1:16 not 1:12?

I've patched the holes and sanded...multiple times, but the roof area is still pretty rough.  That glue from the shingles was industrial strength and it just won't come off.  So...what to do? 

I'm considering that spray paint that makes things look like stone.  That could work for a rooftop.  The original idea was just to paint it a dark color with some hand drawn roof-type lines, but I think plain paint is just going to look crappy with all that glue residue.

I pulled out my bucket of paints to play with the other night.

 And slapped two different grays on the outside:

Meh.  That was the idea...gray, but that's the color of their room.  I like it...I just don't know.  So many decisions.

In other dollhouse news, my original estimation of the scale (1:12) may be off.  The reason I say this is because I was super close to buying a kitchen set on etsy the other day and the seller suggested measuring before purchasing.  The sink was 4" high and when I measured 4" in the kitchen, the sink would have covered up some of the window.  That led me to this article, which seemed familiar and may have been what I used originally.  After reading through it and measuring the doorway, I've come to the conclusion that it is more 1:16 than 1:12.  

I was able to swing by an antique store and found some inexpensive additions to the house.  A kitchen sink!  And look...right at the window level.  That's what it's supposed to look like.

The doors open, but one is a bit off.  My kids will tear that thing off if I don't figure out how to reinforce it.

And here's a little table with a cute birdhouse.

I also found some plates.  These are just for me...the kids will not be allowed to play with them.  I'll go get them that enamelware set at Michael's or something if they want plates.

That's it.  Everything was on sale, so yay!  I'm thinking about painting that table.  We'll see, though, because once I get some color up on the walls, the brown table may not be as overwhelming.

Double Trouble

A few years ago I made some swim coverups for my niece and nephew.  I decided to make my own kids the same coverups from that pattern: The Aegean Swim Cover.   The last time, for my niece, I made the dress without the ruffle.  I changed it up this time around and added the ruffle.  I used the two pieces of vintage terry cloth that I found in April at the Textile Center's Garage Sale.  Thank you to my shopping partner in crime for suggesting that I mismatch the two fabrics to produce these matching coverups:

And the backs:

So cute, yeah?

I made a size 6 for my older daughter and a size 4 for my little one.  The little one's head has a little bit of a tough time getting through the head hole, so I don't know what is up with that gargantuan noggin.  

Z got hers first about a month ago in anticipation of going to swim lessons three times per week.  The other one has been sitting in my craft room in pieces until just this past week.

 In action:

I serged the hem - it's still set on the napkin rolled hem setting, but it worked for this.

Pretty Thrifted Things

My mom was in town for the week of the Fourth of July and I was off from work, so we spent our days hanging out at thrift stores.  I got an entire new wardrobe, which is good, but I also found some pretty tea canisters for my craft room.

Butterflies:

 And this sweet one:

I also found a handmade blanket.  In theory, my craft room is supposed to double as a guest room.  Of course, the guest must only weigh four pounds because the guest will have to sleep on a rickety old antique bed (that does not yet have a mattress).  This blanket is perfect for the room, though:

I also bought some fabric...silver stuff that was probably from the Disco era and a sequined one.  There's tons of silver and not so much of the magenta, but still...fun!

My mom also found lampshade for one of my kokeshi lamps:

These poor lamps have been without lampshades for probably seven to eight years.  Blah.  I kept thinking I'd need mini shades, but this fits perfectly.  Thanks, mom!  We found one more maroon shade, but the other two lamps still need to be rewired.  

Dollhouse Things

I've been having such a hard time finding pieces of furniture and things for the dollhouse, but on a visit to ArtScraps here in St. Paul, I found some little decorative bits for fancifying the house:

Planters!  I think I will have to go to the pet store and get some fishtank greenery to fill the planters.  Some fake mini-seaweed would work, right?  I will also need to paint them...shiny gold maybe?  I still have gold spray paint from two Halloweens ago.

And then I found these scrapbooking pieces:

They are plastic sticky frames for embellishing scrapbook pages, but I think they will work as wall frames.  I'll have to find some fancy photos to stick in them.

Anyway, that's it.  Oh, but I guess I should report that there was a furniture death.  The sink from the bathroom set committed suicide or was murdered by the cat when it fell off my shelf.  Poor thing.   I may be able to glue it back to good health.   For full disclosure, I suppose you should also know that I let Z play with some dollhouse furniture and she got her paws on the kitchen cupboards (I did not protest strongly enough) and promptly tore off a door.  Remember in Goonies when they gave Chunk the framed map to hold?  That's my Z.  She breaks everything.  In her defense, of course, she's only five.

Still a Work in Progress: Dollhouse

It's been THREE years since I bought the dollhouse.  THREE YEARS!  But this summer it will get done...do you want to know why?  Because it's in the garage and it needs to be sanded!  Hah!  Progress equates to being out of the abyss that is my craft room.  Plus my older kid has been playing with it in it's partially refinished state and has been pestering me to paint the dang thing.

She loves it.  She brought in all her little friends in a dumptruck.  (As an aside...that little pink doll to the right of her hand is Moana, I think, but a very dolled up Moana...in heels!  I don't think Moana wore shoes once during that movie.  Nuts.)

So, while she played yesterday during a sick day, I sat on the other side of the dollhouse and pried off shingles by hand.  If you'll remember, the shingles have been my least favorite part of the house and some were even scratched up by an unknown creature.  At one point, I got a little overzealous and dug a hole right out of the roof:

 Check out the before (above) and the after (below) in the bottom right corner of the roof.  Nuts.

After the dishes tonight, I dragged the thing to the back deck, grabbed an upholstery tack/carpet staple remover tool to pry up the shingles, and got to work.  Those shingles were off in no time.  They've left some bits that are still glued on, so some sanding will be in order to get that all off.

While I was on the deck, my neighbor/architect of the LFL came over to investigate the dollhouse.  I consulted him about the hole and he scooted over to his place to lend me his wood filler.  I patched the large hole and all other little ones.

Looks good, yeah?  So this weekend I will get to sanding it down.  Yay.  Like I said, progress.

Kit

My mom gets put to work again on one of these vintage felt kits.  This time...a bulletin board I found on Etsy.

It's so great.  She does not like the turquoise backing, so I think she's contemplating changing it up a bit.  I was down to visit her a few weeks ago and saw her handiwork on a Christmas tree skirt.  So cute.  Of course, I forgot to take pictures...

Picnic Time

My friend and I went antiquing together to find a wedding gift and settled upon a vintage picnic basket with melamine dinner plates and cups.  On our way out, we saw an oblong tablecloth and we knew it would be the perfect picnic blanket for the couple.  I took on the task of making the blanket with one week until the wedding.  I do my best work at the last minute.

It was backed with some home dec fabric.  The bolt only had a little bit on it and it was in two pieces, so I had to sew it together...hence the seam on the underside:

I made little ties so that when the blanket is folded into thirds, it can be rolled up, tied, and carried, though I chickened out and did not make a carrying strap.

My mom is in town and volunteered to sew the ends of the straps:

Bunting Sweatshop

The other day I posted about a wedding that I attended where the bride used pretty bunting to beautify her reception area.  

I was a part of the bunting-making sweatshop and here are some photos from that day...

We used a diamond shaped template and folded them in half to get the triangles for the bunting.

The twine went in the top crease of the triangle and then we zig-zagged over it all to secure it.

So many different florals, but they all worked so well together.

 Some of our triangles got the pinking treatment, some were cut out by hand with regular scissors, and others got up close and personal with the rotary cutter.

Here is our prototype:

And on the boat we criss-crossed them:

It was so very pretty!

Pretty Things

I went to a lovely wedding this weekend.  It was on a boat that cruised along the Mississippi River.  The bride had collected dozens of bud vases and filled them with all sorts of flowers.  They were so pretty.

They had been transported to the venue in these little partitioned crates, which was just so charming.

They lined the dining tables, dotted the small tables on the upper deck, and even stuck a few in the bathrooms...or should I say the heads?  Isn't that the nautical term for toilets?  

And the even the backs of the table seating charts were lovely:

The bride also enlisted the help of one of our bookclub friends to make the boutonnieres...a talent that she had kept hidden from us all these years!  So pretty!

And look at this little table...so pretty!  

 What are these cute little bears doing?  They are guarding the German Chocolate Cupcakes from just launching themselves into my mouth.

And then there was the bunting!  We had a bunting making sweatshop (post to follow) about three weeks ago.  We went in early to affix it to the ceiling of the dining room...

 Most of these fabrics were found at the Textile Center Garage Sale in April.

 She also had some doilies strung up on twine:

And then we had to take it all down at the end...but look how lovely it all clustered together:

Congratulations, Colleen and Ben!  It was all so very lovely!