Posted in fantasy, horror, NaNoWriMo, Vampires, writing

I’m Making Myself Crazy(er)

Posted on by D. D. Syrdal

Ever since someone tweeted out a link to a doll house furnished as a haunted/witch’s house, I have been obsessed with the idea of doing a similar one, but even moreso with the idea of putting together one furnished like the home of Andrej and Anne-Marie. Fueling my addiction has been EBay where I found a seller who seems to have EVERYTHING I NEED to accomplish this. Now, all I need to do is win the lottery or knock over a bank. Let’s have a fun little poll, shall we? Assuming I actually do this thing (like I need another hobby), what do you think I should do?

So here are some shots of some of my findings for Andrej and Anne-Marie’s apartment in Prague:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Do you believe the stuff they have for dollhouses now? This stuff is actually upholstered in leather, if the sellers’ descriptions are accurate. Holy crap, I’m moving in with Andrej. He collects oriental rugs, and the seller who has most of this stuff has bunches of tiny little Persian carpets. I love the little bar set up, these guys do their fair share of drinking.

 

 

And just for fun, this is the apartment/hotel suite of the vamps in my NaNo novel in 1930s New York:

 

 

 

 

 

Very different look. I haven’t gotten as far with that one, but they’re not there very long. I haven’t totalled up how much all this would cost, but off the top of my head, I’d estimate around $500. The little kitchen setup alone is about $100.

Maybe I shouldn’t illustrate my vision of what their world looks like, and should let everyone dream up their own. The furniture is of course close approximations, not exact, except for the brown club chair. I almost fell over when I found that.

Author:

Writer of vampire stories and science fiction. First novel, "Revenants Abroad", available now at Amazon. If you like a vampire you can go out drinking with and still respect yourself in the morning, I think you'd like Andrej.

24 thoughts on “I’m Making Myself Crazy(er)”

  1. I wanted to vote to knock over a bank, but than I would not be able to talk to you frequently, lol, but it had me rolling over here. Build it little at a time. So that more inspiration can come to you. Buying something all at once tend to make things boring at the end because you place in all your energy, passion, and fuel to get a quick look or better said to finish something quickly. Little at a time is better it will help you to continue building on characters, look and feel of places, people, and things. Plus what if you want to change your mind on a different style and said crap this look better than this and no longer use what you bought. Little as a time I would do, but that is just me:) About to log off out of here. Wishing you a wonderful weekend!

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  2. Thanks, Lora 🙂 Luckily, my bank account will necessitate doing it a little at a time. My only fear is something I *NEED* won’t be available any longer when I get around to buying it. But, I figure if I found this much, this quickly, surely it will be around later on. I can be impatient 😉

    Have a wonderful weekend!

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  4. haha, nah, I don’t think that’s what I’d call a worthy cause, but thanks for the suggestion 🙂 I’ll just hint brazenly to my family for the next few birthdays and Christmases and such 😉

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  5. I love the idea of creating this little world a little bit at a time…..just like writing. Entrancing! I love the black leather soda and chair on the b/w tile floor. And then the white kitchen….. Go for it!

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    1. Thanks, Rosie! It helps to know I’m not completely looney for wanting to do this 🙂 On one hand, I hesitate to make it too concrete for any potential future readers, I’m of the opinion readers should have leeway to invent stuff in their own heads as they go, based on what I’ve written (hence my character descriptions are necessarily vague and generalized). But I guess no one has to see it but me, eh? It has a great deal of appeal to me at the moment, bringing my little fantasy (somewhat) to life.

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  6. OMG you *must* be talking about The Blogess’ doll house! I can’t believe all the little details she’s found/made for it O_O I’ve been into dolls houses since I was a kid; sooo many books from the adult library, detailing how to make furniture etc. When I see things like this, I still get all twitchy and wanty!

    I also agree that building it slowly over time is more fun (heck, it took Bloggess 10? 12? years to get this far), but understand your worry about losing out on a special item. Why don’t you prioritise? Look at what’s avilable and what of that is the most *wanty* and difficult to replicate. You could make anything wooden or fabric yourself, but metal items will be more of a pain. Then again, it’s an excuse to learn metalworking 😉

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    1. YES! That’s the one! For those of you who haven’t seen it, YOU MUST! Drop everything and go check this out: http://thebloggess.com/2011/10/the-haunted-dollhouse/. Click the link to the slideshow (DO IT!) It will knock your socks off. Looks like this year marks 11 years of working on it.

      I never had a dollhouse, and I think for me the most challenging thing will be finding a suitable “house” since my books (if you can call them that at this stage) are set in apartment buildings and hotels for the most part. But there is a chapter set in a very upscale house in Greece, that will be a challenge to decorate if I ever decide to take that on. So many lovely dollhouse baby grand pianos to choose from… I’m not sure I could make any of the stuff myself, you know I’m not very talented or artistic or crafty. Good idea to prioritize: which would be the most difficult to find again, or liable to go up in price. I’m just astounded at the range of things available for dollhouses now, you wouldn’t BELIEVE the list of stuff I’m watching on EBay (well, maybe you would 😉 ). I had no idea there were books on making stuff, but that is good to know! Argh, now all I need is 48-hour days to get all the stuff I want to do squeezed in. I really need to become a vampire so I’ll have forever to do it all. 😀

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      1. Don’t click this link – http://koapin.blog61.fc2.com/ – or this one – http://www.flickr.com/photos/wurzeltod/6136809890/in/photostream. Better not click this – http://flavorwire.com/177548/gallery-marc-giai-miniets-demented-dollhouses/7#post_body – or this – http://www.evangelione.com/search/label/Dollhouse%20Miniature – either. (One more for luck: http://mikedoylesnap.blogspot.com/2011/01/three-story-victorian-with-tree.html)

        I think building an apartment would be SO much fun! You could go all po-mod Bauhaus, or olde worlde penthouse opulence. I know you say you’re not very crafty, but there is a very special joy and gleeful delight to be had from making your own floorboards and stained glass windows (not to mention tiny pencils and books and clothes hangers). You know you want to 😉

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      2. Oh. My. God. As you once told me, “You’re the devil.” 😉 Those are unbelievable, I love the demented dollhouses, they’re so *off.* Down to the touches of red paint to simulate rust, incredible. Sure, I’d like to be able to do this stuff, but seriously, kindergarteners can draw better than I can. I wouldn’t even know where to begin to learn to make stuff. Make pencils? Clothes hangers? I can’t even imagine. When you say stained glass, you talking real leaded stained glass? Or do people use colored plastic to simulate the look?

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      3. YES, the demented dollhouses – soooo up my alley (and the fire escape and stealthily opening the sash window to watch me while I sleep ;D)

        There’s a certain madness-bordeting-on-insantity to working in scale miniature that has always appealed to me; it’s very Lovecraftian. For Home Ec class in Grade 11, we had to built a maniature room to illustrate the principles of design. Everyone else did a shoebox diorama; I made a 4″ square to-scale (slighly smaller than 1:12 I think…) version of my dream studio:

        Toothpicks cut down and coloured = pencils; heavy cards tock + craft knife + cellophane = stained glass windows; balsa wood + flat head pins + wood stain = oak floorboards! I used fine German ribbon braid to mimic painted borders; sliced balsa really thinly to create rails for sliding doors (including a large “glass” patio door); made tiny hangers out of jewellery wire for the tiny clothes that filled the cupboards; rolled fabric strips around card to make bolts; built a drop-down artist’s table that revealed an inspiration boad with tiny illustrations…

        Madness. DELICIOUS madness. You are right to give it a wide berth 😀

        (And I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t leave you with Queen Mary’s Dollhouse: http://www.pics.kaybee.org:81/Vacations/Europe1997/England/WindsorCastle/QueenMarysDollHouse/ & http://www.royalcollection.org.uk/queenmarysdollshouse/)

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      4. Oh you wicked, wicked wonderful woman!! So what you’re telling me is, the sky’s the limit? 🙂 I really do like the idea of making the stuff (toothpick pencils is brilliant, btw). If it was just something else to ‘have’ I wouldn’t find it nearly so appealing. But to be able to customize and personalize it, having a part in the creation is much more insidious. Yes yes, I’ll be looking at everything differently now.

        Obviously I won’t be including real marble like Queen Mary did. HOLY COW that is incredible. I’ll have to go back later when I have more time and read more about it.

        Oh, I also think I’ve decided on which deck I want to glitter- and tart-up. I think the “Affirmations for the Everyday Goddess” sort of cries out for glitter.

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  7. I also voted a little at a time. Discovering treasures here and there would be much more fun.

    Funny coincidence, I’ve been thinking lately about collecting miniatures. It’s been one of those off and on things in my head.

    I also love the idea of modeling the house after one you are writing about!

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    1. HOLY MOTHER OF GOD! That thing is unbelievable! Paintings done by Walt Disney??? Wow, I have miniature-envy LOL 😀 Lordy lordy lordy, I really didn’t need to know about that hahaha! That thing makes my little project the trailer-park equivalent of miniatures!! I am agog at the things in that castle. Hmmm… giving me lots of ideas!! 😀

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    2. YES!! I lost this link ages ago; so happy to be reminded of it ❤ This is my fantasy "dollhouse" extraordinaire. It just makes me all *sighy* and dreamy and *grabby hands* 😀

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  9. That doll furniture is amazing!

    I think I would have liked to acquire the furniture slowly over time to find the perfect pieces and see it grow. 🙂

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  10. Well, it’s a foregone conclusion that I’ll be building it up a little at a time. Now that chinoiserie piano I wanted to splurge on for $100 looks like bargain basement after the fairy castle 🙂

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  11. I LOVE THIS WHOLE POST.

    I’m a miniature freak so it’s right up my alley. There’s a dollhouse store I frequent on E. 77th Street called ‘The Tiny Dollhouse’ that would tickle ‘The Dame.’

    I just bought a harp for a friend. I know, I know, but it’s so cute.

    I love this Post.

    SB

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  12. Oh how sweet! I saw an article online a few weeks ago about someone who makes the most exquisite mini violins, that sell for £1000!! Way out of my league, but they are just beautiful.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-15475287

    I don’t know of any dedicated dollhouse shops around me, I’ll have to check. There are some general hobby shops that I may have to check out. Like I needed another money-intensive hobby…

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  14. Wow, I’ll have to check that out. Not sure how I feel about the filmmakers capitalizing on this guy’s trauma like that. What he does sounds amazing, but while they’re accumulating awards, what does he get out of it?

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    1. I’ve seen the documentary, and it’s very respectful – done with his full cooperation. I got the impression he likes talking about his projects, and it’s all part of the healing process for him. It’s funny – he is such a gentle soul, altogether different from the way he sounds to have been before the injuries.

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  15. Oh that’s good. I hate for people to be taken advantage of. I’ll have to look for it, is it on DVD or is it just making the rounds of the art house theaters?

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