Glue and glitter covered fingers, but it was worth it.

I’m so glad I decided to glue the ornaments on. I made the tree about 5 years ago and I’ve always tried to decorate it without disturbing the preserved princess pine. So I had to resort to draping bits of trim around the tree and, invariably, the trim would slip and fall and I would get frustrated.

This is so much better!

It’s very sparkly, much more sparkly than these photos indicate. I’m not sure why it doesn’t read that way.

All the ornaments are cut from trim I bought at Michael’s. We’re going there today or tomorrow to drop some pieces off for framing and I’m going to buy one more to tuck away and have as backup.

All day long yesterday, I kept looking up at the dollhouse. Makes me happy.

I hope Caroline appreciates her tree. One never knows.

I love this dollhouse. For most of the year, it’s turned the other way, with the exterior facing us as we sit in the den. So, when I turn it around for Christmas decorating, it’s like discovering it all over again. There are the inevitable things that need to be tweaked; something that’s moved, something that’s fallen needs to be reattached.

But gosh darn it, I’m proud of this beauty. Six years of work, and worth every bit of time and effort.

Caroline is done with her shopping – as opposed to me – and is getting ready to wrap presents.

And is that package for her or is it a present for someone else?

Just a simple bottle brush tree on the living room hearth.

In the meantime, my house needs decorating! It’s just about time.

Happy Thursday.

Just got around to answering comments this morning. I was going on 4 hours of sleep yesterday and I didn’t have the energy to tackle them! I got a good night’s sleep so I’m much better today.

Yes. We bought a crockpot – the 4 quart size, which will be just fine for us. We don’t eat meat, remember. Besides, we had no room for a 6 quart! I spent the morning clearing out the shelves that are behind solid doors at the bottom of our white china cabinet. As often happens, it was a job I should have tackled a while ago. A lot of the spray bottles and cleaners were out of date. I grabbed a trash bag and started dumping. The result is a much more organized cabinet and room for a slow cooker.

Don made Crockpot Quinoa and Vegetables from the Moms with Crockpots website and boy, was it good! We added some garbanzo beans for protein, as well. And we have leftovers! It’s just nice to change things up a bit. Added bonus: the house certainly smelled yummy!

We had a very cold but sunny day yesterday and we have one again today. After months of rain – much more than normal – and gray skies, I’ll take cold weather if it gives me sun. My mood immediately elevates. I’ve said this before, but I seem to be much more prone to blue moods when the skies are gray than I was when I was younger. Today? The sun is streaming in the house and it’s beautiful.

This is where I left off with the mini tree. Ornaments had started falling. Flowers from the green vase started falling. Claudia started screaming.

I didn’t work on it yesterday because I was so exhausted and I knew it would end up being an exercise in frustration. Today, however, I will. It’s going to be pretty when I finish!

And I’m going to finish attaching all these egg cups with the Tacky Wax I use for the dollhouses. I’m nearly 3/4 of the way through. Then I can safely move the cabinet to get to my Christmas decorations.

Okay. Onward and upward!

Happy Wednesday.

Don is off renting a pickup truck to bring a wee bit more Item 4 (gravel) to our house. In all the work on the driveway, we didn’t realized how wet the area that leads from the drive to the kitchen door would get. And that spells trouble when it gets icy. Since we enter the house through that door and our oil and propane guys use that path as well, we figured it would be a good idea to take care of that ASAP.

It’s warmer and sunnier today so it’s a good day to tackle it – but it’s very windy. It seems as if we can’t have a sunny day lately without it being windy.

Yesterday, though sleep deprived, I worked on the modern mini tree and the green tree, as well. I was going to try to add ornaments to the green tree without gluing them but, after bringing it downstairs in the late afternoon and trying to position it in the dollhouse, my frustration grew as ornaments kept falling off. At that point, I was running on fumes, so I stopped for the day.

I’m gluing them on today. The princess pine, which is a moss, isn’t at all stiff, so it won’t support the ornaments without some help. I’ve had the tree for several years now, so why not glue them in? It would make next year a lot easier!

Some photos of the modern tree in the modern dollhouse. Remember, I’ve done next to nothing with this dollhouse because I haven’t been motivated (though I’m getting there) and wasn’t at all sure what direction I wanted to take. But here it is:

I just threw that rug in there for some color on the floor.

I managed to cut the thick wire that formed the trunk with my wire cutters and then I inserted it back in the base, added some glue, and it’s done.

I have some things to add to the room and I’ll do that soon and take some more photos. The dollhouse is in the hallway upstairs and that area can be dark. And dollhouses are just plain difficult to photograph anyway. You’re basically aiming the lens at a dark hole.

After we deal with the gravel, I’ll work on the other tree and decorate Hummingbird Cottage.

Happy Monday.