Friday, April 29, 2011

Louisiana Apartments - The Front faces the wall

My 1700s Louisiana Apartment building
has finally been completely bricked.

The part that you see with the ladder is the
front of the
dollhouse that was supposed to
face the wall and never to be seen.

I never intended for the front of the building
to be seen.
Had to empty everything
out of the building in order to move it
in front of my bedroom window.
It sure was heavy and cumbersome
to move.
 Had to turn the dollhouse
to get more light inside so my pics would
take better. 

So this left me with that problem on how
to make the front look somewhat symmetrical.
I googled Louisiana houses etc...and noticed
that some of their windows were shuttered.
So this is the plans for the front side of
this building - that is - when I get around
to it!
Got me to thinking. I have
decided to put window trim everywhere there
is suppose to be a window. I am then going
to glue shutters to the trim. None of the shutters will open.
This should solve that problem.

I like the ladder
that is propped up against the dollhouse. I do
have plans of painting it in a blue color.
Colors will change when I decided about the
shutter colors too.
The ladder is a little thick as you can tell.
 A painter needs to be up there painting.

Oops! my steps are turned the wrong way.
The
front door was painted brown & then white painted
on top. I am hoping that it kind of makes the door
look old.  
This door opens just to reveal a small
entry on the inside.
You must use your imagination of how
you rise to the other floors.
All of the space was needed for the apartments.

One day the house will be finished.
I always jump the gun and have fun with the
interior first.


This is the back side of the building,
basically the side that opens!
  The windows
are symmetrical until you reach the 4th
floor.

The reason for that is because
by the time I got to that floor, I wanted some
variety in the floor plan.
 I wanted
Apartments can get boring if everyone of them
look the same, only difference being
the furniture.

So, that middle window
originally held a kitchen beneath it.
Now I think that
it gives the building some character. 


 This is one of the side views of the building.
I still need shutters on the sides too.
Lots of work to still be done.


Thank you for visiting!
Please come again.
Hopblogger

Monday, April 25, 2011

TUTORIAL - Make Marina's Bottlecap Hat

Yes you heard it right!
I made Marina's hat
from a bottle cap.
As I stated earlier it sits really
good on an average miniature dolls head. 
A china dolls head is much bigger so I was trying
to figure out a good size.
That's when I thought about a bottle cap.
However if I was going to make Marina
another hat I would definitely use a bigger bottle cap.
 
Marina's clothes are actually
made from a small baby's infant pair of pants.
I think they were size 6 months.
These pants were stretchy.
Stretchy gives a little, cotton does not give any.
So if you use
cotton then you must be kind of accurate when you cut.
This is what I like about stretch fabrics.
You don't have to be so precise
you can s t r e t c h  to fit! 
These little pants had the
cutest pink ruffle going around each edge of the leg.
Sorry
that I didn't snap a photo of them before I starting cutting.
I just didn't
think about it at the time.
The directions are long but simple.
 
 Only a few supplies are needed:
a bottle cap - see the size I used
stretchy fabric that has a ruffle already attached
some cotton batting or cotton balls unrolled
glue & toothpicks
ribbon
decorative flowers or other of your choice
 
 Directions:  Cut out 2 large circles & sit
the other piece of the fabric aside. Make sure these
circles are a lot larger than the bottle cap.

 
Make sure the bottle cap is cleaned & dry. Place the
bottle cap down on the wrong side of the fabric &
draw around it. This piece goes on the inside of the
bottle cap.
 
 Cut this piece out and sit aside.
 
 Double the cotton and mold it around the bottle cap
to fit. Now take the cotton back off and be sure to keep its
shape.
 
 Take your glue bottle and dump a massive amount of glue
on the top of the bottle cap. A little glue along the sides.

 
 Spread the glue evenly all around the bottle cap and on the
top with your finger with a toothpick.
Take your cotton shape and put it over the glue.
 
 It should look similar to this.
Be sure to shape it with your
fingers all around before you cut off any overlapping
pieces.
 
 This is what the bottle cap looks like from the inside with
the cotton glued on the outside.
 
 This is what the bottle cap looks like with the cotton
glued on the outside. The cotton is wrapped around the
bottle cap to soften its hard lines.
 
At this point, you should have these 3 pieces. Place
the large circle with its fabric right side down on the
table or other surface. The wrong side of the fabric
should be staring you in the face.
 
Now take the cotton wrapped bottle cap and put a lot of
glue on the inside. Spread the glue evenly on the bottom
and the sides with the toothpick. Then lay the bottle cap
in the middle of the large circle.
 
Now it doesn't matter how you do it - there's no right or
wrong way. Start putting the fabric on the inside, smash
it down on the sides into the glue.
Work the fabric all around
the sides until it is even & there aren't any wrinkles on the
outside of the bottle cap.
This will take you a few minutes or less.
 
 The bottle cap should look like this.
All of the inside is
smashed down really good.
Make sure the sides are stuck good.
If its too bulky you will have to pull up
the inside and  trim it off so it will lay as flat as possible.
Then smash it back down.
There still should be enough
glue for it to stick.
Now take that little round piece
and put it on top.
You don't want this piece too big. It
should fit just on the bottom.
So pick it back up and
trim it.
Check to make sure that it fits if it doesn't
and it is still too big.
Then trim it again.
Repeat until it fits.
 
 Now put some more glue inside and stick that little round
piece in.
Smash it down good and with your fingernail or
toothpick push the fabric edges down into the fabric so
as not to see much of that cut edge.
 
 Now this is what you want it to look like. You want it
to be as smooth as possible.
 
 Now you can cut the ruffle off of the pants. I didn't measure
I just cut off a long piece.
 
 Now you have to clean up the ruffle. If there is a seam
then cut it off.
 
 Now clean up the ruffle some more. Cut off all excess
fabric up to the seam so it looks like this.
 
 Now measure the ruffle around the bottle cap. Cut off
a little more that is needed just for good measure. Set the
rest aside.
 
 Now glue the ruffle seam on the inside of the bottle cap.
It will look something like this. Also glue the side seam
of the ruffle. Make sure that its stuck down good.
 
 This is what it should look like on the outside. Take
your ribbon & measure it around the bottle cap close
to the ruffle. Cut off a little bit more to overlap the
ribbon. Set the ribbon aside.
 
 Now put glue around the lower edge of the bottle cap
just above the brim as shown. Do not glob the glue.
Be sure that when you glue the ribbon onto the hat
to start the ribbon where the seam of the ruffle is.
Keep the ruffle seam and the ribbon seam matched up together.
 
 Here is the ribbon glued on. Now take 2 pieces of
ribbon about 2 inches long.
Cut the ends at an angle.
Put glue on the untangled ends.
 
 Apply one ribbon at an angle on the ribbon seam.
Apply the other ribbon on top of the ribbon and angle it.
It should look like this.
 
 Now glue down your flower or other trim.
If you
use a flower like this be sure to glue down the green
leaves.
Your ribbon and ruffle seam should be hidden.
ALL DONE! ISNT IT PRETTY!
Thank you for visiting me!
Hopblogger