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Okay, maybe not "destroying" but some might think so. First off, I am new to this forum but in my searches over the years I've ended up here quite often and read many, MANY of your posts. Don't know why I never joined. So hello everyone! Re: the topic title, I acquired two complete Lawbre houses; the Rosedawn and the Barstow Belle. The Rosedawn I got for less than the retail cost of the columns alone, and the Barstow Belle for less than the retail cost of just half of the windows. The interiors are blank. Staircases and doors included, not installed, but otherwise bare wood. The exteriors were started but not completed. Thankfully the work was competently done. They were coming along quite nicely, it's a pity the owner decided to give up on them. Well, pity for her, lucky for me. Here is my dilemma and I would appreciate any and all opinions. These are beautiful houses when completed as Lawbre shows them but I just don't go for the norm. I am seriously considering turning the Rosedawn into a Creole plantation house. Google "Laura Plantation" and you'll get an idea, although without such a variety of bright colors, which I think in miniature would look very "child's dollhouse." The entrance would be on the second floor. The ground level would have kitchen, storeroom, a couple of staff bedrooms. I envision ground level very "raw": stone floors, exposed brick, dark-stained and aged beams, etc. The upstairs would have a minimal amount (if any) of wallpaper and no ornate finishes to speak of. Look at the interior photos of the Laura Plantation. I know I can accomplish that. (Btw, take that tour if you're ever in New Orleans. It is fantastic!) The Barstow Belle I envision as a once grand mansion now converted into a boarding house. Each floor would be an apartment decorated differently. Some former elegant architectural touches would remain but mostly it will have become a San Francisco flop house, although the landlady only accepts "respectable" tenants so it won't be trashy, har-har. It'll be set in either the 1920s or 30s. To put it kindly, the house will have seen better days both inside and out. And therein lies my mental tussle. I love aging and distressing minis, and I think I'm pretty good at it. I did a worn and weathered old Nebraska farmhouse and I was really pleased with how it turned out; peeling paint, split siding, some crooked shingles, distressing stopping short of looking abandoned. But to do that to Lawbre houses?! It seems almost sacrilegious, lol. I could certainly do these both up as expected and I would enjoy doing it. I don't know, I just don't go for the "built yesterday" look. I'm kind of enamored of the idea of a rusty screened in porch on a plantation house with crackled, peeling paint; threadbare furniture that was probably the height of expense in its day; and backstories for my disparate tenants and landlady, with each apartment decorated to reflect the personalities I envision. I tend not to keep my houses. I love doing them, I enjoy them for a few years, and then I sell them on, usually at a big loss. Minis ain't generally a money-making proposition! Or maybe I'm just doing it wrong. I'd be really disappointed, however, if it turned out no one wanted either of these because I turned them into something they weren't meant to be (??). Again, I'm not talking profit here, but dollhouses are a hard sell and I know these things would end up in a storage shed if no quirky soul exists who'd want a dirtied up old San Francisco apartment building or a decaying old plantation house! So what are your thoughts? Oh, and sorry for the really long post.

Hello everyone, I've been making a work bench for my little garage, and thought I'd share some How To's on my blog. Stop by if you'd like to give a scratch made work bench a try! http://my-miniaturemadness.blogspot.com/2015/10/making-work-bench.html Jodi

Ok, so I made this several days ago using vinegar and two steel wool pads...can anyone who is familiar with bug juice tell me if this is what its supposed to look like? Im a little afraid to open the lid....and my family is asking me to please get it off the kitchen counter Also, how do I use it from this point...should I strain it or just dip the paintbrush in? Id like to use it for aging some balsa brackets.