Sometimes inspiration comes from the strangest places

I was drinking a bottle of water and all of a sudden I noticed the inside of the bottle, under the label. It was a perfect diamond pattern for making a leaded window. My daughter thought I was crazy because I'd take a drink, look inside the bottle and then do the whole thing again. You'd think she'd be used to such behavior by now, lol. Anyway, the stained glass window in the chapel is the result of that discovery. The lead lines are just Sharpie marker traced over the embossed pattern. The diamonds were filled in with glass paint.

The Dasani bottle I used also had a lovely embossed border pattern. I didn't notice it until it was too late to save it - but the next time I will figure out a way to use that part, too. Isn't turning trash into treasure fun?

Stained glass?

This is not a great photo but it's the view from the top looking down on a floor lamp I made yesterday.
This will be the ceiling light fixture for the kitchen.

These were so simple to make. I used inexpensive tiny suction cup hooks from Dollar Tree for the shades. The "leading" was done with a black Sharpie permanent marker and I used a toothpick to apply glass paint to the tiny sections.

Then I used a variety of materials to construct the actual lamps. The floor lamp has a wooden base with a flat bead as trim. The pole is a fancy toothpick and I used a small bead as the light bulb.

The kitchen light has a jewelry finding tip and part of a button for the ceiling mount.

I also made a light for the dining room and a ceiling fan for the living room but I'm having trouble getting decent photos.

I used beads and jewelry findings to make lights for the bedroom. They are a different style but still appropriate for the style of the house.

I'll keep trying for better pics. :)

So here's what I did with the steps

This is a spackle/glue/paint mixture. Once it is dry I will highlight the grout lines and dry brush color onto the bricks.

I decided to name my little house, or at least give it an address. Magnolia Way is for the magnolias in the bathroom and 509 is for May 2009 when I received the gift.

I decided not to use any of the lacey gingerbread. It just doesn't seem to suit this house. Instead I used the flat trim in the peaks and I did use the little peak trim pieces. I just didn't punch the hearts out. I also added more of the flat trim in patterns around the house. I really like how it turned out. I just have shingles and painting the steps to do then the exterior is finished!

I put a piece of paper inside the window so you can see the "stained glass" detail. The other upstairs windows have half of this design in a half circle pattern.

Windows in and exterior started

I made my own stained glass windows instead of the toy looking ones that came with the kit. The upstairs arches coordinate with the rectangular bathroom window and the downstairs arches coordinate with the door window. I downloaded pictures from a catalog website and sized them in Adobe Photoshop before printing them on overhead transparencies.

The exterior is painted a creamy yellow with sand mixed into the paint to give it a nice texture. I'm obviously not yet finished with the exterior beams but I'm making progress. I just need one more on the lower part of each end and then I'll finish the front steps before putting the front trim on. I'm hoping to have enough of the wood left over to use for baseboards, at least on the lower level.

One of today's projects has got to be to finish the bedroom floor. I think I'll look through my wallpaper samples again. Maybe I can make a carpet sized tissue rug...