Antique Clock House and doll

 I've had an antique ice box drawer lying around for years, waiting for the right project, so when my trusty  helper gave me a lovely antique doll for Easter I immediately knew where she belonged. She is 11 inches tall so too big for any of my dolls houses and I wanted to be able to see her. Her dress is original and so very very delicate, already beginning to fray.

There was very little work required to make her home. The box was full of old cd's which have now been moved to another box and stored in the loft - it's hard to get rid of things that used to mean so much, even if we will never play them again. But I digress, I cleaned out the inside which is lined with lead paper (there is probably a correct term for it) which offers a very beautiful aged effect. I waxed the exterior and removed a rusty nail that was sticking from the bottom. Instead of papering the interior, I simply hung a curtain I made from vintage fabric and lace from my stash and upgraded some larger scale furniture I had lurking.

Then I found a few trinkets - Staffordshire jewelry, a framed scrap of lace, and a suitably old looking cameo. The chair was very plain so I used the material from a tatty Chinese silk wallet, the inside fabric was still like new, to upholster it and make cushions.

Coincidentally, our local antique shop suffered a horrible fire and we recently salvaged some parts of grandfather clocks. As if by magic, one of the doors fitted the front of my ice box almost perfectly. I cleaned it up a bit, found suitable hinges and got my helper to fit it on. The top of the glass door protruded over the upper edge of the box and looked odd so I decorated it with a paper doily and some antique trim. I might change the paper doily at some point for some antique lace but it does the trick for now.

This project took a day of thinking, a couple of hours preparation and was such fun. I love it and it is now one of my favourite things.