Updated Looks

Did you ever see the "Brady Bunch" episode where Carol wants to wallpaper the master bedroom? And, when they finally choose a pattern, she's all, "Oh, now we have a problem. Because, if we wallpaper our room, then we have to wallpaper the hall. And, if we wallpaper the hall, then we have to wallpaper the girls' room because it's connected to the hall." And, it goes on and on until the decision was to paint. Even that elicited the same, "If there's fresh paint here, then we need to repaint everywhere" concept.

While I've not been working on walls in The House as they did in the Brady residence, I have been redoing some furniture. And, that's what ties into the Brady Bunch thing because, as soon as something gets a sprucing, I see the other pieces that go with the set and think, "Oh ..."

But, what's a little mismatched furniture among friends?! Here we go with the current makeovers!! First up! You've already seen the outcome of this one, but here's the process. Months ago, I bought this bed at Hobby Lobby:

I loved the sleigh design, but I was no fan of the cover! Fortunately, months prior, I bought this at an antique mall:

It's actually a skirt apron. I saw quilt for beds. 😁 I realize that wasn't a stretch, but still. You gotta have vision, amiright?

This was an easy remodel as the mattress simply lifts off of the frame. And, who knew, but it's really a piece of foam glued to a piece of card stock (like poster board -- I think I expected something fancier). I moved the mattress around underneath the apron fabric to figure out how I wanted it to look, and I got to cutting and gluing:

I pinned and taped it where necessary to hold it down long enough for the glue to dry. In the meantime, I covered a pillow I had in my stash of, "Will I ever really use this?"

Apparently, I will use this! The ends are simply glued. I know. My skills are boundless!

By the next day (because I didn't check sooner than that), all was dry and ready for use. Voila!

(Look at the chaise lounge, and think Brady Bunch reference. It all comes together now, doesn't it?)

Okay, that's not all! This next one is a favorite of mine! Here's the spoiler before and after:

I can pull off this before and after because I actually have two of the same bed. This bed, along with other furniture I acquired in that killer estate sale last Fall, was purchased because it had good bones. I figured, at some point, I'd redo them. And, here we are!

The bed pulled apart in four pieces (bottom/box spring, mattress, headboard and headboard padding). I really had no idea what I was doing. I just started ripping parts off of it. I figured the worst case scenario was I'd really mess up and pitch it because I had a spare bed. Fortunately, all turned out well. I'm thankful I didn't break the mattress which has a styrofoam base. A base I did or did not crack ...

I didn't take a lot of pictures because I was on a roll when I got going. But, this gives you an idea of the primitive way of doing things:

That's the "box spring" section. I measured absolutely nothing. I just fit the fabric on. (This was good training for the final project below.) Everything was glued on with Alene's Tacky Glue.

After I covered the bottom and the mattress, I glued them together and weighted them for a while so the styrofoam wouldn't pop off of the base to which it was supposed to adhere:

A pack of baby wipes and the ceramic owl I made my junior year of high school in ceramics class worked like a charm. I let this dry overnight because I really wanted the mattresses to stick together!

Fortunately, I had already made pillows from this fabric to, one day, go on the bed. And, today was the day!

HOW cute is that?! It's hard to see, but the lace trim serving as a bed skirt shimmers. 😁 Don't look too close, or you'll see the corner of the chair that now needs to be recovered since it matched the original bedspread fabric. Seriously. Stop looking. Look, instead, at how cute this is with the area rug! Yum!

Finally, this is my real success story. You might have noticed floral patterns ran rampant in The House as the couch and love seat also sported the look. I didn't like it so much that I actually forgot to take a "before" picture before absolutely tearing into these pieces to recover them. But, I have something of a before and after just to show the fabric:

She's a beauty on the left, don't you think? Gag ...

For the sake of documenting my own history, I will divulge that the inspiration for the color of the couch comes from one of the pairs on, "Before the 90 Days: Pillow Talk" on TLC. This is a show where previous participants watch the latest episode and commentate. One of the women has a navy couch with yellow pillows, and I find the combo stunning! I find myself staring at the couch more than listening to her (which requires rewinding because she's really funny). So, I needed the look in The House.

I foolishly originally thought I could find some fabric to cover and kind of tuck into creases of the existing pieces without tearing them apart. First of all, that's just not going to look good. At least, it's highly unlikely. Second, the fabric I had and wanted to use was denim. And, yeah. That's not going to neatly tuck and crease. So, I got a hammer and a butter knife (because that's what you use instead of a screwdriver to pry things), and I took these suckers apart! Each cushion, each arm rest, the back and two pieces for the base all required massive hammering. They. Were. Stuck. I put a dent or two in my work table, but I got 'em!

Again, I had absolutely no idea how to really do this. There are small juts and corners and rounded edges, and the folding-of-fabric around such areas only made it all look bulky and messy. Clearly, I needed to cut custom pieces. Somehow. I wish I could explain in words how I got this to work, but I really can't. It involved smearing glue all over the area to cover, folding fabric over that area and gluing pieces together before cutting right on the edge of the furniture so the new fabric pieces ultimately fit together exactly with no overlap. Did that make sense? I suspect it didn't. I figured this out as I went along, and I am not sure I ever did it the same twice. So, it's definitely more of a "show" than a "tell" to explain. Even if you knew, there's probably a cleaner, more precise way to make it happen, but this worked for me. Oh, and by using denim, some of the pieces didn't go back together the same because it's thicker. A little forcing of pieces together and binding with masking tape to let Alene's Tacky (Amazing-Wonder) Glue do its magic got it all back together! If it can hold The House together, it can hold arms of a couch!

And, doesn't it look just lovely in the family room?!

Yellow accent throw and all!!

I'm terribly happy with these outcomes! And, there are plenty of people in The House to enjoy it! I recently acquired some newbies, so, soon, it's more than time to meet the family as a whole!

Fabulous Flooring!

If I've learned anything about how I tend to decorate The House, it's that I let my brain just marinate on ideas until I really *know* what I want. As it turns out, one of those ideas finally HIT me just last week! And, today, it came to fruition. The decorating target? This floor:

Well, let's make that easier to see:

Designer's note: We will be ignoring the manner in which the lights have been adhered to the walls for this and, frankly, all future posts. 😊

I really wasn't quite sure what to do with this flooring given the function of the rooms. Then, a few weeks ago, I was perusing the dollhouse goods at Hobby Lobby, and I found a sheet of "Miniature White & Gray Quatrefoil Dollhouse Tile" It's the same thing I used in the bathroom except for the color palette. I really liked working with that particular flooring, so I thought this would be the perfect fit for the laundry room!

But, what about the craft area ...?

So, my Miniature White & Gray Quatrefoil Dollhouse Tile sat on my work table for a few weeks while my brain continued its efforts. And, last week, it all came to fruition. Here's the spoiler picture!

I was going through my supplies when I found the rest of the flooring I used in the bathroom. And, I definitely had enough for the laundry area. Then, it started to make sense to use that flooring there to break up all of the white from the appliances to the walls.

It also occurred to me that the craft area could really use a floor that is easy to clean. Paint spills, after all. And, the white is good there as there is a lot of other color. It looks great with the light on, too, as they bounce off of the white really brightening this happy space up!!

That's one unfinished floor down! I still have more lingering, but my brain is busy on those. Stay tuned ... 😌

So Sweet

It's definitely time for an update from inside The House!

I know I've noted that the family has very little in terms of actual nutritional value to eat, so I've been busy taking care of that! However, that show-and-tell will come in another post because this one is devoted to Valentine's Day! And, with that, well, I contributed to the household sugar buzz! Let's go inside!

First, while the picture isn't the best, I wanted to show the little heart lights that are strewn all the way from the family room through the kitchen and into the dining room:

Just to note, my string lights are all put up by slapping masking tape on them. I learned the technique from My Girl while decorating her dollhouse with her over the years. She would-and-will Scotch tape things on that house's walls with reckless abandon, so I follow her lead. It's very freeing and does the job it needs to do!

Anyway, I definitely wanted to show off the Valentine treats I made! In the dining room the kids are all a-drool:

The two plates of treats in the foreground are things I made  with polymer clay. The white plate holds fancy chocolates while the pink plate features Twinkies.

Over on one of the side tables, there are Valentine sugar donuts that are really from a string of beads I found at Michael's:

And, across the room is a covered cake plate that I filled with Valentine cookies:

These cookies are really real-life sprinkles that I made in December by coating them with Alene's clear tacky glue. I think they turned out SO cute!

Cruise through the kitchen across the way to the family room! Here, you can find more of the sprinkle cookies plus some candles I made from the polymer clay:

The candle wicks are floral stems I saved from past landscaping projects. I remember looking at these and thinking, "I really don't know why I'm saving these yet, but I'll figure it out." And, they turned out to be perfect wicks!

I wanted some more table space in this room, so I slapped together this new coffee table by gluing Dollar Store Jenga pieces, cut to desired size, onto a little chalk board found in the bargain bins at Michael's:

Ta and Da!! Seriously, this could not have been slapped together more!

It's perfect for displaying stuff!

I really enjoyed making what's on the table. You see another set of candles there which I love. Then, the jelly roll cake just makes me drool. I'll share a close-up of that when I show off the food efforts, but I'm just noting that it looks good enough to just LICK.

The candy box is inspired from a tutorial I recently watched. The top and the bottom of the box are both pre-cut and printed foam pieces. I cut a super-thin piece of foam for the side of the box, and it was glued on with Alene's fast-grab glue. Inside are more of the chocolate, polymer clay pieces with tissue between them. And, I used three, tiny magnets, that kind of pass for chocolates!, to keep the lid in place should I want.

That was Hal's gift to Polly. Doesn't she look pleased?

"Oh, Hal. I love my treats! I'd give you a big, ol' smooch,
but, if I look away, that dog is going for it!"

And, that's Valentine's Day in The House! May yours have been as sweet!

The Countdown Is On At The House!

It's just about time to ring in the New Year!! Here's how it's happening in The House!!

They're putting the rooftop patio to good use for their celebration!

The adults have some seriously good grub in their corner:

Taking a closer look ...

... I've been so excited to pull out that shrimp and oyster platter! That traveled with me back from Michigan this summer. I saw it and immediately thought, "Yeah ... I'm not going to make something like that any time soon!" and treated myself to it! Also, there's some brie in the corner and grapefruit in one of the new candy mold bowls! (Are those perfect or what?!) The fruits you see in this scene are all soft beads I found on a string at JoAnn's. They're just a little big, but who doesn't love a big, juicy piece of fruit?!

And, topping off the recent acquisitions are the MARGARITAS! Those are Hallmark mini ornaments from this year! I didn't even see them before Christmas, but I scored four of them after knowing I'd put them to immediate use ringing in the New Year! It's possible I should have rethought them as you might notice in the picture above, Grandpa is about to dump his in Hal's lap. And, then, here's Grandma having already lost her pants.

Okay, she came that way to me last year, but it's a good story.

In the corner is yet-to-be-named guy manning the munchies bar:

That Sams-sized thing of Goldfish is going to come in handy tonight!

Over on the kid side, there are some fabulous goodies:

The cookie plates are of the same technique I used to create the gingerbread men -- multiple coats of clear Alene's glue on cupcake sprinkles! Making so many at a time was both fun and a pain, but the members of The House are now ready for all kinds of holidays cookie-wise! They have a few pieces of fruit to help with the sure-to-come sugar buzz!

The girls took their stashes to the corner to have their own little party:

And, as the sun starts to set, the scene is really set!

Happy auld lang syne-ing!! Yes, it's a verb as far as I'm concerned. Cheers to days gone by, and here's to the wonderful ones ahead! Happy New Year from The House!

Everyone Needs Such a Friend

My birthday is in December which I LOVE because it's like a veritable bonanza of celebrating! One of my very favorite gifts in the history of ever came to me from my friend Cindy, and I have to show it off!

You see, she was with me the day I bought this basket at The Container Store:

Is that not just the perfect cat look in a cat thing?! 😄

Anyway, she wasn't just with me when I got it. She is the one who totally encouraged the purchase even when I was hedging around about it. Hedging: Understanding a cat is weird and may hate the very thing you know it should love.

When I got the basket home, Lizzy was in it *immediately.* I was so pleased! And, of course, I zipped pictures to Cindy.

Knowing my adoration of the basket, Cindy decided The House needed one. CHECK OUT THIS MASTERPIECE!!

"Mine."

"Let's share."     "No."

Everyone should have a Cindy. 💜

This Year's Decking Of the Halls

A very, Merry Christmas to you and yours!! I'm thankful to have found little pockets of time throughout the season to spread the joy throughout The House! Come on in!

I really focused the efforts on the first floor and outside. Because, time, amiright? And, really, the focus was on what made it all fun and not stressful or in the "have-to" departments. So, that being said, here's the family room:

You've seen the stockings, but here they are in action:

You'll note I moved the fireplace from the wall on the left. That's because I can do that in a fake house to show off the stockings. 😅 I found the little Noel sign at Michaels. My favorite mantle decorations are the snowmen on the ends. These are from a stash of decorations from when I was a kid!

I love this table of goodness:

The Santa is also from the childhood stash, so it gets a prominent viewing spot! I love the bowl of ornaments. They're beads pulled off of tree picks which you will see when we go outside. They were just too pretty not to use elsewhere, so I created a bowl of color! The bowl, by the way, is actually cut from a sheet of candy molds. I recently read about someone cutting those apart to use for dishes, and, gosh-darned, if it doesn't work GREAT!

Over in the corner, there's a pile of goodies under the tree!

And, I must highlight the Christmas pillow I managed to make. I had plans for about 4 pillows but have since congratulated myself on finishing the one:

Moving across the room, check out the stairs!

That's wire-edged ribbon cascading down! I didn't attach it in any way, so, for a few days, it would randomly pop up and elevate above the stairs keeping the staircase form. 😆 I think I have it anchored just enough against the banister pole that it will sit still for a while! I really don't know where I found those elves, but I love them. And, the beaded garland actually goes up to the third floor. See?

Yup! That's one, continual string! I attached it to the railings with some elastic string. That'll make it easy to pull and cut off when the season is over.

Back downstairs, there's just a little project going on in the kitchen ...

... before heading into the room of treats!

This family has yet to have much by way of normal or nutritious food, but they have the goodies covered!

I didn't make any of these (ha! 'Sounds like my real Christmas baking endeavors!) but have collected them over the year as I spy them with my little eye at Hobby Lobby and Michaels. The more colorful bowl are "candy" pieces which was really a string of beads I found at JoAnn's. Let your imagination happily run wild as the kids eagerly take the little sugar plums that are larger than their mouths! Mmm ...

My favorite creation, though, was to realize I could take real, cake/cupcake sprinkles and, effectively, preserve them:

In the little, white plate (which is not from a candy mold) are gingerbread men that were in my stash of sprinkles/cake decorations. I smeared them, one side at a time, with Alene's clear glue letting them dry in between coats. The glue basically soaked into the little sugar pieces and ultimately hardened them!

I did, indeed, feel pretty clever here! I do have decorating plans for them, but that might not happen this season!

And, directly across from the treats, we have the reason for the season:

This is just part of a full nativity set from when I was a kid, so I love having a cool place to display it!

Full disclosure: It's a miracle this baby Jesus is still around. It's about the size of a dime to give perspective. My brother and I used to put it on the cargo car of the train that ran around the family Christmas tree. And, we made the train go full speed even around turns, so, there were multiple derailments each season. Of course, most of those derailments happened in the back of the tree where it was tricky to reach anything. Let's just say baby Jesus went for the ride of his little life. Often. So, that it is still here is an actual Christmas miracle!

Moving on, there is just a little Christmas happening upstairs:

Oh, yes, you know there's a place where the parents must stash gifts! And, of course the biggest ones are always peeking behind the hiding place!

That's what up on the inside! And, now, we head out!

Ta-Da!!

You'll note we don't have a snowy Winter here, but that doesn't keep it from being festive! Let's take a closer look:

The patio is all spruced up with so many fun things! The other two poinsettia pots are on both sides of the double doors. I went extra fancy on those and glued on red bows.

I'm a big fan of the candy canes! They are mini ornaments off of which I cut the hanger loops. Then, I made a pool of hot glue and stuck them in to dry. It only took a few minutes for them to be steady enough to stay upright to dry completely. I did put a little something next to them for extra, please-don't-lean-and-dry-crooked support (I happened to use a glitter glue bottle, but what it is doesn't really matter). The glue pool was on a piece of waxed paper which worked well enough to let me pull them up and off. It still stuck a little, but no one sees that!

That big, ol' tree is fabulous, too! I found it at a garage sale this Summer. I really wanted the lights on them. I find Christmas bulbs to be scrumptious, and these little, wooden guys are so cool! I swung the big deal getting the tree for 50 cents instead of the price-tagged dollar, and, once I saw it near the patio here, I decided the whole shebang, rather than just the lights, would go on display!

On the other side of the patio ...

... it's also festive with the other poinsettia and wooden Christmas tree farm tag! You'll recognize the beads in the bird bath as they are from the garland going up and down the stair rails inside!

And, right above the doors, there are some new friends:

They're just charming. 😊

Across the front of the house, the Christmas greetings continue! Welcome!

The beads in the jar are pieces of the tree picks I mentioned when showing off the bowl of ornament beads inside. I just love all of the color!

I'm also particularly proud of the hanging of the wreaths on the front door as well as on windows in the breakfast nook. Here is one from the outside ...

... and, here is how that works from the inside:

I know it's a little tricky to see, but I stuck the wreath to a magnet and then put another magnet inside the window. SUPER EASY! It worked for the 3rd floor balcony wreath, too!

On the other side of The House, allow me to show off the show-stopper spot:

There are presents a-go-go under that tree! See?!

But, my personal, favorite part are the hanging bells! The favoritism reasons are twofold. First, I got a hook in the ceiling just for this purpose. I didn't think of putting one there during the original build, but I wasn't going to go without one now because these bells needed to be hung! I contorted myself quite a bit to get it in there, but, it's there!!

The other reason this mattered is because I have loved these bells since I can remember. They were a little decoration on a huge candelabra which was a really, lovely centerpiece for the many, formal Christmas dinners our family had. It was huge, though. So, I salvaged the bells and love that they have a great place for display!!

Along the front of The House, I crafted a way to have candy canes lining the porch:

As I did with many flowers this Spring, I attached straight pins to them. But, unlike the flowers, where I used floral tape to attach and hide the pins, I simply ran a line of hot glue along the straight part of the cane leaving enough pin at the bottom to go into the floral foam under the mulch. Stick-stick-stick-done!!

Of course, up on the house top, reindeer pause ...

I found these at an estate sale a few weeks ago. They were shoved in a little ziploc bag and, pretty much, left for dead. There were more reindeer in the bag, but many were missing limbs. I figured as long as Santa and Rudolph were okay, then it was worth my dollar. I love them!

And, what's checking out Christmas decorations without seeing them in the dark?!

After seeing it all lit up, it was nice, but I wasn't satisfied. Suddenly, it hit me that the big tree with the wooden Christmas bulbs needed some real lights, too.

Ah, yes!! But, oh! One more thing! I can't forget to light up the family tree!

Ah, yes. Satisfied!

A very, merry one from this House to yours!!