1978 Mattel A Frame DreamHouse 40th Anniversary!!!

It's difficult to believe this iconic toy is 4 decades old this year. But, here we are. At 40 years into this house's existence, we have now seen the gradual rescue, collection, restoration, and even reinvention of it through various means. Here's to another 40 years of loving this house!

This is the perfect post to showcase this great new book I got about A Frame houses. The intro I have included here because it is about how A Frames were very popular from the 50's to the 70's and then fell out of favor, and now that they are trendy again the current generation's take on them. Put simply they represent optimism, coziness and sense of play.

Replacing the Font Doors and Faded Window Frames: Winter 2017

Comes in gold, too! 

I have posted before about freshening up faded yellow window frames using yellow electricians tape, and thats a fine solution, but here is an alternative, one that may prove better due to the thinness of pin striping be be less detectable to the discerning eye than thicker plastic tape. 

At Lowes or Home Depot you can buy these great pattern cut sheet metal panels in large or small, as you can see quite affordably. Having never dealt with thin, smooth metal before, I am guessing you would cut to size, prime and paint the correct color. They are rather thin and flexible, so if I were to fashion some new front doors I would plan on creating a sturdy frame on which to place the cut panels, or cut thin hobby wood panels to size, sand, prime and paint them to match, These would be a higher quality alternative to the plastic factory doors, and being solid and not see through would be kind of cool. would love to see some photos from blog fans.

More Affordable Patio Piece Solution - $1.98 - $7.50 Each!

While perusing the Walmart auto section, I saw these $15 for the pair) and thought what a perfect and inexpensive solution to adding more patio space to either the big Dream Home or the 1982 Country Cottage:

They are very well made (to withstand thousands of pounds of pressure) and are a great color match as well. I didn't buy them since I already have patio triangles as well as 3 extra patio pieces for different configurations, but if I didn't I would have. The only consideration is the carrying handles, which could be cut off with a dremmel tool cutting attachment , or better yet covered with a small rug, yellow paper or mini plants.  =-)

Target: lid from an $11 storage box. Would make a great custom patio centered off the tall narrow glass doors, or a free standing one in the back yard for the BBQ grill and furniture set, perhaps even a parking pad for the '78 'Vette? 

I just got mine, and though I already have plenty of extra patio pieces for my house, if I did not, this would be a steal of a deal, I think every house should have at least 3 or more of these excellent replacement patio pieces, you could even cut them in half with a Dremmel tool to get the coveted, rare and expensive triangular shape patio pieces. RUN don't walk to Ebay and get yours today! 

Alternately, I just saw some on feebay (2023) for $375, OR... you can drive an hour or two and get an entirely original house with those rare patio triangle pieces it came with 45 years ago for under 100 bucks, just search your local Facebook marketplace:

These will definitely need an afternoon soak in piping hot, very soapy bath water before attempting to scrub clean with a soft bristle tooth brush and sponge. get all the water off you can, using Q tips in the crevices, stand up vertically against the bathroom wall on a large bath towel so they can finish draining off, let sit for a few hours to completely dry, THEN they are ready to polish or paint. 
Of course you can always skip the yellow floors and do something custom: