Monday, June 7

Dollhouse Siding Experiment

This is a photo of my real dollhouse in Florida. It was built in 1920. I loved this porch!

I've been looking at photos of this house and trying to figure out how to make siding for my new dollhouse. Here is my first attempt.


I cut strips of heavy cardstock. Then I added a smaller strip to the back and glued them onto another piece of cardstock. It looks "okay."

Here is my second attempt. I cut some pieces of a free bamboo blind that I have. At least they are wood. They are too thick to overlap correctly. I guess I could use my Dremel to sand down one edge?


Casey told me her friend Jo used strips of upholsterer's cardboard strips for her dollhouse. Another possibility?

I am just too cheap to purchase ready made dollhouse siding. It would be very expensive to do an entire house...



While I was looking at my old photos I came across this picture of Dylan sleeping in the sun.

He could care less about dollhouse siding!

Hope you have a really good day!
Blessings,
Kathi

Sunday, June 6

I REALLY Had Fun Today!


I painted some fish. Finished the rope ladder and the bed. I even made a little paper pirate hat!


It's just like the ones we used to make when we were kids. Here's
how to do it just in case you don't know.

This is how the kid's room looks now. I love it!


Hope you had fun today too?!
Blessings,
Kathi

Rope Ladder


I decided to try to make a little rope ladder for the loft bed in the kid's room. I found this video that was really helpful.

How to Make Knots for a Rope Ladder -- powered by eHow.com

I think it would be much easier to make a real size ladder than one for a dollhouse! We're talking five inches here! This is what I've done so far.




I just need to tighten up the rope a bit. Think I'll glue the little knots in the back to keep the rungs from falling out...

I hope to have the loft bed AND ladder completed today? Yes, I am going to make rails for the bed. Don't want the kids to fall out!

Blessings,
Kathi

Saturday, June 5

Little Loft Bed

I promised myself I would leave the minis alone today and work on my real house. Then this idea came to me this morning and I just had to get started on it!

So, should I go clean up my kitchen, change my sheets, do laundry and mow the yard? Or should I keep working on this?


Decisions decisions.

Blessings,
Kathi

Friday, June 4

A Sticky Subject

I have all of these different kinds of glue. Now Casey tells me I might need one more?

I have a wealth of large pieces pieces of card stock. They are saved from the xray film boxes at work. I know the girls there wonder why I'm always taking them home...

I made a pattern of the back wall of the kid's room.


Then I found this red and white striped fabric in my stash. I think it will look great as wallpaper?


Now I need to attach the fabric to the wall. Casey did say that you can use watered down white glue. I think I'll try that before I go and buy more glue!

So here I go. Testing the glue I have and waiting for it to dry!

Blessings,
Kathi

Thursday, June 3

Just In Case You Were Wondering

The glue is dry.
:D


Just one more faucet to make and the bathroom is officially DONE!

Sweet Dreams,
Kathi

My Favorite Box of Beads

This is my favorite little box of beads. I love beads!


Here's what I'm doing with those beads.



I'm hoping to make something like this!?



Restoration Hardware inspiration

I'm just waiting for the glue to dry...

Hope you have a beautiful day!
Blessings,
Kathi

Wednesday, June 2

Bed and Breakfast?


My newly acquired house has finally spoken to me! It is telling me that it would like to become a Bed and Breakfast Inn!

This house is my inspiration!

The Popular House in Key West Florida
Check out the video!

I absolutely LOVE the color of this house and all of the details. It will take a LOT of work to turn my plain little house into something like this!

I already have the paint! I bought it about a year or so ago planning to paint my bedroom furniture. That never happened because I discovered miniatures!

I think it will be a fun project. You knew that my second house would have to be near the beach, right? :D

Blessings,
Kathi

Tuesday, June 1

Claire Murray Lifestyles

I found a new link to add to my inspiration files. Claire Murray's lovely website!


This is one of her counted cross stitch designs. I love this! She has everything a girl needs for a coastal inspired home.

Hope you enjoy visiting her. I sure do!
Blessings,
Kathi

Monday, May 31

Still Work To Be Done


While Grandpa was putting new knobs on the dresser, Grandma went upstairs to check on the kids. Things are a bit too quiet in the house.

Grandma really wished that Grandpa had finished painting this room before he started on all of his other projects! But then, she really needed to get her sewing machine out and finish those quilts she started a long time ago.

Guess there won't be any supper here tonight. The only things in the kitchen are the new appliances. No one will be cooking in here for a while. Grandpa still has a lot of work to do.

At least everyone has a bed to sleep in. Everyone except Sandy. She's still sleeping on the couch.

Sweet dreams,
Kathi

Things I've Learned

I love this little book. If you haven't read it, you need to. Life can really be sweet and simple if we just follow the wisdom here.

I thought of this book when I was cutting and pasting the wallpaper for the bedroom. Wallpapering a dollhouse is not rocket science, right? Scissors and glue are all you need. A ruler helps too!

I found lots of wallpapering instructions online and recipes for wallpaper paste. Since I'm not much of a cook, I decided that real wallpaper paste might be the best way to go? This stuff is great and ready to use.

A word to anyone, like me, who is attempting this for the first time - wet wallpaper tears easily! At least the wallpaper I used did.

If you can cut your window openings before you hang the paper that helps. I did that with the new window on the side wall. The window in the back of the room was very hard to get to and very hard to trim out.

If you look closely you can see the paper on the back wall is a bit too short. I should have measured three times instead of twice. The furniture and accessories will hide any of my little mistakes anyway...

So now it's on with the floor!


I'm left-handed and all of the scissors and other tools I have are right-handed. I've learned to deal with a right-handed world just as I've tried to maintain my childlike enthusiasm for trying new things. Yes, I could get left-handed scissors but I'm too stubborn.

I found that my free bandage scissors work the best for cutting these little sticks. I'll have to buy the next pair! The sticks are all cut. Now it's time to sand each one and glue them down. That should keep me busy and out of trouble for a while.

Hope you have a happy Memorial Day. Remember the families of those who died to protect our freedom. Pray for those who are serving now, like Deborah's hubby. If it weren't for them, perhaps we would not be able to play house like we do.

Most of what I really need
To know about how to live
And what to do and how to be
I learned in kindergarten.
Wisdom was not at the top
Of the graduate school mountain,
But there in the sand pile at Sunday school.

These are the things I learned:

Share everything.
Play fair.
Don't hit people.
Put things back where you found them.
Clean up your own mess.
Don't take things that aren't yours.
Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody.
Wash your hands before you eat.
Flush.
Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
Live a balanced life -
Learn some and think some
And draw and paint and sing and dance
And play and work everyday some.
Take a nap every afternoon.
When you go out into the world,
Watch out for traffic,
Hold hands and stick together.
Be aware of wonder.
-Robert Fulghum

Blessings,
Kathi

Sunday, May 30

Next?!

Now that the bathroom is finished, the master bedroom is next!

I'm so glad I took "before" photos. This is the bedroom as it looked when I bought the house.

Here is what it looked like after I cleaned it up and primed everything.

I thought the room needed more light so I cut a hole in the wall for a new window.

Here is the window installed. It still needs trim on the inside.

I found this pretty wallpaper online. For now it's just propped up so you can see how it might look. This will be the first time I've tried wallpapering a dollhouse room. Do you think the paper is too "busy?"


I'm going to make a hardwood floor in this room too. Then I think I'll paint it white?

I really like this tropical bedding I found on Ebay. This same seller has another set that I really like too! I wish I had another bedroom to do!


So there you have it. My next project! I would really appreciate any ideas or suggestions you might have.

I really like how the bathroom turned out. Thank you so much for all of your sweet comments! I really do appreciate each and every one!

Blessings,
Kathi

Saturday, May 29

Before And After

Here's what the bathroom looked like before.


Here is what it looks like now!


A girl has to have a place to freshen up after relaxing on the beach. A nice cold tropical drink doesn't hurt either!

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Blessings,
Kathi

Friday, May 28

Foam Brushes

I decided I needed a white shelf and a white cabinet for the bathroom. I'm using a Michael's hutch and made a shelf with Starbucks coffee stirrer sticks.

While I was painting with one of my handy dandy foam brushes, I wondered who invented these? Maybe if I had invented them I could retire and spend my days making minis and NOT having to go to work!

Real life size sign found at Beall's in Florida

Super Brush claims to be the company that invented foam brushes. If you visit their web site you can see all of the other handy swabs they've made.

What do you think about while you're making minis? I seem to drift off into another place when I'm painting or cutting and gluing.

The bathroom designer came in while Grandpa was installing the chandelier yesterday. She told him to stop. Seems she wants a ceiling medallion made before work continues...

Hope you have a fun filled Friday!
Blessings,
Kathi

Thursday, May 27

I Love Trash Day!

Look what I found in my neighbor's trash this morning! Old. Cute. FREE!


A perfect little table for a dollhouse!

Looks like I will be painting furniture again this weekend.

There's an old four foot wooden ladder over there too. Should I go get it?

Blessings,
Kathi

Wednesday, May 26

It's Home!

I finally got my Craig's List dollhouse today! Thanks Jennifer and Sharyn!

It's big, but not as huge as I thought it was. It is 26" tall, 27" wide and 21" deep including the porch. My beach house is actually a little bit smaller!


Now that I see it closer I'm sure it was handmade. I love that.

The front door is 7" tall. Look at the roughly made hinges and doorknob. I love the little half moon over the door. So simple. So much potential!

Here you can see one of the windows up close. The mullions are painted on, not wood.

If you peek inside you can see the fancy stair railing. The ceiling height is 9". Reminds me of the 9 foot ceilings I had in my bungalow in Florida.

It's just a plain little house that needs some love. I'm still not sure what I'd like to do with it?

Maybe it will be pink? Maybe it's haunted?

The Old Pink House
Savannah, GA

I think I'll just let it relax from its long trip home and let it tell me later what it would like to be. I'm sure it has many many stories to tell...

Guess I'd better go see what Grandpa has been up to. I'm almost afraid to look!

Another beautiful blessing!
Kathi