Dollhouses

Since my early teenage years I have been building dollhouses, building 3 in the past 3 years. I really enjoy building and creating these "toys" but sometimes get frustrated with the directions and assembly.

This is the Victorian Cottage Jr. by RealGoodToys. I bought this at Hobby Lobby with a 40% of coupon. Real Good Toys is my favorite brand to work with because they are heavier duty made with thicker wood rather than much out plywood.

My favorite dollhouse is my lighthouse. Someday I will take pictures of the inside. This is also a real good toys kit, but someday I would like to build the new greenleaf lighthouse.

This is the dollhouse I am currently working on. I love the colors which are darker than shown here. For right now, I have put everything away because the pieces were not cooperating--so, I'm taking a break.

New Chair!

I have been looking for a new chair for a couple of weeks now for my bedroom. I knew I wanted something comfy because I am planning on reading in this chair. After spending hours bookmarking different chairs from several online stores, I found one at the Foundary yesterday. This is one of the chairs I originally bookmarked, but deleted because I liked the more expensive ones better. However, I decided not to spend more than 500 on a bedroom chair. Luckily for me, this chair was on sale for $245 and ended up being less than $300 including shipping and taxes.

Repainted Chest of Drawers (lingerie chest)

Over the past few days we have had quite the snow storm here in Nebraska, so I used the time wisely to refinish a small chest of drawers that has been in the basement for several years. I borrowed a sander from a friend and bought the paint to match my bigger chest I repainted in November.

The chest before I started. I had to sand down the whole item because it had a thick layer of stain and urethane on it.

After! Yes, there are different shapes and sizes of knobs--this seems to be the theme in our house.

I even primed and painting inside the drawers because it makes it easier to wipe down if necessary.

Coat Closet Organized!

Domestically Speaking hosted a Let's Organize blog party this week. I chose to do a fairly quick organize--two hallway closets. 

All of our shopping bags and numerous other items stuffed in one shelf.

Coats--between the three of us we have a variety of coats.

The plastic cart holds winter items and a few toys for my cousins to play with when they visit. The carpet steamer had to stay there--unfortunate, because it takes up a lot of room.

I went through all the gloves, hats, scarves, and shopping bags and neatly folded them into the cart. The play items I put in a basket with the coloring books or donated them to our local thrift store. The shelf is not near as cluttered as it was!

5 Questions Friday- a little belated

1. How long does your Christmas tree stay up?

I usually put the tree up the day after Thanksgiving and take it down the day after Christmas. I look forward to decorating for the Holiday season every year but after I take everything down I realize how much clutter it all creates.

2. Do you have plans for New Year's Eve?

I worked-- see an earlier blog. http://captintraining.blogspot.com/2011/01/happy-new-year.html

3. Do you have any New Year's resolutions?

Along with the 12 New Things ( found on Like A Warm Cup Of Coffee )  my one resolution to read the Bible and become closer to God, exploring my faith deeper than I ever have.

4. How did you spend New Year's Eve when you were younger?

I was almost always in bed way before the ball dropped in Times Square. We usually went to a friends house for supper and a party for the evening though.

5. What was the best way you've ever spent New Year's Eve?

Even though I had to work, last night was about the best. If nothing else, I got paid to enjoy the festivities!

http://fivecrookedhalos.blogspot.com/ 

Happy New Year!

Last night I worked at a local party as bartender. We had a great group of people and the party included fireworks and champagne!

Some of the Christmas decorations are still up but there are party favors on the tables--everyone enjoyed the noisemakers well before the end of the night!

 

 

The meal was delicious with twice baked potatoes, prime rib, vegetables, salad, and a choice of cheesecake or apple dumplings!