Saturday, July 9, 2016

Kitchen rehab!

Katie is gobsmacked at having a dining chair with a proper back.

Now if I could find the lids for the cannisters, I'd have something!
When last seen (or, really, not seen, since I haven't posted in a couple months), the eggshell stools from the patio project had moved into the new kitchen in the Billy tower, as the new layout eliminated the garden floor.

It looks pretty, until you're slumping over a cup of coffee and fall off.
Feeling a bit inundated by how big the 1:6 party had gotten, I rearranged my storage, and put about half of the dolls away temporarily (they'll be back!) so that I'd have the blank space, both mental and physical, to focus on doll projects I needed and wanted to make progress on. One big project was getting Katie and Hayden's house in order.

After thinking hard about DIY chair and table projects involving simple dollar-store finds, I cracked and ordered a proper dining set on eBay for all of $11 with free shipping.



Words to live by: It's funny to living in a modern life.
My Fancy Life is a product from Well Success Toys Ltd. of Fujian, which promises a well-equipped 5000-square-meter factory and explains that:
Our brand "My Fancy Life", “Rose Palace” and "City Girl" play set series was established a good reputation in the worldwide.
Rose Palace turns out to be terrifyingly pink and baroque, which I guess is foreshadowed by the name. My table set, however, is part of the Trendy Sweetie line, in which everything except the bedroom is a soothing mint green.

In this case, it is much easier being green.
Should I ever want to replace my hand-built kitchen, there are green appliances to do it with. However, I feel kind of attached to my boondoggle fixtures, and they fit one side of the Billy corner unit perfectly.

The top shelf clearly needs to be straightened --
it's at an angle where I have to place it by feel.
Here's a chair. It's plenty sturdy for normal fashion dolls, which was not something I was sure about with some of the models I saw.

No Barbie profile anywhere to be seen.
The dishes are a tasteful vintage pink diner design. The set comes with both wine and water glasses (or with wine glasses and champagne flutes, depending how high a life your dolls are living).

What Katie really wants right now is a napkin.
Classic silverware includes two sizes of spoons.

But no worries about which fork to use -- there's only one kind of fork.
The cabinet thing way behind Katie is the bottom half of a very cheap Walmart craft-supply container, done over with aluminum-colored spray paint, with a "granite" top made by covering foamcore with dollar-store contact paper. It's intended to look like industrial salvage -- and achieves, at least, the "salvage" part.

The owl "cheese board" has been hanging around so long that I've forgotten whether it's from Michael's, Joann, or Hobby Lobby, and it's probably been discontinued anyway.

Don't take more than your share -- the owl is LOOKING at you!
Toaster! It's one of the $1.99 charms from the end racks at Michael's. These charms are now marked down to 99 cents on clearance and going fast. (The marble texture is the vinyl-tile floor because I needed a clear close-up.)

Sometimes this modern style is very whitebread!
With the kitchen at least sort of furnished, it's time to proceed to some minor bathroom improvements (mostly a dividing wall and a new room!), plus... Bratzillaz spa day and new 'Zilla outfits. But wait... Fitzroy...

No paws on the table!



14 comments:

  1. How adorable!!!! I love everything in each picture, esp. the little doggie at the end! I wish I'd known about the sale on the charms. I'm a little too broke at the mo to buy anything but I would like to have looked. (yeah right. who just 'looks' at Michaels???).

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    1. Thanks! Yeah, I meant to stop at one charm and kept going because they were leaving... *sob*

      I used to joke that it was impossible to leave Michael's with a tab of less than $30.

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  2. Nice kitchen set. Sometimes you just have to break down and buy the item rather then spin your wheels on making your own. The last time I was at Micheal's I tried looking at charms, but the electricity went out and I had to leave. :-( But $.99 is a great deal.

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    1. Thanks! Michael's electricity went out...? Yours may have beaten my local store for Worst Michael's on the Planet (even the managers think it is!).

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  3. There you are! Glad to see you back and busy with doll projects. Sometimes it's easier to just cave and buy the ready-made version. I like the kitchen and the new dining set. You've given me an idea for a table for Chandra's town home. How tall is this one? With some glossy white paint, this would be an affordable alternative to the $35 ones I saw on eBay.

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    1. Thanks! The table is 4-1/4 inches high and 7-1/2 in diameter. I wanted this specific color scheme and so haven't tried painting any part, though I may eventually redo the white parts of the chairs in aluminum.

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  4. First of all, glad to see a post from you. Your kitchen area is really nice. I love all those little charms you found at Michaels. Makes me want to plan a trip to Michaels (though not sure I'd find anything for my girls).

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    1. Thank you! Hurry to Michael's, charms are going fast! A couple other things are 1:6, like a thermos.

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  5. I'm sure Katie and your other girls will love the new furniture! I've been eying that dining room set myself, but before I buy one, I really ought to spruce up the Sindy dining set that I have. I'm becoming more comfortable with painting furniture, but I have some other stuff I have to finish first.

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    1. Aw, thanks! Krylon Fusion, answer to everything. I know the "gotta finish X first" thing intimately...

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  6. All your dios look great! I'm especially impressed at your barrette handles on the stove and refrigerator. That's a neat idea!

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    1. Thanks! The response of my father -- who has stuff come out straight when he builds it -- was essentially "she's very resourceful."

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  7. I have this set and was very pleased with it. Your kitchen is soooo cute! Love it. Sometimes it's worth it to just buy something already done to make progress on the overall project.

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    1. Thank you! It's sort of energized me to get more done!

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