100th Post Giveaway - The Loot!

Now that the package for our 100th Post Giveaway has reached the winner, Shelley, I can reveal all of the loot!

The stuff I made:

Bath Basket Set

Espresso Machine

Potted Plants

Nautical Themed Rugs

More Nautical Rugs

Modern Sofa

Bed With Tufted Headboard

The Stuff Not photoed

• Glass Buoy
• Sea Glass
• Metal Jack
• Spalted Maple Cutting Board
• Sea Shells
• Beach Sign

The Stuff From My Shapeways Store:

Hip To Be Square Lamp and Shade (with bulb and wiring socket)

Masculine & Feminine Sculptures

Nautical Wall Art

Kitchen Double Sink & Modern Faucet

Shower Fixture

To Shelley and all of you who entered, and those of you who just stop by to check in on my miniature adventures...

A Giant Thank You!!!

It truly means the world to me to share my minis with you!

Update on the "Bad Idea" Fixes...

The roof panels are not finished yet... In fact, there is a LOT more to do on them! I have been working on them every moment that I can spare. The hubs and I are going on a little weekend adventure over to Olympic National Forest, so while spackle is drying, I thought I'd give you a little update...

First I tried to sand down the texture. It was fairly successful, and I thought I'd be able to live with the results. This was great because I really did not want to have to make new panels and deal with getting the skylights perfectly square. I am still working on those jigsaw skills. I also did not want to wait for new panels to arrive. That also felt like cheating, so I was determined to find a solution. In the photo, you can see the panel that's been sanded, and the one that hasn't. It took the top texture layer down, but it's still too prominent.

Because I used two kits, I had two sets of roof panels. Just like the floor, I had to turn them into one large main roof panel, and one small bump-out roof panel. I  added brace beams for additional strength to the seams. I glued and clamped the panels together and let them sit overnight. The photo below shows a dry fit after the roof panels have been joined together.

Then I added all of the fascia trim and let that sit. While those were drying, I started to make all of the exterior skylight frames. I ordered a 16 oz jar of Apple Barrel black acrylic paint to ensure that I wouldn't run out again! I threw some paintable caulk  in with the order, too, figuring I'd definitely be needing it for the finishing. I love Amazon. My package will be here when I return from the weekend trip.

After sanding the fascia and touching it up with spackle, I got an idea. What if I filled in some of the roof texture with the spackle? That and a flat coat of black paint might just do the trick! Currently, the spackle is drying. I won't get to learn whether this new idea was a good or bad one until I've sanded and painted. All in all, I'm just happy that I still have ideas. I'm also grateful for the intestinal fortitude to take a risk and go with them. As frustrating as it is, sometimes, the mistakes are where I learn the most and come away with a little more skill.

In other news...

Sometimes reading the Greenleaf Forum or other mini blogs gets me into trouble. I see something that looks like so much fun to do that I start to plan for it. Oh boy. Here we go again... At least this project is going to take up much less room. I'd like to give Debora all the blame credit. More to come on this...

Under the heading "Today's Adorable Pet Photo"...

Woodson and Rusty are best buddys, and I couldn't have asked for more! Thank you universe!

Contemplating "Bad Idea" Fixes...

When last I posted about Alki Point, I had pondered making stain for the outside siding. I put some Apple Cider Vinegar and a piece of Steel Wool into a plastic bottle and planned to let it steep until the weekend. Well, that project got a bit derailed. You see, while "waiting for stain to develop", I started working on the roof pieces. This has lead me right down a rabbit hole, and I can't seem to gauge how long I'll be trapped here.

I began with a little remodeling. The starting pieces are the Dollhouse Skylight Roof kit that was available as an add on to the original Asahi Tea House. There were 24 pains in the roof piece to begin with, but I wanted to continue the linear look of the front windows. I carefully cut out the unwanted mullions, sanded and primed the panels.

I plan to have some recessed LED lights in the ceiling, so I drilled the holes for those.

Because there is so much skylight, there is very little roof area left. I looked at many roofing options, but in the end, I decided I wanted something like a hot mop type of roof but with an asphalt texture. I painted a base coat of black.

Then, in a leftover plastic container, I mixed some pretty course sand with more black paint. I applied it pretty liberally, and after the first piece was finished I decided that I didn't really like the way it looked. Too thick and uneven.

 Then I added a lot more black paint so that the paint to sand ratio was about 2/3 paint to 1/3 sand. This worked much better, but I am still not satisfied with the texture.

I brushed on a heavy handed layer of black paint only. This helped a little, but I still don't like it. Now I am out (I think) of black acrylic paint.

Options are:

1. Apply a coat of dollhouse stucco to help fill in and even out the texture.
2. Apply a coat of black latex satin that I have stashed away for furniture touch ups (I have several pieces of black furniture). Hope that adding more paint will help even out the surface a bit.
3. Spray paint it in a lighter color.
4. Live with the results (never gonna happen). Come to terns with my terrible idea.
5. Order new skylight kits and start over. In other words, give up trying to fix it.

I don't give up very easily. Some call this stubborn, some call this persevering. Right now, though, I just need to back away and contemplate a while...

Any tips, ideas or sage advise is most welcome and appreciated!

BTW... The stain is doing great! No scum, no explosions, just a dark rust color and no sign there was ever a steel wool pad inside. If you do this, REMEMBER TO LEAVE THE LID OFF! Hope to get back to this experiment soon!