THE LIGHTS ARE IN

I figured out how to wire the dollhouse for lights all by myself. I had some help from online tutorials and the local dollhouse shop was very helpful with any questions I had. It was easier than I had originally thought, I almost scrapped the idea. I'm glad I did it as the little lights are an added help while working on the inside!

Today I finished the kitchen. I just have to put up a shelf molding on the walls where the wall paper meets the paint and then some crown molding.

 I added a tin ceiling, but I'm thinking about painting it gold or copper as there's nothing silver in the kitchen - any suggestions?

It's really hard to get a clear photo of something so small without a shallow depth of field!

The two white pieces of furniture were previous unfinished pieces I had, so I painted them and added the curtains to one as well as under the sink and the windows. The island was an unfinished table I had, I just added a shelf underneath and painted it. The plate shelf above the sink I made out of mat board.

FIREPLACE MANTLE + GREATEST LABELS

I've finally decorated my fireplace mantle after trying out lots of different things and looking at lots of photos. I've always known what I wanted and had seen photos of beautiful ideas, but I didn't want to have to buy anything. I just wanted to use stuff I already had around the house and I just couldn't make it quite work. This weekend I did some garage sale shopping - I went to one street that was full of garage sales (maybe 15-20) complete with lemonade stands, cookie tables and even corn on the cob! Aubrey and I spent a good chunk of the day walking the whole street (which wasn't short!) and playing and eating. I found some old hardcover books, some fabric and a frame. I wish I had have found it earlier in the morning to make some great finds. I saw two people walking down the street with 2 great metal industrial stools and I got the garage sale shopper envy!

 I'll have to change out the photo in the frame sometime though - as it's not even Aubrey! It was in my old studio and is one of my favorite newborn photos. The color just suites it so well, I just can't decide what to replace it with!

I bought the faux succulent from Ross for $5 and the top 2 books are my garage sale finds - note: The Fondue Party Cookbook - how could I pass up that vintage find?

 Another area I finally (well, almost) finished was the last section of our entry way's gallery wall.

I have 3 things to finish: 1. replace the photo, 2. embroider something for this hoop and 3. paint this frame maybe?

 I printed off a bunch of my favorite Instagram photos in a grid at Staples along with the maps and keep calm poster for super cheap. I used photoshop's contact sheet batch to quickly align all the Instagram photos in a grid.

 I found this idea on Pinterest and made my own. I printed the Trip Fund heading onto a transperency and then cut out a slit (can't see it in this photo) to drop the money in. It was easier to cut it out here then cut it out of the top of the frame, and I can reuse the frame when I'm done. I just set the map closer to the back of the frame and taped it into place to create a shadow box.

 I bought some adhesive cork at Hobby Lobby and doubled it up so the pins had more thickness to go into. I bought the shortest pins for Joann's I could find and glued the little city flags on them.

If the whole thing was a lot larger it probably would be better and less concentrated in spots!

This is a great use of a frame that might have broken glass (which is my case).

 I've been looking for a frame to put this owl watercolor+ink painting my mom did and gave me, in but I couldn't find a square frame with matting for cheap anywhere. So I took this existing frame I had and used some poster board to make my own custom size mat. The mat could have been a slight color to create a contrast, but for now it's fine.

 This is the frame I bought at a garage sale, I was looking for a basic cheap frame without glass that I could spray paint (white gloss) to hang around this photo canvas.

I have to go off on a small rant at how great the Martha Stewart for Avery labels are!

I have used these 3 kinds so far and the templates available for download online make it super easy to use and they look soooo much better then regular labels.

I was printing out labels on cardstock, then rounding out the corners and gluing them on to my photo tins, so this is way better and looks better too. The little kraft flourish squares simply dress up this little baby shower gift box.

And what's in the box? This is what I made today for a shower tomorrow:

A little set of crocheted hat, shoes and tie. The tie was an experiment, but I think it's a cute novelty.

Sometimes baby boy clothes and accessories aren't so cute, so I thought I'd spend the extra time to make something special.

PLAY GROUP + VOLUNTEER PARK

Last week I shared some photography tips at our church playgroup and this week we went to Volunteer park to try out some of those tips. Here's a few photos that I got:

 It was a pretty spot, but she did not think so!

 This is the face I get from Aubrey these days!

 Her friend Mia, was the most cooperative.

 I love the look of this water tower and we finally climbed up to the top (inside).

 There's also a conservatory full of beautiful flowers and cactus.

DOLLHOUSE RESULTS

I finally have the exterior done! (well, almost - I need to paint the base and maybe add a few steps up to the porch). Making miniature things is very addictive!

 I bought the front door but couldn't justify spending $6-8 for each window plus $20 for the large one! So I found some skinny Popsicle craft sticks and made my own. I'm sure I could have done a more professional job if I used wood glue and clamps - but I'm not that dedicated.

So instead I just used a hot glue gun. I also made the shutters from regular popsicle sticks and mat board. The window flower boxes were also popsicle sticks and I found the smallest fake flowers I could find at the dollar store. They were only white, so I painted some of them.

 The porch was the last big piece to put on. I needed Jared's help to coordinate it and to wood glue and nail the base on.

 What's a porch without a swing? Last night I made the swing (popsicle sticks, tooth picks and a necklace chain) and the window boxes.

 Today I used overhead transparency sheets for the glass of the windows and made this little table out of (you guessed it) popscicle sticks. I had these little wooden pots, so I painted them and added some more flowers and leaves made out of florist tape.

I found my butterfly punch and couldn't resist making a tiny butterfly to perch on the flowers. Can you spot it?

Can you believe I only had to put about $15 worth of supplies into redoing the whole exterior?

The only supplies I bought were: yellow paint, popsicle sticks, flowers and the front door.

Now we're trying to figure out how to wire it and then I can work on the inside.

What color curtains do you think would look best hanging in the windows?

Right now I have a yellow and white stripe, ivory and black stripe, white with black polka dots or an ivory botanical pattern - or none of the above?

TWIN FALLS

Yesterday we hiked to see Twin Falls which is about 30 mins outside of Seattle off the I-90 near North Bend. It was nice to go somewhere close-by and see such beautiful scenery!

It was a mile hike up to see 2 falls with great viewpoints.

 Taking a break for a snack.

 constant breaks of course.

 The payoff

 This is on a bridge that crosses just above the first falls (previous photo).

 The 2nd falls from the bridge.

 pep talk.

she got a little moody and tired by the end of it, but she did walk most of herself and didn't fall asleep (big contrast from last time). We had to chant "ice cream" the whole way back to keep her motivated. We stopped at MacDonalds for a cone on the way home.

OCEAN SHORES P.2

I just remembered I had photos on my iphone as well:

 Here's an example of the decor of the house, we like to call the jungle room.

 While the guys and Lauren went surfing, the women and kids went into town and checked out some stores. We also rented 2 surreys (I think that's what they were called), 2 person bikes. We had to squeeze in a child between the peddlers and 2 little ones on each front.

 Aubrey and Lindsey

 Had to check out the shark store - and that's just what it was, a gift shop of all things sharks.

 Little guy passing our path.

 We visited the Interpretive Center which had a lot of fun exhibits and things to explore about wild life and the history of the area. All the kids left with a sand dollar, a polished stone and lots of coloring papers and sunken ship maps.

duck foot prints