Baby Doll Cradle Make-Over

For this past Christmas, I decided to make Pretty a big doll, and Santa brought her a little cradle for her doll to sleep in!

I found the cradle at a discount outlet store for a company that does monogrammed things. This store is where all the mistakes go. Poor mom of "Reese", who ordered this and it came back upside down. Oops.

I bought it with the intention of peeling off the vinyl lettering and being done with it. It was only a few days before Christmas when I realized that the letters were engraved about 1/8" down! I wasn't looking forward to sanding it down and painting over it. That's when my awesome husband said, "why don't you just put paper over it?"

Bless him!!

Technically, his idea included normal old copy paper.  But I only used it for the template, and chose a scrapbook paper for the final look.

I smooshed the copy paper into the space, then cut it out so it fit.

Then I used it to trace on the back of the scrapbook paper. I used ModPodge to stick it down and repeated it on the second side.

I also made a mattress for the cradle using some left over 1" foam and spare fabric.

I love it!

 As for the baby, I was hoping this one would replace her favorite toys and be all she played with! Not so much. Maybe when her new baby brother comes in June?

Vogue Pattern 7418

So far the only thing this baby does is sleep. Christmas morning, she opened the cradle first, since it is from Santa. As soon as she opened the "baby" it went in to the cradle and that's where it has stayed for the past 2 months. Not even joking.

Sadly, she doesn't quite fit, unless you squish her legs.

Also, a funny thing. Hero watched me make the doll while Pretty napped. He even handed me pins while cutting out the fabric (and oh my, did that take forever. "Do you want red, or blue, or purple?" with every pin!) Anyway, it wasn't until he pointed it out that I noticed I was using the same purple fabric for this doll's dress as I did for last year's Christmas doll. Hmmmm.

Pretty's birthday is next week (2 years!) and I'm planning on making a blanket and pillow for the bed. Maybe for next Christmas, she'll get another dress for the baby. . . that's not the same purple?

Progress

Suddenly, after having the thing for a month, I decided to dive into the doll house project. I first took it outside where I decided it would be better to replace the roof than sand it down and repaint it. There was a great sense of satisfaction in ripping it off! Then I discovered I could rip the whole second floor out! This made is so much easier to work on. I don't know about you guys, but breaking stuff seems just as much fun as making stuff!

Any-who, here's a picture of the house after spending 3 hours in a hunched position scraping off all the "wallpaper" and sticker pictures and carpet residue with a razor blade.

After sanding it, painting the whole inside white with acrylic paint and a foam brush. And spray painting the entire outside white out in the cold weather (my poor frozen fingers!), I painted each of the rooms. I tried to pick colors I would like in a real house. But before I get comments about it, I would not make my real house this busy. Or paint a room pink like that. But it is a doll house. There had to be a pink room. (And yes, Audrey, I picked the gray because of how awesome it looks in your real house!)

Here's close ups of the top floor. Hero picked the red for "his room".

 The bottom floor (living room and kitchen). I love the pinstripes in the kitchen!!

There is still a lot to do with this project. All the flooring, one of the stairs is missing, the "yard" in the front, the shutters around the windows, the roof. . . and once that's all done there's the curtains (yes, I'm nuts and plan to make curtains for the little windows), and we'll see how crazy I get making vs. buying the furniture and dolls themselves. I have a feeling those will mainly be bought.

Sad news is I think I have to pause on the project at this point for a while. I have a bunch of sewing I've been ignoring for the Taiwan trip that I leave for in 2 weeks (btw, thanks for the suggestions)! But luckily, I'm happy with where it is at the moment.

"A Handyman's Dream!"

I currently live in my in-law's basement. It has been a great experience for many reasons. One is that I am learning how to cook more Chinese dishes from my mother-in-law. My husband sure is a fan of that! 

While we are happy with our current living situation, the goal is to find and buy a home in the fall. Since I know next to nothing about buying a home, I have been asking advice from family and friends. I have also been searching for homes online. I'm a bit skeptical with how fantastic the agents make the homes sound in their descriptions, especially when there aren't pictures to prove it. There is one phrase I have learned to avoid. The phrase is, "a handyman's dream home!" The close second is, "great home needs some love!"

Oh boy.

But what is funny to me is that about a month ago, I found this little guy at the thrift store for $12, and decided it was worth getting and fixing up.

It has a pretty front,

an open back for play,

but it is definitely a handyman special. With all the carpet ripped out and the window glass busted out,

the paint chipped

and the wallpaper peeling.

Plus it's just plain dirty and dusty.

This little house sure needs a lot of love.

Pretty's Black Apple Doll

I have plans to make Pretty a large fabric doll that has several outfits for her to change and play with. But at 9 1/2 months old, she is too young for such things. But a Black Apple Doll is perfect. Perfect size and no loose clothes or accessories to worry about.

So that's what I made her for Christmas. 

I love the flowers in the hair and on the dress. And my embroidery is getting better. . . sort of. . .

From the moment Pretty saw this doll, she has been in love! I've never seen a child attach so quickly to a toy as she did to this doll! She clings to it at night, when she's tired or upset. And with our house being attacked by the cold virus this last week, she's had plenty of upset moments where only giving her this doll has worked to calm her down.

look at the whites of her fingers with how hard she's gripping it!

It warms my heart every time I see her clutching it to her.

Or inspecting the flowers.

Or giving it kisses.

I love this doll, and I LOVE that Pretty loves it!