Fairy Here, Fairy There...

If you're very quiet...

                    and you take your time...                      

and you look closely...

you might be able to see them.

They even have gardens planted of their own.

And they are always welcome!

A "Gnome" Addition

I bought a gnome you can paint at Kohl's. I had to have it! So badly that it sat in my craft closet for probably a year untouched. Finally, I let the neighbor's daughter, Kelly, start painting it.

She didn't finish it either. Well, Mr. Gnome, today is your lucky day!

You must be complete so you can help the others...

...protect the gardens

...and work with the fairies

Enjoy your new home, Mr. Gnome!

A Mini Challenge

I wanted a dollhouse FOR my dollhouse. My mom had made one out of scrap wood, but I wanted one a little more intricate. You can see the one my mom made in the bottom of the picture below.

I went on my trusty http://www.miniatures.com/ looking for a kit. You really need to read what is included. All kits are not created equal. I wanted a kit that included everything down to the landscape. This is what I found.

The scale is 1/144. You can see how tiny everything is compared to the penny on the table. This is like a put-your-cheaters-on-and-get-the-tweezers kind of kit. I love it!

Sorry, Folks, furniture sold separately.

It is a project that can really be done in a weekend if you were dedicated to it.

You can see the landscape in this photo. I have been debating whether or not to glue the furniture in place. It really doesn't stay put at all; it's so little.

I found these tiny dogs and cats in my dad's train stuff. The scale is actually 1:86 but I can't tell the difference. I also snagged a little container of chickens and cows in the same scale. In the picture below you can see the cats sitting on the railing. I hope they don't fall.

DIY Dollhouse Kit

So the bug to build more dollhouses was really with me. I had completed the 1/144 scale dollhouse you can see in my post "A Mini Challenge".  I thought about looking at a 1/24 scale. Of course, all this building costs some money, so I couldn't believe my eyes when I found this Rylai wooden kit on Amazon. It included all the miniatures as well? It was only $53.99? How could this be? I had to order it to find out.

I get the package. They weren't kidding about the DIY part. The structure and some of the pieces were wooden but the rest was a whole booklet of printables!

There was some hand sewing involved too. 

And lighting!

The booklet was laid out pretty well considering it was probably translated into English. The parts that were confusing, well...you just have to wing it.

A Log Cabin Saved

Every time I would go back home, I would "save" one of my old toys - my Cabbage Patch Doll, our old Holly Hobbies, Star Wars action figures from the 80's. On one particular trip I noticed a log cabin kit down in the basement. I know I had been seeing this kit for years. But it was so heavy, and I was flying. Hmmmm. "Dad?! (pouty face) Do you think you could mail this to me? I would love to build this for Abby."

Score! Look what came in the mail!

This project is all about the glue. Again, I always use my favorite Aleene's Tacky Glue - dries clear and doesn't expand. Most of the wood pieces were cut to size. There is some mitering involved too. It was imperative to measure and separate each wooden piece FIRST. There were so many different lengths.

After that, it was just following the steps.

I mentioned in a post before about the "3/4 plan". This is one of those projects. 

This is as far as I have gotten. I have to finish the dormers (I glued the roof wrong, so I have to make some minor modifications), the front door and the chimney. I have recently knocked out a couple of other little projects, so this is next on the list.

The above picture is now a few years later (before stain). I consulted my brothers and sisters on how to finish my messed up dormers. They ended up being open on the back as opposed to doing a flat roof dormer. I finally got inspired to finish the log cabin. I tested a couple of stains but the light maple was the best.

This is after stain. I like how each board turns out a different color. I guess that's the beauty of stain. The final touch is the chimney and fireplace. As you can see below, there is a sticker stencil that needs applied.

Next, I had to mix the dry plaster with glue and water.

I had to work quickly. This plaster mixture starts to dry within minutes.

After about 5 minutes, the original stencil can be removed.

It actually worked! I was pretty pleased with the results.

And here is the finished front.