Storybook Cottage: Fable of Gables and Glass

In my last post I told you about the seemingly endless window leading process that I was mired in. I am happy to say that I did finish them, though they are not my finest work, were not easy, and I had several things "go wrong". The first challenge, and one I discovered that I am not very good at, was cutting the strips from the Lead Golf Tape. At first I tried using a straight edge and Xacto knife. I found the dragging metal feeling was like nails on a chalkboard and had to switch to scissors. The thinnest I could get the strips was about 1/16". That was cutting the lead strip in half, then cutting each half in half, and then all four of those halves in half. My cuts, in spite of monumental effort, were not always straight.

I used my saved window frame pattern in the Cricut Design Space and cut another set of frames. I sandwiched the leaded panes between the two frames before I installed them on the house. This made the exterior thickness 1/8" to match the window trim that came with the Storybook kit.

Before adding the "glaze" to the leaded windows, I tested what I had on hand. The first product (T) was Triple Thick, as recommended in the Glorious Twelfth leaded window tutorial. I left it on the window plastic for days, hoping it would clear as it dried, but it never did. The second (M) was Mod Podge. It too remained cloudy, but because of the way the texture stays raised, would make a nice effect if you were gong for the frosted bumpy surface look. The last product I had on hand (N) was regular top coat clear nail enamel as recommended in Casey's Mini's numerous leaded window tutorials. I must have a bad product, because not only did mine remain cloudy, it actually kind of melted the plastic. Faced with zero great results with the products I had on hand, I opted to use the Triple Thick. My panes, after several days, remain cloudy. I may or may not attempt to mitigate in the future.

Here they are, all 18, installed...

Had I known ahead of time, I would have made the four windows (bathroom side, bedroom and two small stairwell) only partially leaded so that you could still see into them under the leaded parts like the other twelve. You can still kind of see the display shelf and clock through the stairwell windows with the lights on. I may remove them and redo if I can find a better product to use in the future.

When I made the interior window frames and tiles for the kitchen's bay window, I knew I would eventually have to make the window sill/shelf. I used one of the kit's exterior trim pieces as a pattern, added pieces to meet up with the exterior window trim, facing, and then applied thick white cardstock for a smooth top surface. I then painted with the vintage white trim paint and installed. I filled gaps, and now just need to do some touch up painting. This will be a nice spot to grow herbs in the window.

Next I began to put some ideas into action on the exterior. I wanted to continue the potted tea plant theme from the interior to the exterior. I cut triangles from cardstock that fit into the tops of all three of the gables, then added the leaf and pot embellishments. I had to cut them down to fit the small area I had.

I also added small crown molding where the roof met the gables, large crown molding with corbels underneath, and board and batten trim.

There's a lot more trimming to do, including all of the fascia boards at the roof line, crown, tea plant embellishments and corbels for the exterior bay window, and framing around the dormer shingles. And then there's the roofing. Some will be copper, some speed shingles. So I'll keep plotting and playing as time allows.

And Camellia the kitty has reminded me that she would really like a comfy place to lie in the sunshine. Better get started on some cushions!

Hope all your experiments are coming out better than mine!

xo xo,
Jodi