nsmar4211

It's nearing Christmas time again so I'm back into mini's :). Decided two coworkers are getting the wooden books from Michaels made up with things they like. Learning how to do a distressed leather look with tissue paper and different paint colors...it really works! Tonight I'll be making the second book's cover :)

Got sidetracked with other hobbies and adventures, poor dollhouse sat in the garage until recently. Swapped the Goodwill dollhouse into the kitchen (much to the chagrin of my housemate bwahaha) and brought this one into my room. Immediatly realized how depressing it was with the dark wood that was warped and water stained and it now is white inside. Didn't bother with the missing shingles, since that side of the house is facing the wall anyway . Might even leave the half covered chimney alone, although I may try to match the brick color with some acrylic and paint the missing areas. Now I'm toying with a few ideas. Was thinking of forgetting the idea of it being a cohesive "house" and instead making each room a different showcase, with no regard to them fitting with each other. That would release my brain and let me be more creative with decorating. The rooms seem to be odd sized to me, but I can't really remove any walls without messing with the structural integrity.... And I'm seriously considering doing a pull out little scene thing under the staircase, ala Harry Potter. Pull out so that I can pull it out to look at but when it's pushed back in it doesn't block the window....

Just finished giving the dollhouse from someone's trash a coat of paint inside. Well, second coat on some walls but now every room but one has a complete coat. I'm leaving one of the rooms as is because a)I like the dark ceiling there and b)I don't want to take down the wallpaper I already put up!! Used an indoor latex white from walmart, low odor and thick enough to cover some of the issues in the walls. You can still see some of the old glue swirls and such, but I realized no one but me would notice them after two coats of paint. I plan on papering/covering most of the walls anyway, just wanted to protect the wood from any further damage. It's much more cheerful looking painted white!!

Unloaded everything out of the Goodwill dollhouse into two garbage cans (how'd all that FIT in there?!), moved dollhouse into the dining area. Unloaded the in progress trash dollhouse , moved it into my bedroom where I can stare at it until I figure out what to do with it. Now I have three garbage cans of minis to redistribute. Andddddd I put the "carpet" pieces at the bottom of one of them. Smart huh?

I wouldn't mind some of those in 1/12 scale ! Search PrettySmallThings if you dont' see their stuff at first

Hanavaholly, which brand of wax paper do you use? Mine might just not be good Side note: Odd thing was, the big section I did didn't warp individually-the whole section warped about halfway through the drying! Just had to glue down the lifted edge and apply the weights and the whole thing flattened (whew) Selkie-what glue specifically do you use? Something like e6000? The thinness is only a possible concern because what was already there was at least 4 times as thick (and individual shingles). I was warned (here) about the thickness so I was prepared but whew they like to curl even before putting glue on them! I'm sticking to my "roof was repaired" story . Bluebear-small amount I did not do....were you using the strips?

Either my waxes paper is crap or I did something wrong because when I used wax paper it stuck to glue surfaces....but th eplastic wrap peeled right off

Ok , got the money together and ordered shingles. Wow are they THIN! Talk about warping....... and it's not going to be enough to finish the house by like two strips (sniffle). The warping issue I partially solved by draping my tent weights over the roof after applying a little more glue under the lifted up edge. The tent weights are just bags I filled with peagravel, so for future reference you could use any bag of heavy stuff (rice maybe?). Note to self: put plastic between shingles and weight next time....luckily the removal damage was on the ends I had to cut off anyway. I tried spraying the curl with water but that only partially helped, the weight is the final answer. With piecing together the cut off overhangs, I'll barely miss patching the one side of one dormer by oneish inch worth of shingles. . I may end up cutting two rows out of cardstock and coating it with sealer. Thinking of taking in a few rows to a copy center and having them print them out in color, might be closer color match. Although , I should probably do the whole side of the dormer in the cardstock so it's not as glaringly obvious? Hrmmmmm..... would be easier than fighting the warping patched together strips of shingles! And probably the same thickness. The new shingles are obvious, but since I plan on displaying the house on top of a dresser you won't see them anyway . Once the shingles are done, I can bring the house into the house instead of leaving it in the garage !!! Yippeee Maybe a color scheme for the other rooms will pop up if I can actually see the house more....

http://www.greenleafdollhouses.com/forum/index.php?app=gallery&album=7158 Ok I think this cooperated.........

I was eying these today...........and a few weeks ago........and before that ........ LOL A thrifty hint, don't forget to get your 40% off coupon (online or paper) before you go. If youcould restrain yourself to just buying one per trip, you'd save a ton of money! Only works if the craft store is close to your house though

These are great! I'm short on funds or I'd be buying some! One possible future update, or maybe you already do, but posting how many pieces of cardstock it takes to do the kit (in 1/12th) scale might be a turn on (or off....) for buyers. Is every item on it's own page? Or are the combined? (espically for the houses and gardens kits)....

Was browsing through a craft store (AC Moore) and checked out the plastic figures (wow, the hamster is life sized). Usually they are way out of scale....but I was looking through the Toob series and there's a baby one that is great! Slightly out of scale (I think?) but it comes with different races and genders and the faces are decent! All different poses too! It's a set of 10 but one of them is a teddy bear. A reviwer on amazon said they were adult like but I don't think so..... I quickly hopped online and found a 50% coupon so it cost me $5 for 9 baby figures . Here's the set (not an affiliate line) http://www.amazon.com/Safari-Ltd-Bundles-Babies-TOOB/dp/B0032O5BB4 I'll post a pic in my gallery later and post an update. I'm going to have babies in every room LOL Or maybe my family is babysitting ....hrm..... Now, if I could find adults that reasonably priced............

My most recent uplifting phrase I like "Not my circus.........not my monkeys"

This year many of the things I gave out were handmade or utility. One receiver got a dozen dyed tshirts (tie dyed, bleached, markered, and fabric painted....tried out several things I hadn't) and one got a roombox I built for them (thread on here somewhere that I need to update once I find the card reader haha). One elderly relative got a case of Ensure...half as a joke and half serious (he does use it and demanded I not get him anything this year so I compromised). I will also do funny things....like hide the $10 publix gift card inside a single pair of fluffy socks pretending the socks were the gift. Almost fell over when the receiver gushed over the socks because she needed more and had to point out the card LOL. Next year I'm getting her a whole pile of those socks haha. Another relative only wanted hugs and I think we're up to a dozen . To those with no money but still want to give, here's a hint. What I will do is throughout the year I keep an eye on clearance aisles and pick up small affordable useful gifts. I have a cardboard box labeled "gifts for others" that I put things in throughout the year. If i was even more organized I'd put names on it and cross off when I found something for them. Then I get creative with the wrapping. The kids in my life are getting a cardboard box taped with duct tape (bwahahah) with some small stuff in it buried in between tons of recycled tissue paper. It'll take them an hour to find the things, and they'll love it. The box of stuff comes in handy for birthdays and other events. I find that kids love crafty stuff and have often made up a box of things out of my supplies for them, little "kits" and they love it. Also keep an eye on the "buy/get" offers. Keep those "free" gift cards as gifts....set the free whatever thing in the box of stuff. Regifting works too when you get those work gifts you may not use...just watch out who you regift too. To me the whole seasons (whichever one you do) theme is about giving and love no matter the divide. And I've made my own version of a family up . Love to all!