Martha Comes to Stay

 I did not realize that it has been so long since I've posted--way back in October. I am back, hoping to keep up with posting the progress on the Newbury. Really,  pictures are worth a thousand words.

The current project pieces lay in a jumbled mess, scooted aside so that I could work on other projects. The Fairfield remodel remains another unfinished project. 

I spent a good part of last week organizing my dollhouse making supplies and inventory storage, a narrow space beneath the stairs. I had all of my Christmas decorations stored on one end in the cubby under the staircase which required my sweet husband  to lug tubs and boxes upstairs, so we decided to move all those containers to the garage, making more room to sundry odds and ends. When finished, I had a stack of odds and ends of boxes that went to the garage for recycle. These shelves hold a lot of mini items from furniture to wood scraps. At the end, the shelf stores my card making supplies.

I replaced  all the actually shoeboxes and odd containers that I used for storage so that now all the containers are uniform and clear.  Next to the shelving I have my mini saw and sander with wood scrap storage and the odds and ends of "stuff" that I can't seem to give up--yet.

  

I also do a lot of card making for my DAR chapter. We send handmade cards to the veterans at the Cheyenne, WY VA nursing home and to veterans in a life care facility on the other side of the Mountain (the Rocky Mountains, that is). I invite ladies in to make cards, so I need a large work area and lots of supplies. Last fall I shipped 100 handmade greeting cards to an organization, Cards for Soldiers the ships literally thousands of cards to military serving over seas. Now I have a nice shelf to organize and store my card making supplies.

The Newbury has a mansard roof, ie. a flat roof with sloped sides and two front bay windows so my building strategy has been to complete the first floor first because it has 9 separate wall pieces, each with a window. I will wallpaper them before assembly.

Before the holiday season I spent a lot of time working on the kitchen. The pieces are all finished. It will be very small, so not a massive cabinet building project. I used Houseworks cabinet kit pieces. I still have some minor things to finish up, but the kitchen pieces are all ready to go.

And just the other night I decided to make my own chandeliers since they are so expensive. After piddling around with my current supplies and looking a handmade lighting on Pinterest, I came up with a design and ordered new beading and finds from my favorite company for mini light making, Bindels Ornaments in the Netherlands, so it will be a while for supplies to arrive. 

Here is peek at the bedroom and the bed that I built from scratch. I've just remembered that I have so much more to tell about how I made the bed and designed the kitchen. I've got a lot of catching up to do. Basically the bedroom pieces are finished and the wallpaper which I purchased and downloaded from an Etsy shop is ready for the final print. Future posts will detail each room.

Finally, I have to share my birthday present from daughter Heather--what a sense of humor the girl has, but she knows her mamma. I am, in fact, a Martha Stewart fan. I make no apologies for my admiration, for she taught me how to make the best pie crust, roast my Thanksgiving turkey, cook my Christmas prime rib, bake the best lemon poppyseed cake. So instead of the popular Elf on a Shelf since all the grandkids are past the stage, I have Martha in the Mantle with Snoop on the Stoop yet to be delivered. They are indeed the odd couple.

The daughters decided that Martha would be horrified at the current condition of the vintage Barbie Dream house circa 1980s and think that she and Snoop should renovate it.  I am toying with idea of some sort; maybe buying a more modern Barbie house to play around with, but. . . 

So that's how the new year begins. I've cleaned and organized to make space to assemble this house, There's more come,  so stay tuned. 

Happy New Year, Friends. May the year bring you health, happiness, and peace. 

So glad you stopped by,

Ann