Book Nook - Dresden Files Style

 So an old friend and I reconnected on Facebook and now and then we'll message each other.  I'm not a huge Facebook person but I'll link my blog to it and post some progress pics to a group I like.

Instant messages are great but sometimes with me they're not so instant because I don't have Facebook on my phone.

My old friend is a huge sci-fi and fantasy fan. We used to play D&D together if that gives you an idea?  And he asked if I would be able to make a bookshelf insert in some sort of fantasy style.

Uhh... hello?

He hadn't seen my blog, only the pics I share on Facebook.  So the WQRC came as a surprise to him.

But end result, I said sure, I'll give it a try.  Since I'm mostly using things that I have it won't cost a lot because he can't afford the two hundred dollar Etsy book nooks.

He's a big fan of the Dresden File books by Jim Butcher.  Harry Dresden is a wizard for hire. In Chicago which I love.  I have a bunch of the books though I haven't read them in a while.  So I'm doing a book nook of the Wizard's Laboratory/Workroom.  Harry Dresden lives in a garden apartment and the workroom is in a sub-basement.

He has a skull named Bob who's a bit of a perv and reads romance novels.  Little Things of Interest had a sale so I got a set of novels for Bob and I had some skulls too.

I also bought some downloadable book kits and worked on them this weekend.

My plan is to have the stairs go out of sight around a little corner.  The one thing he asked was that the nook light up somehow so I'll hide the battery pack in the corner too.

I'm debating if I want to do a false wall, something thin, on a slight angle for the right side of the box because without diagonal wall it'll be hard to see everything on the shelves.  What do you think?

I'm using a gravel texture for the floor and I'll do the walls in brick.  I can't do the walls just yet because I might want to put wires under the bricks. Have to see.

But I decided that since it is a Wizard's basement workshop, a dragon statue (or maybe not) would be appropriate.  So I picked out one of my dragons and primed him.

Since the building is older I'll have some support beams on the ceiling.  But I decided to do the tongue depressor planks so it would look like an old sub-basement.  

I taped some scraps the same width as the walls in place so I wouldn't go over the borders and make my walls not fit once I got the ceiling glued down. 

It's a much smaller ceiling than the WQRC so I got everything glued down today.

I'll use a couple of different stains and make it look aged.  The beams will go along the sides, butting up against the walls.  And I'll likely do the beams a bit darker.  I figure the steps on the stairs will semi match the ceiling while the stringers will be more of a match to the beams.

I've got a cauldron, a tea kettle, books, and I'll make some candles with drippy wax to go near Bob.  I need to keep an eye out for 1:12 tupperware type stuff.

Harry also keeps his notes in some green spiral notebooks and I found some of those on Etsy!  Very excited.

The cookies and candy apples are just for me because hey Sale!  

With luck I'll have more progress next week.  I hope you all had a lovely weekend and a Happy Thanksiving!

Back To It - Sort Of

 This weekend I decided to work on a simple (relatively) project. My husband thinks it's wonderfully meta so it's nice to amuse him too.

I'd mentioned that I cut out the back of my empty fabric softener bottle.

I used scrapbook paper to make the floor (with some cardboard to level it out) and some coordinating paper for the walls.

It took a little searching but I found some fabric to recover the ironing board that matched pretty nicely.  

And I made a shelf from the brackets I got from HBS Miniatures and some scrap wood.  Then I added a few of the cleaning supplies and an iron.  I'll make a little mop to go in the bucket and add some more trash to the little can next to it.

The blankets are from Fabulously Flawed Miniatures on Etsy.  I made the towels from some fabric.  And the hedgehog picture is a jewelry finding.

Big difference in how it looks with the lights on and the lights off.  I inserted a piece of clear plastic under the cap and added a string of lights.  I found them on Groupon actually, they're made to go in bottles to light them up. 

With some velcro to hold the battery pack to the underside of the cap they work pretty well.

I'm excited also because an old friend asked if I could make a book nook for him.  I'm waiting on the dimensions but I've got ideas. He loves the Harry Dresden novels so the idea is to do a nook of the workroom in the sub basement.

And on Amazon I found the coolest thing to use for the shelves. True bachelor style.

I think this will be a lot of fun.

Hope you're all doing well and staying safe.