I had an extra dollhouse house that was originally going to be my Christmas House. Once I got it home I realized the house was too small for what I'd envisioned. A lot of miniaturists, my mother-in-law included, have made dollhouses for charity. It was then I decided that would be a worthwhile place for my unused dollhouse, not to mention some of the furnishings and accessories I've acquired throughout the years! I then had to decide which charity the house would be donated to. After mentioning the idea to a friend of mine, she asked if I would consider making the house an Irish cottage to give to The Irish Children's Fund on behalf of her organization, Indianapolis Irish Fest. What better way to know where your donation is going than to give it to a trusted friend?! And that's how this project became an Irish House, or as it's now named, the "Charming Irish Cottage".
The Charming Irish Cottage was auctioned off on April 28, 2007 at The Irish Children's Fund dinner. I'm thrilled that it fetched a very large amount of money for the charity; it was the highest selling item of the evening by far! The house has since been custom-tailored for it's new owner with family photos and miniature personal mementos of items in her real house. I hear she is quite happy with the redecorating! :)
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Roof thatching...
probably the least favorite miniature "chore" I've ever
done! I love the way the roof turned out, but I don't think I'll
be thatching more roofs any time soon. ;)
I used stucco to texturize the walls. Another test of my patience, but well worth the effort when it was done! |
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A closer view of the front door. |
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A view of the very cute bay window. |
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The inside of the house has two stories. |
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The top floor containing the bathroom and bedroom. |
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The Victorian-era bathroom. I made the tissue box, towels, soaps, trash can and wicker hamper. Some of the items, like the bath beads, toiletry oils on the tub and toilet brush were made by friends from an online miniature group. If you look close, you'll even find a box of "Irish Spring" soap on the tub! |
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The bedroom. I made the comforter, lamp and the "Book of Celtic Wisdom" on the dresser. |
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A border collie hiding in the corner. |
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An Irish present wrapped and ready to go! And really, how lucky was it to find a pair of shamrock boxer shorts (see inset)?! |
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A last minute addition to the Cottage after I'd taken photos was this gorgeous, perfectly-to-scale blanket hand-knit by my friend Lisa. The blanket on the quilt rack now sits where the pair of shoes were in front of the dresser, under the window. Thanks, Lisa - you are quite the talented knitter! |
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The bottom floor containing the living room and kitchen. |
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The living room. I "reupholstered" the couch with shamrock fabric, and made the basket on the coffee table from a kit. The Bells of Ireland were specially made by Jan from Jan's Miniatures. If you look closely, you can see a picture of President John F. Kennedy hanging on the wall. I am told that many Irish houses in the U.S.A. have a picture of JFK in them, and this Irish Cottage is obviously no exception! |
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The kitchen. I had to make a bar because there wasn't any room for a proper table! Irish stew is being served at the moment, and Irish-themed cookies are being baked. I made the cutting board on the sink towels, and the calendar on the refrigerator; it's a photo of a pub in Ireland, and the calendar is - of course - turned to March! |
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Thanks
for stopping by the
Charming Irish Cottage!
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