New Etsy item and other things...

I *was* going to post yesterday about these cute cupcakes I made. They are now on etsy!

I did a couple other things today, too:

1) I added a couple things to my kitchen to liven it up a bit. It's crowded, but it looks busy and well-used. (Kinda like my real-life kitchen, now that I think about it!).

This shelf unit was the one I picked up for a bargain at Chautauqua Miniatures! It fits *perfectly* in the kitchen above the stove. I've since put brass measuring cups on top of it.

These pillows are from dale's dreams. They make cute summer chair cushions for a kitchen!

This is a little apron hung over a stepladder (see pic below). The apron was found in the scrapbooking section of the craft store and is the perfect scale! It even came with little wooden utensils which I put in the drawers of the little hutch in the kitchen.

 

 

 

You can kinda see the step stool here. Also note the pans hanging on the wall by the working clock. :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2) I finally filled the window box on the front of the house with some plants. It was bugging me that it was empty. As you can see by the pic below, I also added a hanging planter by the door. I've had this in my stash for a very long time, so it's nice to get a chance to display it.

3) Last, I played with my new toy today. It's not mini-related, but it is pretty cool. I finally got an iPad. I've been wanting one for a while, but when I got a chance to play with one recently, I thought about how useful it could be for work and play. If you have a cool app you've discovered, please let me know. I installed Flipboard today and it's great to use to read all of your blogs!

Dollhouse architecture: Dutch Colonial Revival

I have been thinking about writing short blog entries about styles of home architecture I find inspiring. While there are many, including Tudor, Carpenter Gothic, and Spanish Revival, I would like to start with Dutch Colonial Revival, a style common in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. I finally got around to looking up the style of my childhood home (where my parents still live) about two days ago. I knew when it was built and that there are quite a few styles of this house in PA (and here in NY), so I googled “house plans 1929” which eventually (after a lot of clicking) led me to Dutch Colonial homes. According to antiquehome.org, these houses are characterized by “[a] gambrel roof, with or without flared eaves, and the frequent use of dormers.” Interestingly, since I was little, I always thought my house could be considered a "farm" house because of the gambrel roof (even though we lived in the suburbs and I had no idea what a gambrel roof was at the time).  Below is not a picture of my parents' house, but a sample I found on the web that looks somewhat similar, in order to illustrate this style.

Photo credit: Antique Home Style

Sears and Roebuck, as well as other companies, offered Dutch Colonial plans in catalogs (see links at end of entry) that future homeowners could purchase and have built.

Having reviewed the floor plans for these homes, it seems to be common that these homes have a living room that extends the full length of the house (which results in a very narrow room) with a fireplace at one end or in the center of the room (as is the case in my parents’ home), a dining room and kitchen taking up the rest of the first floor, and 3 bedrooms and bath on the second floor.

Working with dollhouses has introduced me to many new kinds of architecture and has increased my interest in architecture in general. Likewise, I often try to find dollhouses that model a particular style that I like.

Here is what Google has yielded when I searched for “Dutch Colonial Dollhouse”:

http://www.picturetrail.com/sfx/album/view/14906938

http://www.blujay.com/item/Doll-House-Plans-No-783-Dutch-Colonial-six-rooms-Toadstool-Studios-10110500-3558050

http://earthntree.com/miniatures/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=3_5&products_id=21

I would love to build a scale version of my childhood home and I love how the first dollhouse link shows someone starting such a project in 1/2” scale. It certainly would not be difficult to build (at least a prototype) in foamboard once I get all of the needed measurements. Add that one to the list of things to do!

If anyone has any more information on Dutch Colonial Dollhouses, please feel free to comment!

More Links on Dutch Colonial (Revival) homes:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/daily-bungalow/4170559204/

http://www.antiquehome.org/House-Plans/1925-Gordon-VanTine/Fillmore.htm

http://www.antiquehome.org/Architectural-Style/dutch-colonial.htm

http://www.antiquehome.org/House-Plans/1924-Bilt-Well/24bw-4208.htm