Fairy Garden

Hello, friends! It's Spring! Of course that means unpredictable weather.  It's funny that in Nevada, we get snow one day and then beautiful sunny 70F weather a day later. I'm not kidding. 

Since the weather is still up and down, we started a fairy garden. I also started all the transplant-able seeds for the garden, but those are boring to look at when they're at this stage.

We sort of tried to incorporate an outdoor fairy garden last year.  We planted a few drought-tolerant things outside Haley's bedroom window. We added some dollhouse-size furniture and a few Lalaloopsy dolls, and it was great. Well, it was great until the dog decided that it was perfect for him.  I rescued the dolls since they were at risk of getting chewed up. As for the furniture, I rescued those from pee because I caught him mid leg-lift.

It took us a while to find the perfect indoor container for the new fairy garden. We bought a new tuft of Irish moss and transplanted the surviving sedum that was outdoors near the twisty atlas cedar tree. 

I added the fairy garden furniture, which consisted of a table, bench, and armchair, added the bike and a small terra cotta pot turned on its side.  Some thick glass squares from last year's attempt made a nice little path.  Then, the fairy found her garden.

This is just the beginning.  We added some seeds for tiny Johnny Jump Ups, chamomile, yellow alpine strawberries, and wheat grass.  I hope they come up soon because the combination will be really cute!

I'd also like to make some twig fencing. I just need to salvage some twigs from the tree prunings.  

So, that is all we're up to at the moment.  I'm daydreaming of dollhouses, too.

Thanks for stopping by!

Another Change Midstream

Hi Friends!

I think I must have a touch of Spring Fever. I've been excited to go outside, until I get too hot in the sun.  Then I'm back inside staring at Haley's house. I've had another idea to change things up.

I've been thinking about the bathroom. Where I wanted it and how big it should be.  I taped up the house so I could see how the rooms look with wallpaper. I had some wood scraps I used to help identify the bathroom's location.

Eric is the one that had the best idea.  The house has an access bay that opens up on the house's side. He pointed out that the bathroom would fit perfectly there.  I had to show Haley and get her input. She liked his idea, so that's my new direction.

 
I will need to make the two walls and another door now, but we will have a real bathroom! I think the other side will make a great reading nook for the rest of the bedroom.

Now, I can mark these new walls, and get back to work!

Farmhouse Wallpaper Pt.2

Hello again, my friends. I've been making more progress on wallpapering Haley's house. It's so nice to see something accomplished.

We decided that the kitchen and bathroom need extra windows on the side wall, so no wallpaper on those walls until the window holes have been cut. I did start papering the left side of the kitchen. I used some of the green stripe Itsy Bitsy paper. This was the paper that irked me when I bought it online. They sent me two pieces from two different batches and the colors were slightly off. But, I'm putting them on opposite walls in the kitchen so the color variation won't be noticeable at all.

I also glued together the wall for the dining room where it joins the kitchen. I had to sand it smooth before I applied the next piece of wallpaper. Justin helped me hold the walls in place and outline where they go on the floor so I can also start to plan the flooring.

I started to go around the dining room with the hummingbird paper. I like it.  I was originally thinking of using it in the living room, but I think the swag stripe paper looked so much better there.

The room above the living room now has paper. It's pink of course, but not the pattern I originally picked out.  I was disappointed that the sheets of paper from Itsy Bitsy are smaller than Brodnax or Minigraphics. The sheet was too short to fit the entire wall without needing a strip from another, and the pattern would have been a bear to match up and make a clean seam. Even though a sheet of paper is "yay-big", you have to subtract the printing bleed area. So, that plan got scrapped and I used something else! It looks really good though, so I'm happy with the result.

I've also decided to change the door to the upper deck, again!  I originally wanted an oval light door, but now I'm thinking of a single French door. Details, details!

Haley has also requested a sewing room.  I think the attic will be a good place for that. If the wall spans are smaller, I will use the cast off Itsy Bitsy pink damask wallpaper from the first bedroom here. I think I will need to get something else as a back-up plan, just in case. Or possibly use wainscoting, if it looks better that way.

By the way, the decoupage glue isn't perfect, but I'm getting better results as I work through the house. I think my glue-brushing and paper-laying techniques are getting better. Also, if the paper starts to bubble or buckle, I use the blow drier to help it dry and shrink back while gently rubbing the bubbles out.

Now, before I go let me just say a quick hello to my new followers. Thanks for joining me and it's so nice to see what you all are creating too!

See you again real soon!

Farmhouse Wallpaper Pt.1

Hello again friends.  I've been a busy mama so I have been extra slow at making progress on Haley's house. I managed to get the foundation set up.  All the exterior walls were painted smooth. Then things came up and the house got moved to the other room (the room of exile?) so it was out of the way.

Dear hubby had a great idea to clean the garage and make a work table for the boy stuff, with the promise of helping me make a dedicated spot for minis. The garage is now really tidy, but there was no space for minis there.

Back inside, the dining room table kept calling to me, but I wasn't sure if it wanted real food, like meals, or to be covered in dollhouse parts!

Of course there are other projects that come up and they get priority over the minis. So every night I have been wishing for a chance to work on the good stuff once the boring stuff is done. We've done a little here and there. Justin set up the saw so we could cut and patch the new upstairs front wall. He cut the door opening bigger for the new front door, too. I had to patch the gap above since the new door is shorter than the original hole.

Not perfect, but this won't be visible behind the front door's top trim, so it's good enough.

 This patch on the upstairs wall will be visible so I patched, sanded smooth, and painted until it was perfect.

Yesterday I managed to get something accomplished! I had a furlough day and wanted to make the most of my time off.

I worked on the first bit of wallpapering. I tried some real wallpaper paste from Lowe's. IT WAS HORRIBLE. It just didn't want to stick and yes the surface was clean and smooth. Yes, I put it on nice with a roller. Yes, yes, I did all the right things and it was still horrible. Plan B was to resort to decoupage glue applied with a paintbrush. That worked much better!

After I let the glue dry, I trimmed all the door and window openings with an X-acto blade on my cutting mat. I had try it out with the big front door so see how it would look. This is really going to look good!

The living room now has wallpaper. I also have a fantastic plan for the big door opening on the side wall. It's going to become a floor-to-ceiling fireplace! I even made a sketch!

My next room to paper will probably be the bedroom directly above the living room. Then I'll maybe take on the kitchen and dining room. That will take some really creative assembly because there are tiny walls that need glued together to make the span.

It's so exciting to see something besides plain wall! See you again real soon :)

Farmhouse Wallpaper Mania

Hello again, dear readers. The family took a little trip over the MLK holiday weekend down to the Bay Area.  We stayed with the hubby's brother and had tons of fun.  We tracked down a few stores we had to go to, for Justin that meant RC hobby stores and for me, Shellie's Miniature Mania in San Carlos!

It's been years since I've been to a miniature store.  The Reno store shut down right after I graduated from college when the owners retired.  Another store popped up but quickly went under. Mini-lovers are at a loss around here.

Can I just say wow? Not that Shellie's store is huge, but there is tons of stuff stuffed in there! I managed to find all the wallpaper I needed for Haley's house, plus some different flooring materials too. I even talked to Shellie herself. This place is on my list for a return visit.

(Mental note: Shellie is working out the details to hold another workshop with Rik Pierce for October 2014.  I'm putting that on my wish list!!!)

We drove around the Bay and I took tons of pictures of cute houses for dollhouse inspiration. San Carlos and Berkeley have the cutest old houses!

The boys were awe of Hobbytown USA in Concord.  Justin found the right things he needed for the Twin Hammers rock crawler.  The boys have been on a kick with pinewood derby cars so I even helped Haley pick one out with some decals so she can have one of her own. Of course, it will be pink, not the red that came with the kit.

Anyhow, once back home, I encouraged the boys to work on one of Eric's RC kits while I messed with wallpaper.  I decided that with this house, I wanted to spray all the wallpaper with sealant before doing anything. I was bit annoyed by the crinkle issues I had with the red cottage, so I hope the sealant helps!

I got out all the new wallpaper and flooring, plus all my old wallpaper and flooring I had stashed away. I spread things out on the floor and looked at it. I started picking what paper goes into which room. The vine one (top left) is for the living room, strawberries (bottom center) for the kitchen. Green stripe with roses (bottom left) is the 2nd floor hallway. I'm still working out other rooms, but it's progress!

I also made another decision regarding the front room. I was thinking a fireplace would be nice. Since I've moved walls around, I have a wall with a door opening. That opening is now going to be the location of the fireplace.  I will still need to fill in the gap (so there is wall to wallpaper above the mantle) but I won't have to worry about matching up siding on the exterior. The fireplace will conceal that area!

I think at this point it's fair to officially rename the house. I've made enough changes that it doesn't look like the box. It's no longer the Victoria's Farmhouse. I will officially call it Haley's Farmhouse.

Heart Quilt Sneak Peek

I started another little cross stitching project at the end of summer. Once I finished stitching the red dahlia quilt, I immediately started a new one. I found some very pretty heart fabric at the store so it was my inspiration for this quilt.

I already had a white wire bed frame and pink mattress for Haley's Farmhouse. That bed needed some covers on top. I made up this pattern. Hearts, lots of hearts, and they had to be in shades of pink to match the fabric. I even have some pretty pink wallpaper that will look great with this.

To work out the pattern, I printed out some 22-ct. scale graph paper and messed around with colored pens. I practiced a few other things too but those are saved for another project.

I'm moving slow on this, mostly stitching during break time at work or when we have quiet time. I did a little bit at the cabin in Incline Village at Christmastime and a little last weekend in the Bay area. I'm roughly halfway.

This is stitched on 22-ct ivory Hardanger fabric. I'm tired of this material now. I had a scrap left and wanted to use it up.  It has an awkward weave that slips stitches a lot.  My next project will definitely use different material!

Farmhouse Foundation Assembly

After a very long hiatus from working on houses, I've picked up where I left off with Haley's dollhouse. That  means, assembling the foundation and making some firm decisions on the interior.

First, I've decided to make some pretty significant changes. This was the step that had me hung up for so long. Do I follow the original plan or get creative? I showed Haley her choices and now I can move forward. Thankfully, she's also at an age where she knows what she wants and can tell me. Here is a nice sketch of the house.

 I took over the dining table and started to assemble the foundation.

We're opting to take a wall from this years' RGT Build-along kit and swap it in for the front door. This will make the room wider than what the original wall allowed.  I still have to cut the door opening to fit the fancy door with sidelights. Then, I need to change the wall upstairs to match the new width. The porch on the side will be more narrow, but I'm also thinking about adding a fireplace. There won't be much porch left after that.

Upstairs, there will be a door from the hallway onto the upper porch. I'll have to chop up the original walls and remake them to fit the door and the double window. I'm planning on altering the trim and finishing for the gables. The original Victoria's Farmhouse trim is too plain. Fish scale shingles and gingerbread trim are coming to mind. I want it to be Victorian frilly and girly and Haley wants it pink pink pink. I already have colors picked out so it will be pink but not garish like a Painted Lady.

I'd like to stick to a color scheme for this house, so it's more uniform and easy to switch furniture from room to room. The main exterior walls are all painted, except for the bay window parts. Now, I must choose some wallpaper and flooring before I start putting any walls up. I sifted through my huge stash of wallpaper last night, but I need to go (online) shopping for some more.

Testing the Farmhouse

As you know, I'm almost done with the log cabin. I have been trying to wrap it up and also plan what I'm going to work on next. I have been sort of at a loss for what to do with Haley's dollhouse. To get ideas, I set up the shell on the dining table, secured with masking tape.

I'm positively going to do some kit-bashing. It's a cute house, but not perfect. I'm very much underwhelmed by the front door and tiny window. I swapped walls around, moved them in or out, imagined bigger doors, bigger windows, new walls, different appearances altogether. I'm doing this because where the heck does the bathroom fit in? 

I'm going to need some new, unmilled MDF. And let me tell you, no one around here, *No One*, carries 3/8" smooth MDF in stock. I'm going to have to special order it so I can make my new walls. Too bad I didn't realize I was going to ignore 4 whole walls a long time ago, but *SIGH*, this is just the way I am.

I already bought tons of wallpaper and new doors (see the first pic above where I was testing out if I liked them or not). I'm even going to bash the doors and probably the staircase. This is going to be great!

Let the fun begin!

Painting Haley's House

Welcome to the beginning of Haley's House. It all started in Aug. 2010.

This house is the RGT kit Victoria's Farmhouse. It has milled "clapboard" MDF walls. First, I had to square up the window openings. Justin helped me with that.

I gave each piece a light sanding and wipe down with a very slightly damp cloth to remove the dust. I used Behr interior latex paint with primer tinted a nice soft pink.

All the exterior surfaces were sanded and painted three times for super-smoothness. Justin showed me a cool trick to make a sanding block.  Get a scrap of wood slightly wider than the MDF clapboard lap. Wrap 150 grit sandpaper around it and use that to sand each lap individually. Don't sand too much on the edges to prevent hollowing out or rounding the corners.

After the second coat of paint, use a finer grit sandpaper, about 220 grit, to smooth out the last little bumps and grooves. I like to sand, wipe off the dust, then test the smoothness by touch. It should feel very even, smooth and satiny. The third coat should go very smoothly and dry with few imperfections. Carefully stir the paint so there are no bubbles in the final coat.

Next, assembling the house foundation.

Haley's House in the Box

I easily lose track of when I start projects.  I realized that I've had Haley's house sitting around for one year longer than I thought.

I ordered it in July 2010. It's the Victoria's Farmhouse by Real Good Toys.

It is huge.  You could say, I overestimated how much house I wanted her to have.  The kit in the box weighs roughly 60lbs. When it's all finished, it will probably weigh a bit more, depending on the finishing techniques I use.

Look how little Haley was, she was just shy of turning two and Topaz (the puppy) was only about 2 months old.Yes, that's me in the background opening the dollhouse the day it arrived.

Just a few days ago, I got the pieces of this house spread out on the table so I could work on it some more.

It's funny what got me started.  I was sitting at the computer and Haley walked up to me and asked where her dollhouse was. I said I still had to build it, that it wasn't ready.  So Haley said "Yeah, you need paint!"

It was all downhill from there. I got the parts spread out, found the can of paint and got back to sanding the last few pieces of exterior wall that needed paint.  Haley was perched on a chair next to me, watching everything. She even warned me "Watch out! Don't get paint on your shirt!"

More to come!