully buy them. I've got a bunch of ideas for how to decorate, too, but I have to get the structures in shape first... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted September 12, 2016 Share Posted September 12, 2016 Wouldn't you want the scenes outside the window & door to be the same, only reflective of the season changes as well? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fov Posted September 12, 2016 Author Share Posted September 12, 2016 The bowed window has an interior sill, so I'm planning to glue things onto it that reflect the seasons. But I'm not sure what to do behind that... I don't think a photo of the inside of a room will look right. (If I do use a photo, though, then yeah it would be the same for all four scenes.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathieB Posted September 12, 2016 Share Posted September 12, 2016 Maybe draperies in the bow window to block the view into the room? Like draperies that close off the bay rather than curtains in the windows themselves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minilover62 Posted September 13, 2016 Share Posted September 13, 2016 Take a look at this one, so cute! http://tulsatinystuff.blogspot.com/2010/01/four-seasons-room-box.html 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted September 13, 2016 Share Posted September 13, 2016 If Emily ants to use a shelf in the bay for some seasonal display window shades or folding shutters might be a better option. Finding pictures of a tree in spring, summer, fall and winter to put behind the window might help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathieB Posted September 13, 2016 Share Posted September 13, 2016 35 minutes ago, havanaholly said: If Emily ants to use a shelf in the bay for some seasonal display window shades or folding shutters might be a better option. Finding pictures of a tree in spring, summer, fall and winter to put behind the window might help. If I'm understanding Emily's vision, the "behind the window" will be the inside of the house. Not sure how a picture of a tree would work inside the house. Shutters and shades would probably be flush to the windows, blocking the view of items on the window sill/ledge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fov Posted September 13, 2016 Author Share Posted September 13, 2016 Yeah, that's the quandary, the scene will show the house from the outside so any photo would have to be of the inside of the house. Usually with pictures of the outside they can be zoomed back a bit to give the illusion of being off in the distance (like Brae's backdrops), but I don't think you could achieve the same thing with an interior picture. I've been looking for pics of other roomboxes that do this but haven't found any. I'm going to try something with curtains. I was thinking maybe I could do a shade that's half drawn, so it blocks the top part of the window but not the bottom (where the items will be on the windowsill). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted September 13, 2016 Share Posted September 13, 2016 For some reason I thought you were going to do a room interior. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
otterine Posted September 14, 2016 Share Posted September 14, 2016 Thank you, Emily! How about frosted window inserts for privacy? It would blur the interior scene for more realism...or it could just be dark inside. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathieB Posted September 14, 2016 Share Posted September 14, 2016 2 hours ago, otterine said: How about frosted window inserts for privacy? It would blur the interior scene for more realism...or it could just be dark inside. But then the items on the window sill couldn't be seen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fov Posted September 14, 2016 Author Share Posted September 14, 2016 Hmm... I do like the idea of something frosted. I was thinking about leaving the "glass" out of the windows entirely (especially since the bowed window doesn't come with any and its shape makes it difficult insert acetate), but I could play around with something frosted or obscured *behind* the window, so it would be behind the items on the sill. I'm not sure if that would look odd. Also, the door is going to have a window on it. I'll have to play around with them when I get them. I just ordered them today... the bowed windows are the ones I linked to previously and the doors are these: http://www.ebay.com/itm/152220943229?euid=6abf3c21508f41458c56774a0c972918&bu=43210150254&cp=1&sojTags=bu=bu These are for G Scale train buildings, and they don't open. I figured since I didn't need them to open I'd try something different than the usual Houseworks doors. I'm also planning to have wreaths hanging over the door window in some of the settings so that will obscure the view through the window, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fov Posted September 24, 2016 Author Share Posted September 24, 2016 I'm still waiting for the doors to arrive before I can really start on this, but the windows came this week. They're a bigger on the wall than I anticipated but they'll work. These are plastic and the doors I ordered are too... I'm hoping they'll be the same shade of white so I don't need to paint them. The windows are much taller than the items on the sill will be, so I think I can do something with curtains or blinds that won't interfere. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted September 24, 2016 Share Posted September 24, 2016 Emily, the kitten on the window sill is just precious! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fov Posted October 15, 2016 Author Share Posted October 15, 2016 I've started this! I started by making a stoop and path for each section (egg carton brick/stone), and now I'm doing siding. Here's my first blog post with progress pics: http://www.emilymorganti.com/blog/?p=10710 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathieB Posted October 15, 2016 Share Posted October 15, 2016 Emily, the brick paths are gorgeous. And I love that the cat will appear in each scene. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted October 15, 2016 Share Posted October 15, 2016 You're off to an excellent start! The cat is definitely a good touch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
claireliontamer Posted October 15, 2016 Share Posted October 15, 2016 This is so cute, love the cat too :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathieB Posted October 15, 2016 Share Posted October 15, 2016 Just thinking ... a seasonal wreath on the door would deflect the eye from wondering what is behind the window. Maybe just paint black or another dark color behind it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fov Posted November 24, 2016 Author Share Posted November 24, 2016 Winter is here! I ended up using peach scrapbook paper behind the windows, thinking that looks sort of like the room is lit up inside. I still need to add stuff to the inside of the window (it's not glued in yet) and I'm planning to add a wreath to the door, and mistletoe in a hanging basket over the mailbox. Oops, and I forgot about the cat -- he'll be curled up inside the window in this scene. I neglected to update this thread when I set up the scenes, but here are my blog posts about it: http://www.emilymorganti.com/blog/?tag=four-seasons-roombox (they go in reverse order so the one I posted today about the winter scene is at the top). I'll probably do autumn next. I'm going backward through time... 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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