Elevator Music

Sorry for such long absences. I've been working on various projects but sometimes the day is over before I realize it's even begun. 

We had teacher appreciation last week, then both daughters had their birthday on the fourth, and since then I've been trying to catch up on an end-of-the-year gift for the kids' bus driver.

So without further ado, here's the stuff  I've made but haven't posted;

Teacher Appreciation for Son's teacher

Teacher Appreciation door decoration with for an "UP" theme

Ugly shelves the previous house owners left behind, being primed for painting

Planets and nebulae done on the shelves in spray paint

Newly painted shelves hung over my dollhouse table

And said dollhouse table after I cleared 95% of the stuff off of it

Yesterday I was so into the creative spirit that I was drawing mandala patterns in dinner gravy while it was cooking, and then I made a potato man out of mashed potatoes and vegetables. 

Honestly, I like being more in the groove and don't mind being distracted from posting updates. 

Feel the Burn

Yesterday was my final day at the Scholastic Book Fair at Son's school, and we had a parent-teacher conference at the same time. Mostly good news, thankfully. We'd met (or very nearly) the sales goal for the year by the end of the night and there is still all day today and tomorrow. So YAY!

While Husband and I were gone, Grandma cooked dinner. She took the chicken out of the oven and for some reason, Oldest Daughter grabbed the pan. Her had has a pretty bad burn and we're going to the doctor this morning as soon as we can get in. I didn't know about it until I got home because I'd forgotten my phone when I left. So this is what we're dealing with this morning.

I worked most of nap time yesterday on my house, but not tons of progress because I glued a couple pieces together wrong and had to go back and fix mistakes. It was probably better that I had to quit and go to the school since it wasn't going so well anyway. 

In the interim of all this book fair and kids hurting themselves, I've completely spaced that tomorrow is Valentine's Day. Thankfully we never actually celebrate it on February 14 so I'm sure it doesn't matter that it will be late, especially since I already told him. We have stuff for both girls and we'll have to find something for the boy and Grandma and then we can call it good for what HAS to be on time. 

That's all I've got. I'm off to call the Dr's office and see if we can get in soon. Thanks for coming by :)

Glass Cabinet

My competition kit was delivered late yesterday, and after discovering that it's MDF (medium density fiberboard) that's hard as the dickens to cut, this will be the telling factor in whether or not I ever willingly participate in the construction of another house made of the same stuff. I may have to make some major modifications to it just to get it to open up enough for photos and furniture placement, so now I'm debating whether or not to continue on with my plan for it.

My gloss glaze and my India Ink came yesterday also, so I can start on my stained glass and rolled glass windows for my San Franciscan as soon as I get the leading done (which is way harder than it looks). I started the leading on the front door the other day, but I've scrapped it and will start again. I've got some thinner, more flexible acrylic to take the place of my plexiglass, and I'm going to modify the pattern a bit so it isn't so full of fussy little triangles and steep angles. Husband and I went last night to get door hinges (because I don't want to use the pin hinges that came with it) and a cutting mat and some parts for the competition piece. I'm going to have to decide on colors soon, because the San Franciscan is supposed to be painted as it's being built.

The Scholastic book fair started on Monday. I dropped my cactus off, finished except for top flowers, on Monday afternoon and by Tuesday night someone had broken it. Of course. So fixing that is at the top of the list of things I have to do when I go over this afternoon. Husband is taking Son over tonight so that Son can use some of his piggy bank money to buy some books he wants. Then Husband and I will pick out more books for the boy and both girls either tonight or next Wednesday night when we go for our parent-teacher conference.

I actually got all but two of my loads of laundry done yesterday and I've loaded the dishwasher and swept and mopped the kitchen this morning, so in theory, Youngest Daughter will take a  nap and I'll have a large portion of this afternoon to look at projects or take a nap or....

With that, it's time for me to let the dogs out and make lunch for the kid. Thanks for stopping by :)

Building Foundations

A couple exciting things to share today. First, I checked craigslist on a whim and found a dollhouse kit that I'd never heard of. I looked it up and found that it went out of production about 20 years ago and sells for around $400 on ebay on average. The person on CL is asking $75 and I'm going to pick it up tomorrow sometime. It's very similar to the first kit I put together when I was a teenager. It may be the same one for all I know. I don't recall what that one was called - it was just a kit that my grandmother had started and never finished. Anyway, if I never get it put together, I can list it on ebay since I'm getting it for a steal. But I'll probably put it together and give it to my daughters.

The Scholastic Book Fair is starting at Son's school on Monday. I have this weekend to make a 10' tall cactus for a prop, and a couple batches of jam so I can donate gift sets to the bake walks, and a book sales meter in the shape of a Chinese dragon. I should have started a few weeks ago but a lack of communication meant I thought my spot was taken and the other mom who helps run the book fair thought I was ignoring the whole thing. So... yeah.

Part of the book fair every year is a big fundraiser where the kids donate their change to buckets to vote on a crazy hair color for the librarian, and all that money gets donated to help libraries in need. Two years ago the funds went to buy new books for a school in Ghana. Last year, hundreds of new books were bought for a school library in Sandy Hook to help with rebuilding efforts. This year we're trying to organize the funds to be sent to the Kenya National Library System to help with their mobile library system. The mobile library system uses camels to travel around and take books to people who wouldn't have access to a library otherwise, and the KNLS has said they'd like to expand their camel .... uh, collection, I guess... to include a female so they can breed new camels and become self-sufficient in their mobile service.

I decided to enter the 2014 Hobby Builder's Supply Annual Creatin' Contest. This year, the project is the Starting Point Garage Kit. You don't HAVE to make a garage, of course. Considering how long I had to stare at the building to see anything other than a garage bay door or a restaurant that opened onto patio seating, part of me wonders if they chose this set this year just because no one buys it and they're trying to either get rid of stock or spawn ideas to draw more sales. Either way, I did finally come up with something and I'm actually excited to get started. I may or may note end up starting a separate blog for dollhouse posts.

That's all I've got for today. I should go get started cleaning the kitchen so I can make some jam and load up the dehydrator. Thanks for stopping by.