Not Much To Report...

I don't have much to report about the last couple days. Sometimes you have to clean the house and do laundry, and mini projects just get put on hold...

I am working on the last of the kits I had lying around, and also started working on updating a really old piece of furniture.

I sanded off most of the old finish (my nice vacuumed carpeting didn't last long). I sure hope there was no lead or asbestos in the old stain! If i keel over tonight, at least you'll know why.

Anyway - can you guess what this will transform into for the barn?

Stay tuned!

Free is good...

You know all of those free ink pens that you collect then leave in various places around your house? Well, when you work with miniatures, they are a veritable goldmine! The cone shaped ends can become recessed or spot lighting. The shafts and mechanisms work great for pipes and fittings. And, the piece that holds the pen on your paper or in your pocket become excellent appliance handles! 

I scavenged around my house today and found 6 or 7 useful (and free) pens with many, many useful parts! I even found the perfect retro looking fridge handle! 

The hinges required a lot of patience and a little silver paint, but worked out perfectly. If I'd had just one more for the freezer I'd have been happier, but it all worked out okay in the end. I need to order more hinges, so maybe my kids will give good miniatures.com gift certificates to me for Mother's Day...

The interior has had a couple coats of spray paint (really hard to get it sprayed in there) but needed a hand painting. It's already taken several coats and still needs more. I got board and moved on lol!

So the Realife Miniatures kit is officially completed. I'm working on a little hutch kit next, then Russ and I really need to get the barn kit laid out. I'm anxious to get started on that!

Opportunities

After experiencing all of the "opportunities" with this Realife Miniatures kitchen kit, I was pretty intimidated to start on the fridge. Well, so far, so good...

One of the things I learned is that you need to read all of the instructions all the way through before you begin the assembly. Punch out, sand and dry fit all of the pieces ahead of time so that you know what pitfalls to avoid ahead of time.

I am going to keep my eyes on eBay for another one of these kits, as now that I have done one almost all of the way through, I have some neat kit bash ideas for a future project!

The fridge was actually pretty easy to assemble, with the exception of the door "seals". You were supposed to bend a very flexible piece of aluminum rod around the 3/32" door frame. Yeah, right! Mine ended up looking like a piece of scrap metal, and there would have been no way I could have glued it onto the door frame without it looking like something you'd see in the yard at Sanford & Sons. If you're under 40 you probable have no idea what Sanford & Son is. Google it...

So again I punt - my fridge will not have a visible seal. Also, if I understand the instructions correctly, you are supposed to glue the tiny aluminum tube to the doors, bend another thin piece of metal at a sharp 45 degree angle, push one end into the wood and the other into the tube. And this is supposed to hold the door straight and make it functional to open and close? Again, yeah right! I am going with good old fashioned mini hinges.

After copious amounts of spackle and sanding, I was finally ready to spray paint the pieces.

Meanwhile, the little fabric I ordered for the undersink arrived. I worked on that while the paint dried.

Just a couple tiny cup hooks, a scrap piece of wood, and a small wooden dowel. 

My grandma was an amazing seamstress, but I don't think she'd mind that I just used Stitch Witchery and an iron on the little curtain.

Some mistakes turn out good. My Notes From The Universe says there are no mistakes. That really makes me feel better when I accidentally make the cabinet frames too small for the cupboard doors and end up having to make a curtain instead. Especially when it turns out so darn adorably!

I'll have to let the fridge sit overnight for the paint to dry before I attach the hinges. Once I do that, this kit will be officially finished, and I have to say I've actually enjoyed it quite a bit!

Oh, and did I mention... My son feels so bad about not giving me grandkids yet that he got me a grandpuppy! Welcome to the family tiny Rusty! I get to doggysit quite regularly, so I see lots of belly laughs and joy in my future!