Lighting, Magnets and Baskets...

…And lots of other little things.

The magnets are on the edge of the tower, holding it closed and in place very nicely when I want it shut.  It was just misbehaving without them.

I had plans to finalize my wiring this weekend but there was a mix up with my order of shrink tubes so I test the lights but nothing is hardwired yet.  I'll probably do that next week.

My standing candelabra is giving me fits because it works but then when I get the camera out it doesn't work.  I think extending the wires and making sure the connections are clean will do it.  But in the meantime, here's proof that the rest of my lights work.

By the way, my clamp light which is photobombing the dollhouse was only $3 at a thrift store.  Love that thing!

I added trim to my side dormer interior.

I want to have a bit more, but it'll keep until I get the roofing done.  Beams to go from the sides to the ridgepole and more beams on the sides of the roof to match the ones on the opposite roof and wall.  Again, they'll keep until I get the rest of my list finished.

I wanted to make some fireplace tools, poker, shovel for the ashes, that sort of thing.  And some paddles for the oven, not to mention my wool cards.

The oven paddles I thought I'd be able to buy but all I could find were ones for pizza and I didn't care for how they looked. Too modern.  The fireplace implements I found were mostly brass and I didn't care for them either.  We won't even discuss the futility of trying to purchase miniature wool cards.

I had lots of scrap wood, Velcro and toothpicks so I started with my wool cards.  The hook part of the Velcro is the closest I could come to scale for the cards and I'm pleased with how they turned out.

Here's a couple of pictures of what they look like back in Tudor times:

A saltbox (Keli)














































For oven paddles I had lots of thin scrap wood so I drew out the lines of the paddle and used my Dremel to sand away the excess.  For the long handled paddle I used a toothpick, routed out a channel on the back after I shaped it and carved down part of the toothpick so it was flat and would glue flush to the paddle.

I drilled a hole in the handle of one of the smaller paddles and did the same with the long handled one but decided it wasn't worth the trouble after I drilled into the side of my finger with the minuscule drill.  Getting a little tired of doing that.  And blood is a pain to get out of the wood.

I decided not to stain them because I want them to pop against the fireplace and furniture in the kitchen.

My fireplace tools were trickier, I went back to my jewelry making days.  (By the way if anyone needs beads, I really need to put up a pictorial of all the types I have so I can send them out. )  I had jewelry wire in various thicknesses and since it was so old it had gotten a bit oxidized (I think that's it?) anyway, it wasn't shiny and pretty anymore.

I cut lengths of it and started to twist it back on itself and then wound it in a tight spiral about three wire widths thick.  I used the tip of a toothpick for the poker and used the wire for a bit of a hook.  The shovel I made out of scrap wood and sanded it so it narrowed at the lip of the shovel.

Then I painted them with some of my pewter metallic paint.  I put a bit on the wire handles too.  They look nicely primitive I think.

I made some hooks for them to hang on and stuck them on the side of the fireplace in the kitchen.

I had purchased a goose/chicken on a spit and it came with spit holders but they were made of clay or something that kept bending and ultimately broke.  So I manufactured some spit holders out of the same wire.

You can see them a little bit here.  I just wanted the twisted metal look to be similar to the tools.  I'll have to open the front door and take a picture from that angle.  It might show them better.

I had made those curved shelves and table for the tower room, but apart from my Astronomy models didn't have much to fill them up with.  I used one of my mini geodes and my topaz crystals and on the top shelf another 'magical' potion from EBay.

I had used tea to stain some of my textured scrapbook paper and painted the other side so it wasn't a shiny gold, then I cut out scrolls and stained them with paint and water before gluing them onto the shelves.

I don't know if I still want a chair in the tower or not.  I'm going to think about it.

Since I'm still waiting on my ordered sausages to hang from the rack and maybe in the bay window, I decided to get the rest of my food organized and in baskets and on the kitchen table.  I'd purchased a bunch of vegetables from various sources so I messed around with them and got a few things glued in place.

The peas in their pods seemed a bit big to me so I thought they'd be good under the cupboard next to some spare cauldrons and apples.   And since I wanted a few 'magical' things in the different rooms but not necessarily front and center I used the ladle Keli sent me and another cauldron to start another batch of pease pottage in the back of the kitchen.

I had to let all that dry so I started putting things on the WQ's desk in the stillroom and added a fur throw to the settle in her room.

It might not even be noticed but I think she deserves it.

I started to get the mantle in her bedroom set up as well.  I have a 'silver' backed brush to go in front of her mirror and a little box from Shapeways, which I'd painted silver and made a red bead necklace to drape out of it.  It's going to go near the candles so it won't be super noticeable, which is why I don't mind that the necklace isn't quite to scale.

You can also see the saltbox I made next to it.  Keli sent me a really cute little silverware caddy that would have worked but I loved it so much I wanted to put spoons and things in it.

Then I started to place all my produce and food in the kitchen and played around taking pictures of it.  I put my axe and the clogs under the hooks by the door.  I need to make the cloak still, but I think I've found a pattern that will work so maybe during the evening this week.

So here's a bunch of pictures of the kitchen, minus the drying rack, in no particular order.

 

These are after I put the rush mats I'd bought down on the floor.  I think I like them.  Not entirely sure.

 

Since I was adding furniture, I decided to put all the still room furniture in place.  It looks a little chaotic in there, but I wasn't really setting my camera angles all that well.  I need to work on that.  And my clamp light was a little too glaring.  I need to get my shades out if I'm going to keep using it, diffuse the light some.

Then it was time to get back to work.  I needed to put my wool in baskets to it would be ready for spinning.

One of the baskets will go under the cupboard with all the thread.  Probably the oval one with the grey wool in it.

I've got some ideas for the roof.  I want it to have a bit of a fairy tale look, but also realistic, so I'm going to try combining two methods.  This...

And this...


















I want the natural stone look of the second with the fairytale appearance of the first.  If I can't combine them I'll probably go with the first and try to use different thicknesses of cardboard.  I've been collecting.  The folks at work think I'm a little crazy but they're humoring me since I don't eat cereal and they do.

I also think I'll have time to do a front garden, even if I can't figure out how to do a tree.  I can do walls and a gate and use magnets to attached it to the main part of the house.  In anticipation of the attempt I bought a gate way back at the beginning of the year.

Isn't it pretty?  I love how it looks.

And I've been saving my water bottle caps so I can make plants like Jodi!

So what's left that's absolutely necessary...

Roof
Wiring
Finish back of house and tower
Lean to
Doves/Pigeons for dovecote
Basic landscaping around the minimal base.

Compared to my huge long to do list... That's not bad. I'll take it.


Clogs (Keli) 
A still (might be able to do this with Kris's 'paper pottery')
Sausages on a string (ordered)

Drill & Route out channels for lighting wires.
Finish shutters & interior trim for all windows on main cottage.
         First Floor          
         Second Floor
Build Fireplaces & chimneys
        First Floor
        Second Floor
Cut bricks and stone for outside of lower walls and tower.
(Test Magic Brik) - in progress
Add brick/stone to fireplaces.
        First Floor         
        Second Floor
Age fireplaces
        First Floor
        Second Floor
Build base for house
        Get the wiring for the bottom floor extended to go out the back (must be done before attaching            cottage to base.
Get cottage on base
Attach Tower to Main Cottage
        Doorway Finishes
        Hall Stone?-Brick
        Floors.
        Finish stair tower edges
        Attach latch or magnets to hold shut
        Extend Roof over tower hall
        Attach Back wall (tower)
Test lights
Finish back of house
Lean to, to hide light switches.
Bedroom mantle
Plaster upper walls and third floor of tower.
Add timber to upper walls and third floor of tower. (testing)
Paint stone.
Add grout to stone and brick.
Ceiling beams on first floor.
Ceiling beams and roof support for lofted ceiling on second floor.
          Dormer ceiling supports
          Add final supports to desk alcove
Second floor Ceiling finish?
Ceiling beams and roof support for the tower.
Stain purchased furniture
          Bedroom
          Kitchen
          Stillroom
          Weaving/workroom
Build furniture:
          Make sink
          Make curved table for tower room
          Make loom
          Adjust tables for lab
          Make stool
          Make telescope 1/2 done
          Make orrey 1/4 done
          Make tapestry
          Make rush mats
          Make bedding
          Make books & scrolls
          Make paper pottery
Stillroom paraphernalia
          Potions? (some bottles made)
          Cage with spider (on the loose)
          Cage with mice
          Cauldron floating spoon? (testing)
Tower - shelves
          Books
          Scrolls
Workroom
          Wool cards (make)
          Drying rack ?
          Hanging died wool
          Carded wool in baskets
          Finished fabric on shelves (some folded maybe? rolled instead)
Kitchen
          Put food in baskets
          Add food & utensils to table
          Make bread paddles
          Make spit holder
          Make fire implements
          Make lantern
          Hang sausages
          hooks
          Cloak
Furniture in place finalize lights.
          Make sconce
          Make candelabras
                 Standing Candelabra
                 2 small Candelabras
                              Remove candles from extra and add to stillroom table.
Add flooring
Plaster inside walls
Create 'slate' roof
Bargeboards/trim for roof gables.
Create front garden
          Make tree?
          Make stream?
          Make lake/river to go alongside house
          Make stone wall to go around garden
          Iron front gate.