Steaming Ahead!

Roses, Wall Paper, Egg Cartons and Broom Sticks!

Dear Readers, I just can't tell you how MUCH I am enjoying my Mini Rose Garden by the Folly! This is how it looked this sunny Autumn Sunday morning. The Sun no longer strikes directly into the room... it has headed South for the Winter.... but even so, it lights up the tiny Roses and they keep on blooming! This white one has a delicious vanilla scent to it..... wish I could send it through the internet!

And while we are looking closer..... there is a lovely little birdsnest hanging from the eaves of the Folly! It is a jewelry pendant I found at Michael's last week..... and couldn't resist!

Here ..... you must have a closer look at this beautiful blossom...... they may be out of scale for minis... but they are tiny as far as Roses go! And they do make SUCH a lovely little garden hedge by the Folly! I am just in LOVE with them!

And speaking of Roses.... I chose this wall paper for the Dining Room of the Cupboard House at least in part because the pattern is bouquets of Roses...... in a very dark Old Fashioned Rose Color! Here you can see I have started to attach it to the walls!

And this shows how it looks when the doors are in place..... so Dark and Rich and Victorian!

And here it is with the third wall done.......

I love the way it reflects a Rosy hue in the gilded ceiling!

And Paper in ANOTHER form.... Egg Carton paper .... has FINALLY been tested out for the brick floor of the kitchen underneath the cast iron stove. I have been intrigued by the idea of egg carton bricks ever since seeing other bloggers using them to such great effect.... but I had never tried them myself. It seemed like an awful lot of steps were needed ...... cutting the bricks, gluing them on, painting them, sealing them and finally grouting them...... and I had never used the grout so I was NOT sure it would be successful! But I finally convinced myself that this small corner of floor would be a good place to test them out.... and if they didn't work.... then I would try a different method. So I cut the bricks.... not very precisely, I might add, and attached them to a cardboard base that was cut to fit the space exactly. This served to give the right thickness of floor and also made it removable! Here you can see them all attached......

Then I painted them and sealed them with polyurethane. They didn't look like much so I neglected to TAKE a photo of that step! Then I had to try the ALL IMPORTANT Grout! I carefully spread it on.... not too thickly.... making sure it went into all the cracks.... and wiped it off carefully so that only the grout in the cracks remained...... and left it to dry! At THIS point I began to see WHY people like it so much....... they REALLY started to look like BRICKS!!!! I am a complete convert! I LOVE them! I want to put them everywhere..... well, maybe NOT everywhere.... but I REALLY am impressed!

Just LOOK at how Wonderfully REAL they look!!!!!

And here's a view with the stove in place!
I Just Could NOT be Happier at the way these turned out!!!

So by now you must be wondering what the Broomstick part of this Post is all about! Well, I had an idea for making a water heating tank for the Kitchen, but it required the SACRIFICE of the end of my Broom handle.....

I thought about it for a Long time... but I am not very tall.... and heaven knows I don't Sweep very often.... so the end of the broom handle will probably NOT be missed....... and it IS for a Good cause.......

So I sawed the top four inches off......!

And painted it a beautiful shiny Copper color......

(more coats of paint will make it even shinier...)

And WHEN I attach all the copper pipes and faucets.....

it will make the PERFECT Hot Water Tank...

a VERY MODERN technology for the year 1852.....
Providing STEAMING Hot water for the Kitchen!

You will just have to IMAGINE the pipes for now.... as I didn't get that far this weekend......

But here is a peek through the almost finished window into the kitchen... oh dear.....

it is a bit dark and badly lit.......

I will have to do better next time.......

That's it for now!

(Not Steam Heat) but Steaming Ahead!