Flower Shop side in Progress..

Back in the shop again! It was a good thing I had glued all those bay window pieces in or my baked goods would have been long gone! As it was, I had to clean all kinds of minion drool off the windows before I could start on the other bay. The minions were glad to see me with a piece of sandpaper in my hand as they know things are starting to get serious.

What kept me away was typing my old journal for my other blog, Twice Across America. I had 13 typed pages and when I went back, they had all disappeared. I thought, "Well, I have all that saved to a disk...." When I put it in, it was blank. So, had to start all over again! But that is another story for another blog, today is for the Minions! This is pretty much a repeat of the first bay....sand everything, glue on cardboard scraps for raised panels, and paint.

 
While the paint was drying, I played around with some beads and tiny fake flowers to come up with  something for the inside of the bay. My flower arranging skills are so-so, but I think what I came up with will look nice. I used a small sticker for a flower poster for the back and glued everything in place. 

Next, I glued in the plastic windows, then the window trim.

I wanted to see how the shutters would look, so cut a few of the punch-outs from the windows in half lengthwise,

sanded and painted them

and then glued them in place.  

Hmmm, this is looking cute! I'll let all of this dry overnight and start putting in the translucent pieces behind the windows tomorrow. I think a black shingled roof will look good on this one and since I haven't used any of the shingles that came with the kit yet, I will have plenty! See you all tomorrow, have a nice evening! 

The Buns part is done!

After doing a fair bit of thinking, I started to work. Since there were such large gaps between the sides and the front of the bay window, I felt that a little trimming was in order.

Once all the supports were the same size, I sanded all the pieces and glued the window trim and the pieces I cut out of scrap for raised panels and let that dry.

I wanted a middle shelf too, so cut one out of a piece of clear plastic I had saved. Whenever I'm out shopping, I keep my eyes open for goodies I can put in the window. I found cakes and bread and some large cupcake buttons.The cupcakes look a little big, but they are a popular item around here.

Once everything was arranged, it was glued in place. Looks yummy already!

While the glue was drying, I went back and put a couple of coats of white paint on the bay pieces.

When those were dry, I glued them in place around the bay.I had an idea for the roof pieces last night so proceeded to cut a small piece of natural sponge and get out the paints for some verdigris! First, I painted each roof piece with three coats of the Bronze and let that dry. Then you lightly sponge paint each color in succession.

Take most of the paint off the sponge on a piece of scrap paper and use a light touch. You can always add more, but it's a longer process to start over. I really like these! Here is one of them glued in place.

Oh, and if you're going to verdigris more than one thing, do them all at once. Sometimes if you do the next one later it comes out just a little different. I still wasn't happy with the way the seams looked on the bay window so added a couple of toothpicks for "architectural interest". :) I trimmed out the front door and added a tiny brass fastener for a doorknob that I found in the scrapbook section in Hobby Lobby.

Mmmmm! Looks like this is going to be a popular spot in the Minion Village! Have a great day!

Back in the Shop! Woo! Hoo!

I had a good Christmas this year. While I was decorating the tree at the beginning of December, I didn't think it would go so well with our son overseas. But I invited my Mom and Bill's sister and her husband came and then their son and his girlfriend came and we had a full house! We made each other laugh, shared stories of our children and grandchildren and ate until we all felt like stuffed turkeys! We got phone calls from all our kids and thoroughly enjoyed the day. My mom and I went out for lunches,

had our hair done together and enjoyed each others company. Since then, the tree has been taken down and put away, Mom is back home, and life is returning to normal. Bill and I started working on the Twice Across America blog and all the stuff that goes with it. Stop by for a look see!
After all the excitement, I was looking forward to getting to work in my shop. I entered quietly this morning...it was so nice to be back! I crept up on the minions, they were all still sound asleep.

I turned to get something out of the closet and all of a sudden, Slash, (yes, that's what he's calling himself now) is pounding on the piano

and the minions are singing and shooting off their fart guns. It was quite a welcome, I assure you. They later apologized for not having any confetti cannons but thought the fart guns would do. I told them I appreciated the sentiment. Later I heard them giggling about a certain person in the shop that had her own fart gun that's built in...I won't go into the details of that conversation...;) Since it was in the teens this morning, I pulled my little heater out of the closet and started that up too.

So, back to the Buns & Roses build! I repainted the front door and glued it in place. Then started on the windows.

I was thinking about glueing the bay pieces on when I realized I have to put all the goodies in there first since there will be no access after. The bay pieces,let's just say, aren't to exacting specifications. There's a good size gap on either side of the center piece.

As I was sitting here thinking about that, (you do a lot of thinking with this hobby too), I thought I could either use pieces of tiny dowel to fill them in or use pieces of cardstock to cover them. I'll try sanding the interior support pieces too as they are a little off also.The exterior of the bays will be painted white like some of the bay windows I've seen on Victorian houses. I think I will add some raised panels to the bottom sections too. I know, I know, enough blabbing, let's get to it! Have a great day!

Baking Day! Baking Day!

It's official! The day before Christmas is pie day! The mojo just wasn't there this morning, but kicked in this afternoon. Since we received a bushel of apples this year, homemade apple pie was definitely first on the list. My mom and I sat at the table and peeled a dozen apples to make a whopper of an apple pie. Made the first batch of crust and popped it in the oven. Came out pretty good if I do say so myself!

LOL! Next up, a cherry pie, that is Dear Hubby's favorite. Made the second batch of crust and put that one together.

You can see that Dear Hubby is in the background cleaning up...isn't he a Sweetie?! As soon as the apple pie came out of the oven, the cherry one went in. While all this was going on, there was bread baking in the breadmaker. Yum! Third batch of crust mixed up, pumpkin pie filling put together...Morin secret is that I use heavy cream instead of evaporated milk. Trust me, you will never go back! The cherry pie came out,

I put the pie shell in the oven and carefully poured the pumpkin filling in. Slid that in the oven and took a breather!

At last the fruit of 4 hours of labor!

It was fun having my mom there watching me stirring, rolling, and making a mess in general. Now all we have to do tomorrow is cook the turkey, the butternut squash, the swiss corn bake, the potatoes, and make the gravy! Whew! I sure love Christmas though! Merry Christmas to each and every one!

This is the way we clean the house.....

The Mother is coming to visit!  You know all that housework you put off to work on your miniatures? Well, I think I have to crack the whip on myself! My mom is coming to visit tomorrow! With all I have to do, I enlisted the minions help. I'm not sure how much help they are, but they are good at pointing out what I need to be doing. First, they joined up with the mechanical monkey in the guest room and helped him make up the bed.

Next, it was the bathroom. They weren't too keen on cleaning that, (who is actually) so pointed out what needed to be done.

They want to be able to see their faces in that faucet!

One of the Vincents thought it would be fun to take the Viking ship out for a spin, but I nixed that idea right away.

Once all that was done, they started to unload the dishwasher. That wasn't going very well what with the pulleys and ropes and such so I told them I would handle that.

I guess I worked them a little too hard as they all fell asleep on the laundry pile.

Two loads to go and that is done too! Yay! No, wait a minute, I have to strip my bed and wash all that too. Oh minions...!

Progress on Buns & Roses

Had a little trouble sleeping last night so ended up in the shop poking around with the latest build. I glued it together with some Elmer's wood glue and set it aside to dry. Then I lightly sanded the front door with a piece of brown paper bag and gave that a second coat.

Played around with a business card design online for awhile and finally headed to bed. This morning, I heard the proprietors of the new shop having a discussion about how it was going. They weren't too sure about the masking tape, but agreed that at least it was progress and wasn't I just the slowest contractor they had ever come across?!

When I cleared my throat, they realized I was there and hurried away with lame excuses. Always checking up on me! LOL! They like it better with the tape removed

and watched with interest to see what I was going to do next. I swear I could smell popcorn....I got out my tub of border paste and the old brush I use.

I thought I'd try brushing the paste onto the wood this time instead of the paper to see if I could avoid the usual puckering.

So much for that idea...maybe it will calm down as it dries.

After a little while, I couldn't wait any longer and decided to do one of the windows to see how it would look! I think this is going to work fine and the light I have for the inside will give it just the right look. Here's what the translucent paper looks like in place.

Since it's raining here today, it will probably be tomorrow before the brick paper is dry so I think I will start work on the shutters next. Have a great day!

Buns & Roses, the Beginning...

If you have been reading my other blog, Twice Across America, you know that my life has been a wee bit exciting lately! So today I took some time off and started working on the latest building in the Minion Village, the instructions look more involved than the Banana Farm but I think we can manage.

The minions aren't very good at instructions, so I guess I am on my own with this one! LOL! Lots of windows in this little build. I started by punching out all the window and door parts.

I ended up with quite a pile of little pieces of wood....hmm, I bet some of these would make nice shutters.

After laying out all the pieces to make sure I have everything, the sanding started.

I'm not going to be finishing the inside of this one so that saves some finishing work. I figured I'd need something translucent for the windows so got out the matte spray and a piece of typing paper. After several coats on each side, I think I have something that will work.

While that was drying, I thought the front door needed a little something. I dug out my coffee stirrers and cut a couple of pieces to fit. I glued the window trim on too as I think this will be painted all the same color....

what color I don't know yet, maybe a nice French blue....I was going to have the inside edges of the windows painted black to match the outside trim, but then realized that the plastic window inserts have white mullions so painted the inside edges white to match.

I started looking at the other buildings in the Minion Village and thought, "You know, it really needs a brick building..."What?! What happened to wild and crazy?! What happened to pink gingham and black trim?! Uh oh, I think I had a re-think. The brick paper I have is a nice color and I do have lots of little pieces left over from the Steampunk Summerhouse and the pieces are just the right size....

What if I use the pink gingham inside the bay window? The flower shop side will have a pretty floral. I think we have a new plan. The minions have been watching this whole process with interest...they said they could smell wood burning, I told them they were wise guys. I think I can glue the basic structure together tomorrow and see where it takes us! Have a great evening!