Ideas... I have SO MANY ideas for Halloween projects because I'm a maker/crafter. But once the new project excitement has worn off work begins to slack off and I rarely finish them. I started this blog project so I'd self-motivate myself to make progress daily or at least weekly. Sadly I'm not even close to daily because I can't sustain the daily grind. The pressure sorta takes the joy out of the season if you know what I mean. This blog should be named 'whole buncha stuff about Halloween throughout the year' and it would be more accurate. But since this is mostly (or all) an undiscovered blog I'm my worst critic. It's not new but since I haven't been active or promoted it, no one's seeing it. This year I'm being kind to myself, keep up the best I can and call it good.
This is my first post for 2024 and this season I'm on a mission to complete my unfinished projects while allowing myself to start a few more. In August '22 I found a HUGE vintage Fisher Price Loving Family Mansion dollhouse at my favorite source of used goodness. Looking for inspiration I turned to the internet & Pinterest and found a universe of spooky Halloween dollhouses AND helpful instructions. I was hooked now so ran to Lowes for black spray paint. Yes, the family rolled their eyes but I'm used to that lolol.
My goodness this is PINK!! I'm sure some little girl was so happy when she opened the box 😊 The inside is just as pink with green accents and stickers on the walls. If I was 8 I'd be thrilled but I'm 8x8 and then some. This next photo is more my style.
Here's how it looked when I remembered to take pictures part way thru the first coat of spray paint. I painted the house inside and out. It ended up taking 2 coats and I think I had to add more here and there. I thought I looked it over pretty closely but I just now noticed a few lighter spots I'd missed. I still have the spray paint (it took 1+ cans) but am going to leave it alone. After all, it's a haunted house, not on the street of dreams. Oooh, just imagine a tour of a street of nightmare homes- all built with retro spooky, campy, Gothic or fiendish horror details. Take my money, please!! I displayed the dollhouse for Halloween 2022 with only a matte black topcoat, a couple of dolls and a few pieces of furniture. t looked fine but was definitely unfinished.
Last year I added some details to the exterior and displayed it like that. I like it but it still doesn't feel finished. Some people leave the interior a dark color with no contrast details and display it with a string of lights inside to give it an eerie glow. That's pretty awesome! And you can find all kinds of accessories for spooking up the exterior too, like spider webs, grave stones etc.
HELPFUL TIP- If Halloween is your thing, don't wait till October to get started looking for decorations or supplies. It's mid July now but it's been CODE ORANGE at retailers for at least 2 weeks now. I'm going shopping once I finish this post ;-0
But I like dolls in my dollhouses. The vintage dolls I work with are between 5-6 inches tall. They're slightly too tall for the scale. Here's a closeup of my upcycled Nancy Ann Storybook doll on the front stoop of the Halloween dollhouse, ready for Trick or Treating. I know I'm being a perfectionist but it's my dollhouse so I'll obsess if I want to. I may end up making some doll folk to live in the house but first I want to do something about the walls and floors.
This is my dollhouse, photo taken this morning, July 19, 2024. Today I have no real idea what I'll do next but I'd like to begin aging the exterior. It's a dark color but not very spooky. I was wondering how to age it yearly so it looks 25 years older. That sounds like a challenge! I also want to do something with the inside walls & floors. When unpacking some boxes of breakables after storing them for a remodel, I set the papers crumpled up on top of a box on my front porch. Yesterday I went to recycle the paper and found that it's discolored from the bright summer sunlight. Maybe I'll smooth some out and see if I can Mod Podge some to the walls. Wonder if I can print a pattern on the paper, or stamp or stencil something. Too bad I didn't do that 2 months ago.
I've found a FB group of people that do haunted Fisher Price dollhouses so I'll have both inspiration AND information once I do get an idea. Those 'wings' on either side bother me cause they feel like afterthoughts. Are they inside rooms or not? I haven't figured that out. All I know is they'd be a real pain to take off.
So this is my main project this season. I think technically the 99 day till Halloween doesn't begin till July 25th but I don't really care enough to worry about it. First post done and I have a project to work on again. Happy Haunting!
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