Here I Go Again...

Hi Guys! Well, I blew my posting streak, didn't I? That wasn't my intention, but sometimes, life has other plans for you no matter how many other things you already have to or want to do. Oh, I made my Delphiniums and three window boxes full of Geraniums just like I wanted to. But then, Russ agreed to put a new top on my crafting table and that prompted a whole other series of events. More on that in a minute…

Cobalt Dream Delphinium

The greenhouse kit came with only a single window box. What a shame! So, I traced the fancy shape onto 1/8" thick balsa and created two additional matching window boxes: one for either side of the greenhouse door. All three boxes got filled with lilac colored geraniums. I was going to make blue ones, but none of my test colors turned out as pretty as the lilac.

Here's where the greenhouse stands as it waits on my shelf for other distractions to conclude...

Now for the cause of the shift in attention...

I may have mentioned before that my crafting table was a family hand-me-down from my grandma. My grandparents bought the set, which included a hutch, buffet and four chairs, second hand, in the sixties. It was an Art Deco style set manufactured in the thirties. As a kid, I thought it was so fancy! I grew up longing for the day I'd get to sit at that table instead of the fold up "kid" table that got pulled out for holiday gatherings. The rest of the year, the table was covered with a fancy tablecloth and sat lonely in the dining room. If I had known that I would have to lose my amazing grandparents in order to sit at that table, I'd have been happy to stay at the card table forever.

Sitting at the dining room table with family at grandpa's funeral, 2009.

We only ever sat at the chrome and melamine table in the eat in kitchen. Grandma's kitchen was a very special place filled with love, laughter and the most delicious baked goods made with love from grandma.

Grandma, auntie and cousins at the kitchen table sometime in the 80's.

When grandma (1998) and then grandpa passed away, the dining room set ended up with me in my dining room. It felt good to have something special from my childhood here with me. I recovered the chairs and tried to care for the aging set as conscientiously as my grandma did.

October 2010

But it was lonely in my dining room, too.

Until 2012 when I began my dollhouse journey again. At first, I tried to keep the table as pristine as my grandma had with her weekly Pledge polishes. But by 2015, my dining room was in full "craft room" mode and the adjacent formal living room became my "office"

Dining room transitioning to craft room. Table covered with cloth tarp.

Adjacent formal living room in October 2010 prior to becoming my "office".

Moving my desk into the former formal living room April 2015.

Eventually, the entire space was absolutely dedicated to fostering creativity, mostly with mini projects. Grandma's table was no longer given any consideration of protection. In many ways, I think my grandma (who secretly listened to Elvis loudly on the radio when no one else was home), would have been tickled to see me using it so unconventionally. At least it was getting some use!

Dining room May 2022

Grandma's table a little worse for wear.

No longer recognizable as a dining room

The functionality of the table was always marginal, at best. The leaf section always pulled away from the main table halves which left cracks that were hard to keep closed. More than a bit frustrating when things would fall to the floor. There were metal mechanical parts on the underside that were sharp and I had to be very careful not to accidentally grab there and cut myself. Cuts happened quite a few times. The legs are well constructed and solid, but that made the table heavy and hard to move. The top had been scrubbed so many times that the shellac was peeling and coming off. No way to tell if it was toxic, but I always wondered because everything made back then turns out to be deadly, lol. It was time to replace the top. And while we were at it, why not put it on lockable wheels so that I could move it around more easily?

New butcher block top, new wheels.

Russ cut the legs down a bit to compensate for the 2" tall wheels and the 1-1/2" solid butcher block that would replace the 90 year old top. And while we were at it, I primed and painted the legs black. Seven coats of varnish should keep the top durable and washable, and when it is not any longer, because it is a solid wood top, I can sand and refinish! Heck - maybe someday when I croak I'll have a grandkid to leave it to! It should still be strong, safe and easy to move.

And while I had everything torn up to refurb the table, why not do a spring clean? Cleaning, sorting, reorganizing and making piles for eBay. 

Table painted and with new top and wheels loaded with eBay items.

I hung a cloth shower curtain from my shelf to make a
nice backdrop for larger eBay items.

Desk now on the opposite side of the living room.

And even moving my desk to create more usable space! But as you know, anytime you clean and reorganize, you create a whole bunch more work for yourself. See all the stuff piled onto my window seat? That is the materials/décor we still have left to use up and put away from our real life 1:1 reno project. But it is progress because this whole half of the living room has been filled with To-Do stuff since December of 2024. At least now that the kitchen and family rooms are nearing completion, you can see the floor!

The entryway with the in progress beadboard "wall".

Russ will add some trim and then I will paint it black.

The back side of my desk has created a wall between the entryway and the office (former formal living room). Russ is covering it with bead board for me so that it will look nice from that side too. You can see that because it is an office now and not the living room, the color scheme that used to match the comfy chair back in 2010 has got to go. Two story ceilings and walls are not easy to paint, so the entire room is going to be a work in progress. Which we will work on in between higher priority To-Dos. So much to do and we're not getting any younger!

But first - more eBay auctions coming soon! I've got to reduce some things in order to make way for painting and a few other exciting things. Forgive me if my posts are a wee bit late - I promise I am working diligently behind the scenes! And hopefully, I still get to sneak in a mini project here or there.

xo xo,
Jodi

Any Creativity Will Do

Hi Guys! I'm back for another post with a little bit of progress on a lot of different creative tasks. We'll start with the Lawbre Potting Shed and Greenhouse kit because this is a miniatures blog, after all, and it is the only miniature project that I've worked on this week. The other creative things I'll share are real life reno updates. They are keeping me from making more progress on the greenhouse, but any kind of creativity seems to keep my happy meter in the good zone. 

You can see from the photo above that the roof part of the greenhouse is just about completed. Getting here has been a challenge and I am disappointed to tell you that I did not get in progress photos. Not to worry!!! I will be building the greenhouse only kit from my stash soon. I'll take progress photos all the way through and will choose a lighter color so that it is easier to see than the black painted version. 

I have yet to add the glass in the gable end because real life progress was higher in the priority queue. More on that later...

You may have noticed that the greenhouse is sitting on it's landscape board. I did manage to get that cut, glued, nailed and painted before my priorities changed. The next chance I get, I plan to create a nice little path and flower beds all the way around.

1/2" plywood cut to 17" x 22". Trim is Home Depot Rondelet trim. 

Glued and taped

Close up of mitered corners

Nailed and dried

Now for some family room updates... You may remember last summer I shared that I was making a lot of inexpensive art to create a gallery wall in the family room. The theme was nature, and I wanted to experience as many different art forms as I could or thought I could do successfully. That included acrylic pours over hot glue flowers, collage, stencils and texture paste, painting, watercolor pencils, acrylic painting, tissue paper painting, sculpture, textures, folk art, sign making, paper art, paper clay, UV resin and mica power art. I made over 60 pieces and I had a ball! The best part was that with careful budgeting and recycling, I kept the entire project under $400.00! 

As you can imagine, hanging that much art can be challenging. I started cataloging the frame sizes I had on hand even before I began making the art. I made a layout and map so I'd know exactly where each piece would hang. The really neat thing is that I made it to scale, 1" = 1 foot so that as we were hanging I knew exactly how far each piece would hang from the last piece, the ceiling or the floor. It went amazingly and we had it completed in just two afternoons!

We also got the flooring installed and it went lightning fast! The boards were nine inches wide, and three boards fit perfectly across each row so cutting was minimal. Hooray!

Once the flooring was completed we needed to do the baseboards and create the faux beam separating the family room from the entry hall. They needed to be sanded, stained and sealed to make it ready for Russ to install. It is stinky work, but so worth the effort! They should be installed this weekend.

 Just look at those gorgeous tongue and groove ceiling boards! Sanding, whitewashing and sealing ninety of them was a marathon, believe me! But now we get to enjoy them forever!

We should have the room completed in the next couple weekends, including blinds and window coverings. Unfortunately, I have to wait until July to order my new sofa. We can't buy anything new until the new kitchen and laundry room appliances are paid off in June. 

I have some fun things to finish making for the shelves on either side of the fireplace. I have been able to work on those as I have blocks of time. My shelf will be the left one and Russ' the right. He loves Star Wars Legos and has an RC car hobby so that is what he'll display. Mine will be a combination of mini roomboxes, nature items I love and my Nintendo Switch stuff. 

For Russ' shelves, I made him a "Dad" word plaque done in Star Wars style panels using heavy cardstock shapes I created and cut with the Cricut Maker. Sometime soon I'd like to make him a diorama to display all of his droids. Just a simple and quick project, right?

Affixing Star Wars type elements

Painted navy gray

Added various metallic paints to elements

Layers of grungy washes to portray the used and cobbled
 together equipment of the Rebel Alliance

My shelf letters are coming along. They won't be as detailed as Russ', but I am more comfortable blending with the wallpaper. 😊

As you can see, my week wasn't eaten up with minis, but as long as there is creativity of some kind, I am happy! I sure am anxious to plant some mini flowers, though!!!

Have a happy, creative week, my friends!

xo xo,

Jodi

Too Many To-Dos!

Hi Guys! Russ and I are just back from a wonderful and heart filling trip to see family, friends and some awe inspiring parts of the American West! So many things ignited my mini passion that I came home filled with inspiration and motivation to tackle everything on my To-Do and Wish lists. The only obstacle has been... knowing where to start! I should probably do the laundry first!

Before we left I had so much excited, nervous energy that I was having trouble sleeping. I took advantage of the extra hours and started on the Lawbre Potting Shed and Greenhouse. The greenhouse structure is built totally from stick lumber and has to be constructed on a foam panel and held in place with "T" pins until the glue is dried.

The potting shed portion is comprised of 3/8" particle board and is easy to assemble, so I begin with that.

Because I have a vested interest in reducing the "stuff" in my work room, I dug around in my wood stash to find something I could use for both the interior and exterior wall cladding. I found a couple different sized bead board sheets and luckily had plenty! I applied it horizontally to look like clapboard.

I also had a couple sheets of vintage white brick to use as flooring. I picked a few colors of acrylic paint and randomly painted, then whitewashed the bricks. I used OneTime spackle for grout and will age everything with washes or chalk dust once the roof is on and the window is in.

I'm hoping to start on the greenhouse walls this week but I can't give the project my full attention for several weeks. You see, we have to turn our attention back to the real life house renos now that Russ' crazy work project is finished. With a bit of smooth progress and renewed motivation we should have the family room wrapped up in a few weeks. Then I have some new tools to set up in my workroom, more mini stuff to list on eBay and a side project for a friend. See? Too many To-Dos!

But one last exciting thing...

Auntie Em's in Glendale Arizona just happens to be right on the way from my parent's house in Lake Havasu to our friends' house in Carefree. If I had the time I could spend days (and soooo many $$$) in there! It is absolutely jam packed with amazing minis! Emily, the vivacious and friendly owner (who is in her 80's) is still there to talk minis! I always seem to find something on my wish list, and this time was no different! 

I know, I know! I need another project like I need a hole in my head but come on! How can I resist a Sid Cooke?????? It'll go on the dream shelf to tempt me with all my other treasures until inspiration wipes out my common sense. 😊

Progress on all my dreams might come slow, but knowing that I am working on something everyday is comforting! I'll be back to share some kind of progress soon!

xo xo,

Jodi

One Year Later...

Hello My Friends! Long time no see! Speaking of long, you might want a beverage and some snacks for this post! 

It may seem as though I dropped off the face of the Earth, but in truth, real life's demands forced minis, and by association the blog, out of the picture. I have a lot of explaining to do, but let me assure everyone that I am super duper, still alive and certainly not sitting around on my thumbs.

First, Tasha and Brent finally had their wedding last fall. Covid, a college degree, a new job and a new house/farm really postponed their nuptials. But the delayed ceremony and celebration were totally worth the wait! It was all the things a wedding should be, absolutely beautiful and many dreams came true that day! While I missed all my goals on the trailer project, and all of you so much, getting to be part of the planning for Tasha's special day was well worth it!

Don't be alarmed!!! It was a costume wedding and
Tasha and Brent went as Mr. & Mrs. Frankenstein!

We also had several folks coming into town for the wedding, so we needed to improve our guest quarters. What was once a catch-all room for "stuff" is now a nice place to host loved ones who come to visit. We have two swanky guest rooms available now! You may also remember that we updated our master bed and bathrooms last summer (2024).

For a miniature enthusiast and dreamer, even upgrading a guest room is kind of dangerous. When we refreshed and improved the 2nd guest room, the rest of the house began to seem dated and shabby. What started out as a small project to reconfigure my kitchen pantry closet turned into a full kitchen and family room remodel. We took down walls, painted walls and cabinets, added a wall of pantry cabinets, reconfigured the island, completely changed the lighting, made faux beams for the ceiling, got new countertops and backsplash tile and even replaced our 17 year old appliances (only the new range is installed so far). And that was just the kitchen!

Kitchen Before

Kitchen After (so far)

Pantry Before. It stuck into the room about 33 inches.

Pantry wall/doorway gone and replaced with cabinets. 
Square footage of storage increased 4 times.

Stove before with microwave above. Very dangerous!

Slide in counter height range with hood. Much better!

New lighting fixtures and added can lights
 makes seeing much easier!

In the family room we removed the corner fireplace (it took up so much room and made furniture arranging very limited) and surrounding walls. We eliminated an odd, long, high up and skinny window that only looked North onto our neighbor's garage wall. We made built in custom shelving and a new fireplace across the entire North wall. We continued the ceiling beams, are installing tongue and groove (whitewashed by me) cedar ceiling planks and replacing the flooring. Eventually we'll get new furniture but it already looks like a completely new house!

Family room when we bought the house in 2008

New configuration

Shelf wall at night

Looking at the length of the rooms. Still so far to go!

And while we had that part of the house in shambles, it seemed smart to give the laundry, utility hall and powder rooms on the first floor an upgrade, too. We used one of the base cabinets that we removed from the island to create a much more functional sink and counter area in the laundry room. There used to be a freestanding laundry room sink in the back corner where the drywall is gone. It was cramped and hardly functional.

The cabinet was rescued from the island. The old color theme from 2008.
This linoleum will be replaced with LVP

Cabinets installed and painted, waiting for backsplash tile.

New shelf for the laundry products.

Backsplash tile finished. Recycled old kitchen sink is an upgrade!

In the powder room, we clad the walls in barn wood and the ceiling in tin to replicate an outhouse. I know - sounds crazy, but it's really rather adorable! The garage and powder room doors, if opened at the same time, hit one another. It was a poor design and has been so frustrating all the years we've lived here. To fix the issue, we'll be installing a sliding barn door on the powder room. That's a ways down the list - there is still so much to do on the kitchen and family rooms!

Walls clad in barn wood. Niches in wall for décor.

I made the sign to look like Old West signs.

I added x's to many of the cabinet doors with dollhouse basswood

Tin "outhouse" ceiling.

We always thought the entry staircase could look much better, so we made plans and bought materials for a remodel there, too. As we took on various tasks for each space, ideas grew and so did the work load. When we start tearing out the old stair elements, we might as well paint the entry, which is a two story room. Yikes! Russ and I are really enjoying doing every stitch ourselves (and still have jobs), so we're at 10 months and counting. Ah well... It will be really lovely someday when we finish!

In mid August, Russ, at the pleading of one of his bosses, took on a side job to "help" his boss put up a metal building. At the same time, my dad came up from Arizona for a visit. For the last three weeks, all reno activities stopped. That meant between sharing my dad with my brother, I had an unexpected opportunity to work on a mini activity - making flowers and plants. I also converted an old Carlson's lantern kit into a mini greenhouse. It's not direct progress on the travel trailer project, but since the trailer project will eventually have a greenhouse, its progress adjacent. I've also gotten to work on making a potting table, plant stands and trellis prototypes with the Maker. Happy, happy, happy!!!

I did manage to sneak in a couple more "small" mini projects while at various standstills with the renos. I decided not to finish the Willowcrest so that in the future I can concentrate on smaller, more manageable projects. But I did want to keep the kitchen since I spent so much time on every detail. I carefully dismantled every aspect and recreated it in a set of hollowed out books. It will live on my cookbook shelf in the new kitchen.

Looking Inside

The story on the back pays homage to the original project.
Don't worry - the kit shell and components are being
rehomed along with all the custom door/window/arch frames
I designed and 3D printed.

Other "arty" things have kept my creativity satisfied this year, too. For Mother's Day I made plant stand "scales" for all of the special ladies in my life. They are made up of various pot and saucer components from the dollar store, hot glued then spray painted. I used outdoor thermometers rather than fake scale faces so they'd be useful and cute. In the background you may notice that I painted grandma's hutch... again, and gave a facelift to all of my old décor pieces so that I could recycle them into the new aesthetic.

For the family room I wanted to create a gallery wall, so embarked on a journey to create various nature themed art pieces using a wide variety of media. So far, I've made 56 different art pieces. It has been one of the most rewarding goals I've ever accomplished! Now when it comes time to hang everything, I may lament at the number of items to hang, but at least I'll know where every one of them is going thanks to the diagram I created as I went. All pieces are in scale with the background, which represents 18 ft x 8 ft of the family room wall. 

Well friends, as you can see I have plenty of excuses for my absence. I hope you will forgive me and come back again next time I share not only our beloved minis, but (hopefully) progress on life's other engrossing (and fun) projects. I pray it's much sooner than a year!

Hope all has been well with all of you!

xo xo,

Jodi