Good progress, bad blogger!

Well, I am making pretty good progress on my little Orchid! Just don't seem to be able to remember that I wanted to document that progress in a blog! LOL!! All the interior work is done, except for a couple window frames. I have all the cupboards and appliances in my kitchen and it really resembles the kitchen in the last house Dad lived in! (from here on out, that house will be referred to 1811) I have put a few little accessories in the kitchen already. I am just in too much of a hurry to do the "fun" part! The fixtures are in the bath now, as well as the basic living room furniture. There is still some trim I have to do on the outside, which is what I am working on right now. I also plan to make the bed today. I finally figured out how to add pictures here, so you can actually see my progress.
The kitchen is my favorite room. The centerpiece I received from Sylwia in a swap. She is so talented! More pictures are coming!!!

Slowly Making Progress

I have the gable and the dormer windows in place and had started shingling. Unfortunately, all the shingles that came with my kit were seriously warped. The material is flexible enough to still work with and so very slowly, I am putting the shingles on. Had hoped to do the front porch and outside trim today, but I didn't make it. My back is very slowly getting better and it decided today to show me who is in charge.

Slight Delay

I ran into a slight delay on the construction of my Orchid! Friday at around noon, my husband and I were rear-ended. He wasn't hurt, but I spent the afternoon in Emergency going through CAT Scans, X-rays, etc. Not the way I wanted to spend my day! I ended up with whiplash, a concussion, and some sort of back injury. Spent the weekend on pain medication, therefore I slept most of the weekend. Still on the medicine and feel really "out-of-it" right now, but I just have to get busy on this house! My haunted house arrived from Greenleaf today and I'm just in such a hurry to get these done!

Today I am putting the shell together for the Orchid. The outside is painted and I've made patterns of the inside so I can wallpaper. I want to plan my lighting and with my fuzzy mind, can only do this with the basic house together. Progress will be slow, because I'm barely able to keep my eyes open!

Til next time!
Tams

Introduction

Good Morning! Too cool that I have a blog now! LOL! I'm excited to be able to keep track of my mini progress! Something I wish I had been doing all along.

To catch up on the projects I already have, in no particular order.

The house I've had the longest is my Newberg. This is the first house I did after a year long break from minis for personal reasons. My husband saw the kit at a truck stop for only twenty dollars! He brought it home on New Years eve, but sadly enough it took me about another year to start. Better late than never!

In my Newberg, I have the kitchen that is furnished with the DuraCraft kitchen set. I actually made this for my mother a few years ago for Christmas and she gave it back to me. Nice to see how much a present means, right? My real-life kitchen is red, with Mexican accents. I was going to do this kitchen the same, but didn't get past the red! The living room is done in green. I made a plain, basic couch using scrap pieces of wood and covering them with remnants from the dress that one of my daughters wore for my vow renewal ceremony. Love that special touch! The curtains (valances) are made out of the same material. There is a tiny copy of my brother's memorial card on the bookcase in the living room as well. This house has a wonderful music room full of all kinds of instruments. There is a drum set that I made from a coffee creamer lid (the bass drum) and a couple different sized medicine bottle lids. I'm pretty proud of that trash-to-treasure item. Many of the instruments in this room came from a swap off of a yahoo group. The last three rooms of the Newberg are a bedroom, nursery and bathroom. Will talk more about those another time.

The next project I did was decorate/furnish my Jellybean House. The Jellybean is a HUGE house that my hubby built for me to "keep me busy"! The structure is pretty basic. It has six floors and 11 rooms. I had wanted a house where I could do a bedroom for each of our kids. In the living room is my favorite mini find - a console tv that is actually an antique salt and pepper shaker. I've seen the exact same one on ebay for 10X more than I paid for this one! I made the leather couch in there. Still need to make a door, trim and curtains for this room. BTW, all my projects can be seen at www.geocities.com/tamsajesusfreak There is a full page devoted to each dollhouse. My favorite room of the Jellybean is one I call the Memory Room. I have Trixie Belden books, a tea set (tribute to my Gran), a cowboy hat (memorial of my brother), a replica of my father's box of ashed (Mom kept these and we grew up with them in the house) and many other memorials or mementos of my past.

I've always wanted to do a Spanish-style house. I was so excited to find a tut online for making a one-room hacienda and so that was my next project. I just recently finished it by putting the roof on, etc. A lot of the items in this house were also acquired through a swap. The fireplace I found on ebay and I fell in love with it! I made the terra-cotta colored pottery myself - have never been able to duplicate them! I have pictures of Ritchie Valens and his mother on the wall, La Bamba is one of my favorite movies!! I just recently decided this house was "complete" - we'll see how long that lasts!!! ROFL

At a rummage sale last summer, we found two LaFayette kits and were able to get both for seven dollars. Couldn't pass up that deal! I b uilt one and hubby built the other. I turned mine into a bakery with an apartment upstairs. Somebody was going to buy Jerry's and so I decorated it for her. She never picked it up, so it sits, waiting for me to do something with it. I have some Michaels hutches that I have taken apart and made into cupboards just waiting to go into the house. Each of my kids have claimed one of my houses that they want and this one has been claimed by my oldest daughter. Bearing that in mind, I am going to theme it to her senior year of high school, I think.

My favorite roombox is a recreation of the McDonalds where I met my husband. (As you can tell, memories mean a lot to me!) It even has the stagecoach booth that the McDonalds in Dodge City, Kansas has! I made a fryer and grill, based on a project found in Dollhouse Miniatures last (2005) summer. I used a scaled picture of Jerry to represent him, but dreamed a little bit and used a small Barbie dressed in a McDonalds uniform to represent me. An online friend found somebody from Dodge to go take pictures, lots of them, for me on this project. The purple shirt "I'm" wearing is a tribute to her.

I also have a cabin-style roombox that I put together because I needed a place for my Chrsybon wood stove! Eventually, I still want to do a one-room cabin replica of the house described in Little House on the Prairie. (the house in Kansas).

I found a 50's style diner on ebay and just had to get it. The lady selling it lives about an hour from me, so I picked it up. We forged a friendship from that purchase, making this diner even more special! I built the counter, stools and booths myself, although I also purchased the counter that was supposed to go with this diner. I put this one in a separate 50's diner roombox for my daughter.

My husband rescued an old farm-style house from the back corner of an antique store and I did that one up kinda old-fashioned. It's houses my favorite kitchen. I made an old wood stove for it, based on a project in a book I have. I changed it quite a bit, however. This is the only house I don't have on my geocities site. Someday! LOL

My travel trailer is the last house I have finished. I've seen some people do some wonderful things with this kit - probably for the HBS contest. Mine seems rather plain in comparison, but it represents simple camping life, which was what I wanted. I plan to put a flea market table in front - good way to display minis I have not found homes for - yet!

I recently did a pumpkin scene - again based on an online tut. I hallowed out a styrofoam pumpkin and just did a simple scene in it. Turned out quite cute. My favorite project, mostly because it was totally original, is my Thanksgiving scene. I used a store-bought cornacopia and put a back wall with a half cupboard in it. The counter of the cupboard is filled with yummy food - mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, stuffing, corn on the cob, pumpkin pie. The table is all set with the main part of the feast - a fimo turkey. I was surprised at how well and how quickly this one came out!

That brings us up-to-date! I am just starting work on my orchid, that will house a kitchen like the one in the last house my dad lived in. I saw the Realife Miniatures kitchen kit on ebay and it looks exactly like that kitchen from my childhood. The kitchen is put together and waiting patiently for the house to also be finished. I am in a hurry, because I have my Orchid and still waiting LaFayette, with the Greenleaf Haunted House on it's way!!!

More later
Tams