Tidying up

Today I helped my elder daughter clean and tidy her bedroom.  Why?  Why couldn't she do it herself?  Because teens always seem hopelessly lost in their own mess and this one did have good reasons - we've recently had the house rewired, so all rooms are covered in dust, we hadn't unpacked all the boxes in her room because it would have made the job even harder for the electricians and we needed a clothing storage solution for her (no wardrobe or chest of drawers, as our old house had built in).  So I've bought her a cheap temporary clothing storage solution until we can put new flooring down and build in proper wardrobe, then we cleaned the room. 

This meant moving her dollshouse (Mrs Harvey's shop) but at least it also meant being able to plug in the dollshouse afterwards, as the electricians have fitted a socket in the right place for the dollshouse.  So we're one step closer to her being able to get Mrs Harvey's things out of the storage box again which is exciting, and by the end of the day my red haired teen was admitting that she was pleased that her room is at last starting to look like it should.

With all the work we're doing to the full size house (we're doing the kitchen up too, so are cooking, eating and washing up in the garden - thank goodness for the wonderful hot April this year), I keep looking forward to my next miniature goal - I'm planning to start sewing again in June and this will include encouraging my teen to finish the sewing of Mrs Harvey's curtains (half done).

Welcome to Mrs Harvey's

At long last, a promise I made on this blog several months ago has finally come to pass!  As explained in my previous posting, I'm busy doing a photography course at the moment (in between everything else!) in the hope that my doll photography will improve. Today I felt suitably confident to try photographing my elder daughter's dollshouse and contents, which I've been wanting to do for ages, but after taking some really awful photos of my Triang last year, I was very aware of my shortcomings with a camera and miniatures.

Welcome to every child's dream shop - Mrs Harvey's cakes and toys.  Mrs Harvey lives above the shop, and does a lot of her own baking.  She has two grandchildren who often come to visit her (hence the train set in her sitting/bedroom), and today they are downstairs watching two other children choose some cakes.

My husband built this house from a kit soon after our younger daughter was born, for our elder girl, who was 7 1/2 when her sister arrived.  He did a beautiful job of hiding the lighting wiring in grooves, so there are no ridges in the wall or ceiling papers, the switches are on the back of the house behind the staircase.  I did the painting and decorating and painstakingly sanded and laid the floor tiles in the shop (next time it will be squared paper, not real tiles!).  I also rebuilt the shelving unit in the shop which was bought ready built but needed to be adjusted to fit the space under the stairs, and I'm quite pleased with the result.

My daughter and I had great fun finding miniature toys at various fairs we attended, and we made most of the cakes from fimo including the hot cross buns which have real poppy seeds for the raisins.  Mrs Harvey and her grandchildren are all Heidi Ott dolls, which came without clothes, and I dressed them (even doing smocking on the little girl's dress, and knitting the jumper worn by the boy).  The two visiting children were gifts from my godmother and I haven't changed their clothes, even though they seem a little old fashioned in their attire compared to the others (the kitchen is fairly modern, so we think this shop is probably quite recent, despite some old fashioned toys).

 Mrs Harvey's bed sitting room in the attic

The gaily woven rug which my daughter made on a toy loom

 The kitchen area

 Baking

 Mrs's Harvey has 2 dogs

The dresser, including the mini tea set
with mouse on the teapot made by Fay of Cape Town

 The middle floor

The cake and toy shop

Mrs Harvey's Grandchildren

 Dog on the stairs

 Customers for cakes

Toys

 Cake Shop window from inside

 Toy shop window

 Shop windows from outside

Mrs Harvey's grandchildren outside the shop

They have now all been packed away carefully in a plastic box, as we are hoping that we'll be moving house soon (though you never can tell with these things).  It is quite sad seeing the dolls house empty and knowing that it is likely to stay that way for the next couple of months while we move and get settled in our new home before we can bring all the dolls houses out and set them up again.