The Maryetta, an Art Deco Dollhouse: Real Good Toys, CC3, 333 Franklin Street. Part 1 - Plans and Floors

Well, this is the forth, and last, of the Real Good Toys, Children's Choice, open front, dollhouse kits that I undoubtedly, bashed. I must be on some sort of Art Deco craze as my last two  blogged projects are Art Deco inspired as well!

To be fair, I actually started this build in February of 2017 and am still working on it. My daughter was diagnosed with cancer a few months before and the blog posting for this build just never seemed to ever get started. 

I did decide to name the build after my daughter's middle name and my Grandma's maiden name, the Maryetta. To be honest, I'm hesitant to finish the Maryetta, like superstitious bad luck for my daughter or something! Maybe I'll just leave one thing unfinished!

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Real Good Toys, Children's Choice, the

CC3, the 333 Franklin St!

The 333 Franklin Street (CC3) is also known as the Brownstone of the CC collection, and when built to its specs and with the pre papered front, looks like this:

Advertised outside.

 

The CC3 measurements are 17 1/2"W x 12 1/2"D x 34"H, though it looks shallower than the others, due to its width. Its perfect for 3/4 (1:16) scale furniture, just like the other CCs, though all of these homes are listed as 1:12 scale in their plans and advertisements.

Advertised inside.

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Sourcing and Plans

So in 2017 is really when it all began.

Of course, being a Strombecker kind of girl, I have to have a dollhouse to house some of my Strombecker furniture collection. Strombecker's stylized 3/4 (1:16) scale size lends perfectly to Art Deco, at least in my mind, and I fleshed that furniture out with handmade fireplaces and mini resin replicas of Vladimir Kagan's sectional furniture from the Wiman/Preview furniture company.

I worked on front wall ideas with my computer and

made a set of lights from vintage E-Z-Letric light fixtures, modern LED battery pucks and brass electrical fittings, all to get me inspired.

Bling!

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Wall and Floor Alterations

I decided to bash at least the inside, as I wanted a tall stairwell for the two sets of stairs and three floors. I designed a 3 story interior partition wall with two interior windows that my gracious husband cut out of masonite, and replaced the three small wall partitions included in the kit. 

The three floor tall partition, to the right and on top of the some of the packed up parts, ready to go to my daughter's so I could work on it while she rested from her surgery.

Floors 2 and 3 had to be altered too, then stained and polyied. And all that got finished and dried minutes before I left by car!

Left: Floors 2 and 3 ready for altering to accommodate the partition.   Right: Floors and sample, stained and polyied.

Of course I would like to say I got sooo much done the four weeks I was there at my daughter's, and really, after her dramatic surgery, she was strongly on the mend before the next block of chemo, so she wasn't the holdup. Its just I couldn't make up my mind on what the floors should look like. The kitchen floor, I had to do twice (turning it upside down for the second version) as the Sharpied black squares streaked when I tried to polyurethane the first version. Argh!!! That's the last time I'll use Martha Stewart craft colors!!!

Left: Testing flooring ideas.  Right: The kitchen floor, a second time!!!   

It was way over two months before I settled on a look for the 2nd and 3rd floors. The stencils I had just weren't cutting the mustard, and once again, I was flummoxed! First the kitchen floor and now these (as it would turn out, one of many flummoxings I was to have with this build)! 

Finally I had a tupperware lid inspiration, and finished the 2nd and 3rd floors in a matter of hours with a bronze Sharpie. Then a couple of days for polying and fine sanding in betwwen each coat.

I must say, I'm so glad I waited and did not force it!

2nd and 3rd floors. Finally!!! The right sides lines are made more deep into the floors, to accommodate being inserted in the outside wall rabbets of the kit. The bits jetting out from the floors are the landings for the stairwell.

The kitchen (outfitted with some Strombecker and a little sit down counter I bashed) and the stairwell floor, finally!

 

So now, onto the walls, which did take a long bit of time and had their own challenges (fabric walls again???)!

Creating an Art Deco Dollhouse Fireplace From a Craft Box

I'm always on the lookout for items I can repurpose for my dollhouses. This fireplace was created from a wooden craft box I purchased at Michael's for under $5.00.

It started out like this:

I removed the hinges and closure.

From the box top, I sketched out a plan, using the long sides as the overall height of the fireplace.

To make the arches, I used a drill with a small drill bit to help cut out the arches that both pieces would need.

The biggest part of the fireplace, I used the top of the box, its sides' thickness was just right for the overall depth of the fireplace, so I did not have to remove it arch.

The inside arched part of the fireplace, I did remove the arch and cut it in half length wise,

to create two, matching arches, which would provide the inside arch of the large piece and the arch of the inside piece,

and glued the inside arch together with a scrap piece of thin craft basswood.

I stained and painted all the pieces, cutting two half round to place on each side of the fireplace to create that Deco look.

The outsides before gluing up.

The back outsides before gluing up.

I used a little firebox I had and my Aunt Elsa's watch pendant to finish the piece.

Michelle’s Miniatures: “The Mulberry” Art Deco Dollhouse. Art Deco and Craftsman Style, 1:48 Scale. Part 6 Finished!

Last, But Not Least

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Finishing the Opening Front

Finally! On the home stretch! 

Magnets, the Friend Of Wee Dollhouses

Since I had made this dollhouse front opening, I had to figure out how those front opening walls were going to open. I considered hinges and latches but thought, not only would the the hinges and latches be too obtrusive, but how would opening them work with both a bottom and a top opening wall?

I decided on magnets, and drilled holes that lined up for those magnets and glued the magnets in with E-6000 glue that works great when I have to glue metals.

Believe me, this was no easy task but it worked!

Lights!

I finished wiring for the lights which made the back a bit hodge podge looking, but I figured I could figure a way to tidy that space, later!!! Its a back. Who’s gonna look at the back of a front opening dollhouse anyway!

Done!!!

1st Floor, furnished

2nd Floor, furnished

3rd Floor, furnished

I don't know if I'll ever do another 1/4 scale dollhouse again, working so tiny is extremely challenging! Though, what space savers!

Michelle’s Miniatures: “The Mulberry” Art Deco Dollhouse. Art Deco and Craftsman Style, 1:48 Scale. Part 5

I’ve always loved the Art Deco Asian style, so decided the 3rd and last floor of my Mulberry would be a “secret” Speakeasy with an Asian flair. I bet some folks had a Speakeasy in their home, way back then, you know, that Prohibition time!

The Speakeasy, Floor 3

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Inspiration

I found a lovey card at the Hallmark store that helped give me inspiration for my Asian theme and purchased the last two that they had. Turns out I needed every tiny square inch of them!

For the floor I took a fabric scrap I got from a discontinued fabric sample book, glued it to some card stock, tucked in all the raw edges, and glued it to the floor.

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Wainscoting & Walls

Every fancy pantsy space has to have wainscoting right? I used copper paint and a bronze Sharpie on some Greek key trim I had purchased way back when to act as wainscoting for the room and installed it along with some basic square trim I painted glossy black. I lucked out that the two trims together just cleared the bottom of the windows!

The walls were a bit more temperamental, as usual, since the windows are built in. I had to create another template to cut the scrapbooking cardstock around the windows, but it was worth it.

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Safety first for Dolly!

Since I had modified the stairs and their “access”, I built a wall divider that hides the tiny landing and keeps the dollies from falling in ...

... and with some some of the paper mesh left from the card I trimmed out the ceiling, leaving a small hole for the wiring of the light.

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Finally, the rooms are all done!!

With the upper walls papered with a shiny, mercury glass type scrapbook paper I could finally put the whole 3rd floor together. I must say I 'm very happy with the the result!

Michelle’s Miniatures: “The Mulberry” Art Deco Dollhouse. Art Deco and Craftsman Style, 1:48 Scale. Part 4

Well, sorry I haven't posted in way too long. My daughter's cancer returned which has made for a challenging few months, especially, emotionally. Sometimes bad news just takes it right out of you!

But now I have the mental push to be back in my dollhouse hobby. And yes, the little Mulberry Art Deco has actually been finished for a while, so I hope to pick up where I left off.

-  The Build Up: Time for assembly!  -

Wall and Floor Pieces Ready For Glue Up

The last ting to do before the assembly was to drill whole for the lighting. Once I made up my mind on those locations and got up my nerve, that didn’t take very long. I decided to wait to decorate the 3rd floor, as I wanted to make sure everything glued up the way I thought it would. And the 3rd floor has a removable front wall so it was just better to wait.

Here's the 1st and 2nd floors, the back and the sides, ready to glue up:

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Improvising A Jig

There are glue up jigs out there but I didn’t have the time or inclination to find one that would work for my wee home. So I got my right angle and located the most square drawer I had, a Mainline mid century modern credenza drawer. I rigged up some wood trim to put pressure on the pieces I was trying to glue together. I started with the 1st floor and back wall.

Left: the squarest of the square! Right: the back wall glued to the 1st floor and right side.

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Gluing the Stair Wall

I was so happy my calculations were correct after gluing the stairs to the right side wall! The little stair landing I created on the bottom floor took up just the right amount of height. All the math and preparation I had meticulously done was paying off!

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The First Floor Is Done!!

After adding the left wall piece, I glued in the 2nd floor and all of a sudden the 1st Floor was done!

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Second Floor Pieces

I had to install the staircase screen and the partition wall between the Bedroom and Bath before I could put the next ceiling in. I had to do a bit of shaving on the partition, I had made it a bit too high, but after that it all fit ok. 

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Finished Rooms

The ceiling papers made running the wires for the LED lighting pretty invisible. Once again I used beads for the light fixtures.

Bedroom

Bathroom

Next time, the 3rd floor and possibly finishing up!

Michelle’s Miniatures: “The Mulberry” Art Deco Dollhouse. Art Deco and Craftsman Style, 1:48 Scale. Part 3

Modify Modify Modify!

Yes, Stare At the Stairs!

Since I’m creating a shallow “hall” at the back of the 2nd floor, the stairs provide an opportunity to do something a bit creative using the beautiful existing embossed stair stringers that are provided in the kit. I decided to use them to make kind of a screen, between the stairs and the Bedroom. 

I put some parchment over my Hall plan and glued up some trim....

I used some other trim to back the stairs so they would be plumb with the Hall wall. Why bother making a set of stairs no one was going to see?

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“Screening” the Stairs

I was originally going to use purple Gallery Glass between the trim pieces I glued up, but I really wanted something more etherial. I did a little research on the net and discovered Alcohol Inks. Tom Holtz has them in a little set of 3. Of course I bought too much, but following the directions I got the effect I was looking for on a small, clear plastic triangle I had cut out of a lettuce container to fit the stairs, and it was super quick! 

Let it dry and seal it with two coats of spray H2O polyurethane and you’re ready to go! Glue it to back of the wood and trim. That’s when I ordered some lighting from True 2 Scale.  I couldn’t resist! This little puppy is gonna have light!

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Tricky Windows

This kit has a serious challenge, papering the wall around the windows. Don’t get me wrong, the little sets of “glass block” that make them up are charming, but papering a wall with all those little blocks proved to be time consuming. I made stencils from clear plastic using the same lettuce container I used for the stained glass stair screen.

Clear plastic wall stencils made to cut the mural stock where the windows are.

I then gingerly cut out the window frames with a single edged razor blade on my mural paper and fine tuned them to each, individual window wall side. It was tedious and I messed up some of my mural stock and had to restart a wall, but I did get it done. 

I think I would suggest to Michelle she make the windows a pop out, so it would be easier to cut around them, glass blocks and all. A nice rectangle of window blocks.

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Rooms' Separation Wall

There were two partitions that had the flower wainscoting, and I needed to use them for the Bedroom wall separation. I had to cut one down so it would be the correct width and the other, I had to glue the cut off leftover bottom from the cut Michelle had made, and glued it back on. I then glued them perpendicular to each other in a “T” and “papered” the Bathroom side with paper I had made from fabric glued to card stock and polyied. 

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Finally, the “Sconces" Arrive!

It's amazing how something starts to come together with one postal delivery!! And you drop everything else you are doing of course!

After getting my bead caps from a vendor on Etsy, I was able to mock up the first floor almost to completion. And yes! The the little bead cap sconces will have light!! 

I finished the ceiling medallion, glued it up and made the cutout for the 1st floor stairs.

It's coming along!!!