Kit Bashing...

I spent a good deal of last evening and today trying to make the furniture kits I have become what I need for the space in the barn house - It's what we like to call kit bashing.

I thought I was being so smart by scanning the pattern sheets into the computer, then printing them off so that I could cut them and affix them to my gluing jig. It was all going so well, except when I scanned and cut the upper cabinet pattern and held them up to the frames i'd already made, and was baffled when the cut pattern was smaller than my frames! Argh! I retraced my steps, and figured out that my scanner and printer settings were set to Fit To Page, Then it dawned on me why the lower cabinet was such a struggle. Okay, a cup of coffee and a little regrouping later, I decided I'd just have to punt.

By eliminating the space between the first upper cabinet and sink, and using what was supposed to be the over the oven cabinet for above the sink instead, the overhead cabinets fit perfectly above the base unit.

I added some additional trim pieces to give it some symmetry, and it turnes out I can live with the result.

I bought a few old House Of Miniatures kits so that I could turn the pieces into vanities for the bath and powder rooms. Because the MBS sink I had was a little wider than the sink base, I again had to punt, I made patterns of the top and drawer front pieces and then went to work with pencil, scroll saw and sandpaper until I could dry fit everything together. It was a lot of work, but I managed to come up with something I can live with.

Not bad for a days work, and I can take some of these "learning moments" with me to the next vanity, hutch cabinet, and sink and stove kit. Wish me luck!

Off To The Races!

Well my Dremel Moto Saw arrived shortly after my last post and I haven't looked back since!

I took a good long time to read the entire instruction manual, mostly describing horrible ways you could injure yourself, before I set it up and gave it a try. I watched a lady on YouTube install the blade - Thanks HeyMimi DIY! I took my little countertop piece and traced the pattern onto a piece of scrap wood. Then I fired it up and began to cut... It went terribly wrong!

If you begin to think you are off the line, you probably are. I stopped to ponder this a moment, but forgot to stop cutting. You can see the little "pondering bump". Cutting the corners was also a little tricky. The blade only has teeth in one direction, but you have to cut at a 90 degree angle. How you sposed to turn the thing and keep from getting a gigantic curve! I believe this will be the most troubling to master. But hey, it's me! And I shall not let this saw be the boss of me! 

After cutting, sanding, staining and then gluing the butcher block countertop onto the original counter pattern, I had to try my luck again. This time, the saw god (my husband) had tried the thing out and given me some very good advice. Turn up the RPM's and chip little pieces out of the corners, he said. Go slow and if you don't like where it's going, stop and regroup, he said. He's so damn good at being handy, and his advice was perfect! My cut wasn't quite perfect, but it was close enough to sand pretty good.

Spackle, sand, paint and drill I can do, so the rest of the countertop went pretty fast.

Now I have to make a decision about under the sink. Cupboard doors, or curtain. Hmmm... I wish there was more of you reading this so you all could vote!

The sink drain is just a plastic wall anchor painted black. The faucet, door handles (Tim Holtz scrapbooking brads) and hinges (came with the kit as door handles, but not as dramatic as the brads, I think) got a coat of black spray paint and then Rustoleum metallic bronze over the top.

I thinl I'll attach the drawers and outer doors and then decide on the sink cabinet. The answer usually comes exactly on time...

In The Meantime...

It's coming on two weeks since I received the Real Good Toys Big Barn Kit and I haven't even begun to prime it! I am getting restless, but before I can start there's an issue to deal with...

The kit comes with a large opening cut out on the front wall which is meant to be sliding barn doors to bring livestock through. Hopefully, I won't have any livestock living in it when it becomes the model for our retirement home! We are planning to install 2 (bashed to make them taller) Houseworks Garage Doors and an entry door to the front, and therein lies the quandary... How to cut out for the garage and entry doors, and use that material to fill in the pre-cut barn door, all the while matching the milled siding. I am not so confident in our ability to make it look right, so, I emailed Real Good Toys.

Jennifer was wonderful! She told me exactly what information she needed from me in order to assist me with getting the right replacement part, custom cut for our needs! We were able to order a new front piece, grooved and milled exactly like the original, minus the door opening! And all of this for only $35! This was Real Good News! Our new front wall should ship out this week!

In the meantime, to keep me busy on something, I purchased an old Realife Miniatures kitchen kit on ebay. It is literally from 1975, hence the Harvest Gold appliance color. It came in the original factory shrink wrap, but upon inspecting the package contents, the stain, sealer and glue they provided was all dried up. The wood is also a bit dry and brittle, but careful removal from the pattern sheets seems to be working out pretty well. There is also a sort of fermented glue aroma that takes a little getting used to.

In the true spirit of miniature adventuring, I've decided to do a little kit bashing. I'd like to have a farmhouse sink instead of the apartment sized one that comes with the kit. I had a nice plastic container from a Chrysnbon candy dish set in my junk drawer, so that's what will become the farmhouse sink. A little word of advice on this kit - nothing is cut to fit perfectly. All the pieces are extra long and wide. I imagine that is so that it can be extra forgiving if you get a little happy cutting or sanding.

As an early Mother's Day gift, and with the complete encouragement of my amazing husband, I am expecting... To receive my new Dremel Moto Saw today! I am killing time until I hear the familiar squeaky breaks on the truck of our friendly UPS man My husband has always said you can do anything with the right tools. He's got a garage absolutely stuffed with them! Unfortunately, they are a little rugged for little jobs.

As soon as it arrives I plan to get very adventurous! In the meantime, I wait...