Hall's Lifetime Furniture Dollhouse Finished-Nautical Room

Summer is about over and we've been busy
here at the cabin.  The hubs has enjoyed working
in his wood shop.  He finished his third sea
chest, this one is for our son. 

 The current project is learning to make shaker boxes.
His wood bench is full of cherry wood shaker box parts,
 his homemade pan for boiling water and molds.

The molds and pieces keep 
get smaller and smaller.

I'm looking forward to seeing
the finished boxes.

Ava's miniature room is almost finished.

 The nautical bedroom is on it's way to being completed too.    

My friend Sigi in Germany was working on 

a nautical beach house shadowbox at the same time

I was working on this room.  We sent one another 

little nautical exchange packages in the mail.

Lots of surprises and a joy to share with a friend

on the other side of the world!

These Galleon ships were 1950's pins that Sigi
sent from Germany.  I repainted and mounted
them on walnut plaques the hubs made.

Sigi and her husband Gerhard took a trip to the

Baltic seacoast in northern Germany and found 
the miniature ship in a bottle.  Sigi walked the beach 
with a bucket and sand shovel and collected the tiny
beautiful seashells and beach sand.

  I am so lucky to have a husband that supports

my dollhouse projects and loves a wood working 

project, no matter how small.  But, when it comes to 

decorating, tiny curtains, dishes and minis, he leaves

 that part to me.  However, his interest in the nautical

room was at an all time high.  

Without a doubt, this is the hubs favorite

miniature!  A little treasure.

The Passat is a four-masted barque of the

Flying-P-Liners, the famous sailing cargo ships of

the F. Laeisz German shipping company and one of
the last surviving windjammers  The Passat was launched
in 1911.  Passat means trade wind in German.  The Passat is
now a youth hostel, museum ship and landmark
moored at Travemunde, Germany on the Baltic Sea.

© Gordy
I decorated little straw beach hats with rick rack 
and made some tiny beach towels out of terry cloth
for the nautical beach bags.

I added some nautical trim to the

decorative pillows and made a small

quilt for the bed from fabric and trim
Sigi sent.

I finished the Mariner and the Moon Teresa Layman 

miniature knot work rug.  Half way through the 

project the color chart disappeared and I was in a panic!

  She was kind enough to send me a new chart in the mail
when I e-mailed her....that's customer service.  
Thank you Teresa!!

Teresa Layman Designs

I hubs made a tiny wooden candle
for the brass candle holder.

 Sigi made the fishnet and I decorated

it with bits of wine bottle cork, coral, shells 
and charms.  I hung it on a stained piece of
 wooden dowel.

Steve made tiny wooden stands
for the bottles of shells and sand.

A beach gnome lives in the sea chest,

a little surprise for Ava to "find" when she
plays in the Double Decker.

 I still have a couple miniature knot work kits 
for the room, but those will be winter projects.

Sigi sent a personalized 65th birthday card
with a photo of her beach house shadow box

that included her tiny handmade sailors knots.

These will look perfect mounted on a plaque.

Her beach house shadow box is beautiful and 

I love the Dora Kuhn pieces she's included.

 

 I'm ready to shrink very small

and enjoy a beach vacation!

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cappy has made a full recovery from her back
injury, but her days of jumping up and down are
over.  Her bed is no longer in her favorite chair and
the stairs are off limits.  She is not too happy with
the new house rules, but it's for her own good. 

I hope your summer has been as 
nice as ours!
Thanks Sigi for sharing in this fun project!

Hall's Lifetime Toys Dollhouse Finished (Almost)

The Double-Decker was decorated just
in time for a visit from our niece Emily and 
the little ones, Ava and Emmett.  Ava gave
us a seal of approval on the new dollhouse.
 
They love to come to Uncle Steve and 
Gamma Sherri's house.  We have lots of 
toy cars and dollhouses to play with.
  

Emmett was highly entertained searching for the 
hidden ladybugs in the hillbilly fairy house with

the flashlight.  They found all 23.

The 3 pieces of the double-decker 
 stack securely one on top of the other.  
The exterior colors the hubs chose are
just right and with furniture in the rooms
the interior doesn't look so bright.  Shutters 
and flower boxes make it a sweet country home.

Most of the furniture was made by Hall's 
Lifetime Toys in Chattanooga Tennessee.  Items
not made by Hall's Lifetime are the pie safe, 
 ladder back chairs, stove, sink & pastry table.
The miniature decoupaged vintage signs 
added lots of color to the kitchen walls and
they cost virtually nothing to make.  Scraps 
of wood, card stock paper, printer ink and
 decoupage finish from my craft box.

 I painted the walls Pale Honey & the trim and 

drapery cornices are Beehive.  Don't you just 

love the names of paint?

 Red and cream homespun curtains in a country 

check and lots of fresh vegetables from the garden.

I bet that phone has a party line.  Anyone

remember those?

 

Crescent Biscuit Company advertisement.

This little plate is a French Feve.

Feves (French for bean) are tiny figurines made to be
 put inside a "Kings Cake" for the "Epiphany" holiday,
celebrated on Jan. 6th, the 12th day of Christmas.  This
is the day the three wise men (three Kings) came to 
Bethlehem to honor the birth of Christ.  Traditionally 
a bean was placed inside the cake, but in the late 
1800's porcelain figures replaced the bean.  Whoever 
finds the feve in their slice of cake is king for the day.
Feves are considered good luck and are collected.
The hubs made the little plate stand.

 These porcelain roosters are also French Feves.

The little wooden box has Zwiebel
written on it.  That's German for onions.

 

 I stained the unfinished legs of the sink and

pastry table to give them a bit of age. 

More French feves.  Feves are just
the right size for a dollhouse.  They are
made to bake in a cake and are very sturdy.
Today, they are made in hundreds of designs. 

 The kitchen rug is a miniature knot work

kit by Teresa Layman Designs called The

Pecking Order.  Visit her website to see
all of her beautiful designs:
http://teresalayman.weebly.com/ 

 Ava's favorite thing in this dollhouse

is the kitty, she named her Princess.

Princess has a best friend, his 
name is Mr. Mouse.  A dollhouse
is a happy place.

I had not planned 0n a bedroom, so
it's rather spartan.  As time goes by, I will 
add some pictures and minis.

I have a couple miniature knot work kits in nautical 
designs by Teresa Layman Designs, that will make sweet
 little rugs.  This will always remind me of the fun 
we've had working on the dollhouse and the ship 
model in our shared loft space.

Gentle Sea for the walls and Peaceful
Blue for the trim and drapery cornices.
The sea captain's chest was made by
the Shackman company and the curtains
are made from some lace scraps.

This swan planter is a gift from a friend.

Just perfect for a dollhouse on the Swan Creek.

I made a blue and white ticking mattress 
and pillow for the bed.

Cotton sheets and pillow case.
The bed coverlet and decorative pillow are
made from a small piece of old Matelasse.

This little glass vase was in my

 mother's miniature shadow box.
There is a partial ceiling in the bedroom.

The underneath is painted white.

It makes a small attic space.
I hunted around for some "attic" 
things.  I'll add some little boxes of
holiday decorations later.  I think
it needs some dust and cobwebs too! 

The hubs rafters make it look

just like a real attic.  I left them

their natural color.  Nice work hubs.

The hubs built the entire dollhouse from scraps
he had in his wood shop, including the beautiful
teak wood for the floors.  We purchased 7 paint 
samples from Home Depot and 1/2 price flowers 
from Michael's craft store.  Total cost of the 
Double-Decker dollhouse, around $35.00.  
Can't beat that!
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This was an exceptionally enjoyable project
 because the hubs and I worked on it together.
Thank you ladies for all your comments.
I've read them all to the hubs, and he
thanks you too!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
Be sure to stop by Teresa Layman Designs
http://teresalayman.weebly.com/ 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Emmett and Ava's Easter photos.
Ava's five & Emmett is 2 1/2.
We are very proud of them!