Hittys Room Box

Hitty, Her First Hundred Years, was written
by Rachel Fields, illustrated by Dorothy P. Lathrop
and published in 1929.  It won the Newbery Medal
for excellence in children's literature in 1930. 
Rachel was the first woman to receive the honor.
 It follows the adventures and numerous owners
of a little wooden doll Hitty, short for Mehitabel,
carved from Mountain Ash in the 1820's.

Here are photos of Hitty Farley's finished room box.

Hitty Farley was carved by Robert Raikes.

I made the dress that Hitty is wearing. 

Her other dresses are original dresses

by Robert Raikes, American Kit Company.

Hitty Farley doesn't travel like in the book, but she has 

friends that send her things from around the world.

  The figure below is called a Pflaumentoffel.  Originally
an edible figure made of prunes and sold in German
bakeries for children.  Here he is a small wooden figure
surrounded by tiny hand made trees from the 
Dresden Christmas Market in Germany.

In the book, Hitty is owned for a time 
by a portrait artist named Mr. Farley.

Cappy (short for Captain) and her bed were originally

a Wagner Kunstlerschutz Christmas ornament.

Hand made books and wood carved swan
 Japanese netsukes for bookends.

The hubs made Hitty's Shaker sewing box.

My friend Gerhard Ulbrich, who lives in Germany,

made the thread holder from a wooden drawer pull .

His wife Sigi wrapped the tiny wooden spools with thread

and crocheted the start of a sweater for Hitty to finish.
Very creative and so tiny.

Hitty's menagerie of china dogs.

Hitty Farley's best friend is

Hitty Barbel (Barbara in English), 
she lives in Wedel, Germany.

The original Hitty.

Hitty's quill feather pen is actually an 

accessory of the Playmobil Pirate from
the Pirate Ship series.

A tiny wooden village with children Christmas
carolers from the Erzenbirge region of Germany.

The delicate tiny trees are hand made.

Hitty's sea chest.

Hitty stores her shell collection in her
Dora Kuhn keepsake chest.
The hubs made her teeny Shaker boxes. 

Hitty paper dolls from a Gail Wilson kit.

Tiny Erzenbirge dollhouse.

 The postman can ring the bell when Hitty
gets a letter or package.

A big thanks to he hubs for all his creative wood
working skills and enthusiasm for Hitty's room.
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hitty Farley's Roombox-Furniture & Clothing 

Hitty Farley's Room Box Wallpapered & Painted 

 Things Made For Hitty Farley's Room Box

Hitty, Her First Hundred Years has been 

translated into several languages and she is

still popular around the world.  The hubs
made a second set of Hitty furniture.  We sent
it to Germany for Hitty Barbel to put in her 
Birch forest home.
Visit the link just below to read Barbel's story:

Hitty Barbel at Tortula 

 

Hitty Room Box-Things For Hitty Farley's Room Box

Several things were made for Hitty Farley's
room box.  If you are familiar with the book
Hitty, Her First Hundred Years, by 
Rachel Field, you will recognize some of
her belongings mentioned in the book.
You can see the prior posts on Hitty Farley's
room box at these links:
Hitty Farley's Room Box-Furniture and Clothing 
&
Hitty Farley's Room Box Wallpapered and Painted 

Hitty's coral necklace was made from 2mm 
coral beads strung with a bead needle
onto sturdy button hold thread.

Hitty's quill feather pen is actually a Play Mobil

Pirate accessory from the Pirate Ship collection.

Just the right scale for Hitty.  I painted it

bright green with red tips as described in the book.

I had a small feather tree that was too tall

so the hubs cut it down and turned a new

walnut base.

The hubs made several walnut shelves.

I finished the walnut pieces with Minwax

clear wipe on finish, so easy.

I made Hitty's rugs from braided
 strips of cloth sewn together. 
Link to my tutorial:
How To Make A Braided Dollhouse Rug 

A pillow for her bench.

Lots of hand sewn bedding.

My friend Sigi crocheted her a beautiful 

afghan in blue and white.

I trimmed a piece of antique coverlet in 

off white seam binding for her coverlet.

Jewelry findings from the jewelry section at

Michaels craft store make excellent frames 

for mini pictures, just the right scale for Hitty.

A miniature photo for the original Hitty.

,

A miniature photo of Hitty Farley's best

friend Hitty Barbel (translates Barbara in
English) she lives in Wedel, Germany.  You
 can read about her room box here:

Hitty Barbel-Tortula

Years ago a photographer spotted the hubs on the street

and asked him if he would be willing to pose for a photo

 wearing an original Civil War uniform for a promotional

advertising poster.  Men were smaller in those days,

and the hubs was the only man he saw that would fit in
the uniform.  The hubs agreed and the photographer

kindly gave us photos.  I asked for a miniature to put

in a brooch pin.  I rarely wear it, but it's the perfect size

for the room box and Hitty has a photo of her Mr. Farley

in period clothing, one of her owners in the book.

The hubs made several cherry Shaker boxes when the

eyes were good.  Several have gone into Hitty's room.

This box with a handle became Hitty's sewing box.

I purchased 2 Hitty accessory kits from
Gail Wilson Designs

Hitty's stuffed cat and Hitty paper dolls.

They basically come with everything you need,
have excellent instructions and are good quality.

So cute.

I made an address plaque for the outside

of Hitty's box.  Hitty receives letters from

her far away friends, the postman needs to

find her.

 I painted the sea chest the hubs made bright
blue as described in the book.  I added a picture
to the inside and made tiny rope handles.

The pottery came with this shelf,

I painted it blue to match the sea chest.

I made several books from kits I ordered at

Paper Minis

The instructions, quality of paper and
printing are excellent.  The books were easy
to make, but I will say the 4th book came out
much better than the 1st book.  Practice makes

perfect.  Paper Minis has all sorts of paper kits
in several scales.

Just a few simple tools were needed.

Hitty scale Children's Object Book with 

fold out pages was my favorite of the books.

I made two Hitty, Her First Hundred Years
books.  One in Hitty scale and one 1:12 
scale shown at the top of the photo.

I used the miniature photo that came in the
1/12 scale kit in one of the jewelry frames, but it

came with a decorative photo frame.

Beautiful illustrations.

Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol with photo
and souvenir program from Hitty's visit to
 his readings in the book.

I also made a Hitty stationary set from

a Paper Minis Hitty scale kit.

The kit came with postcard Valentines.

Hitty needed a companion, I found a vintage 
Wagner Kunstlerschutz Christmas ornament
and gave it an overhaul.  A good cleaning,
removal of the hanger, new bedding
and a name, Cappy.
You can learn more about these flocked
animals were made here:
Wagner Handwork Animals 

Sigi made 2 tiny cross stitch samplers

for Hitty's room that still need to be framed.

 Good news, the hubs had eye surgery

a couple weeks ago.  It has helped his vision

immensely, hopefully his eye will continue

to heal with no complications.

 When it warms up and he is back

in his wood shop, I will request frames!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Close up photos of Hitty Farley's room next post.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I have seen a few ladybugs in the 

cabin, hopefully spring is here!

Raphael Tuck 1910 Postcard

HAPPY ST. PATRICKS DAY!!