Drapes, Booze and Books

Hey I hope everybody is doing well!  I got started working on minis earlier than usual because I got up much earlier than I normally would on a weekend.  I like to try and sleep in some on Saturday and Sunday but it didn't happen this weekend.

So I decided I'd finish up my embers and get the fireplace wired.

I tested out how they looked and shook off any loose coal before I put the lights under the plastic.

You can see the red nicely enough here.  So I tried it out in the fireplace to make sure everything would fit.  And it looks pretty good.

So I got a hole drilled in the back of the fireplace and glued everything in.  I like it.

My husband had printed out pictures of Poe and his wife.  I have some frames ordered and the pictures are a good size for the chimney surround.

I had some Chrysnbon frames and I'd purchased some pictures from Etsy so I chose a couple from the right era and cut them to fit the frames.

I don't know what's gotten into me.  This is the second year where I've had a project where I need to make books.  I had some left from Fine Print.  And plenty of covers to make more.

So I started to work on books.  While the covers dried I did some research and tried to determine what I'd need to do to make the acrylic look like cognac, absinthe, wine and whiskey... yeah, I'm figuring that Poe did his share of drinking.

I have a bunch of decanters as well as wine glasses and so I spent a little time while the books dried mixing, pouring and mixing some more.  I'll make some trays for a few of them, and leave bottles without for others.

Books, books, books!  I have a pile o' books.

I plan to have other things on the shelves but just in case they don't work out I wanted to have enough books to fill the shelves in reasonably well.  So I did a test run of how well they'd work.  I could use a few more I think.

I knew I needed to start on my curtains.  So I went hunting through my fabrics and found some very thin white fabric and some purple satin.  I only have one pleater so I got started on the sheers first.  I need to draw out the shape of my purple drapes and I'm not sure how elaborate I want them yet.

I like to use watered down white glue to keep the pleats and it takes a while to dry so I'll likely only be able to do one set of drapes per day.  The glue doesn't discolor the fabric and holds it very well.  I know a lot of folks swear by unscented hair spray but with all the humidity we can have here I don't trust it.  If it won't work on my hair I doubt it will work on fabric.  It took me forever to find my fabric so I only got one done this weekend.

The other thing I wanted to do was make a coal bin.  I saw one on Etsy that was more elaborate than the simple Chrynsbon that came with the stoves I made last year.  So I decided I'd try to recreate it.

The dimensions were off a bit...but with some sanding and a bit of work I managed to come up with something close to what I wanted.

I managed to get it stained and some paint added to hide the little spots where my glue messed it up.

So I think I'll be making some more books and once I get my PDF instructions for the chaise kit I'll try to work on that as well.

I'm not sure about the handle on top of the coal scuttle.  It looks a little insubstantial. I might try to redo it with something a little larger.  I'll live with it a little while and see how I feel.

Am I weird to want a vacation?

I hope you're all doing well.  Stay safe and healthy and lets keep practicing patience and good sense.  I'm grateful for all of you and this hobby I've become so obsessed with.