Bedcover

So today hubby but was wearing this shirt with this awesome teensy houndstooth-like print.

It's a relatively new shirt and I'm like nice shirt.  But I look closer, at the print.  I love houndstooth! So I say "Hey, when that shirt shrinks or gets stained or something, can I have it?"

Of course he wonders why.  I fess up.  " Because it would make an awesome print for my dollhouse!"  

And Lolly says "What would you do with it?  Make a table cloth out of it?"

"No," I replied.  "It would make an awesome bedcover!"

Hubby is all " It's not a bedcover!"

" Yes it is," I replied.  "With pink sheets."

And he says "It's a shirt!"

"Okay," I say. "well the next time you wear that to work, remember, it's a bedcover.  With pink sheets."

I mean really - can't you just PICTURE it?  So I offered to do his laundry for him next week.  I don't know why he said no....

Knitty Griity Hat

The ladies at my local yarn store showed me how to seam my hat from Knitty Gritty.  I followed the  directions to knit a hat for an infant, but I guess my stitches are big because it came out child-sized.

I took a short Knitty Gritty break to crochet a toy for the cat.  I think he liked it.

Big Changes in Little Houses

Well, the house next door went up for sale.  I was told that Lolly decided she doesn't want to own a house.  And if she decides she wants one, it will be a modern one. Her little brother was eager to take over and has already painted all the rooms.

The Puritan has been in the shop since last weekend waiting for the rest of the roof and the dormers.  I had placed an order with Superior Dollhouse for windows and another door and it was all wrong!  I don't know what I was thinking.  I ordered 3 single windows instead of 1 and no doubles. Which may be okay because it turns out I may need more doubles than I thought.  I was thinking the house only has a dormer on the front but it might have one on the back too.  Also, the door doesn't fit the door opening.  I'm not sure why.  I believe the door I already have, and the one I just received are both Houseworks doors but one is narrower than the other.  By the time I finish this house, I will have enough extra windows and doors for another house!  Unfortunately, I don't think Hubby will have time to build another one any time soon!

 

I did do one little project when Lolly had the air-dry clay out yesterday.  I made a little fairy tree sculpture.  It is 5/8" tall, which is teeny but actually probably too big for the house.  That would be the equivalent of 1 1/2 feet tall!

 

 

Another mini room done!

I finally got the wallpaper sized correctly and printed out.  I had used Modge Podge before and it yellowed the paper so this time I used a spray Krylon sealer.  The wallpaper was printed on a thicker paper so I used Aleene's Tacky Glue to glue it in.  I cut all the trim, painted and installed it.  Another room done!

I also got the door trim for two of the hallway doors done.

And painted the bathroom a pale pink.

 

Window Mullions

It was another early morning yesterday, but thankfully not a 4:00 am morning!
I worked on window mullions.  Working with those tiny pieces was a challenge!  I got three windows done.

That is the dining room window but they all look the same.

Inside view.

While I was doing that, Lolly started painting the interior of her house.  I liked the color she chose for her living room!

After that I made the mistake of trying to fix the wallpaper in one of the upstairs bedrooms.  I had put it down with double-sided tape and it wasn't sticking in one section.  I tried to pull it up to glue it down instead and ended up tearing the paper from 3 different walls!  So then I went to reprint it only to realize I had never saved the file when I did it the first time.  I don't have a good program for resizing and editing pictures, or maybe I just don't know how to use what I have.  So I spent a good hour resizing and printing and still never came up with the right size.  

 

Dollhouse Trim

I woke up at 4:00 am yesterday morning.  It may or may not have had something to do with our  kitten, Mickey.  As soon as I stirred, he was in my face nudging me with his nose, begging to be caressed.
Since I couldn't get back to sleep, I decided to make use of the solitude and work on my dollhouse.  I cut all the baseboards and door trim for the two rooms I have been working on.  I painted them and glued it all  in.  Wow!  Two more rooms done!

Door trim and floors

This morning I used my flooring scraps to piece together the hallway floor.  Since none of my scraps were long enough, I cut a piece of paper to fit the hallway floor. 

I cut all the strips apart

 

glued them to the piece of paper,

 

 trimmed the ends and glued it in! 

 

While I was doing that, Lolly was staining her floors.  It would have been easier to do that beforehand but I didn't think of it.

 

After that, I glued the floors down in the master bedroom and tiny room.  I cut and painted the door trim.  I got a lot done today!

 

 

 

 



 

A New Neighbor

Well I didn't accomplish a lot on my house today because Lolly is moving in next door and needed help building her house.  I figured since she is in my craft room with me all the time playing with my dollhouse maybe she should have her own.   We bought the Creatology puzzle house from Michaels and dry fit it yesterday.  Today we glued it together and she started painting it.  See that bit of blue peeking out from the side?  That's the color she picked for the exterior of her house.  She got the two sides painted today.

As far as my house goes, I was going to glue the door knobs on the doors and then glue the doors in -and wouldn't you know?  I didn't have enough doorknobs!  Pooh.  I thought I did.  I went to Joann's to see if I could find anything to make my own but I didn't.  I do not want to order them on-line, pay for shipping, wait for them to get here.... But I guess I will have to.

Knitty Gritty 2 and doors

I finished the second Knitty Gritty project a few days ago.  It was a pair of baby booties.  I used some left over Berrocco Vintage pink yarn from my stash. 

I have also been lucky enough to have some chunks of time to work on my dollhouse.  I finally figured out how to cut my last sheet of flooring to fit the two remaining upstairs rooms.  I've been mulling it over for several weeks.  When I figured it out I exhaled and did a little happy brain dance.  This in spite of the fact that the hardwood strips keep popping up.  I don't know if that is just the nature of this kind of flooring or if it has something to do with the fact that it has been sitting in a box for more than a decade.  I ironed them down but they just keep popping up.  So I am just going to label it character.  This house has character.

Small upstairs room

After all that, I decided I should glue the doors in before the flooring. I got some help assembling the doors tonight.  They are held in the doorframes by pins. Ideally the doors would open all the way.  But to get them to do that I would need more space on the sides of the door.  I wasn't sure how much of a gap to leave and thought if it was too big it wouldn't look realistic.  So now the doors can only be opened a crack.  More character.  I hear old houses have a lot of that.  I painted one door and set it in place, along with the flooring, to get a preview of what the room will look like.  It's exciting to see it coming together!

Master bedroom

 

A Miniature Hiatus

Somewhere around, say three months ago, Lolly and I were out shopping.   We started talking about this blog and crafts.  
She said to me "I give you two months."  
"Two months!  What are you talking about?" I said.
She went on to explain that every two months, I switch crafts.  Because she has been keeping track apparently.  Well, of course I protested.  Because maybe I do cycle through crafts but it's not like every other month I am taking up a new hobby.  However, it did give me a lot to think about. Like for one thing, is that true?  And if so, why?  And is the fact that, after about two months, I took a break from miniatures and started knitting, an indicator of her being spot-on?  Or is it more like a self-fulfilling prophesy? 
It has been sitting in the back of my brain, bubbling and every now and again letting out a little hiss.  I suppose it is true, and there are probably many very good reasons for that.  For instance, part of the reason I haven't done miniatures in several months comes down to practicality.  We had family visit from out of town, and then we went out of town to visit family.  It wasn't really possible to do miniatures, but I could knit. One day I looked at all my craft books and realized I never really do anything with them.  So I decided to try to knit my way through Knitty Gritty.  I have crocheted for awhile but am only starting to learn to knit.  What I like about the book, is that each project really only adds one thing to learn so it's not so overwhelming.
The first project was to make a chunky knit scarf.  It used only one stitch and big needles so it went fast.  I pulled this yarn from my stash.  I wasn't crazy about the color, but actually now that it is knitted up, I think it's okay.

What about you?  Do you find yourself cycling through crafts, or have you found just one thing you love to do?