Little Changes

 I painted the base of the kitchen light fixture white and added a paper shade. It's hard to see but the living room light base is now chrome instead of brass. Both were very simple changes but help to keep the period look. I used nail enamel to cover the brass.

We are enjoying a beautiful weekend here in Indiana. I hope you are enjoying a bit of sunshine, too!

Date day!

Hubby and I enjoyed a day out today. We did a little shopping, ran some errands, had lunch out, and looked for new living room furniture. One of our stops was Hobby Lobby. I found a couple of LED ceiling fixtures to use in the Westville. I bought the only two the store had but I will order more. At only $12.99 they are a bargain. HBS has one just like it for about $20. I think I can add paper shades if I want to change the look but the style is simple enough to use as is. You can see the difference the lights make.

With an overhead light and the lighted TV the living room looks quite cozy.

The light in the kitchen makes a huge difference. This photo was taken without the flash.

I may add shades to these later. That's will be really easy since these lights are magnetic. Bedroom and hall lights will be coming soon!

Touching up on snow day#3

 Today I concentrated on cleaning up little problem areas to make the house look more complete. The living room paneling had several areas that showed up white in photos. A little bit of paint with a fine tipped brush fixed that problem. Looking at the photo below, it looks like the area over the door could use a bit more paint. Well, almost fixed.

 I added ceiling trim to the kitchen because all my wallpaper edges weren't straight. The trim is made from the plastic guards that come over windshield wipers. Cut them at the seam to make two strips of trim, paint the inside, and glue in place. Recycling at its best!

 The cowboy room had a couple of small gaps that were easily fixed with a bit of trim.

The exterior paint work was touched up and sealed with a coat of matte Mod Podge.

Even though these weren't big projects, they were the kind of detail work that makes a mini home look more like a real one. Have a wonderful day, my friends!

Snow day #2

The calendar says it's April of 1955.

Scott paper towels and dispenser added in the kitchen, too.

Mr. S. has a tray to hold his wallet and loose change. He also has the last photo taken of his parents on his chest.

Just a boy and his dog watching a boy and his dog.

I added a little LED light inside the TV. It's just a little battery operated light but look how real it makes the television look!

I love snow days!

 Mrs. S., Davy, and the range all got some updates today. Mrs. S.'s blouse had a floral design imprinted on it. I added a bit of paint to make the print coordinate with her skirt. Also, I added a design to her apron because plain white didn't seem quite right for the 1950s. I worked on Davy's coonskin cap to give the crown some texture and a better color. The range was touched up all along the back panel and I added some watch parts to give the dials dimension. I made all new knobs from watch stem knobs mounted on a circle punched out of a tealight cup. Much better!

 Davy also got brown eyes like both of his parents and auburn hair like his mom. I really like how his hair turned out. It's so much better than the bright yellow that was supposed to be blond. He also has a few freckles across his nose and cheeks.

I don't think I'd posted a photo of the finished back of the house. Ta da!  ;-)

Have a wonderful, blessed day my friends!

Down to the last detail

 After a lovely early Valentine's dinner date with my husband I spent a bit of time making kitchen utensils. Mrs. Sherwood now has a hand carved wooden spoon and spatula, a potato masher, and an egg beater. All fit nicely in her kitchen drawer with room to spare for other fun things.

The egg beater was made by following a tutorial in American Miniaturist issue #151. The other things I just made based on the real ones I have.

Have a wonderful Valentine's Day, my friends!

Kind of like hopscotch

 At least that's how I feel as I jump from one little project to the next today. The pan of soup was done last week but I just remembered to show you. I had a rubber band out to make a rawhide chew toy for Davy's dog. As I looked at it, I realized I could cut small slivers and make noodles. My "yummy" soup recipe is rubber band noodles, polymer clay bits of carrots and celery, and amber glass paint. Since Mrs. Sherwood has been deep cleaning all day the Sherwoods are having canned soup, white bread and butter for dinner.

 The table is set with soup bowls and silverware with napkins, a basket of bread slices, butter with a knife, and salt and pepper. There's fresh baked apple pie for dessert.

 I finally got the books made for Davy's shelf. He's got some classics like Charlotte's Web, The Borrowers, and Robinson Crusoe as well as some Golden books. His favorite, Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier, is on his dresser.

 I made a mailbox out of some scrap metal. It even has an atomic starburst embossed on the lid.

 I wrapped some spice printies around a scrap of balsa to make these spice cans. The little shelf is made from scrap bits of wood. You can also see the recipe cards on the counter in this photo.

The clock is made from a metal lid from a champagne bottle, paper, scrap metal, and a little watch bit. I painted the lid with nail polish.

I still have plenty of little things to do to add personality and life but I am very pleased with the results so far.

Have a wonderful, blessed week!

Some days just don't go quite as planned

 My planned task for today was to work on the exterior of the house after running a few errands in town. I ended up spending a good part of the day with Daughter#1 and running the errands. By the time I got home I didn't have time for starting a big project so I did a couple of smaller ones instead. The kitchen project was a very simple one. I put in the trim piece to separate the linoleum from the wood floor of the dining room. I also added yet another coat of paint to the stairwell wall and added a trim piece to cover a large slot in the stairwell where the two stories connect. I don't have a photo of that, though.

One of my stops while I was in town was Hobby Lobby. I bought an unfinished hutch and turned the top half into the bookcase for Davy's room. The top shelf will actually hold books. The other shelves showcase some of his favorite things.

If there's time tomorrow I really am planning to work on the exterior. I think it will go fairly quickly if I like the brick I plan to use. I guess we'll find out tomorrow!

Creative repurposing

 I used 4 small desiccant canisters to make enamel canisters with stainless steel lids. Both colors are nail polish. The "pyrex" were made from white measuring spoons. I cut the handles off, sanded the rims and bottoms, and painted them with nail polish.

 Here are the canisters in place.

 The bowls on the counter....

I sanded off the pie top and turned it in to a bowl of soapy water. I will have touch up painting to do once the glue is dry but I am much happier. I have a beautifully scaled apple pie made by my friend, Brenda, that will look much better in this kitchen. Brenda also made the apples in the bowl on the counter.

My next project this evening will be lamps for the bedside tables in the master bedroom. I'll be back tomorrow with updates.

It's the Little Things

 The kitchen now has curtains and a few more small details.

 Mrs. Sherwood's ginormous pie is really starting to bother me. If I grind out the bowl with my Dremel what would be better in such a large bowl? I'm not sure I can get the inside smooth enough to make it just an empty bowl. Ideas?

 I made a brief visit to Hobby Lobby today and found a few more pantry items. It's full enough to seem like a real pantry but I still have room if I want to add something later.

 The last project for this evening was these nightstands for the master bedroom. I still need to seal them but I'll wait until the glue is completely dry.

I think they look good in the room.They will look better with lamps, books, alarm clock, etc. Slow and steady wins the race, right?

I really should be heading to bed

...but I have to share the living room with the knotty pine paneling. I also did some staging in the kitchen.

 First, the kitchen - Mrs. Sherwood is happily cooking away in her new kitchen. She still needs curtains on the windows, a clock, and some artwork but this room is nearly complete.

 I even started filling the pantry. I was asked about the cabinets and appliances today. For anyone who hasn't been following this project from the beginning, I purchased the basic lower cabinets and appliances but everything was all white. I sanded, painted, and redid the pieces to get the 50s look I wanted. The two upper cabinets were kits but I made the corner shelves and joined the two cabinets.

 The knotty pine paneling looks so good. I'm happy with the color and the thin wood was very easy to cut with an exacto or even craft scissors. The curtains were made from coffee filters and the carpet is scrapbook paper. This room needs artwork and I need to finish the front door. The tables need "stuff", too. I want the house to look lived in.

Mr. Sherwood approves of the makeover. He was getting tired of coming home to renovations. I'm not sure he's going to be too happy when the exterior brick work starts. :-)

Have a great week!

The upper cabinets are finished

 After playing around with the upper cabinets I decided I liked the open shelves on the outside.That makes the doors open backwards from normal but I am going with it anyway. I found a wood scrap from a previous project with a nice shape to use as the separator between the cabinets. Rather than a range hood I'm planning to use a photo of a vintage wall mounted fan.

I also made the counter tops a bit more gray to give more contrast between the counters and the wallpaper. I may have a finished kitchen to show later today. The current project is turning thin birch ply sheets into knotty pine paneling. I should have something to write about later, anyway. :-)

It's a white out...

Or at least it was for a short time in the Westville. I got rid of the dreary colors and dirt with a couple of coats of Gesso in both lower level rooms then got started on the kitchen. I made great progress today.

 Even with one window boarded up the kitchen looks ten times brighter. The ceiling had never been painted and the staircase was left the plain plywood color with no sealer or anything on it. The wood was so dry it just soaked up the paint.

 Please excuse the blue tape. The living room bay was falling off. I don't have photos but the porch had some demolition work done today, too. After some research, I am excited about the exterior now. I don't know what I'm going to do with the living room floor but I am currently leaning towards knotty pine on all the walls. (I know - what am I thinking?) It's a lot of work but it's appropriate for the time period and I think it will look really cool.I love the knotty pine I did in the wall house that represents my inlaws home.

 I love the kitchen! Once I get the upper cabinets and shelves in place with a range hood the large expanse of busy wallpaper will be toned down. I am pleased with how bright and cheerful this room is. I plan to make some gingham valances or cafe curtains for the three windows. I got some canned goods from hubby for Christmas but I will need to make more food to fill up that pantry.

The dining nook has white washed plank flooring. The replacement windows look good, too. I was pleased to find three window frames that survived the demolition. That made at least that part go quickly.

Tomorrow we are helping our daughter and her family move so I won't be doing any mini work. I will get back to it next week. Have a wonderful weekend, my friends!

A Makeover Story

The dinette set got a small makeover this afternoon. The chairs were much too wide and they'd been bugging me since I "finished" them. So I did some cutting, sanding, and repainting and they look much more in scale. I also added just a bit of pink to the table top and trimmed and evened up the table feet. I think I'm truly finished with it this time.

Small Progress on Some Minis

 The kidney coffee table and step end table just didn't look finished. I spent quite a bit of time sanding each one. Then I added a bit of warmth to the color. I am much happier with them now.

 I purchased two Houseworks upper cabinet kits for the kitchen. They were very easy to assemble.

Here they are finished and ready to hang- presuming I ever have time to work on the Westville. My Christmas break has been nice but I just wasn't able to find the time to work on minis that I'd hoped for. Bring on the snow days!  ;-)