Archive for April, 2010

Laura Way, owner of Mini Temptations, Overland Park, KS

Mini Temptations in Overland Park, Kansas was founded in 1977 by Ken and Virginia Spence. Originally it was a gift shop and eventually the shop evolved into a dollhouse miniature store. Mini Temptations is the only store in the Greater Kansas City Metro Area, and largest in a four state region, specializing in miniatures. You can imagine their customers’ disappointment when the Spences decided to retire and close the store in 2001. Many customers panicked when they found they would no longer have a place to buy the special items for their dollhouses or other miniature projects.

In 1994, Laura Way began her hobby in miniatures when her children gave her a dollhouse kit for Christmas. It was then she discovered Mini Temptations and quickly became a faithful customer. When she heard the Spences were going to retire, Laura thought it would be a great business opportunity to purchase the store. So after 17 years in the healthcare field, Laura decided it was time to change careers. With the support of her family, she made the drastic change from the stressful pace of healthcare to the enjoyable pleasure of making her hobby her career. Armed with the determination to be successful, Laura and her husband Dennis bought the business in January 2002. (more…)

Sometimes it is just incredible to me to see how imaginative people can be and to what lengths they will go to create their dream. The details of these two projects are amazing and the end results are true works of art. Take a look at the handiwork of Marj DeKoster of My Doll’s House in Torrance, CA and Lois and Dave Julin of Rancho Palos Verdes, CA. Both Marj and the Julin’s brought a wealth of dollhouse knowledge to these projects and it sure does show.

The Julin’s are good customers of My Doll’s House and friends of Marj and her late husband Roger. They learned many dollhouse building tips and techniques from Roger, who was a master dollhouse builder. When Roger passed away in 2008, the Julin’s stepped up to the plate to help Marj finish some building projects in the shop.

The windmill was built from a Finished 1/2 Scale New England Lighthouse by Real Good Toys.  It’s obvious it took lots of research and modifications to create this project. They installed a motor in the top section to enable the windmill blades to rotate.

The church is a Real Good Toys Country Church. It is finished with custom flooring, stained glass windows and lighting…complete with a chiming church bell!

These two projects are true dollhouse labors of love. You can read all the details in the March/April issue of  Dollhouse Miniatures.

Thanks for sharing your beautiful work.

Real Good Toys Classic Bungalow beautifully finished by Lynlott Miniatures in Pittsburgh, PA

Visualizing and choosing colors for your dollhouse can be a challenging task. You think (and hope) that the colors you’ve chosen will look good together and more importantly, look good on your dollhouse. Well not to worry – Benjamin Moore has a fun, interactive page on their website called the Personal Color Viewer. This will take most of the guesswork out of the task and you’ll be looking at color combinations  for every room of your dollhouse before you’re through. You can even upload your own photos so you can see how your very own dollhouse would look with different color combinations! Yes, it’s really for life size houses, but it’s a great resource for the mini decorator too. Benjamin Moore also sells 2 ounce color samples so you don’t have to buy a whole quart of paint just for trimming your dollhouse. You’ll also find many other paint retailers who sell these 2 ounce samples for your convenience. Real Good Toys has always recommended Benjamin Moore paints for your dollhouse. We always say the better quality paint you use, the more beautiful your finish will be. So go ahead and have fun with dollhouse paint colors!