Two More Old Dolls Houses - "Hobbies 186 Special" & A Little c1930s Treasure!

I can now show you two little treasures that will be on my KT Miniatures stand next week at Thame Fair. One being an all time favourite of mine - a variation of a "Hobbies 186 Special" and the other, a most unusual and quite rare handmade c1930s dolls house including furniture in totally original condition!

First the Hobbies House.....

This was a very sad and absolute wreck when I took it on but I love these particular houses - I have one myself. There is something about these "186 Specials" that are very enchanting. I suppose it epitomises the style of the era totally.

All the wallpaper and flooring are antique. I collect end of rolls of the antique wallpaper that is sold by KT Miniatures and use them when restoring, with the exception of the hall/landing wallpaper.  Here I have used Antique Wallpaper No 11 that is currently for sale - See Antique Wallpaper Page.  When restoring, I always endeavour to bring the dolls house back to how it may have looked when first created. By using real antique papers that are slightly oversized and some that are boldly patterned, feel that it has helped capture the essence of the age of this old house. Be warned though.....antique wallpaper can be very difficult to fix as it is so fragile - it tears very easily. A few expletives came forth from my lips I can tell you - even my cats were covering their ears, particularly when I was attempting the hall and landing !!!   These dolls houses were homemade from plans using components purchased from Hobbies. This one is a variation of the traditional model in so much as it has an upper central window and a  winding staircase (mine does not have this window or a staircase).

The second house is to die for......well I think so and if you are a huge fan of all things 1930s then you will love it too!

It has been made out of old packing cases....as so many dolls houses were back in the 1930s.

 

There is access to the lower two front rooms by way of unhooking the front.

Just checkout those fireplaces and furniture! Papers on walls and floors were commercially available at the time.

There is a side door into the scullery. You can see the hooks front, back and top that keep all the removable parts in place!

To the rear, the panel can be removed to view the scullery and kitchen plus two rooms upstairs. One obviously being a bathroom (this house was posh then) and a bedroom but with the same tiled flooring as the kitchen/scullery and bathroom. Makes me wonder if the maker ran out of the other flooring!

Isn't the sink and cooker fantastic!!!! The grill flap drops down but on the rest of the furniture no drawers or doors open. So very much in style of the age. Just imagine how fantastic those shelves would be laden with vintage plates, jugs etc.

The roof lifts right off to reveal the two hidden bedrooms at the front,as well as the bathroom and other bedroom at the back.

 

All filled with exquisite furniture such as beds with bedding, art deco style wardrobes, dressing tables and cupboards!!!

The roof interior helped me date this house as in the left hand corner is a red trade mark stating...."By Appointment Of The Late King George V". He died in 1936 so this was made after this time but before the war.

Just to confirm that both these will be available to purchase on Saturday 18th February on my stand at Thame Fair.

TO VIEW CURRENT LIST OF THAME FAIR STOCK CLICK HERE

Bit Of A Day Today...My Neighbours Had A Lucky Escape... A Lesson To Us All!

Through a magnificent chain of events today...my neighbours  (& us) will end the day to tell the tale!!!!!!!!

I was working at my kitchen table first thing.  Normally, I am up in my loft workroom beavering away but today I was waiting for a customer to collect a dolls house.  Suddenly about 9.30ish, above the noise of the radio, I heard next door’s alarm go off...I just assumed that it was their smoke alarm and neighbour “Jack” was burning his breakfast...again!

However, as it went on and on, hubby came in and asked me what the noise was. I just casually replied that it was probably neighbours cooking breakfast......”BUT they couldn’t be” hubby says....”I saw them go out in their car about 20 minutes ago”!! We both raced to the back garden....hung over the fence to see if we could spot any smoke or flames....I kid you not!

No sign of fire but grabbed their key (we have for emergencies) and cautiously entered their house. The noise was incredible as by this time, there were two alarms going off....but we were baffled as it was not coming from their smoke alarm in the hall.  Although there was no smell of smoke, the air in the kitchen was really odd....so stuffy that we wanted to get out quickly....was not nice.   We discovered that the noise was coming from two carbon monoxide detectors in the kitchen, sitting side by side on a cupboard? Very quickly, we got out of the place.

Meanwhile, never having had to deal with this sort of thing before, quickly Googled "carbon monoxide detectors" on the  internet to find out more.........OMG, I really hadn't realised to quite the extent on how dangerous all this was!

My elderly neighbours had gone shopping and oblivious to this. We sat through the noise of their alarms....pondering on what to do. On their return about an hour later, we grabbed them, warned them on what had happened and tried to deter them from going in the house.  We rang the gas board from our house, followed their clear instructions – turned gas off at mains, opened all windows and doors and vacated the property etc.  The "Carbon Monoxide Detector Guy" came very promptly. Over the next couple of hours he proceeded to test everything, including everything in our house  and surrounding grounds too. Phew....our house was given the all clear and deemed safe. As there was only a brick wall to separate our semi detached houses....it could have been dangerous for us as well. By now, another engineer from the gas board arrived......very quickly it was determined that it was next door's ancient boiler........leaking carbon monoxide into the kitchen.

My neighbours were very lucky indeed. Without those detectors, they or us would not have known that there was a problem. In a short space of time they could have fallen unconscious. Had they been in when the dangerous carbon monoxide levels occurred, had we not been around to hear their alarms to warn them about going into the house, or had this happened at night, we may not have heard their alarms so quickly and my neighbours being deaf, may not have heard them at all.......the consequence does not bear thinking about.

We wondered why they had two detectors?  Jack explained that they had bought very recently a brand new one that was on special offer at a local supermarket, as their other one was very old and he wasn't sure if it still worked. They thought it was a bargain price......how right they were in more ways than one.....it helped to save their life!

As for us....well, although we have three smoke alarms in the house (one on each level), it has NEVER occurred to us to get a carbon monoxide detector. We have our boiler serviced regularly....but then so did our neighbours!

Guess what I will be buying tomorrow! I hope anyone reading this tale, may consider purchasing one too.

Celia

Thame Fair Stock Page Now Set Up....

The Thame Fair Stock Page has now been set up and all new handmade items that will be for sale at the Thame Dolls House & Miniatures Fair (18th February), will be listed on there. This will continually be added to as the items leave my workroom! I hope to have a variety of different and quite unique items on offer that day.

Very shortly I will begin to list antique/vintage items too.  

All items listed will not be available before the event and cannot be reserved beforehand - they will be sold on a first come, first serve basis. So if you have your eyes on something specific.....it may be a good idea to come to the fair early! The fair opens at 10.00am. All unsold stock after the fair will be listed for sale on KT Miniatures website .

Click on the following link to view:

http://www.ktminiatures.com/Thame_Fair_Stock.html

"The Old Curiosity Shop" In Latest Issue Of Dolls House & Miniatures Scene Magazine

THE OLD CURIOSITY SHOP

If you turn to page 15 in the latest issue of  the Dolls House & Miniatures Scene Magazine (March  2012 Issue 213) you will finally be able to see  "The Old Curiosity Shop" project in its entirety.....as first mentioned on here back in December: http://ktminiatures.blogspot.com/2011/12/sneak-preview-of-old-curiosity-shop.html

The feature will give you full instructions on how to make this project of an antiquated scene of an old shop based on Charles Dickens' novel - The  Old Curiosity Shop, set inside a model of an old book. The outer cover was based on an original 1930s copy of this book that belonged to my late father in law, when he was a lad. I really enjoyed making this particular project as it was refreshing to be tackling and creating something in the Victorian era for a change....rather than the 1930s-1940s era which is more the norm for me! Great fun.

A combination of broken vintage dolls house furniture as well as modern reproduction bits and pieces, plus some of my own handmade miniatures  eg. old books and biblical print etc. were used to fill this scene.  

So....if like me, you have a  very large "bit box" that contains broken dolls house furniture and bits (old and new) that you simply could not bear to throw away as you knew that it would be useful for something one day.....then this project may be perfect for you!

FINAL PART OF "ON A COLD & FROSTY MORNING, AFTER THE NIGHT BEFORE"

Also in the same magazine, on page 63, is the final part of Robin Britton and my feature on how to make an old fashioned scene of an old backyard, complete with rusty old dustbin with the remnants of a party spilling out....and a touch of frost. This final part concentrates on the landscaping.

This finished scene is now up for auction in aid of Breast Cancer Campaign. For full details on how to bid (including online) please go to Robin and my Nostalgia In Miniature Workshops website for full details: http://www.miniatureworkshops.com/Sealed_Bid_Auction

We are now in the final stages of this auction and the closing date will be at 3.00pm on Saturday 18th February at The Thame Dolls House & Miniatures Fair. So, if you would like to bid for this unique scene, don't delay.....click on the above link now and see how to bid!

CLEARANCE SALE - German Open House On Special Offer

Readers of my subscribed to KT Miniatures Newsletter earlier on in the week, will have seen that I was offering certain dolls houses and a room box at greatly reduced prices as a special January offer. Here at KT Miniatures, I have been having a very early spring clean as there is only a limited amount of storage space ( I work from home) and am in desperate need of more space to make way for new stock.

All items that were offered earlier on in the week have been sold apart from just one more dolls house......this vintage German Open Plan House. It has been lingering for a long while on my website and has to go. It is not to everyone's taste....a bit like Marmite....you will either love it or hate it!

Vintage German Open Plan Dolls House

 CLICK HERE TO VIEW FULL LISTING

This was originally sold to me as a 1950s dolls house.....it maybe 1950s or early 1960s. It is certainly vintage and very kitsch! Still has the original lights - although they will need attention in order to get them to work.

  

This is now on offer for just £30.00........a silly price but it really must go! This offer ends on January 31st 2012. Strict conditions will apply and this will be non negotiable (see below). Offered on a first come, first serve basis. Please email me, Celia, at: info@ktminiatures.com or ring: 01844 212520 if you are interested. I am based in Thame, Oxfordshire....just a couple of miles from junctions 6-8 M40.

CONDITIONS OF THIS SPECIAL OFFER

This dolls house must be collected in person from me here in Thame at a mutually agreed time by February 2nd at the very latest. Cash to be paid on collection.  If the house has not been collected by February 2nd, this offer will no longer be applicable.

After this date, if this dolls house is not sold, it will be taken off KT Miniatures website and will no longer be available.

Look forward to hearing from you.

Celia

 PS. To sign up for my free KT Miniatures email newsletter, please see link on the left hand side column of each page on www.ktminiatures.com