Christmas — Page 54

Misadventures & Miniatures

December 12, 2013 at 8:33 am by Claudia

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Yesterday? A day fraught with challenges. For starters, I’m still struggling with this sinus thing and I feel yucky much of the time. Nevertheless, I looked at our upcoming schedule, along with the predictions of a significant snow event Saturday into Sunday and figured it was time to get the Christmas tree. That went smoothly. We had the tree picked out in no time. When we got home, we stopped to have some lunch and then we hauled the Christmas decorations out of the shed, along with the tree stand. Along the way, I realized I had wrenched something in my lower back, which was evident when I was going up and down the stairs. Drat.

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Then it came time to bring the tree inside and fit it in the stand. This requires crouching on all fours on my part. Stuffed up head. Aching back. Try as we might we couldn’t get the stand to lay flat. The legs were uneven, which was perplexing as we had used the stand plenty of times in the past. We tried bending them this way and that and eventually Don started putting pressure on the legs with his booted foot to try and right the situation. He didn’t have his glasses on and stomped on a metal leg while my middle finger was still under it. I screeched in pain. There was a lot of bleeding and a chunk of skin missing from the tip of my finger, but thankfully, nothing was broken. It’s painful and my finger is covered in bandaids, making typing a wee bit difficult. Don felt terrible, of course, but it wasn’t his fault. These things happen.

He had to go back out and buy a new stand.

Decorating the big tree will not happen until tonight or tomorrow night. But it’s very pretty. The little white tree, as you can see from the first picture, has been put up and looks lovely.

The other day, my little package from Spain arrived. Spain! How exciting! What was in it?

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Be still my heart. Miniature plates made out of ceramic, in the most luscious vintage patterns.

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A cup and saucer.

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Another cup and saucer.

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And a matching platter.

Oh my lord. Clearly the owner of Hummingbird Cottage loves china, especially vintage china. She swoons over beautiful, old-fashioned patterns. She haunts antique stores and flea markets, looking for more china for her collection.

Does that sound like anyone else you know?

I’m not sure where these will eventually end up but I’ve been playing with them.

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These pieces are so beautifully done, I can barely stand it. Swoon-worthy. Just as in my life-sized house, there is limited space here in the dollhouse for china.

Will that stop me? No.

These pieces of china came from Sofia’s Etsy Shop – Twelvetimesmoreteeny. She does exquisite work. Stop by and feast your eyes on the loveliness. I could go nuts there.

Happy Thursday.

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The Latest: Dollhouse Decorating

December 10, 2013 at 8:43 am by Claudia

I’ve been feeling under the weather for the past two days. One of those things that is almost like a cold, but really isn’t – it’s sinus congestion and general yuckyness. Nevertheless, it hasn’t stopped me from noodling around with the dollhouse. Here are the latest Hummingbird Cottage updates:

dollhouse, bathroom, shutters

I added these red shutters to the bathroom. That particular idea had been in my thoughts for about a week. I painted the shutters the day before yesterday but realized they were too long for the window. I cut them down in length yesterday.

I really love the pop of red in the back of the bathroom. It makes for a somewhat dramatic look and frankly, the pop of color is needed because this room is rather long and tunnel-like. They need a little tweaking, but I’m happy with the result.

dollhouse plank wall

The plank wall is finished. I really love it. I’m going to wallpaper the remaining walls, in fact, I ordered it yesterday. And that, my friends, will be the last time I have to deal with messy wallpaper paste. Wish me luck!

dollhouse maxfield parrish print

I made some artwork. In my own little amateurish way, I decided to try making a framed piece of art with what I had on hand. I got this idea when looking at mini frames and art on Etsy. One woman uses beautiful stamps from all over the world for her minis. I remembered that I had this Maxfield Parrish calendar upstairs in a drawer (Maxfield Parrish being one of my favorite artists) and I seemed to remember that the back of the calendar showed small versions of the prints that were going to be used each month. Sure enough, it did. I cut one out and grabbed some leftover trim that I use for the chair rail. Executing a mitered corner was beyond my current skill set, so I simply glued the pieces together the way you see them here. The chair rail trim was painted white and that wasn’t the look I was going for. I found some Rub n’ Buff in silver upstairs in my cabinet and I used that to create a silver frame. Glued the Parrish print on the back and then backed that with another piece of thin cardboard. It worked! (I also spayed the print with some matte sealer, hoping to take the glossiness down a notch.)

dollhouse living room decorated for Christmas

The living room furniture has been rearranged for the Holidays. Again, I used what I had on hand. I made this tree last year from one of the bottle brush trees I have stashed in a drawer. Admittedly, it’s a bit too short, but it works. Have you ever priced fully decorated miniature trees for a dollhouse? Too expensive for my taste, especially when I’m only going to use it for a week or two. The box that has been wrapped as a present is a bit too big, but maybe there’s something wonderful in it! The garland on the fireplace is courtesy of some trim that Elyse sent me. I ran across it yesterday and thought it would be perfect for the dollhouse. By the way, lots of the ‘ornaments’ are also from bits and bobs sent by Elyse.

I usually decorate the outside of the dollhouse but this year, since I’m doing so much work on the inside, I’m just going to decorate the living room.

dollhouse staircase christmas garland

Here’s the rest of the garland. Festive, no?

Can you see that animal on the dresser? Also from Elyse. I found it in another bag of Elyse treats. It’s a goat, technically, but I’m calling it a reindeer.

Works for me.

Happy Tuesday.

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Miss Efficiency

December 5, 2013 at 9:32 am by Claudia

Cue the trumpets.

I cleaned off the front porch.

I packed away the cushions, the cot, the garden paraphernalia, the vintage garden sign. Only the pots of impatiens, still holding court inside the house, haven’t been stowed away in the shed. I also cleaned up the chicken wire fence garden and all the dead plants on the funky patio.

Not only that, since I was in and out of the shed, I grabbed the wreath and hung it on the door.

Not only that, I draped the outdoor lights along the front porch railing. And turned them on.

Don’t get too excited. That is the extent of my holiday decorating so far. Remember: No Christmas decorating until next week. Though, when I did a little update about said lights and wreath on MHC’s Facebook page, Melanie commented: “Aren’t lights and a wreath Christmas decorating?”

Well, technically, yes. So I’ve amended my rule to No Indoor Christmas Decorating until the second week of December.

Do you find you get more done when there are no distractions – in my case – my husband? Don had to go into Manhattan yesterday and I suddenly became Miss Efficiency. I got a lot of things done.

Case in point: I was sitting in the blogging chair, which gives a direct view of the side of the dollhouse and, unfortunately, of the mess on top of the dollhouse. That’s where all my scraps of wood, glue, paint, etc. are. When I am painting or cutting wood, I often work on the top of the kitchen island. So I find myself walking back and forth between the dollhouse and the island because I need something or other that I forgot to bring with me to the island.

Then I saw my Vernor’s soda crate on the kitchen table. Ding! An idea.

Next thing I knew, I was on my way to a favorite local antique center and I found this:

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A nifty soda crate with dividers. I see Pepsi and Coca-Cola crates everywhere, so I didn’t want one. Since I’ve never heard of A-Treat, this crate went home with me. But now I’ll have to research this brand because I’m curious.

These soda crates have handles on the sides, so I can carry this with me from room to room.

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This goes under the heading of Why didn’t I think of this sooner?

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Glue, pencils, ruler, paints, craft sticks, shutters, trim…..all in one place.

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And then stashed under the dollhouse table. Perfect.

Such a little thing, but such a time saver. And when the dollhouse is finished, I can use the crate for something else. I love these soda crates, by the way. I’m still looking for an aqua colored crate. I’ve seen them here and there in blogland.

I just have to share one more thing with you. I saw the most beautiful cabinet in that same antique shop. I almost hyperventilated. I took a photo with my iPhone but it doesn’t do it justice. (Notice the big Coca-Cola crate on top?)

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Oh. My. Goodness.

It’s quite tall, about 2 ½ feet wide (maybe more) and it has beautiful legs which I obviously didn’t capture in this photo. That’s a big antique porcelain doorknob. (Why the heck didn’t I move that sled to take this picture?)

Doesn’t this cabinet scream Claudia?? Unfortunately, the price tag said $290. Sob. It’s worth every penny, in my humble opinion. Very seldom do I see something that stops me in my tracks but this piece did. I don’t know where I’d put it. I don’t care. I would find a place for it.

Ah well. Sob, again.

Happy Wednesday.

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Misadventures & Miniatures

The Latest: Dollhouse Decorating

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