The holidays have come and gone, but
it's still Christmas here in the cabin..........
The hubs was busy in the workshop during
December building a cabinet for the last of the
Dora Kuhn furniture waiting for a home. Originally,
I had hoped to have the proper Kuhn dollhouse,
the hubs even offered to build a similar one, but in
truth, there is simply no room in the cabin for a
large dollhouse. The hubs suggested a tall cabinet.
Many European museums have beautiful cabinet
dollhouses so, I thought it was a great idea. I told
him I have 4 rooms of furniture and the rooms
needed to be at least 11 by 18 inches. Just a simple
country cabinet. I had no clue what he would come
up with, but he never disappoints.
He made the cabinet from old Missouri walnut
he bought at a farm sale years ago. I love the
dentil trim around the top of the cabinet and
the hand turned door handle.
He even installed lighting.
(I was secretly hoping for this.)
The interior trim work is just as
beautiful as the outside. Although,
most dollhouse cabinets have painted
or wallpapered walls, I wouldn't dream
of covering up the hubs detail work.
The accessories packed away with the
furniture had a Christmas theme, so a year
round Christmas cabinet it is. An eclectic
mix of odd scaled collected whimsies, with
touches of American and German traditions.
A "make do" dollhouse cabinet.
The sisters that live in the cabinet are
vintage hard plastic German Edi dolls from
the 1950's. They are wearing beautifully crocheted
holiday dresses. Holly, in green, is named for the
traditional Christmas holly. Ginger in pink, gets
her name from my favorite Christmas delight,
gingerbread. Such sweet faces!
With the exception of 2 older cabinets,
the Dora Kuhn furniture in the cabinet is from
the 1980's. The furniture is in 1/10 scale. Larger
than the traditional American dollhouse 1/12 scale
or 1 inch to 1 foot. It is sturdily hand crafted and
colorfully hand painted in the Bavarian folk art
style called Bauernmalerei.
(pronounced bow-urn-maler-rye)
This 1930's Kuhn cabinet finally has a
permanent home in the dining room.
I decorated several trees and
made tree skirts. The hubs cut the
top off a larger tree and made a new
base for the 9 inch dining room tree.
The German angel topper is a gift from
my German friend Sigi.
Holly is putting the last ornament
on the Christmas tree, a ballerina from
the Christmas ballet "The Nutcracker",
her favorite. Prancer, the girls Fox Terrier,
is actually a German flocked Wagner
Kunstlerschutz ornament.
Years ago I attended a historic arts fair selling
hand made dolls. The weaver's 12 year old
daughter visited often during the weekend and
admired one of my dolls. She was learning to weave
on a small loom. I let her take the dolly home,
with the promise she would weave several dollhouse
rugs and mail them to me. A few weeks later they
arrived in the mail. She did a beautiful job, I love
the colors she chose and I'm delighted to have
them in the cabinet.
The little poinsettias belonged to
my mother, she kept a small basket
of different flowers in her window sill.
In Germany it's called the Christmas Star.
I painted some small pots gold and
added the flowers, a very special
memory for me.
My pride and joy is the Seiffener German miniature
Christmas matchbox that sits atop the buffet.
I made ornaments for the wreaths and smaller trees
from artificial floral berries dipped in glue then glittered.
I cut narrow ribbon in half to make the tiny bows.
Some of the tree toppers are gold glittered star
shaped buttons from my button box. In Germany,
it is not the custom to have wreaths inside the home,
but wreaths on the front door are becoming more
common. A borrowed custom from America.
Ginger is the chef in the family.
She's been busy in the kitchen baking
breads, sweets, a gingerbread house
and the Christmas turkey.
Can't you smell the wonderful aroma?
The reindeer is a wooden cut work ornament.
This older large red cabinet from the
50's has become the kitchen pantry.
Oh my......the cupboard is bare,
but inside it's beautifully painted.
When Ginger cooks, there is always
lots of "washing up" to do. A woman's
work is never done.
Ginger is ready to decorate the gingerbread
house with the teeny, tiny candies.
(The hubs made the little house,
a future project for me to finish)
The traditional American gingerbread
house originated in Germany and comes
from the story of Hansel and Gretel. The
old witch lived in a Knusperhaus, literal
English translation is "crispy house".
New bedding for the beds, in the traditional
red and white checked Dora Kuhn style.
I think one of the elves has been naughty!
Santa brought lots of toys this year!
Holly and Ginger's favorite gift,
are the tiniest Edi dolls dressed
in traditional German outfits.
The girls love to play with paper dolls and
watch the Christmas movies that play non stop on
the Hallmark channel during the holiday season.
(I admit I watch them too and keep a box of Kleenex handy.)
