1. Gnomes and Mushroom Cottages, 2. Vintage mushroom moneybox, 3. Kitschy Alpine Cottage, 4. Little Red riding Hood. A paper ring., 5. fairy tale house ornament, 6. Untitled, 7. chaperon rouge, 8. Toys R Us Limited “Matryoshka Maiden”, 9. Little Red Ridding Hood, 10. DSC_0487, 11. be still my heart!, 12. owl clock, 13. ahhhhhh…, 14. Junie Moon, 15. Christmas is coming soon! 11, 16. Winter Vigil

My oldest friend and his wife just had their first baby, a boy.  I had to do something special to mark the occasion.  This is a 6 block baby quilt made totally with flannels.

Hand quilted with DMC perle cotton.  So much fun.  I especially love the green polka-dot–it’s one of the new Dr. Seuss fabrics.  I could really see myself using it a lot if it weren’t a flannel!

The baby’s not a Leo, but I am.  So I am gifting some of my big cat power to the little tyke.  Roaaarrr!

Those of you who know me in real life can testify to the fact that I have a serious dollhouse problem.  I am drawn to them, and they, it seems, are drawn to me.  How else to explain the 7 1:12 scale dollhouses and 2 1:6 scale Barbie houses that are in my basement? If they follow me home, it must be the universe telling me that they *need* a home, a real home.  One where they will be loved and cared for.  Where I can hug them and squeeze them and call them George.  It is a sickness I tell you.

The problem is that the two small people and one large person who also live here like to have their stuff accessible as well.  And then there is the small business to be accommodated.  And the cooking and the sleeping and the storing of the extreme couponing hauls ( not really–but those mega packs of paper towels sure do take up some room.)  The upshot is that there are times when I can not find a place for even a single one of my houses to be on display.  And that makes me sad.

And while there are times when I like to imagine that my solution is to buy the house next door and create my own miniature fantasy world, the truth is that I needed smaller dollhouses.  Ones that I can hang on the wall and enjoy every day.  So I started making little rooms in cigar boxes.  It is so fun you can’t even believe it.  I love the “use the good stuff” projects like this. Tiny scraps of vintage ribbon, cool old dollhouse furniture, whatever. Tiny Bambi figures and scrapbooking doodads that I love to buy but never use in an actual scrapbook.

I have about ten of these room boxes that I have created.  I am planning on featuring each one on the blog over the coming weeks.  I am absurdly fond of them.  This particular one I call the Bambi nursery.

I had thought to sell these perhaps or give them as gifts but I haven’t been able to part with a single one.  That may have to change in the near future as I have been working on another set of ten based on where characters from fairy tales might live.  And there is only so much wall space available.  That house next door is looking better and better every day.

Click on my flickr widget to see the whole set.

This little framed room box is such a charming item that I almost broke my rule and kept it.  Luckily I can’t think of where I’d put it.

It’s not a large item, only 12.5″ x 9.25″ and is surprisingly shallow–only 1.5″ deep.  It has such depth it seems it should be deeper but it works wherever a framed wall piece would fit.  I believe it was made mid-century or a little later as a tourist piece.  Made in different parts of Europe (I have seen similar that are marked “Italy” and “Germany”), they were sold in the Alps as a souvenir.

Although they were made in quantity, they were obviously hand painted.  The flower design on the furniture in this example is particularly nice.  I think my favorite part is all the little items on the walls–the cross, the paintings, all the shelves with the crockery on them.  It feels so homey, reminding me of my own home (thus reminding me of the very reason that I can not keep the piece!)

I could do without the speckled paint detail on the furniture.  That type of effect distracts my eyes and always looks a little messy, but I understand the desire to “age” the furniture to make it look like it has withstood years of use.

I believe a similar impulse inspired the creator to stain the stove area black.  It must represent years of soot from smokey cooking sessions.  I do love the way a tile underlay is represented under the stove.

There is a lot of charm in this tiny Alpine chalet.  The open window with the mountain scene above makes me think Heidi is out there, somewhere, gathering wild flowers for the vases.

This item is for sale in my ebay shop:   http://stores.ebay.com/welcome-to-wonderland-5?_trksid=p4340.l2563

It’s been about 15 years since I started celebrating the traditional Mexican festival DIa De Los Muertos or Day of the Dead. I like the idea of a special day set aside to remember those that have passed–both loved ones and ancestors.

Every year I look forward to putting up my display.  This year I had very limited time for decorating so I confined it to the mantle in the living room.

I usually include lots of photos, mums, candles and skulls. This year I kept out the crows from Halloween and I think they fit right in.

I have a special box of matches that we bought in Mexico when we were there on our honeymoon.  It has two dancing skeletons on it and I use the matches every year to light my candles.

You know, I  have to say  I am ridiculously proud of my newest creation.  That’s my excuse for all this blatant bragging.  It’s just such a great feeling when something turns out, not just *right* but exactly how you pictured it.  It’s an outcome that’s surprisingly uncommon.  I find my powers of imagining often far exceed my hands ability to create.  But not this time!
This house was total joy to create and now that it is finished I will soon be ready to let it go.  There are several (and by several I mean 6) other junked out houses waiting in my garage for transformation and space must be made for them.

Tons more pics on my flickr feed

purdy flowers, originally uploaded by wonderland.5.

a season of soaking rains followed by hot sunshine…the flowers love it. unfortunately, so do the bugs.

log cabin pillows and the last swaddled baby, originally uploaded by wonderland.5.

As I mentioned in the last post, I have been going a bit crazy with the Log Cabin blocks. They are such a great way to use a lot of fabrics together. I love the energy and liveliness that that creates. This pic is from my booth at the Montford Arts and Music festival a few weeks ago. These pillows will be in my etsy shop this week if you are interested!

5.5.09 011, originally uploaded by wonderland.5.

I have been working the log cabin strips lately…it is too much fun. This is Anna's quilt; it is 36" x 36" and hangs next to her crib. On non napping days, I can hear her chattering away to herself in there and when I peek in she is standing up in bed looking at all the fabrics. That's a girl after my own heart, really.

Detail on my flickr photostream.