Cluttering Up Shelves & Figuring Out Lighting

 It's odd. I spend a lot of time on the weekends doing minis and never feel like the pictures are enough afterwards. Maybe because a lot of what I'm doing is mental work and figuring out how things will fit or how to make something work?  And we can't take a picture of the inside of my brain. (Trust me, its a mess in there, you wouldn't want to see.)

But I spent some time trying to decide between the table I had painted and a sideboard I'd stained. The sideboard has a much narrower depth and fits the space better.

The wide table

The sideboard

It fits better in the space but I had to do some mental rearranging of the things I wanted to put on that side of the room.

I took my potions bottles, an old school coffee grinder and some other bottles and added them to the wall shelf which will go on the wall with the sideboard.

It's balancing on the sideboard by the bottom of the shelf until all the glue dries. And we have our coke can for Harry. Can't forget to caffeinate. 

I painted the candles, black inside and buttermilk outside because I don't like white candles much.  But then I counted and wow, I had a lot of candles. More than I had actual lights to go inside them. I only had seven LEDs.  So I rummaged through my stash.  

Back when I did the Craftsman Tiny House and the Wicked Queen's Retirement Cottage I had messed with some purchased lamps and sconces.  The lamps lost their shades and the sconces lost their candles.

With a little stained woodsie they looked like some jerry-rigged sconces and candle holders.

That's also a stool that I stained and painted. I'm planning on using it as a 'makeshift' place to set a candle for additional light.

I have plans to hide the wires and batteries for the lights but I don't want to disclose them yet. I'll let you know if it works or not.

I painted another stool black, and then dry brushed some buttermilk paint over the black to give it a more worn look. 

I also decided that the pale raw wood of the cinderblock shelves was too much of a contrast with the grey and the brick so I stained/painted them a warmer brown.  

I had a place picked out for Bob the skull and his romance novels so I glued a few things in place and got him situated.

Some of the books are glued down and some are simply slid into place between the glued ones. I wanted a few of the books to be removable so Bob could switch out his library when he got bored with the lemony bits of the novels.  Bob seems to favor bodice ripper types. Hey, no judgement here Bob.

But while Bob, his books and his candles were drying I began to work on something else that every wizard needs. Wands, sticks(staves?) and a staff.  Luckily for Harry (our wizard) I'm something of a bead hoarder. So I had chunks of amethyst, crystal and other 'magical' items to give his implements a boost.

One of them has a loop of black 'leather' to hang from the lowest hook on the back wall. The wood of the wands are toothpicks. I cut off the points and drilled into the ends to add crystals in some cases, with silver bands at their base for support. (And to keep the wood from splitting.)

The staff is a chopstick with wire wrapped for gripping and a brass boot on the bottom to prevent splintering in case it actually has to be used as a walking staff instead of a magical weapon.  I like the light contrast but I'm debating doing something with a darker stain on the bottom to spread upwards?  I'll practice on one of my goofed up chopsticks and see how it goes.

I'd originally glued the drawers in but if I can pry them loose I might add dividers and put semi-precious stones in there, malachite, soladite, yellow & pink quartz, that sort of thing.

The cinderblock shelves needed the rest of the candles so I went about adding them.

I'll tape the wires into place on the back of the shelves or in case of the lower ones, under them.  More waiting for the glue to dry.

But then I began to add the herb jars and books and oh yeah...The Dragon!  He won't light up and breathe fire, but he looks cool.

I also rolled up some of the 'spellbook' pages so they looked like scrolls...Another reason I loved the cinderblocks, little cubbies for things like scrolls. The perfect holders right?

One picture head on (so to speak, sorry for the pun Bob).

And one at a bit of an angle because the shelves will be set similarly into the booknook.

I'm imagining putting the little propane stove under the far end of the shelves with one of the large mortar and pestles.  Maybe the bushel of pumpkins under the other?

And that... was pretty much it for my accomplishments this weekend. I had to let the glue dry thoroughly.

I did put some thought into where to put the sconces and whether or not I should do a hanging lantern but I don't want to overwhelm the room with light. So no lantern.

I'm pleased with how it's looking so far. The top shelf will have some 'removable' books that actually open which is why it looks a little empty. Our wizard is a tall fellow so he won't have any trouble reaching.

It's all coming together...I'm excited.

Things to do:

Overcoat (or something resembling one)
Sideboard paraphernalia (semi precious stones, scale, cauldron, etc)
Maps
Circle of protection (cut on Cricut & paint gold/brass)
Glue together
Add finishing wood to sides & back
Frame to add & hold batteries & switches.
Last piece of ceiling.