New Year, New Project

Happy New Year. :) I've neglected my blog a lot lately and have made it one of my resolutions to post more, craft more and take more photos.

Speaking of resolutions, a few years ago I bought a doll house. It's been sitting in the basement since then ( yes for FIVE years) and I've finally decided it's time. So one of my New Year's resolutions is to build the doll house. I'm off to a great start:






Step one is to paint the outside and all of the trim.



I'm using Safari Green by Glidden for the main house. For the trim I'm using Ballet Slipper and Aegean Blue by Martha Stewart Living. I've ordered the stain for the roofing shingles and hardware for the door. I ordered them from this fabulous site. This will be a big project and I'm expecting a lot of cursing to go along with it but I'm looking forward to the challenge. The kit I'm using is Allison Jr. from Real Good Toys. It says it's an easy to assemble model. I can only imagine the more difficult ones. :)

Wish me luck!

Sunshine & Random Bit of News

Finally! The sun is out. It's been a dark and stormy week here in Manhattan. I actually heard loud booming thunder! I'll tell you, that is rare here in the big city. But today is gorgeous and breezy and I wish it were like this always.

So what's on tap for the weekend? I'm heading over to Leigh Ann's tomorrow to thrift and just have some good old fashioned girl talk. LA, you'd better brew a big old pot of that delicious strong coffee you make!

I've been very blessed to receive not one but TWO sweet aprons from Leigh Ann.



The orange one is from a thrifted Martha Stewart dish towel (look at that cute rick rack!) and the other is from a thrifted pillow case. I was with LA when she found both of these items and it was neat to see them transformed.



Look at how pretty this case is! The border made it perfect for the apron. Thanks, LA!

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I also received a lovely gift from the Jungle Dream Pagoda! If you haven't been there you really must visit. The scenery is divine and natives are restless. ;)



Lisa-Gabrielle had a little contest for her blog-o-versary (and I still don't know how to find out where you get that date from, anyone?? I'd like to celebrate mine!) and had a haiku writing contest and I was one of the lovely winners!!

How cute is that lovely apron! She also included a vintage tin that I commented on when she first showed it on her blog. I have one that matches it exactly. Plus there is some vintage wrapping paper, a cute kit to make elf ornaments, some adorable little baubles and wonderful children's books which I'll probably use in my collages. Thanks again, LG!

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I did a miniature swap with Natasha at Rickrack & Ribbons. You can go here and see what I made for her. It's a doll house birthday party. :) It was so fun to come up with ways to make things in miniature. I know once my dollhouse is set up I'll become obsessed with all things small. I included a little chocolate cake from The Doll House Bakery a la Turkey Feathers. So cute! I can't wait to see what Natasha made for me. :)

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Remember my bird swap with Jen? How can you forget that awesome apron?? If you go here you can see some WAY better photos of the lovely goodies she sent to me. :)

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Today is the last day to sign up for the Summer Fun Swap at Sweet Goodness Swaps! Get your names in ASAP and join the fun! I can't wait to see all the imaginative containers everyone comes up with.

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Have a wonderful weekend friends! Wish me luck on some "hope to finds" at the thrift store with LA tomorrow.

Cheers!
Rebecca

You know, in all my SPARE time . . .

I bought a dollhouse. Like I need another project but hey, it's all about me right? (Maybe that's just with wedding stuff at the moment but I'm stretching the shoe to fit okay?) I bought THIS ONE. I had a 50% off coupon for AC Moore and figured it wasn't getting any cheaper than that. I was at my parents house when I purchased it and my Dad rolled his eyes and said "I remember when your mother went through that phase." Thanks Dad.

Anyway, I have been wanting one for awhile now and I'm really looking forward to getting started. AFTER THE WEDDING. I was incredibly inspired by THIS and THIS. And seriously, why is everything tiny so cute? I already have loads of ideas bursting about how I'm going to make tiny pillows and bed spreads and newspapers! Oh boy.



I mean look at that cuteness?? And I can make this, right? I mean I have paper coming out of my ears and you know I don't throw anything away so I have a whole file of SCRAPS. (That would be #7 on the list of weird things I guess.) I need to build the house first which Luis said he would help with. He actually sounded sort of excited but he does have a knack for putting stuff together.

In anticipation of doll house construction I plan to overhaul the craft room first. At the moment, there is a futon in there. We have three bedrooms and it just made sense to me that one of them should be able to be used as a guest room despite the fact that we shelled out the major pesos on a nice pull out sofa bed in the living room. Luis and I slept on that futon when my parents were here and it was the most God awful thing I think I have ever laid upon. My sincerest apologies to anyone who has to endure it's crappiness. So it's being relocated to the basement for doggie enjoyment and I'm in the market for a new "surface" for that side of the room.

So where do you go to look for a surface? Ikea of course. I could go the temporary route and get one of these:



I already have this desk in there and it's only $59. So it will match the other one and hey, it's disposable if I find something I really love. I dream of antique furniture and all that good stuff but I have to face reality and just get something functional right now. Plus I can add some rolling carts to the bottom for storage. It's also 29 inches deep which is plenty for the 24 inch deep doll house.

I am considering this as well:



This is more of a splurge at $400. Pros: it's real wood, it has wonderful storage drawers and it's counter high (it's supposed to be for a kitchen) which means I could stand or sit on a stool. Cons: it costs a bit more than I'm really prepared to part with, is only an inch and a half wider than the doll house and because it's so high (over 4 feet) the 3 foot high dollhouse will be a bit challenging to get to even though it probably won't LIVE in the craft room forever. So . . . . QUANDRY . . . get something cheap or splurge on something not quite right for the project of the moment but would be great as a craft room piece down the road. Talk amongst yourselves . . .

Rebecca