Just a few pictures of the latest dollhouse that's on display in the library. If you didn't guess what the theme of it is from the title of this post, then I'm sure you'll be able to once you look at all the details.
In order to work on this house, I obviously watched the movie, but even better, I was able to visit the real house in Cleveland, Ohio. The house is so much fun to visit! Everything is interactive, and the owner did a fantastic job of decorating the inside with furniture and details that match the movie and the time period.
This dollhouse only has four (well, actually three) rooms, so I has to make adjustments. For example, Ralphie shares his bedroom with his brother Randy, but there simply wasn't room for two beds in there. Also, the ground floor doesn't really have enough room for a full kitchen. It's too bad because I would've loved to include a big sink with a cabinet underneath to hide in.
I had to settle for just a little table, with a turkey and some Chinese food takeout containers to represent the family's Christmas dinner. Luckily, I already had a hound dog in my stash, and I love the way he looks posed under the table by the turkey.
I didn't show the exterior of the dollhouse here because it doesn't really match the exterior of the actual house in Cleveland. When I bought this dollhouse from a thrift store, it was painted a French blue with white trim. When I decided to try and paint over it with a mustard yellow, to match the house from the movie, it looked awful. Luckily, I only did one side, so I was able to paint it back to blue without too much trouble.
So this dollhouse is just a regular house, decorated for Christmas, on the outside, but on the inside you can clearly see what story it represents. I kind of hate whenever I have to compromise my vision because I really wanted the house to match the inside and the outside, but it doesn't seem to matter to anyone who sees it.
It's always funny to me when people look in my dollhouses and ask "How did you make all this?" because in reality, I don't make most of the stuff. I gather things, I look in thrift stores for useful pieces, I reuse things. . .for example the tablecloth is just a little doily. Ralphie's toys are mini Christmas ornaments. The leg lamp is a Christmas ornament. The fireplace was a photo frame. The radio is a fridge magnet. I made the Chinese food takeout containers and the Monopoly board game just by printing out images very small.
I know of some artisans who do make many miniatures with incredible details, but for me, it's just about finding the right pieces and putting them together.
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