July 17, 2023

Half Scale Witch Cottage Furnishings Update


Odd plants in the potion-making room. 

I admit not being too inspired lately. That happens when you get near the end of a project, though I still have a bunch of trimming and stuff to do yet. (Like that place on the ceiling above. Click photos for full size; see other posts in left column archives. Last post: roof, etc.)

I still have some furnishings to make yet and figure the layout, which is more fun. ha!

So, the few things I've finished lately:

* Plant stand for the potion-making room above. Made the stand out of mat board. Works for the space. Didn't want anything too big. And now I have a place for these 'odd' plants.

* More plants: Leaves, actually. A kit from Castle Crafts. I think I'm going to wrap them around the front porch post. I glued some cloth-covered wire to the back as they're rather fragile.


* Finally! The picture isn't great, but had to show that I got the standing lamp hooked up and working in the second floor! I almost gave up as I had to really fiddle with it to reach in and twist together the two wires from the wall and from the lamp, and then solder them. Took quite a few tries. ha! It's not in place yet until I figure the furniture layout, then I'll glue it down.

* Furnishings: 


Gothic Chest (SDK Miniatures) for the second floor. Just love this set! I painted the front and the top of the knobs gold. I'll add some witchy items in the top drawer.


Love how this table came out! It's card/like mat board, so the legs are rather delicate. Painted with regular acrylic with a light coat of varnish. I like the old-fashioned look. (Also from Castle Crafts.) I'll probably use it next to the window in the first-floor sitting room:


*  Other items: rug and chair I made awhile ago. The rug is simply printed, glued to packaging card, and coated with Mod Podge. The fringe glued on the back is cut from cross-stich fabric. 

Something cool I found: Saw this paintbrush stand at Dollar Tree. Nice way to separate the brushes instead of bunching them together in a cup.


* And the real-life flowers: The morning glories we planted are finally opening! We had added the two trellises on the ends and planted four boxes this time. The vines reach over and grab, and are crawling all the way to the top. 


This striped flower is really pretty.


That's it for this time! Stay tuned for more posts and updates. 

And Halloween is coming!! Not sure what I'll do, but I'll be moving my Fairfield back to the other table and decorate it once I don't open the sliding door any more to the deck.

Thanks again for visiting! 

July 07, 2023

Half Scale Witch Cottage: Up on the Roof

 

Got that song in my head (and now it's in yours! haaa)

Well... this is probably the shortest project I've done, having started this in May with painting some of the exterior. I wasn't sure how long it would take, but I'm sure the next larger project will take much longer. Actually, finishing up the men's shop in the cigar humidor was my shortest, done in a day. But I had a lot of the accessories finished before, just had to add a few and fill the counter, etc. (See last post: decor. Click photos for full size; more posts in left column archives list.)

Anyway.... the roof is on, with the help of the super-giant clamps. One thing with this kit, at least for me, is I had to cut down the tabs which were not quite fitting. but it's on. Yay!

Attic and ceilings:

Some other things I did: added a small attic space near the ceiling inside. Had to re-glue the attic area fence about three times and will make sure it sticks now as I glued a wood square dowel to the back for support. Yeah, should've done that first! The "attic" base is a piece cut from mat board of some flooring I did in my other house so there's tile paper on top, (not that you can see it!) and added some braces underneath. 

Trim, trim, trim. Ugh! I also put some wood strips on the ceiling sides as it looked too plain. Hate doing it but looks so much better when done, like adding the molding across the roof pieces at the inner peak. And trim in every corner and edge, it seems. ha!

Got the art on the back wall.  I may be using this bookcase and the bench here. (Wall: before I added the rest of the corner trim.)  Unless I trade this out for another bench, I'll repaint and reupholster this one. I'll have to build another Gothic Bookcase (SDK Miniatures) in case I want to switch it out when I decorate the Fairfield fully for Halloween.


First floor:

The first floor divider, made from one of those wooden fans, is in. I like how that came out. To me, the space looked odd without having a small arch or something dividing the two spaces. 



And.... wait! What's that thing in the corner? 

Well... originally I was going to use this face bead (see second photo below) to make a lamp in that spot but I came across this skeleton figure in my stash. Drilled a hole so he can hold the light. It may be a Day of the Dead figure as it says Made in Mexico on the bottom. Thought it fit well in here. I have another one I'll use in another house, or maybe as part of the Halloween set-ups.

Just when I think things are going well, first the aggravating part. Well, several, so beware! haa! Plugged in a standing lamp for only the second time... and the *&^% bulb burnt out! The other lights in the house still work fine so nothing wrong there. Couldn't get a new bulb in, so remade the lamp using the shade parts and  some skull beads. Have to connect the wires together.... wish me luck. ha!

The roof: 

Got some trimming done on the front towers, but first I had to take the outer windows off to get the roof piece on as I realized it wouldn't fit over them!  The tower roof isn't attached yet and have to add the top. Also have to add the decorative piece at the peak of the front wall. Needless to say, I'm tired of trimming! (And not done yet!)

Other stuff: 

Still experimenting with the luminescent powder I found on ebay. It does glow! The green color seems to work best, though the blue works too if there's enough. Mixed it with the craft  varnish but it also seems to work with the clear nail polish. I tried to get it on the teensy cat's eyes but just too small.

The real garden: The Moss Roses are loving the hot weather! Sick of it, but with the ac on and the windows closed it helped somewhat with the fireworks. But the dog still runs around when they set off the big "booms." Ugh!


The roof shingling is next. Deciding on that....

Thanks again for visiting. Stay tuned for more updates!