{Handmade with Love} Dollhouse renovation…

Posted by kristinloffertheiss on April 29, 2010 in dollhouse, Sayer's room | No Comments

Chris and I had a great time designing and dreaming up Sayer’s room. Everything in it has a story and a reason for being there. It is full of so many fun handmade items- which I really think is special. One of my favorite things in Sayer’s room is a piece of furniture that gets asked about frequently- his changing table/toy shelf. I just recently got another email asking me about where I got it, so I thought I would share the story of how it came to be.

My dad made me a dollhouse in the ’70’s. It was not like the Barbie townhouse that my friends had. But, I did find the elevator from the townhouse at a garage sale & used it in sort of in a Charlie & the Chocolate Factory way (just pulled through the air). This thing was huge and housed my Sunshine Family dolls with style. Over the years Barbie & Ken moved in, about the same time I added the elevator, wallpaper, and mini unicorn & rainbow posters. My dad is not really a carpenter and he and a friend made it in a weekend using a little article that my mom had found in “Sunset Magazine“, as inspiration. Needless to say, I had many good years playing with it- and I loved that my dad made it just for me. However, the 80’s (the teenage years) came and it was then put in my parent’s basement and forgotten about.

When my parent’s moved 5 years ago, I was faced with what to do with my beloved house. It isn’t small or lightweight by any means, but I didn’t want to give it away. So we stored it in our basement. When Sayer was on the way, Chris started building an office space in our basement so that the room upstairs, that was currently our office, could become Sayer’s nursery. He stumbled on my dollhouse and came up with a brilliant plan. He started a mini house “reno” to make it a little less ’70’s and something that Sayer could use and enjoy. He extended the balcony to make it long enough for a changing table, took the shag carpet out, painted, scraped wallpaper off, added wood, and added a mirror so that Sayer could make faces at himself while he was being changed.

The finished product turned out better than I could have imagined. I love watching Sayer using it. Now a yellow,wood bus sits in the same garage that my purple, plastic, Barbie Corvette sat and I think that is so cool. Do you have anything from your childhood that you transformed into something different for you child?

{A Centipede} Steve from A to Z

Posted by kristinloffertheiss on April 21, 2010 in klt:mobiles, klt:plush, Sayer's room | 3 Comments

When I was pregnant with Sayer, Chris & I decided to design a mobile with him in mind. We thought it should be a mobile with bug characters. Each of us had ideas as to what bugs should be included and we chipped away individually at sketches of our little critters. One day, I found a tiny, white piece of paper sitting on my dresser. It was a sketch of centipede named Steve that Chris had modestly placed in spot where it would be noticed. In a matter of hours, a Steve prototype was created.

Where did this image come from you ask? Apparently, there is a real Steve Centipede who lived in Rhode Island in the 70’s. Chris has vivid memories of a real centipede that lived in the corner (on the wall) in his living room. Steve came out at night and hung out while Chris’ family watched TV and it pretty much freaked him out. I asked him who named Steve and he thinks it must have been his mother. He dad doesn’t remember and said, “he just was always Steve”. Steve made quite an impression on Chris – particularly his “feathery legs” and the way he quickly scampered around. He later vanished about as mysteriously as he had appeared, but had quite a long stay at the Theiss household (from when Chris was 6-12 years old he thinks). There are rumblings that Steve’s children live there still. Even though Steve made Chris a bit uneasy, he wanted to include him on a mobile because not many people get to meet a centipede and he wanted to create one that was a little more friendly. It just seemed like a perfect bug to hang out with kids on their ceiling. It’s nice that Sayer gets to enjoy one of Chris’ childhood memories. (pictures above & below: from sketch to nursery)

We haven’t really explained the story of Steve to Sayer yet, but somehow he must have picked up on the special connection that Chris has with the crazy centipede. One night last week, Sayer looked up at his Crawling Critters Mobile and talked to me about Steve. He said he wanted me to make Steve like his Whoo Whoo (Ollie Plush). He told me he wanted red, then he decided that he wanted blue (he is really into colors these days). I took on this challenge last weekend (in between working on orders). I made two to show him. Of course, in toddler fashion, he hasn’t really decided. He keeps going back and forth between the two color combinations.

So, that is how Steve came to be. Regardless of what color the plush ends up, Sayer gave me the kick that I needed to make a pattern for a larger Steve. I always had a plan to do it, but it took a special request from my favorite 2 year old to get the wheels in motion. I think he may have a career as the klt:art director in his future. Do you have a favorite plush or character from your childhood?

{A Centipede} Steve from A to Z

Posted by kristinloffertheiss on April 21, 2010 in klt:mobiles, klt:plush, Sayer's room | No Comments

When I was pregnant with Sayer, Chris & I decided to design a mobile with him in mind. We thought it should be a mobile with bug characters. Each of us had ideas as to what bugs should be included and we chipped away individually at sketches of our little critters. One day, I found a tiny, white piece of paper sitting on my dresser. It was a sketch of centipede named Steve that Chris had modestly placed in spot where it would be noticed. In a matter of hours, a Steve prototype was created.

Where did this image come from you ask? Apparently, there is a real Steve Centipede who lived in Rhode Island in the 70’s. Chris has vivid memories of a real centipede that lived in the corner (on the wall) in his living room. Steve came out at night and hung out while Chris’ family watched TV and it pretty much freaked him out. I asked him who named Steve and he thinks it must have been his mother. He dad doesn’t remember and said, “he just was always Steve”. Steve made quite an impression on Chris – particularly his “feathery legs” and the way he quickly scampered around. He later vanished about as mysteriously as he had appeared, but had quite a long stay at the Theiss household (from when Chris was 6-12 years old he thinks). There are rumblings that Steve’s children live there still. Even though Steve made Chris a bit uneasy, he wanted to include him on a mobile because not many people get to meet a centipede and he wanted to create one that was a little more friendly. It just seemed like a perfect bug to hang out with kids on their ceiling. It’s nice that Sayer gets to enjoy one of Chris’ childhood memories. (pictures above & below: from sketch to nursery)

We haven’t really explained the story of Steve to Sayer yet, but somehow he must have picked up on the special connection that Chris has with the crazy centipede. One night last week, Sayer looked up at his Crawling Critters Mobile and talked to me about Steve. He said he wanted me to make Steve like his Whoo Whoo (Ollie Plush). He told me he wanted red, then he decided that he wanted blue (he is really into colors these days). I took on this challenge last weekend (in between working on orders). I made two to show him. Of course, in toddler fashion, he hasn’t really decided. He keeps going back and forth between the two color combinations.

So, that is how Steve came to be. Regardless of what color the plush ends up, Sayer gave me the kick that I needed to make a pattern for a larger Steve. I always had a plan to do it, but it took a special request from my favorite 2 year old to get the wheels in motion. I think he may have a career as the klt:art director in his future. Do you have a favorite plush or character from your childhood?

{A Centipede} Steve from A to Z

Posted by kristinloffertheiss on April 21, 2010 in klt:mobiles, klt:plush, Sayer's room | No Comments

When I was pregnant with Sayer, Chris & I decided to design a mobile with him in mind. We thought it should be a mobile with bug characters. Each of us had ideas as to what bugs should be included and we chipped away individually at sketches of our little critters. One day, I found a tiny, white piece of paper sitting on my dresser. It was a sketch of centipede named Steve that Chris had modestly placed in spot where it would be noticed. In a matter of hours, a Steve prototype was created.

Where did this image come from you ask? Apparently, there is a real Steve Centipede who lived in Rhode Island in the 70’s. Chris has vivid memories of a real centipede that lived in the corner (on the wall) in his living room. Steve came out at night and hung out while Chris’ family watched TV and it pretty much freaked him out. I asked him who named Steve and he thinks it must have been his mother. He dad doesn’t remember and said, “he just was always Steve”. Steve made quite an impression on Chris – particularly his “feathery legs” and the way he quickly scampered around. He later vanished about as mysteriously as he had appeared, but had quite a long stay at the Theiss household (from when Chris was 6-12 years old he thinks). There are rumblings that Steve’s children live there still. Even though Steve made Chris a bit uneasy, he wanted to include him on a mobile because not many people get to meet a centipede and he wanted to create one that was a little more friendly. It just seemed like a perfect bug to hang out with kids on their ceiling. It’s nice that Sayer gets to enjoy one of Chris’ childhood memories. (pictures above & below: from sketch to nursery)

We haven’t really explained the story of Steve to Sayer yet, but somehow he must have picked up on the special connection that Chris has with the crazy centipede. One night last week, Sayer looked up at his Crawling Critters Mobile and talked to me about Steve. He said he wanted me to make Steve like his Whoo Whoo (Ollie Plush). He told me he wanted red, then he decided that he wanted blue (he is really into colors these days). I took on this challenge last weekend (in between working on orders). I made two to show him. Of course, in toddler fashion, he hasn’t really decided. He keeps going back and forth between the two color combinations.

So, that is how Steve came to be. Regardless of what color the plush ends up, Sayer gave me the kick that I needed to make a pattern for a larger Steve. I always had a plan to do it, but it took a special request from my favorite 2 year old to get the wheels in motion. I think he may have a career as the klt:art director in his future. Do you have a favorite plush or character from your childhood?

{Handmade with Love} Dollhouse renovation…

{A Centipede} Steve from A to Z

{A Centipede} Steve from A to Z

{A Centipede} Steve from A to Z

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{Handmade with Love} Dollhouse renovation…

{A Centipede} Steve from A to Z

{A Centipede} Steve from A to Z

{A Centipede} Steve from A to Z

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