The Grass Is Always Greener On the Other Side Of the Room

The family across the room in the beautiful, yellow house was not without an outdoors to celebrate the Fourth! TA-DA!!

Oh, to finally have a yard!! Woohoo!! There are a number of projects displayed here, so I'll share them in their own posts. Let's start with -- you guessed it! -- the green!!

If I'm being honest, this turned out to be a little more involved than I expected. The good thing is I had a solid sense of the steps before taking them on, so I just kind of started the process without thinking about what it would take. That helped keep the mental game positive!

So, in my stash of stuff, I have had a roll of green "grass" that I bought way back in the winter with a 70% off coupon at Michaels. What I assumed then was that it was too small for what I needed, but I was reasonably sure I could eventually get 2 and make it work. I unrolled it, though, and I didn't like that the piece looked bent in different places. These were creases that I really didn't think I could fix. And, I while unrolling it confirmed I'd need another, I realized I would have to very carefully plot and plan exactly where I would have to create walkways to cover the seams before I had a chance to step back and visualize the space as it "grew". I didn't really like either of these factors and immediately started Googling to find another option.

What I landed on was this roll of grass from Hobby Lobby:

50" x 100" oughta do it!

I certainly knew this was entirely more than I needed as the width of my yard is 64", but it took having to intentionally cover seams out of the equation. SOLD! The next smaller size was the same as the one I already had anyway. So, go big or go home.

The first hands-on step to this process was creating the template. There was nothing exacting about it. I just placed paper on the plywood, folded it up against angles and taped it all together on three sides of the house:

Then, after heading out and buying the only roll of the grass in stock (whew!) at my local Hobby Lobby, I unrolled and taped it down to the only non-carpeted space big enough in our house to receive it:

I didn't really think that part through before
buying it, either, but I was confident in
figuring it out!

From there, on went the template!

I cut around the template being sure to tape down where I just cut, or the grass would want to roll up under itself. Not only would that be annoying, but I really really really didn't want to screw up the cutting here!

After getting the main piece cut away (and working hard to get the roll back in the plastic casing with My Girl because that sucker did not just slide back in), I went back to trim to size:

Placing the piece on the plywood ended up being a two-person process. This happened mainly because of the rolling factor of the grass. Even though the "roll it backward" method works for, like, wrapping paper, I didn't want to over-roll it fearing creasing it in a way that it would look WHACK on the yard. We cannot have a WHACK yard. Rather, I utilized my people. My Girl helped with the initial run of it as she held one end while I taped going around:

She held it so it simply wouldn't fall and pull it off the table.

The next step of the process was untaping, gluing and reapplying the grass. I got out the Aleene's Tacky glue and just started from the left undoing the tape, smearing glue as best I could and weighting it down for a bit with a book and a hand weight on top or just with my hand pressing down. The back of the grass is a paper that doesn't allow the glue to seep up through the grass. But, it does wrinkle when it gets wet. This is where Aaron had a genius idea to use the Pampered Chef roller thingy:

I watched my mom wallpaper like crazy when I was a kid. I
was surprised I didn't think of using something like this!

This was a life saver as it got out ridiculous wrinkles with ease! I don't need the yard to be perfect, but wet paper wrinkles tend to pattern in unnatural ways. So, those had to go.

I untaped and glued section by section as it seemed fit. There was no measuring or real planning. Once I was convinced the glue was dry enough to keep pressure off of it for the grass to stay stuck, I moved on. This did put a few pauses in the process, but I realized that I couldn't keep taping or it would possibly lift the grass off its paper. And, it couldn't sit and dry completely if there were wrinkles to get out. So, hitting pause while slowly moving around the house was worth the time!

Might I throw in a "Holy crap, the piece of grass fit the table and around the house exactly!"?!

And, I'm thrilled with the outcome!

The yard, though, is far from finished! Keep going for the next step!

Two Miracles In One

I'm just about to embark on another big step in the dollhouse process, so I thought I'd catch up a few details first!

To begin, I felt the need to update something that should have happened from the very beginning:

Up until this weekend, the corners of the yard platform were a perfect 90 degrees. And, let me tell you, I've been concerned about that every, single time I or anyone else passes by them because those are gonna hurt if hit just right.

And, two weeks ago, one of them was hit just right by My Girl's head, and, in a step-behind move, I finally cut them all. It took trying three, different saws to figure out what would go through the plywood as it's more than a half an inch thick. And, the inside of the house looked like they'd gone through a small earthquake when I finished. But, I got the job done. It's a job that would make any industrial arts teacher shudder, but, it's finished nonetheless. All edges all the way around the entire yard are now sanded, too, so, GO ME.

The other update has been long in the making as it's about interior trim. Oh, heavens, all of the trim in this house just about undoes me after a while! I mean, it's LOVELY when finished, but the process has become a bit of bore. This project must have heard me be bored, though, as it added some excitement.

You see, I discovered a reasonably large stash of unfinished trim a few months ago in my "haven't yet used this/what are these pieces" container. I didn't look too closely at it before determining it must be the trim for the lower level doorways. Thinking nothing more of it than, "Oh, I should probably finish that," I got all of the pieces painted.

Fast forward to this past weekend, and I figured tackling that project was probably a good use of my time while waiting for lattice to dry. Plus, it was all painted and ready, so, how hard would this really be ...

Well, it's really hard to trim doors when what you seem to have is a stash of window trim! Whuuuuuut?!

All of the pieces had been pre-cut to angles for the windows. And, they were really long fitting only the windows in the dining room. But, the rub was that all ... and, I do mean all as I checked and rechecked ... of the windows are already trimmed! What the ...?!

After a "Heavens to Besty" moment, I decided to just cut the pieces down to fit the doorways and call it good. The spoiler alert is that I ended up only trimming the kitchen sides of the doorways leaving the rounded corner cuts in the family and dining rooms. I could tell you that was completely on purpose as a design decision OR you could know that I cut one of the long pieces too short and pretty much ruined the ability to trim all of the openings. You make the call.

As it turned out, it was better that I wrecked one because I needed to completely adjust all of the normal doorway measurements to create trim without an actual door. When installing doors, their frames take care of finishing the interior framing. See?

Without door frames, the trim around the opening needs to be wider to be flush with the wall. Like so:

That line toward the right is the addition
of the trim.

By the way, I love the lighting in that picture. It's like the early evening sun is coming into the kitchen ... ahhh ...

You can see how the very top piece of trim on the kitchen side actually falls below and is not flush with the top. In truth, I didn't even realize that happened until I took this picture! (Have I mentioned I'm amazing at finding all details that need tending?! 😆 Oh, well. No one will see that. It's been days, and I certainly haven't noticed! I'm not sure that's saying much, though ...) Anyway, that's what all of the trim would look like without custom-making it to be wide enough.

In the end, it all worked out, and I love the outcome!

These are the final outcomes of the trim
project. One is for each opening in the kitchen.

Up it goes! tape-tape-tape

That pup's all, "Who cares about the trim,
gimmee some goodies. I see 'em up there!"

Okay, really? HOW did that piece in the
upper left corner move before setting in to dry?!

That's nothing a little wood filler can't fix.
TAKE THAT, TRIM!

Touch it up with some paint, and no one
is the wiser. Except for everyone I tell.

The last picture is to show the family room side. As I was experimenting with what to trim, I realized I wanted to create a little picture collage to go around the doorway, and that would be cooler to me than just trimming it. So, there you go. I suspect I'll decorate around the dining room opening, too. And, there's always the option to, someday, get some more trim and do that if I change my mind! Right now, though, I'm very happy with it! And, no one really believes that I'm going to voluntarily trim another doorway or window in this house. (I'm talking to you, Cindy.)

So! It's FINISHED. I'm done talking about trim -- until I tackle the exterior house trim hahaha! Before that, though, we're diving into the yard! Get excited!

Loving the Lattice!

With the Fourth of July right around the corner, I just hated that the dollhouse sat with the outdoor areas so neglected. The Fourth of July and a completely incomplete outside situation just really started to bother me.

In full disclosure, I blame a miniature company from which I have ordered a couple of products for my sudden angst. They send me emails to entice me to buy all the things. Usually, I delete without opening because I know I'm not in the market and it just painfully temps me. But, just the other day, I decided to open their electronic Pandora's Box which is when I saw super-cool outdoor things perfect for celebrating the Fourth. And, that's when I knew my little family over there on the other side of the room has been neglected.

So, I finally carved out some time to tackle a project I've been super-stoked to do: The Lattice!!

Where there is not brick, there shall be lattice at the foundation:

Ohhhhh, I've been itching to make this happen!! The only thing about it, though, has been that I haven't been sure how to make it happen. I've seen lattice for purchase online, but it has to be bought in larger, square/rectangle pieces, and I wasn't sure how well they would cut down to size. Or, should I say, I wasn't sure how well *I* would cut them down to size. My cutting track record is a bit tarnished. It's also more than I want to pay when I was confident I could figure out how to do it myself.

With that, I dug into my box-o-wood pieces, and I got down to business!

I had in my stash a bag of these:

I either bought those for the lattice vision or for a wood floor plank idea I have for another spot in the house. Whatever the reason, I broke 'em out for this!

Then, I measured, in the best way I know how, how long they needed to be:

Folding a piece of paper is way easier than trying to measure such a space!

From there, I used the mitre box to see if the angle worked for how I wanted it to look. And, as I suspected, it did!

Now to make about a thousand more of these 2 1/4" suckers ... 😁 I first thought I'd use the mitre box and saw, but, it turned out that using scissors was way easier:

I just held one up to a stick and cut without drawing a guide line or anything. That whole measure-twice-cut-once mantra didn't really apply here. (It probably should have because, in the end, I must have let one slip as I wound up with a pile of them that were too long and needed to be trimmed one by one by one. Are we surprised? It wasn't as horrible as it sounds.)

Anyway, here's the initial pile -- of the good ones and the needing-more-attention ones:

From there, I lined my beloved graphing ruler up to create the distance between the bottom of the porch and the ground as verified by my folded piece of paper. By taping the ruler in place, I created a solid guide between it and the foundation to lay out the first run!

I did use the graph lines as a guide between pieces, but, let's just say it isn't perfect. I kept thinking about how people used to build log cabins by hand, and, those worked out, so ...

Then, I taped over this line to flip 'em:

Up and over!

OMG I love when things work out like that! I particularly love it since I was making up the process as I went.

Creator's Note: Why the flip? The flip itself wasn't necessary. But, keeping these pieces in place while gluing the ones going the opposite way on top of them was. So, laying out the first run, taping, flipping then repeating the process on top totally worked.

Oh, those stragglers on the end? They're actually creating the smaller pieces that complete the pattern when butted up against a wall. They just hadn't been cut up there. But, they are down here:

Now the whole strip will fit when the front wall hits the gazebo angle. See?!

With it flipped, I could make the pieces that go the other direction. I put a piece down in place. Then, I marked it, removed it and glued:

Here's another look from another section:

By this point in the process, I got smart enough to mark a
handful of pieces at a time. That's why there are a few guidelines
that you can see here.

You place pieces and glue enough times, and check out what you get!

Okay, that's just part of the first strip, and it's showing the taped side, but you get the point. I really just wanted to make sure this strip fit in the intended space! The real story is, it didn't. It was just a smidge too tall. But, it was nothing a few snippety-snips from the scissors couldn't fix! I just found ones that seemed a little long and kept trimming until it worked. Thank goodness I already trusted the scissors process AND that the Aleene's Tacky Glue held fast and strong! I really didn't have to wait to keep taking care of business because the glue dried so quickly! And, for the very few pieces that slipped when cut, it was no biggie to glue again.

After I did the first strip, which is just a little over 15 inches long, I had 5 sections of under-the-gazebo to create. Each is about 5 inches. I did work to match up as best I could where pieces fit together at foundation angles which was a little tricky. You can see it in the middle of the photo where one section reasonably, but, certainly not perfectly, lines up with it's neighboring piece:

I actually had some fun with this because I felt very accomplished! However, it took a little bit of brain power, so I made just one of the sections before turning my brain off and creating a stock pile of pieces for the rest of the project to be continued the next day:

My hand-cut method both worked perfectly and failed me completely depending on which piece I picked up. Or, all of the new pieces were actually good as I took more focused time to cut them, but I mixed them in with the first run of those that were too long. Regardless, grabbing the next piece to create the lattice was a roll of the dice as to whether or not it would fit correctly! But, it oddly didn't bother me at all to continue to find ones too long. SNIP! Taken care of! Just like that.

I did ponder for a little bit only creating lattice for the front and under the gazebo but not the rest of the house due to my hand starting to ache cutting the pieces and just wanting to be finished as fast as possible. But, then I realized I was slipping into a "find the easiest route" mindset, and that never ends well. Not going all the way to the back of the house was not at all what I actually wanted, anyway. It wouldn't have made any sense. So, I shook the thought and got back to work!

It took a day, but, I got 'em finished!

'Probably should have turned the flash off on that one. Muh'bad.

I decided early on in the project that I would treat myself to a can of spray paint to get them white knowing I would not have enjoyed the process of hand-painting these! Therefore, $4 and 10 minutes later:

Voila! Painted in no time! I think it took me longer to determine
"which color" of white to get at the store than it did to do this!

While waiting for those to dry, there was one more step to prep the house for this addition. See it?

Doesn't the house look different with the black on the foundation?! I didn't know it would make that huge of a difference! Anyway, I slapped that paint on and, after letting all paint sit overnight, I did a little dry run to make sure everything fit:

Lookin' good!!

A few pieces needing trimming on the ends, but, overall, it worked the way I planned! Woot!! So, I got to gluing and taping!

I was concerned that the sections wouldn't line up as clean as I would like, and I was right. I looked online at a dollhouse that has lattice, and that person hid all seams with shrubbery! While a genius move, I didn't want to be locked in to having to landscape for this purpose. So, after pondering a few solutions, I landed on cutting down and using a piece of floor molding in my stash! I love how it turned out!

Here's a before and after:

I am SO HAPPY with the outcome!! It's just the start of getting the great outdoors ready for living!!

So Cool In the Kitchen

MISS ME?!

Even if not, I missed working on the dollhouse! So, tonight, I intentionally carved out a pocket of time to see if I could finish a project I started a little over a month ago! (The digital age of taking pictures provides the date stamp for when I began something I thought was so simple and would take a day or two ... 👀)

No matter how long it took, it's finished! Check out the refrigerator make-over! It started out looking like this:

It was a part of an entire kitchen set I bought at an estate sale. It was a 5-piece set from Michaels! See?!

Back in the day when there were price
tags! And, assuming a 40%-off coupon was
used, the set should have been about $35.
Not bad!!

Okay, anyway. I really like the set, but I wasn't loving the grooves on the refrigerator. I don't need the fridge to look like it has wooden planks. And, the inside looked a little worn.

So, I took care of all of that! First, I schmeared on the wood filler:

'Think I used enough?!

And, after drying for many days -- because I didn't get back to it, not because it needed it -- I sanded the dickens out of it:

A fresh coat of paint and polyurethane later, and voila!

But, wait. There's more!

I decided the fridge needed drawers on the bottom. Because, duh! I really didn't know how to make them, so, I just winged it.

First, I took some cursory measurements of the interior where the drawer would go. And, by "took measurements," I mean I started by cutting the nearest paint card/sample thing I had in front of me to the size I thought it should be to create a drawer side. Then, I stuck it in the fridge to see if it worked. I whittled the piece down until I got it just right. Yeah, so, no tips for exact process here.

I used the plastic top of a sushi tray I recently saved from the recycle box to create the side pieces. I cut the four that I needed and promptly lost two of them. They're on the floor somewhere. I think. I honestly don't know. I didn't try too hard to find them, though, and, instead, just cut two more.

I did the same, awesome-exacting measuring process for the bottom pieces. Here's the one for the freezer side:

Don't let the cutting mat nor the exacto knife NOR the metal edge fool you. While I earnestly tried to use them, the plastic pieces were just too small and slippery. I did end up using my small guillotine paper cutter to get the edges straight, though. THAT was a handy tool!

From there, I used the Quick Grip glue. Not only does it dry as clear as it's allowed (it's not its fault if you're a goopy gluer), but it dries super-fast. I wanted that to go fast so the pieces wouldn't slip around while drying.

And, so, I put the sides together, bang, bang, bang, and what do you know but the freezer side drawer was too wide! Something about not really measuring comes to mind ...

No matter! I pulled it apart, recut by hand the base to be more narrow taking a guess as to how much was needed, and put it back together again. I'd say it turned out very okay!!

If there's something I can do about the goopy parts of the dried glue, I'll figure that out another time. I'm pretty sure they're a big part of holding these little suckers together, so I'm in no hurry! Oh, and the handles you see are the edges of strawberry containers. They provide the perfect little ledge and are already angled without my having to create that.

Here they are in action!

I know they're a little hard to see, so spend
some time oo-ing and ahh-ing over the
interior paint job, too!

Here they are in real action:

Pretend those are apples and oranges in the
drawer. And, yes, that's a pumpkin in there.
Because this family really has no
refrigerator food.

A little perspective shot. And, hello, new
kitty!

So, there you go! The cool, refrigerator make-over! Pun intended.

What's next? I really don't know! I have trim painted and ready to go for the interior doorways. That I have it painted is a miracle, but the doorways aren't ready because I haven't sanded them down from filling them, like, 2 or 3 months ago!

I have accomplished obtaining new creatures for the house, though! Seeing as the little kitty up there peeked in on the fridge shot, I should introduce her mom:

Big, lap kitty!

I found those kitties as a pair at a garage sale last weekend for a quarter. 😁

So, it's time to survey the land and determine the next project! Stay tuned ...