Right Place, Right Time

I recently bough these Pit-a-Pat kitchen chairs to make up a set of four in my Princess 2 (Y Bwthyn Bach):

They were missing the woven straw seat coverings, as you can see here when compared to an all original one:

I was resolved to waiting to find a suitable straw object in a charity shop, until, during a trip to B&Q (a UK DIY store), I spotted a roll of wallpaper that looked like it might be just the ticket:

So I took a little bit of the sample roll and, after a few coats of paint and a bit of dry brushing, I came up with this:

They're not a perfect match but I'm really quite pleased with them. I'll continue to look out for a suitable straw item to make a better job of it but, in the meantime, these will do quite nicely.

Here they are in situ where they're hidden by the table in any case!:

Until next time,
Zoe

Pit-a-Pat Cake Stands

I recently discovered, through information given by my friend Jenny to the Dolls' Houses Past & Present website, that Pit-a-Pat made two very different types of cake stand.

The one on the left is the Pit-a-Pat cake stand I was aware of and have owned for a while but I had no idea that the company also made the one on the right. It's made from some form of plastic and wire, which is not at all what you would expect from Pit-a-Pat, which is known for its wooden dolls' house furniture and accessories.

Here they are without the cakes.

And these are the labels.  The wooden one is earlier - Marion Osborne dates the label on that one as 1934-39.

The label on the yellow one is clearly visible peeping out from under the shop's label. Marion Osborne dates this label to the end of 1939-40/41 so it was one of the last pieces produced by Pit-a-Pat before toy production ceased.

It was a lucky coincidence that, just a few weeks after learning about the plastic version, I saw one for sale on eBay and I very excitedly snapped it up.  

I was, however, left with a bit of a dilemma - the style of it is so different from all my other 1930s furniture that it just didn't look quite right sitting alongside it.  And then, last night, I had a little brainwave (or as close as I ever get to such things!)...

...and here it is looking very at home in the sun trap of my Triang 53 (Ultra Modern)!  I'm sure you will be familiar with that warm, happy feeling you get when you find just the right place for a piece.

Until next time,

Zoe