I'm a Giant... Post-extension progress/To-do list

Slow and steady is the new motto around here. Little by little, things are getting done closer to done. Here's the current punch list:

Nursery:
Design/build loft bed (The bones are there, but need to work on finishing touches.)
Build twin size bed (bed/mattress/under-bed storage are halfway complete)
Wallpaper above the chair rail
...Finish installing chair rail (there is, quite literally, a speedbump in the beadboard)
Finish sewing curtains (It's a ruffled chiffon panel. I'm stupid for even trying this, hours invested so far: 3)
Make cornice box
Figure out bedding
Art/accessories

Master Bedroom:
All textiles (bedding/pillows/curtains/rugs/etc.)
Finish tripod lamp
Build bench (optional, which means it probably won't happen by Feb. 1st)
Art/accessories

Bathroom:
Make lighted art feature (bought the bulbs)
Upcycle a wooden table
Paint wire shelving (gold, obviously)
Finish sconces (almost done)
Make a ceiling light
Curtains
Art/accessories

Living Room:
Re-wallpaper. I don't love the current stuff, as it was chosen/applied in a hurry on December 15th.
Finish coffee table
Refinish armoire
Build credenza
Make/buy TV
Finish light-box
Curtains
Art/accessories

Kitchen/Dining:
Build cabinetry
Paint banquette
Art/accessories

Study:
I'm contemplating leaving this room out of the challenge altogether, which is unfortunate. I have some great (but time-consuming) ideas for this room, and looking at the list above is discouraging. We'll see what I have time for, I guess. This room needs EVERYTHING. All it has is: flooring, wiring, windows/trim, and a firepole. Totes bare bones.

This isn't overwhelming at all (lying).

In other craft-palace news, I went "shopping" in my late-grandfather-in-law's abandoned woodworking shop again and got some great tools and materials. I even found a 1:12 furniture kit for a table, new and still in the box. I heard that before he passed, he had wanted to build/furnish a dollhouse. Though I never got to meet him, I'd like to think he'd be glad to know where all his stuff is going. I wish he was still around to help me with my techniques. So, Peep, if you're reading my very boring and incredibly obscure blog from heaven, thanks man. And your family misses you.

It wouldn't be a normal TinyFixation post without a few pics of my current projects/process/progress!

 Liquid motivation/self-forgiveness. In that order. Don't judge. You can see the beginnings of the treehouse loft for the nursery in this pic. I've made a lot more progress since this was taken last week.

I found these scrapbook embellishments at Hobby Lobby. The backs of these aren't horrendous as I had anticipated. Throw pillows, fo shizzle. They aren't squishy like pillows, but this stuff doesn't need to be functional. I have to keep reminding myself that it only needs to look authentic.

I also have a beautiful collection of antique hankies. I've been curating this collection since I was a wee little lass. They're totally gorge, yet under appreciated. They're hidden away 100% of the time. I've been thinking about using a few in the dollhouse, but that would require cutting them. I guess they're collecting dust anyway, I might as well showcase them in a new way, no? I'll have to ask mom what she thinks.

And here are my almost-finished sconces for the bathroom. They'll flank a bevel-edged oval mirror over the sink. I like 'em a bunch. Sorry you have to see my man-hands.



I've been showing a lot less stuff since I'd like there to be a few surprises on February 1st. It's not as fun if I don't keep some secrets. We're down to the wire... again. Just under 2 weeks left. So I hope I can squeeze in time for another post or two before the deadline.

I'm a giant... the aftermath

So. I've finally mustered-up the strength to start talking about my dollhouse again. I've been speechless (blog-wise) for a couple weeks. Here's my sob-story...

I have been taking the challenge pretty seriously. I devoted every moment that I wasn't sleeping or working to getting it done. I skipped family functions, meals, and sleep in the process. On the day of the deadline, I realized I wasn't going to finish. Not even close. However, instead of throwing in the towel, I pressed on until almost 3am on the 16th, Just so I would have something to submit. Something to show for weeks worth of tireless effort. I took horrendous last-minute pictures and frantically loaded them into this post. You can even see towards the end of it that I was fading fast. I clicked 'Publish", and crawled to bed. I woke up 3.5 hours later for my job. I checked my email to find that some kind soul had already commented... "Just in time for the challenge to be extended!"

I died ten times, right there on the couch. Then I put on my big-girl panties and went to work. Initial knee-jerk reaction was complete horror, followed by soothing calm. Because in the end, I got exactly what I wanted. More time to fully execute my original plans. I just wish we had been notified sooner, so that maybe I could have worked on Christmas stuff, you know, in time for Christmas. I gave more than a few IOU's this Christmas, and that is a pretty sucky feeling. Ok, I'm done bitching now.

Since I had to look at this mess for a while, so do you. Here's a few pictures of my craft-palace on the morning of December 16th. Thought you might enjoy seeing the aftermath of extreme-deadline-crafting. A panoramic montage...

 

(That imposing lamp was brought in solely for lighting some of the pictures. I think it's the only thing in that room that doesn't belong there.)

So many layers of shit. I narrowly escaped alive.

During cleanup I found out that I have at least this many adhesives. Probably fine.

And... the only dollhouse related thing I did over Christmas:

I made this in less than 20 minutes, out of 4 pieces (of 2 materials), for under $1.00. Three holiday twigs from Michael's, and some gold bowmaking wire. It's about 7 inches tall. Perfect.

I took it easy (only for lack of motivation) over New Year's weekend. I did conjure up some accessories though.

I threw together some toiletries using beads I had on hand. I have an unreasonable amount of beads on hand since jewelry was my primary craft until the dollhouse moved in and started throwing elbows. I tried to just use the cheapie beads, plastic/glass and such. Expensive specialty beads need to be jewelry that gets sold to make money to feed my dollhouse habit (or they can be brass pendant lights in tiny kitchens, rules were made to be broken). I think it cost about $1 to make these 9 bottles. Not too shabby.

 The nail polish bottles kill me.

Also made some books/newspapers for the study. These were FREE!!! Check out www.printmini.com, they've got a ton of free printables. I printed out some cereal boxes, a tiger rug, and some lampshade patterns (not sure if I'll use them, but they were free). They have way more than that.

For the books: the singles are wrapped around pieces of wood I cut to size and painted too look like gold/silver edged pages. The encyclopedia sets are folded, glued, and are meant to be hollow. Since I'm a bull in a china shop, I cut some foam to size and pushed it in before I glued it shut for some insurance against me crushing them. I'm like the Hulk.



Newspapers are just folded in half and tacked together with a gluestick.

 

So obviously what I've done over the past 2-3 weeks hasn't amounted to much. Pssh, whatever... I've got until February 1 now!