Are you kidding me? Is it really February? I can’t believe I let another month pass without posting anything! Grrr!
That’s true. And while I hate leaving my projects untouched for days on end, I am thrilled with the progress I’ve made on the farm. The chicken coop looks splendid!
But I won’t bore y’all with animal talk. It’s time I got back into the blogging swing, so let’s kick off 2023 with a peek at my current doll rooms under construction!
Awesome! To the craft table, everyone—we’ve got rooms to tour!
The Boutique:
The Pixie Dust Boutique has been around since 2021. It was one of my first folding doll rooms and has been featured twice so far—once in our Doll Grocery Store Makeover and again in our 5 Surprise Mini Fashions Series 1 review.
Joy (who was introduced in our last post) manages the boutique. Needless to say, she is anxious for me to finish this space once and for all so she can fill it with stylish clothes and handbags.
The boutique has undergone a few changes since it was last seen, the most obvious being the left side now has a wall with a window.
I added this wall for two reasons:
- I think having a wall here looks better.
- I’m tired of the furniture tumbling out the open end.
Thanks to the extra wall, the boutique is totally enclosed when folded up, and anything stored inside stays inside.
I also redid the entryway, removing the diamond-printed paper from the door and replacing the metallic trim with strips of black foam board for more dimension.
The exterior is also finished–er–mostly finished. Apparently, I forgot to trim out the back.
Let’s fix that right quick.
There! The exterior is officially done.
The boutique is looking pretty good construction-wise, but the inside needs furnishing. It needs racks, shelves, a checkout counter, a cash register, etc.
I kept the cabinet that held our Mini Fashions makeup. I just can’t decide if the turquoise jibes with the rest of the shop.
What do you think? Too rustic-looking? Should it be pink? Light wood planks? Decisions, decisions!
On a different note, this white wood riser from Hobby Lobby makes a great checkout counter.
It would also look good under the window if it wasn’t so tall. But that’s fixable. With a little help from the Dremel, I could shave off a few centimeters in less than 10 minutes.
At this point, however, I’m leaning towards it being a register stand.
Although the boutique isn’t ready for customers, Joy loves the changes we’ve made, and we’re both looking forward to using it more in future posts. It really is a cute shop, not to mention an excellent place for opening and displaying Mini Fashions.
But we’ll talk more about Mini Fashions another day 😉. For now, let’s take a look at Jackie’s very pink living room and kitchen.
Jackie’s Room:
I’ve always wanted a pink-themed doll room (pink is my favorite color, after all). Now, I have one. And since Jackie is my pink-loving girl, she’s the perfect recipient for this rosy abode.
Like my other doll builds, this is an easy-to-store folding room. It’s 13″ tall and 14″ deep. When closed, the room is 11″ wide, but when open, it’s a more sizable 21″. Plenty of space for creating a picture-perfect scene!
Unlike Elsa’s Farmhouse Apartment, which is a full-on house with a living room, kitchen, and bedroom, this is just a living room and kitchen. I think a bed would overcrowd the room, so I decided not to cram one in here. Besides, I have other ideas for giving Jackie a bedroom😉.
Right now, the room is about half done.
It still needs trim work, a roof over the kitchen, and some shelves.
Oh yes, and furniture! Except for the papasan chair, this room is furniture-less.
If you recall, the papasan chair is a fun find from Claire’s. I replaced its original yin-yang cushion with a white faux fur one.
Since making a new cushion for the chair is as far as I got when it came to furbishing this room, I’m considering buying a few items from Amazon instead of making them. Of course, I’d prefer making my own, but my projects are piling up, so taking a shortcut doesn’t sound so bad. Plus, some of the pieces I found are pretty darn cute.
This pink sofa, for instance, is very tempting.
So is this set of wood shelves and that white desk.
Oh my gosh, this craft trolley is too adorable!
No, I have to stay focused. I can only afford one or two things, and I’d rather those things be actual furniture.
Hmm, I’ll think about it.
I didn’t think anything could outdo Elsa’s Farmhouse, but Jackie’s room is giving it a run for its money. I’m loving all the pink!
We frequently combine soft shades of pink and green when redesigning broken down or poorly laid out areas in our own fixer-upper. In fact, a lot of my ideas for doll rooms come from right here at home.
For example, Jackie’s pink refrigerator is a miniaturized version of our Bespoke Samsung.
In my opinion, drawing inspiration from real-life elements is a wonderful way to add character to your miniverse and give your doll a home that’s uniquely hers (or his).
But I can’t keep calling this “Jackie’s Room”. It’s so dull sounding, and this place is anything but dull. It needs a title. What about Rose Cottage? That sounds pretty and fits the house nicely.
Alright, time check out our final room.
The Bakery:
The bakery (or Pixie Dust Patisserie) is in the very beginning stages of construction. Still, I thought I’d show it to you anyway because I’m super excited about it.
At first, my goal was to create a new and improved grocery store (our old one needs revamping). The more I worked on this building, though, the more I envisioned a bakery. Thus, it’s a bakery!
This is my largest sixth-scale structure to date. It’s a grand 38″ across when fully open.
That 38″ width, however, is adjustable. By bending in one (or all) of the room’s three moving walls, I can easily reconfigure it to fit my workspace.
This is a huge bonus because, at the moment, it’s kind of impossible for me to set up a large scene for doll photos and reviews.
If the front wall is folded, the footprint is only 27″. With both sides in, it’s an even smaller 19″ across.
When all the walls are closed, the bakery is a compact 11″— the same width as my other boxrooms.
Because they’re flexible, the walls tend to swing open whenever I pull the room off the shelf or carry it from point A to point B. So, I’ve started gluing little latches to the fronts to keep them shut.
The latches are simple hook and eye locks made from materials I already have on hand.
For the bakery, I cut a piece of a paper clip, bent it into a hook shape, and super glued it into the front wall. The “eye” part is an itty-bitty eyebolt, and it’s also glued between the foam board.
To lock the room, you barely lift the front wall and slip the hook into the bolt. It’s rudimentary, but it works.
Moving on to the interior, I used white brick-printed scrapbook paper on the back and blush-colored, peel-and-stick vinyl on the sides and front.
Blush looked like the perfect shade in the package, but now that it’s on the wall, I see it has a peach tone. I’m not sure how I feel about that. I really wanted pink.
Setting color aside, this peel-and-stick vinyl is an awesome alternative to scrapbook paper, especially if you want solid-colored walls. The seams aren’t as noticeable, and the foam board is less likely to warp because there’s no glue involved.
Lastly, I trimmed out the door and window, added baseboards around the bottom, and bordered the top with 1/2″ strips of foam board.
Decorating Tip: When gluing on the baseboards and crown molding, make sure you don’t cover the bends in your walls. Leave about a 1/4″ gap between the trim pieces so the foam board can still fold.
After finishing the trim, I started working on the bakery’s furniture, which has turned out easier than expected due to my uncovering a forgotten dolly treasure.
This is the Ever After High Beanstalk Bakery Playset. I bought it several months ago, intending to use it in my dioramas, but got sidetracked by other projects and forgot about it. Refinding it was a happy surprise!
But those red and purple tables and that silver tree simply won’t do. They totally clash with the elegant pink and mint theme I’m shooting for. The Beanstalk Bakery must be repainted. This is where this craft could go terribly right or terribly wrong.
Please, don’t ever mention the Ever After High castle again. Talk about a crafting disaster! The only good thing to come out of that mess was learning to always prime plastic before painting it.
To ensure the paint sticks, I lightly sanded all the pieces, then sprayed them with white primer.
After that, I left them to dry for about a week. I want that primer good and cured before I begin painting.
This is what I currently have:
Don’t worry–I picked up some gorgeous paint at Hobby Lobby, so this set won’t be colorless for long. And, hopefully, the paint doesn’t peel off this time around!
Well, friends, that’s all I have time for today. I have a few more surprises to share, but I’m afraid those will have to wait until our next post—which won’t take an entire month to write!
I hope y’all enjoyed this behind-the-scenes look at my almost-completed doll rooms. Feel free to drop a comment, and be sure to check back soon for more doll crafts and fun!
By the way, you know those baby goats we’ve been expecting? Well, two of them finally landed!
Yes, these cuties were born last Tuesday (January 31st). Of course, the doe picked the coldest day of the month to have them. No matter, though. We were prepared, and everything went smoothly. Only one doe left to kid now, and she’s due any moment!
What happened later…
After thinking it over (and getting a little input from fellow decorators), I decided that the bakery’s walls were too peachy. So, I recovered them with light pink vinyl.
I think it looks much better!
Amanda, so glad to hear from you again!!! The rooms are adorable (and so are the goats)! I can’t wait to see the finished bakery. Who’s going to run the Patisserie?
I’m still trying to decide who the lucky owner of the patisserie will be. I’ve got three contenders, two of which are brand new characters. I’m pretty sure one of them will get it😉.
Your rooms look great! And best of luck with the goats-enjoy:@)
Thank you😁