Back Home!

Well, I did it. I quit my job and moved back home to Florida! I just couldn't stand being stuck in Alabama another day. I need sunshine and sand between my toes!

I had a huge yard sale and downsized big time. Then I packed up my stuff and moved to Cocoa Beach Florida! I'm renting a little one bedroom apartment that is just 4 blocks away from the ocean! I love it here!

My recent projects have been to paint my entire apartment and some of my old furniture. I found this daybed on Craigslist and painted it white. The comforter was $2 at "my" new favorite thrift store here. 

I have had this table for years. I painted it a pretty coral and now it has a new life too. This photos shows how I installed the doors upside down. I fixed that and now it looks much better. I'm also painting some other furniture, inspired by Jane Coslick's Happy Colors. 

I have some sad news to tell too. My sweet Dylan went over the Rainbow Bridge on June 6th. He was 14 years old and my little buddy. His cancer had spread and he was having difficulty walking. He seemed confused at times too. I know it was the right thing do but I miss him so much...

 

Nugget misses Dylan too. Because the weather is so nice here, I'm taking Nugget for long walks twice a day. That has been good for both of us and we are having fun exploring our new little beach town neighborhood. Dogs are not allowed on the beach here but sometimes we walk up there early in the morning to watch the sunrise. Just looking out over the ocean makes my heart sing!

We also see dolphins playing in the river that is just at the end of my street. There is a great gray heron who seems to enjoy spending time in a neighbor's yard. Of course there are palm trees and tropical plants everywhere! You know how I love palm trees! :D

It's been fun being "retired" but I really need to find a part time job! I've been looking everywhere but so far I've had no success. Please pray that I find something soon.

I'll be back with more photos and hopefully get back to work on my miniatures. Hope you have a beautiful day!

Sea Glass Sailboat - Done!

I finished my little sailboat this morning. That is a real crab claw flag on the top.  :D

I ended up using Weldbond glue to attach the sea glass. It does dry clear. The bottom is a small piece of driftwood that I found on the beach. I like it.

I am planning to build a long shelf out of an old deck board I found along the side of the road.

I just happened to have shelf brackets that are the right size. :D They were white, so I spray painted them with Oil Rubbed Bronze.
I will probably add some rope to the front edge of the shelf?

This is REAL weathered wood! 

I need to put my foot up for a while now so this project will have to wait. Hope you are having a great Labor Day!

Thrift Store Finds and Projects in Progress

My entire house is a project right now!  Here are some things that I found lately at "my" thrift store. This framed art was only $4.99.  :D

Love this $7.00 blue chair! I'm going to use it as a desk chair in the craft room. Very cool. What you see behind it are my many projects in progress!

I also found this pretty ceramic pedestal bowl. I've been looking for one for a long time. This one was only $3 and the perfect colors!

I attached a silk orchid to my real orchid plant that hasn't bloomed (or died) since I bought it about 4 years ago. I love the little flamingo too.

I just need to attach the frame to my mirror and it will be ready to hang behind the white sofa that I got at the same thrift store! Have I mentioned that I love Mission Possible?  :D

Hope you have a great day. I can't wait for the weekend so I can get back to work!  :D

I Wasn't Planning to Paint the Kitchen...

When you paint one room it makes all of the other rooms look like they need to be painted too! I have a really ugly kitchen. It looks like this. 

Yes it is always messy like this and cluttered with projects I'm working on...

The watermelon art was done by a friend in Florida. I've always like it and now it has inspired me to paint another room!

There is only one ceiling light in the kitchen with a 60 watt bulb. Very ugly and very dark. I think I will lighten up a bit!

This is Glidden's Watermelon Smoothie. Even the name sounds yummy!  I still need to finish the living and dining rooms first but I think I will buy a tester of this color and try it out in the kitchen. :D

Inspiration photo from DiaOcOnline in Vietnam

I finished painting the dining room yesterday. It looks much better now. Next project will be painting the table and chairs. That is if I don't get distracted by another project!

Hope you have a beautiful day!

Memorial Day

Happy Memorial Day!

I've been working ALL weekend in my living room. Yesterday morning I moved some furniture around after painting the wall and window trim. It is a whole lot easier to redecorate a dollhouse than a real house!

Today I finally finished painting. Two coats. Next time I will invest in Behr's one coat paint!

I'm ready to hang my bamboo blinds and curtain rod. Well, not really ready. I discovered that I need to go buy some heavy duty wall anchors. I thought I had everything I needed!

I've been unable to cut the electrical conduit I'm using for the rod. I either need a new hacksaw blade or a helpful handy man at Home Depot to cut it for me? I should have taken him up on his offer on Saturday!

I moved my "new" white sofa to the other side of the room. I like it better there. Now I can sit and look outside instead of at a wall.

I really like how the white paint has brightened up this room? It's still dark in here this afternoon!  :{

I'm headed over to my daughter and son-in-law's house for a cookout now. Too tired to do any more work!

Hope you are having a great Memorial Day!  I am so thankful to those who gave their lives for our freedom and the ones who are us serving now. May the Lord bless them, keep them safe and bring them all home soon!

I have a long, long list of things to do for my coffee shop. I've finally decided on the colors I will be using. I found this interior design idea online. Love the ceiling!



I want to try making these things in miniature.



The coffee dispenser reminds me of the little hot water heater I made. I bought this display cabinet. I'm not sure if I will use it. I may just build my own counter like the one in the inspiration photo above?



I purchased some of Blake's handmade donuts and pastries for the shop.



I have had no success with clay! I know there are many great mini food artists out there, but I want to support a young man who is just getting started. Blake's Etsy shop is "A Bohemian Bazaar."

I received GOOD NEWS from Miniatures.com yesterday. They will ship a new loft kit to Carmen at a much better rate that the post office or UPS! :D

Hope you have a lovely day!

Just Thinking About It . . .

I'm thinking about entering the Miniatures.com 2012 Creatin' Contest? I love the MiniTown Loft Kit.



I'm not sure that what I have in mind would work for this kit, but it won't be a modern house!

I would finally repair and use some of the old furniture I got with one of my Craigslist houses.



I will need to make things and buy some things too. Like this car I'm watching on Ebay.



Sorry for the crummy photo. That's what you get on Ebay sometimes.

So I would build a "not so modern house" with OLD furniture and a limousine. I have some crazy ideas sometimes! LOL

Not sure if I will even enter the contest? I have until December to decide. Are you planning to join in?

Just what I need, another project right? I'm going to have to move to a bigger house or put my bed up on blocks to hide all of the other projects I have!

I actually finished Grandma's hair today. Thanks again Casey! I'm just waiting for the glue to dry and I'll show you how it looks tomorrow.

Hope you are having a good weekend!

Projects on the Desk

I love Home Depot. If you look around you can find FREE mini supplies. :D

Like this vinyl flooring sample that I'm using for the kitchen counter top. It's nice and shiny and you can cut it with scissors!


I like this color too. Looks like granite or marble. Remember, this was FREE! :D


This is just one of the projects on my desk. There are more...


Again, I'm using a piece of exposed xray film. I used it before to make Mike's swimming pool.

The film turns blue if exposed to light. I didn't do that on purpose, promise. I found it in the trash.


I started working on a blue "glass tile" backsplash for the kitchen. This is going to take a long time!

Perhaps I should work on one project at a time? Maybe I should clean my desk too?


Hope you have a beautiful Sunday!

It's Best NOT to Ignore Grandpa

I really haven't been paying much attention to Grandpa lately. He watched the poll of projects and was really disappointed that I would not be working on his garage next.

So. He went shopping. On Ebay. I didn't know he knew my password.

Midwest Products Dinghy Boat Kit

When I asked him about his purchase, he said, "I need something to work on while you are in the kitchen."

I don't think he understands that this is just another "little" project to add to MY list. I've never built a boat before. I hope Grandpa knows how!

Maybe I should ask him to help me build the kitchen cabinets? I could use an extra pair of hands, however small they may be.

Stamping and Sewing

I've been wanting to try my new flamingo rubber stamp on fabric. I didn't have the right color stamp pad so I searched Google and found out how to make my own.

I just used two pieces of white felt and my Scribbles fabric paint. I added the paint to the felt and started stamping! I'm sure lots of you already know how to do this, but it was new to me! So easy! These practice images are stamped on white cotton fabric.


I think they will be great for dollhouse linens, curtains or doll clothes? If I cover two of the images I can make single flamingos too. So many possibilities! :D


This project came about because I got frustrated with my sewing projects. I used a pattern for this shirt for grandpa. It is supposed to be for a 6" doll but It's WAY to big!


Plus, my old sewing machine is jamming and chewing up my fabric. I actually thought about buying a new one this morning. I guess I should get the old one fixed and save my money for food and things like that, right?!

I have several things going on right now! Laundry, organizing my craft room supplies, doing the dishes and cleaning the house. I just had to take a few minutes and try a little mini project.

Better get back to work before I find something else to do!

Something Useful, Something Done!

I use this dollhouse miniature calculator all the time -
http://www.the-art-of-dollhouse-miniatures.com/miniatures-scale-calculator.html
Thought you might find it useful too.

I've been busy working on my gift for Caterina's Holiday Swap. Now that it's DONE, I can start working on one of my many other projects. Of course I can't show you what I made. It has to be a secret until July 14th!

Hope you have a happy day!

Too Many Projects!

I've got so many projects going here! I don't even have ONE thing to show you! I wish I had more hands!

I am almost finished with the new window and doors. I hope to get them installed today?

I've started making the tile walls for the bathroom. It's going a lot better this time. It is going to take forever though. Can't wait for my new BLUE floral wallpaper to arrive! :D

I'm also working on resurfacing the tub and painting my gold faucets silver. Oh, and there is a sink vanity cabinet in the works too. Waiting for glue to dry there.

I started to re-paint the kid's room and build another bed. There are three grand kids so I need someplace for each of them to sleep! I think a loft bed will be cute?

I repainted the exterior window boxes FOUR times before I went back to the original white! Still can't decide what to do with the porch and deck floors...

If this wasn't enough, my new vintage travel trailer kit arrived this morning!!! I opened the box and then closed it right back up. Can't go there now...

The kitty tower is still collecting cats and ideas. I found some great fabric to make them a little chair. I have wallpaper and flooring to install, more climbers to make and lots more accessories.

What are YOU doing today? Do you have as many projects started as I do?!

Hope you have a beautiful day!
Blessings,
Kathi

Projects In Progress

I've been working on a couple of projects. I made a "mosquito" net canopy for the bed.

Here's how it looks in the room...


There is a lot more work to be done here! I'm waiting for my new bedding before I continue. Here's another little project I'm working on.

I'm making two wooden planters. Should have them finished today? I'm also trying to make some ferns to plant in them.

More later... I have to go to work now! Hope you have a lovely day!
Blessings,
Kathi