Modifications...

I was so excited when I went to bed last night, knowing I'd have time to work on the soap shop today, that I lay there for hours going through the steps in my mind. I finally did fall asleep, and woke up ready to jump right in this morning.

After the first dry fit I was able to determine the modifications I'd need to make to accommodate the new doors and windows. Before marking where I'd need to trim away some of the window openings, I had to modify the windows...

These are cast resin frames by Jim Coates that I purchased on eBay several months back when I began to plan this project. They are very detailed and very nicely finished. I needed to turn them into a single double window, so I needed to trim them down so that they'd be flush where they met in the middle. Using my Xacto knife worked perfectly. I then sanded down the gold paint so I'd get better glue adhesion.  

Here they are before the trimming...

And here they are trimmed and glued.

There will be matching frames on the inside, so I modified and glued a total of eight window frames.

The double windows are just a bit larger than the openings in the kit, so I trimmed away the plywood using my scroll saw. I had to make access cuts in a few cases, but these are easily repaired later with interior and exterior wall finishes.

Before making the cuts in the bay window wall...

After cutting away the plywood.

Here is the left wall with the bay window and attic window in dry fit...

Here is the front wall with the new door and window frames in dry fit. I had to fill in a little space on the top and take a little off the sides...

Some of you may remember that I had dormers for the barn project. Because of the slope of the roof, Russ helped me to recreate the angle in the dormers by cutting them with his compound miter saw. There was essentially half a dormer left over for each of the three we cut. This gave me an idea... The front roof seemed awefully big and boring on this kit. It was crying out for a dormer, and I just happened t have an extra round attic window...

I'll have to come up with some adorable cornice or something to dress it up, but it will sure add some character to that roof!

Here it is in dry fit again after the modifications...

I cut away the settle bench wall from the porch too. I want a more substantial porch for displaying stuff to lure you into the shop.

I should be able to camouflage the bad filling job around the attic window.

I cut most of the second floor away and just left a shelf for displaying stuff. Because the new door was so much taller than the kit door, I cut out that floor section completely. We'll see what ideas strike me in that area as we go along.

Next comes sanding and priming. I'll probably paper and trim out the interior walls for the most part before I glue the structure together. That's going to be the hard part, because I have so many ideas swirling in my brain, but no idea yet if any of them are good ones...

More fun to come soon!

In Shambles With No Direction...

Oh good gravy where to begin...

I cracked open the Sugarplum box, mostly because my life and home are in shambles, and there's no clear direction which way to start. You see, my family room is getting new floors, but the hubs also has other work to do so it sits now as is...

Which means that all of it's contents are residing elsewhere for the time being - mainly my kitchen and main hallway. I can do nothing about anything until the last pieces are cut and installed, including the new quarter round trim to cover the gap in the baseboards where the carpeting used to be. Once that is done I can begin to put the room and it's contents back into functional order...

Happy ending, right? But wait......... After this part of the house is finished then we begin to empty the living and dining rooms - also known as my office and workshop area to install new floors there too. This of course means more shambles and work progress based on the hub's schedule of paying jobs which take priority. More importantly, it means I am out of the mini business until that project is finished. While I love the idea of getting rid of 8 year old carpet in favor of easier care wood floors, I feel a little like a captain without a ship to sail. I may be leaving on Friday to go on a little sunshine seeking trip with my mom, so I am just doing what I can until I have control over anything again...

So today I decided to crack open the Sugarplum Cottage kit and at least do some planning. I have never been known to leave well enough alone, so I'll be making lots of modifications. I did a dry fit to get an idea of the size, and to mark out where I need to make new and bigger openings for the doors and window upgrades.

Here I have traced the new door opening I'll need to cut

Here's the door I'll be using

These will be the new window frames


I am adding a different round window to the upper level. This meant I had to leave in the cut out for the original window. Inside the original cut out was a roof brace. I had to trace a new one using scrap plywood to fill the hole back in with. Now I will trace and cut away the material for the round window.

It was a pretty thick window, so luckily I was able to pry two of the layers off so that it will better fit the thin plywood opening. I have another window, but not sure where to put it at this point since the space on the opposite end of the upstairs wall is slated for the chimney.

The upgraded windows and doors are made by Allesso and sold on eBay through Manchester Woodworks. I've been collecting them for a while now, just waiting for the perfect project to use them in.

I am going to cut away the majority of the second floor, leaving only about a one inch display shelf all of the way around. The second floor really blocks off the view into the ground floor, and since this is going to be a frilly fru-fru type soapy shop, it's better to be able to see in.

Everything is in shambles right now, and that is really out of my comfort zone. I like an organized sort of chaos, and the way my house and work area stands, it's really driving me crazy. Is this yet another lesson in tolerance lovingly given to me by the universe? Well, that's how I am choosing to interpret it... for now...

BTW... Anybody have any idea what this is?

Springing Into Spring...

I can't believe that so much time has passed since my last post! To say that we have been busy around here would be putting it mildly. But, I can see the end in my sights now, and I expect to get started on a new miniature project the day after Easter. Oh I'll still have a lot of extra To-Do stuff on my plate, but I need to make time for something mini every day. I have realized during this past couple weeks that minis fill up my happy tank, and that I am much better equipped to take on life's new challenges when the tank is full. Otherwise, I tend to get a little cranky!

I also have a lot of catching up to do! It seems the mini world did not take a break while I was busy, and many creative things are being worked on by all my mini friends! I don't want to miss anything! I am looking forward to Saturday morning, where I will catch up on all my favorite blogs and see what everyone is working on! I get butterflies just thinking about it!

The Alki Point project just needs a little touch up stain and a little dusting, then she's ready for photos to be taken. The weather forecast for Seattle next week looks Stellar!

An excellent opportunity to take her to Alki Beach for photos. Blue skies, the Olympic Mountains and Puget Sound in the background are why the first white settlers made their first homesteads there so long ago, and why it is still one of the most coveted places to live in our region. Oh I hope I can get some awesome pictures!

Until then I have many domestic projects to attend to. It takes a lot of spring time work to get my yard looking like this, and maintaining it isn't easy.

In addition to that, we are moving all of the furnishings out of the family room to lay down the new wood flooring. It's a lot of work, then we'll move on to the living and dining rooms a.k.a.my office and workshop.

Hope the new spring season is also inspiring creative ambitions in all of you too! I can't wait for more mutual mini sharing to begin!