The Yin and the Yang of Decorating

With 2022 comes some fresh looks for The House! The House members took a big break during the holidays from decorating which resulted in unexpected pep in the step to take on some bigger projects once the calendar page turned!

Before the weekend, I spent some time just cleaning up by way of dusting the floors, furniture and wrap-around porch as well as resetting the outside to strip it of foliage and decor to get it ready for Spring planting. I vacuumed the yard, too, to tidy it up including detailing the mulch to get whatever has trailed off into the grass back where it belongs. So, when I looked at it yesterday to see mulch trailing from the front step to the gazebo on that freshly dusted porch floor, well, the suspect was clear.

Check out her handy work:

Cool way to show off the new
front steps I ordered, though ...

Thank you, cat, for the antithesis of decorating. After a few minutes of cleaning that up, I focused on what I originally intended to do! And, then, it took but a minute to distract myself to create a bigger project than I planned. 😊 Last Fall, I attended a miniature show where I bought a piece of carpet for the girl room, and I absolutely love it but had not yet taken the time to "install" it. After clearing the room and taking a close look at it ...

... I realized it could use a fresh coat of paint on the green. Only the wall to the left needed it, mostly because the mounting putty I used for decorations left really faint marks. The leaving of marks has happened only on this wall, so it's kind of weird that it happened at all. But, it did, and I wanted to spruce it up. But, don'tcha know I was foolish in the first place and created a custom color. Of which I made extra. But, it dried up. Even though I stored it in such a way that I thought it would never dry up. But, it did. And, I have since tossed it.

I knew when I created custom colors that I was taking this chance, and it had come to fruition. I also  knew I would never be happy unless the match was perfect. And, if it wasn't, I'd have to paint the other two spaces (the divider to the hallway is removed in the pic). And, the likelihood of having to do that was huge, so I decided, "Why fight it?" and got the tape out:

I'm somewhat amused that I will tape in The House
but I will not tape anything if I paint in my real house.

I have a healthy supply of paints I was walking toward as I said to myself, "I really shouldn't pick another yellow." And that's exactly when I should have known I was going to do so. It is so often my go-to wall color in real and miniature life, and it's a lot of work to avoid it (unless I'm going with a shade of purple. Then I can ditch the yellow in a heartbeat.). So, I didn't spend a lot of time trying to force a different color when I knew it's what I wanted. So, I fired up the laptop with another episode of Friday Night Lights, and I got to painting! It took three coats to get it to its true color, and I looooooooooove the outcome!

Wisely, I chose a color that I didn't mix.

And, here it is with the new carpet and divider wall back in place:

I love the complimentary colors together. Mmmm ... (I also love that the rooms in this house are so big that most flooring options aren't big enough to go wall-to-wall! For real, I love it. I like the border around the carpet anyway.)

And, here's the room with life back in it:

Cats, amiright?

This freshen-up project really is lighting a fire under me to redo that armchair and the dressing table because the fabric bothered me before, and it really annoys me now! It matches absolutely nothing, except memories of furniture in my house in the 70s, and it has GOT to be redone! Add it to the list ...

The kitchen is in the middle of its new flooring project, so, stay tuned! For now, though, I will enjoy the "Fresh Squeezed Lemonade" walls and lavender carpet combo ... ahhh ...

Halloween Abounds!

The rest of The House has been busy-busy celebrating in their own ways! In the family room, there's a crew chilling with a game, some treats and decorations! No one seems to mind the cat is getting a treat of its own:

In the kitchen, there are more treats prepared! These are cupcake sprinkles I coated with poly. They hardened into the perfect cookies! Once these "cool," they'll look like the ones with faces on the plate by the family room gamers 😁:

And, if someone wants to stow away where there's some quiet, they could grab a treat and go to the eat-in area:

But! We all know how social this crew is! In the next room, fancy coffee is enjoyed amidst a plethora of treat options!

They have nabbed some fancy cheeses and crackers to cut the sweet:

Among the new additions this year, I purchased some Halloween cookie pops!

Upstairs on the rooftop deck, the carving happened!

Here's to wondering if this kitty will get its own treat here as no one seems to mind them:

My Hub works with an engineer who loves to do 3-D printing, so I asked for the "boo buckets" McDonald's used as Happy Meals in the late 80s! These are some of my very-favorite-ever decorations for The House because I have these very buckets, that I got in the 80s, in my real world in real size!

Of course, the outside of The House got The Treatment:

I capitalized on not putting the panes back in the windows by hanging the new wreaths in them:

I think these pumpkin lights are some of the favorite mini lights I've ever had:

But, we all know the REAL fun begins when the sun goes down! Polly is at the door with the candy stash not just for the neighborhood treat-or-treaters ...

... but, she always sends her favorites out with something in their buckets!

Off they go!

Happy, Happy Halloween!

The Sweet 2021 Halloween Addition

The preparations for Halloween have been in the works for a few weeks, and, now, it's time for tricks and treats!! Here we go!!

The new installment of decorations this year is something I actually made a couple of years ago! The Hub sent me a picture he found on the internet of small pumpkins painted to look like M & Ms, and I HAD to do it myself! Check 'em out!

I already had a stash of pumpkins that are actually beads. I definitely had more than I knew what to do with, but that's what happens when you buy the string of beads on sale:

I painted them with acrylics. Remarkably, there was no prep required for the paint to stick!

Fortunately, My Girl gave me a little floral block that she was going to trash that I had stuck in my supplies because I did not think ahead to how I was going to let these dry! This was perfect!

I waited a day, and then, I went to work on the faces and logos. I used a toothpick to paint the details:

I absolutely love how they turned out!

Next up ... the rest of the decor and celebration!!

Creations From the Stash

This past weekend, I was able to hit another wave of making things for The House! I sat down to do one thing in particular and ended up doing these things instead!

So, recently, I was in one of those stores where there are shelves upon shelves of jam, spices and other kitchen doo-dads when I spied napkin rings made out of this viney stuff (my technical terminology is amazing, I know ...):

This is or is not recognizable as I already deconstructed it before taking its picture hahaha oops. I actually don't know if it was a napkin ring or something that sits at the base of a taper candle, but you get the picture. In the store, it seemed to be "the right size" for a wreath on The House, but, of course, perspective can be way, way off when away from mini land, so you can assume it turned out to be giant. Hence, the immediate deconstruction! I pulled the pieces apart, realigned them in a smaller circle, and voila:

I have a little stash of the orange and yellow pieces from other projects I've done, so I glued them on there for more color. You'll see this hanging at Thanksgiving!

Speaking of holidays, with Halloween right around the corner, I was inspired to make these:

I've had the purple stuff for a couple of years and haven't ever used it. I'm not even quite sure what I was thinking when I bought it except that it was purple and only a dollar. More than once I've thought I should just throw it away, but my box to stash floral things is big enough for keeping it to not be a nuisance. You can see it in this pic on the left:

I used Beacon Quick Grip glue, which is a bear to work with but certainly does the holds-strong-fast job wonderfully, to close the ends. And, I used spray glue to get on the glitter. Just a few pumps of Artminds Spray Glue around the front, and pinches of glitter until I was happy made it look fabulous! Rookie mistake alert: If you purchase a bottle of spray glue, store it standing the bottle up rather than on its side if you ever want the glue to come out of the pump again. Ask me how I know ...

I also had these embellishments that I bought at a scrapbook store three years ago ...

... and decided the spiders were the perfect touches to complete the wreaths! The ghosts are crazy cute, but they were a little big for this project. A little dab of the Quick Grip stuck those little guys right on ... probably forever! (Have I mentioned how strong that glue is?) You'll see the wreaths hanging in a few days!

Speaking of scrapbook store finds, I recently purchased a small box of flower embellishments for which I had no specific plan. I was inspired this weekend to also make this:

I used the scraps of "vine" from the deconstructed napkin holder to create a wreath base and then just covered it with the flowers until I was happy with it. The Quick Grip glue did its magic for me so I could make this easily without things slipping. I figure this is the wreath to hang between Summer and Fall to transition the seasons!

While on a wreath roll, I made one more! Recently, I found a plain, grapevine wreath in box of floral things I got at an estate sale that I had not yet rummaged for all of its pieces! I love such surprises! Stashes are good ... In the mode of transitioning seasons, I decided the front door needs something to put up after Christmas. So, I sprayed the found wreath with the spray glue and covered it in blue glitter. From there, I picked through a stash of Winter sequins (bought at that same, three-year-ago scrapbook store visit) to get the snowflakes. Here's the outcome:

At first, I only put a ring of snowflakes around, and it looked AWFUL in every way. Like, embarrassingly awful. So, I decided to just start layering them until I was happy. And, now I am. 😊

So, the last project I made about a month ago making it random to have here. But, here it is. 😊 I was checking out a miniature Facebook page when I saw a number of paintings someone made for a dollhouse attic. There were so many, and they were SO cool. One in particular caught my eye because the apparent size of its canvass looked like ones I recently put in my own stash (4" x 2"). I thought the seascape I was looking at on the Facebook site could be perfect for one of them. I showed the picture to The Hub who said, "HOW does someone paint that so small?" to which I said, "Challenge accepted."

It appeared the painting in the picture was made with oils and by someone with much better technique than I, but I cracked open my supply of acrylics to give it a whirl:

Booyah. Seascape. And, just like I had no idea what I was going to paint on those canvasses, I have no idea where this will be hung in The House. 😄 That's all part of the fun!

Stay tuned to see the decor in action!

Oooo ... Ahhh ...

The rooftop deck was, indeed, finished just in time for a great July 4th celebration!! There was just so much good stuff going on that there's no time to waste!! Let's take a look!

I have to zoom right in on the latest and greatest acquisition:

THEY HAVE A COTTON CANDY MACHINE! And, look at how proud Hal is of his cotton candy making skills! I found this at a miniature show recently and, after asking how much it was, I immediately said, "You can go ahead and wrap that up while I look at your other stuff." I. Just. LOVE. It!!

The patio is chock full of sweet treats as there's an ice cream bar on the other side:

Grandpa Buddy is churning away old-fashioned style! There are a few cartons for different flavors on the right, but the girls are happy to wait for "the real stuff." This makes Grandpa Buddy proud. There are also some ice cream treats tucked away behind Grandpa Kermit:

These are actually buttons. I have a cutter to get rid of the button attachment. Then, I put a drop of Gorilla glue into the hole to keep the pieces together. Otherwise, they just slip apart. Ask me how I know ...

For those not interested in the heat, inside, there is a dessert and drinks gathering:

Grandma Laura is about ready to dig into her slice of key lime pie while chatting with Polly.

On the other side of the carpet, Phoebe and Millie enjoy a new tropical drink and pie:

They are not short on desserts!

Others unafraid to brave the summertime heat are up enjoying the deck:

From the kabobs Richie is monitoring on the grill to the feast on the table, there's something for everyone!!

Let's check in on those who are seeking refuge from the hubbub on the front porch:

July 4th truly is one of my favorite holidays. I love what it means, and I am in awe of those who signed up to protect our country. Truly in awe. I deeply admire it. I also love that the timing marks there's still just as much summer to go as we've yet had. And, while I do enjoy watching fireworks, anymore, I enjoy it from a great distance or, even better, in the air conditioning on TV! I'll leave the outdoor viewing to others:

Can you hear the collective Ooo's and Ahhh's?!

Happy Fourth of July from The House to you!!