Mattresses and Sofas...

Hey Everyone! Well, I was outside enjoying the beautiful weather and decided to go into Motorhome Central to see if Debra has anything available to eat. Uh oh, I turned the corner and this is what I saw:

I tell you, it's never a good sign when you come home and a mattress has been thrown outside...so I climbed over it the best I could to investigate. Now Debra had read some stories about people taking out the sofas in their campers and there were chainsaws involved...I was really hoping that the Big Guy was going to go for it big time. But the Big Guy has this bad habit of thinking things through, so instead of a chainsaw, he had wrenches and an impact driver. He started looking things over and before I could raid Debra's stash of chocolate, he started taking that old hide-a-bed sofa apart.

Then one of the grandsons came by and he put him to work too! No one is safe around here. First, all the metal parts came out,

and then they hauled those off to the back of the truck.

Next, the arms and back

and a bunch of seatbelts that were under there too. Seatbelts in a sofa...must be to keep you from falling out of your seat when the Friday night movie gets a little too exciting or something. So now that all that is gone, we can get a shop going!

I supervised all the furniture moving and Debra and the Big Guy did pretty well...a little too much grunting and panting but they did okay for people of their advanced age...LOL!

Now you would think that she would use those cabinets over the top for craft stuff but she has baking stuff up there. Baking stuff, they've lived in this thing for seven months and the only things I've seen her bake are Jiffy corn muffins and a frozen pizza! I think she needs to rethink her priorities...Ow! Whoops, Debra is reading over my shoulder, hope she didn't read the part about me snitching her chocolate...I'm out of here!  Deb here, Mr. Skellie can sure be a freshy sometimes! This was sure fun to get organized...have to figure out how to get electric over here and find all my bottles of paint but I will do that tomorrow...not too early as I am burning the midnight oil again.

That's what happens when you wake up with hiccups! But they finally stopped so I have chased Mr. Skellie to bed and am about to head there myself. I'm looking forward to starting work in my little shop and want to thank you all for reading.

Poking around in the Garage...

Remember how I told you that all of Debra's crap stuff, I mean craft stuff was in her daughter's garage? Well, one of the grandsons left the garage door open so I just sorta strolled inside to have a look around.

Holy Smokes! There is stuff everywhere in there! I think Debra's going to have to take over the entire motorhome for all this stuff!I found the Rolling Brickpile Steampunk Summerhouse...it looked so sad in the box!

Look over in the Labels section and you will find all kinds of posts of it and all the furniture Debra and I built. I found her Tea Shop too...

sure hope we get to fix that up, it got kinda busted up in the last move. I actually packed up all the teapots and junk for it...and yes, I was at least careful with that stuff. Her workbench is there too...

I have fond memories of all the pieces of molding I cut up when Debra wasn't looking...she still doesn't know where all that crown molding went! LOL! That chair has seen lots of use too...

that's why the cushion is so flat...Wide Load spent alot of hours in it! That will probably get moved into the motorhome along with one of her plastic tables. The space is only 67 inches wide so it might be a tight fit. Then all we have to do is decide what to put in Motorhome Central! I just heard Debra talking to the Big Guy on the cell phone...guess what they get to do when he comes home...empty the poop tanks in the motorhome! I definitely don't want to be around for that job...actually, I make myself scarce when there's any work involved! LOL! See you later!

The Skeleton has spoken...

Here I am, the world famous Mr. Skellie! And yes, my ego is way bigger than I am! LOL! My fan Tammy sent me a present the other day...I just love presents...Debra hasn't made me anything lately, I don't think she loves me anymore so I am snagging her computer while she is in the shower to give you all an update. Her and the Big Guy have been living in a motorhome in the daughter's backyard for almost 7 months now. Her shop was carefully packed in boxes, not the ones I packed, but SHE was careful...LOL!And they are all in her daughter's garage and in a shed here. The plan was to build a shop in the garage but now that her daughter is married, stuff changes. Does anyone think of me around here?! Hello! The little plastic skeleton is talking! Anyhoo, I forgot to show you the present! This is me with the work apron that Debra so generously gave me...lace and all:

Now Tammy knows what I like...handcrafted with a place for my tools in a manly color!

So when Debra was helping me send a thank-you to Tammy, (she made me) she started to feel the want for a shop again....but how to do it. There's this sofa area in Motorhome Central that no one sits on as it is beastly uncomfortable.

Could it be removed and replaced with one of her workbenches so she can get her butt in gear and start making me stuff? The Big Guy said he would remove the couch and got a flashlight to get a look at all the bolts and stuff underneath. You would not believe how that is fastened in...I think the motorhome could go over a cliff and that sofa would still be attached but the Big Guy and I are going to have a go at it this weekend and I will post pictures of our progress. Oops! Debra is out of the shower and hollering about what am I doing on her computer and such...think I'll go take a peek while she is drying off...;^)

What HAVE you been doing Debra?!

No, I've not been resting on my laurels...funny mind picture by the way...just some different life events. First off, I went back to the thrift shop to look for a shirt for my Dear Hubby. He's a tall, and for some reason, those are really hard to find in stores and I didn't have time to shop online. I found a brand new one by American Eagle and decided to poke around in the curtain section again. Guess what I found...another pink gingham valance! I came home hauling my treasures only to find that Bill couldn't button the shirt over his chest. I had a little bit better luck with the valance, after ironing the heck out of it, I transformed this:

into this:

More ruffles! Then I went online and ordered some pink butterflies to scatter across the wall over top.

So we went with Plan B for Bill's shirt and were off to Marlene and Jack's wedding!

Mr. Skellie has been head over heels (skull over heel bones?) in love with Marlene for quite some time so he was sitting in the back crying. Fortunately, I had a tissue in my pocket for him. Good thing there wasn't the part in the ceremony about "anyone here objecting" cause he would have jumped to his feet for sure! So now I think it's time to rustle up a wife for Mr. Skellie. Hey! Then we can have a skellie wedding! Oh fun! Another thing I wanted to get done was some repairs on the minions Outback Steakhouse. The place is so busy that the door is starting to come off the hinges!

One of the minions fell off the ladder near the smoker, so I helped him back up and noticed the power for the restaurant had gone out so have to fix that too.

Maintenance, maintenance. I worked on that yesterday as it was raining like crazy outside!

But this morning the air is clear and cool...45 degrees! I guess it is cool!

Since all the laundry is done, I'm off to the store to pick up a few things so I will see you later! Have a great day!

New curtains and more fabric bolts!

I started out by painting the first coat of white on the new fabric display for the Quilt Shop.

These little Michael's hutches are made out of pine so soak up paint like a sponge. Looks like I'll be needing 1 or maybe even 2 more coats for a nice finish. After that I decided to make more fabric bolts.  You know the drill, First, I cut all the pieces of wood for another batch.

You notice that I stuck a piece of painter's tape to my miter box so I wouldn't have to measure each one. Once I had a pile of those,

I moved on to picking out more fabric and preparing it.

A little paint,

and snap!

 All done!

Just like those recipe videos we all see on Facebook. I now have 50 of these done

and will probably need 50 more...well, maybe a few more than that, but we will see how well-stocked the Quilt Shop looks by then. I've also been thinking about curtains in my shop. The idea of pink gingham sprang to mind so I mulled that over for a few days. I went to the thrift shop to drop some things off and decided to poke around while I was there. You'll never guess what I found...2 pink gingham valances! For only $1.97 each...my kind of price. So I brought them home and washed and dried them. Since they are made of 100% cotton, it took a while to iron them. My heart goes out to my mom for all the time she spent ironing my dad's shirts back in the 50's before permanent press. I remember her using a sprinkling bottle on the shirts first as she didn't have a steam iron either. What a large part of a day went to ironing clothes back then! So after pressing the heck out of them, here is how they look:

I know, it's pink, but I am unashamedly a girl and this is my shop so I will pink it up all I want! LOL! Have a great day! (I think it needs some butterflies...😃 )

Inquiring minds want to know....

A new dollhouse builder named Debbie had some good questions for me so I thought I would share the answers here in case there is someone else wondering about the same things. But first of all, I would like to thank her for her kind comments and I am glad she is enjoying the blog! Welcome! One of the questions was whether she would like a dark room with no view. My new shop has a double window, but they look out onto the porch so actually have less light coming in. I use a combination of a small fluorescent fixture over my bench which was secondhand and gifted, and a brushed nickel task light I found in a thrift shop with a Reveal bulb in it.

This combination of lighting seems to work the best for me so colors are more realistic. I only have a view of the front yard and the neighbors house, but I am usually too absorbed in what I am doing  to notice. And that dust factor....keep in mind that for the most part, you are sanding tiny pieces that create tiny amounts of dust. It does float around in the air though, so if you would rather not breathe it, you can wear a dust mask....like my custom one here...:D

If I have to sand big things, I wait for a nice day and take it outside. My husband says the next thing I need is a very small shop vac so he can set it up to suck up the dust from each power tool. But this is something you can do down the road, it's not a necessary item. These are the tools I started with and what I built most of my first dollhouse with back in the 80's.

Also add masking tape...very handy for dry fitting and for holding your house together while the glue dries.  I chose the Greenleaf Glencroft because I liked the look of it...no one told me it had a bazillion pieces to it...each of which would have to be sanded. I always thought it was the funniest thing in the world that Greenleaf would give you one piece of sandpaper packed in with the dollhouse kit! The laser house Debbie is looking at sounds fantastic...not nearly the amount of sanding required as the regular punch out kits...a lot less slivers too. As I continued to make more things, I exchanged my clothespin clamps for real ones and the folded bits of sandpaper for my favorite little sander...lots easier on the hands. The cork-backed ruler I have had for at least 30 years, so you can see that these things stand the test of time.

It doesn't slip when I am trying to cut something with my Exacto knife and is a whole lot safer for the old fingers. As you continue to work on more projects, you might find this tiny chop saw will come in mighty handy for cutting lengths of molding and narrow strip wood.

It was only about $35 at Harbor Freight, and I of course used my 20% off coupon. The newest power tool from them is a small table saw.

I was trying to use it the other day to cut the wood strips for the fabric bolts but had a problem getting a nice straight cut. I think some modifications are in order for this one...don't go jumping on it just yet. And, what about books. These are all my dollhouse books right now.

Some were gifts, some were old copies libraries were getting rid of and others were purchased over time. But my hands down favorite is one by Caroline Hamilton.

It was printed awhile back, but if you can get a copy, I think you will enjoy it. Her writing is down-to-earth and she has great ideas and inspiration. My favorite reference books are these...especially if you are doing a Victorian style dollhouse.

These were used books I bought online and they are especially great for exterior painting ideas. A good suggestion about books is to see if you can borrow them from your local library or inter-library lending program before you buy. You might find one that you enjoy more than the ones I've recommended....and that's fine too. Each person in this hobby has their own favorite tools and methods and you will find you will too. Oh, I just remembered, you will need glue too! LOL! Don't use hot glue, the new stuff doesn't last and you can burn yourself on it too. Good old yellow wood glue works great for wooden things and tacky glue for most of the rest of it. Hope this answered your questions....you can ask anytime. Have a great day!

Mermaid Tails and Clutter!

It has been lots of fun crocheting the mermaid tail.  We watched a movie last night and I managed to weave in all the loose ends! Yay! I have a box, I have a gift bag, this will be on its way this afternoon.  Here's what it looks like all finished:  

Time to put the crochet hook down for awhile and give the old fingers a rest.  The last time I was in the shop, it didn't look too bad.  When I peeked in this morning....holy clutter Batman!  It looks like everyone has been having fun in there except me!  

So I spent some time cleaning up a little so I could at least move around a bit in there.  The Captain greeted me with a hearty welcome and Rose hugged me tight.  I think they want me to start back up on the Summerhouse, don't you?  I tossed around the idea of putting brick paper on the inside of the exterior walls on the second floor. But after looking at it for awhile, decided to go with my original idea.  I think I'm going to have to wallpaper that small section of roof where the chandelier will be hanging as I don't think I can get in there once it's all in place. Will have to do some thinking about that one.  

Well, it's off to the post office I go with the mermaid tail!  Have a great day!