Featuring: The Windows

The time has finally come for the windows to be a THING on the Harborside build! WootWoot!

The windows have been a fabulous mental project which was never anticipated. It all began almost at the beginning of the build when I saw someone online using alcohol markers to make a stained glass window. (Alcohol markers/inks are wonderful because you can use them on non-porous materials, and they will dry.) I stumbled upon the video when looking for some kind of decorating-what-not, and my creative juices started flowing. Instantly, I knew I had to make at least one of the windows of the house stained glass. Perhaps a lovely one for the eat-in kitchen and/or the little window squares above the front door would suit. Right?

Oh. It did not stop there.

First, I enlisted my friend Cindy who generally has almost every craft supply known to mankind. She has alcohol ink, not marker, and volunteered to experiment to see if the ink would work on a window-like piece when applied with a cotton swab.

The result was exactly what I wanted!

But, she took it to a whole new level and experimented with a product called Stickles:

She has a variety for which she has created a little reference card:

(The background is not a craft store, my
friends. It is her craft room! She is, like,
a crafting guru!)

For me, she tried both the Sprinkled Sugar and Star Dust varieties for ... wait ... for ... it ...

A window pane with frost!

It looks like this in the house:

She used the Sprinkled Sugar for this one.
It looks more natural than the Star Dust.

She used this ...

... for the window piece. And, it is AMAZING!!! It's even better in real life!

Her suggestion was to just tack it with a little piece of tape against the window from the inside because, "Won't that be fun to have some frost for Winter?"

And, that's when I knew I had to take it another step further than that. I said to Aaron, who had not yet been privy to any of the window discussions or thoughts, "Okay. New idea. We need to make the windows removable. They need to stay in place but not be glued in." When I say he looked at me like I was insane, I mean it. I received a very clear, "What in the ..." look from him. I promptly ignored it while I pulled out Cindy's creations, and I explained that I want to be able to make different window scenes that can be swapped out rather than tacked from the inside. When he saw the frosty one, he went from thinking "removable windows" are weird to being genius. He even started brainstorming about different window decorations for different holidays. I had him hooked!

With the house coming along nicely, it was finally time for the one, lonely window that you've likely spied in the pictures to have its friends. I realized, though, that the original efforts to square the pre-cut window holes weren't quite big enough to get all of the windows in. So, Aaron was back at it with his friend, Dremel:

It took no time at all for all holes to be ready for filling!

We plopped them all just long enough for me to take them right back out to paint. After a few days of the painting process ...

Yes. I paint over the carpet with little or
nothing under the stuff. It's not a success-
only journey, but it's worth the risk.

... Voila!

Let's zoom in on Hal for a sec, shall we?

Hal and his big, huge soda are taking a
breather from all of his supervisory work.

And, zip your attention all the way upstairs to spy with your little eye ...

"Nobody wants a ghost." -- Phoebe Buffay.
Friends fan? You get it. If not, just note how
cute she is.

Up next is a tale that makes Aaron's "Are you crazy" look regarding removable windows child's play as I had another great idea! Take a peek ...