Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Lists Of Crap........




Making list of crap I need to do.....but when I see that sunshine all I want to do is garden.  So I do.  But I did fold laundry last night!





Saturday, March 19, 2016

Retro Throwback....Reruns And A Beer




I was feeling a bit retro! There's something appealing about mid century design.  It brings back fond childhood memories of the 1990's watching reruns of The Rockford Files, In Search Of (with Leonard Nemoy), Quincy, and Steve McQueen movies.

The Colt beer and the gun says murder mystery to me!


And in other news.......

Still chugging away on my new room box! Grouting bricks tonight. Nothing more fun on a Saturday night, right?












Where To Buy - Where To Find



Tuesday, March 15, 2016

How To Make Peeling Paint - Cheap & Easy




Sometimes I get a brain wave.  A small synapse of electrical activity connecting the creative me and my hands.  This was one of those rare moments.  Unfortunately, there is no synapse activity when I get to the basement and forget why I went down there in the first place.  Such is life!


I found a few of these little wood words at Michael`s in the impulse buy section at the cash.  Maybe $1.50 for 3 words...and yes, the buy impulse struck.  But be warned, I broke all of them as I took them off the paper mount.  But that`s what wood glue is for!

I wanted the HELLO sign to look old and aged with peeling paint.  What then looks like peeling paint........as I stared at my dirty crafting fingers.....GLUE!

Step 1

Apply white glue or tacky glue to your fingers.  Wave them around like a bird to dry.  Your family might think you have lost your mind




Step 2

Once dry-ish, paint over the glue with the colour of peeling paint you so desire. Repeat the drying or flapping technique until well dried.





Step 3

Use your nails to peel off the layer of painted glue.  It will curl and look weird.

Step 4

Chop up your peeling paint pieces and then glue them to your piece.  Apply all your finishing paints, like rust, to make it look authentic.  This technique can look like paint, crud and other years of build up and wear on any mini item.  Have fun!


As I write this I realize that I never took a picture of the final, properly aged, sign.  It will appear soon!! 







Friday, March 11, 2016

Hello! Spring??



If I will it to be spring...it will happen....right?  I'm still hopeful.  After my furnace died and was repaired, I ended up getting a new furnace.  Then a week later, the pipe that feeds the shower head developed a hole and ended up giving me a nice hole in my basement ceiling.  Sigh.  Drywall time!  Miss Kitty was pretty cute during all this.  As I was up on a ladder sawing a hole in the ceiling to find the leak and let the water out, she meandered into the furnace room and played with my newly created minis (the Hello Kitty from Elizabeth in particular).  Her line, "it's ok mom, I'm being gentle." And she was...just sneaky and sweet.  Then as I got all under control and rushed her off to swimming lessons, I looked over as I arrived and realized I forgot her bag with her swimsuit.  Too late to go back, so we went shopping to ease my soul.

So then it was mini time to feel better!

I put together a little kitchen scene.  The feature is the rather old and worn cabinet I found last summer at the antique market.  And to think I considered leaving it behind!  I cleaned it up with a few rubbing alcohol wipes, water and q-tips.  What you see isn't dirt, just wear and tear.  I plan to replace the missing shelf inside the top portion (....one day!).  The pottery on the floor is by IGMA fellow Carolyn Nygren Curran, also from the antique market.











Where To Buy - Where To Find



Sunday, March 06, 2016

Retro Dresser....And The Building Bug!







I got bit by building bug! I needed some bedroom furniture, and while I have some House of Miniatures kits, they weren't quite right.  Then I had a moment....no, I didn't black out, I actually recalled a magazine project that quite suited my needs!  The Dolls' House Magazine (November 2015) had a retro dresser project that was perfect.

Following instructions is always a challenge for me.  I grabbed some 1/16th sheet wood and took to making it.  Yes, I read the instructions! Instead of making it a single dresser, I made it a double.  And because I wanted to ensure I enjoyed the process and didn't swear up a storm, I made false drawer fronts.








What I Did

I made the case of the dresser from 1/16th sheet wood.  Then I made the 3 drawer fronts.  It took a bit of fiddling to make them fit and shave off equal amounts from each front.

To ensure the fronts would hold up, I placed 2 supports on each section as something to attach the drawer fronts to.

I used my circle stencil to mark out the handle holes on 1 drawer.  Then, I clamped 3 together and used my Dremel to sand away the wood.




The hairpin legs are a large paperclip that I pained in a flat aluminum. 




I painted the drawers in Marta Stewart Summer Linen, Americana Slate Grey and Americana Zinc.  I sealed the dresser with a satin finish polyurethane.




And Then....


I made a little vignette with the dresser for my Instagram account!