Lights for the Willowcrest

And Shadows...

I am certain that I have mentioned, Dear Readers, that I intended to add lights to this project. And if any of you have ever worked with one of these kits, you will know that the walls are very thin, and therefore difficult to hide wires inside! But I considered it essential that we have a lamp to cast a little bit of  light into that nearly impossible to see hallway.... and so I was determined to find a way to conceal the necessary wires.  The above picture shows you the staircase with the side wall removed. I have not yet glued it in place, because I would be unable to get the lamp affixed correctly with the wall in place. And you can see, in silhouette, the ornate wrought iron style lamp I have hung from the hall ceiling....

And if you look carefully in this shot, you can make out the staircase in the light from the now lit lamp..... this time viewed from the other side through the doorway into the parlor. The light works!
I carved a channel in the floor of the upstairs hallway to run the lamp wire over to the dividing wall between the kitchen and the Parlor. I have decided that most of the wires for the lights can be run down this wall to the underside of the house, where they will plug into the power strip. They will be covered over by a false "brick" wall on the kitchen side, which is back to back with the fireplace in the Parlor. And while we are adding the lights to the hallway, I decided to test an idea for the Parlor lights.

I plan to put a pair of sconces above the fireplace, 

but I wanted them to look like they were candles on the branches 

of the trees on either side of the mantel.

So I added some wire to the sconces.... 

and then some sculpey....

And then I needed to make sure the light still worked 

after the baking in the oven part....

Sadly, it didn't. 

So I replaced the bulb and tried again....

And this time it worked! 

So be sure to remember to remove the bulbs from the lamp 

before baking it with the sculpey!

So once I had determined 

that I could embellish the lights this way, Dear Readers,

I got a bit carried away....

After Dreaming about them all night, 

I decided I wanted there to be a mirror over the mantel.

And the very next morning I found a scrap of mirror 

and cut it to fit....

Between the branches of the Trees over the Mantel.....

And I started to make more branches from wire and sculpey....

Shaped to frame the mirror.....

And aligned carefully to fit above the fireplace...

(I did not bake the fireplace, just used it to position the branches)

And here we are testing the fit of the baked branches....

(all held temporarily in place with a little bit of museum wax)

This is, of course, the view which will be hardly visible 

once the house is all built...

because the fireplace wall is slanted away from the open side of the house!

This is more like what you will see when looking into the Parlor 

from the open side of the house.

 But I like to think that there will be a slight view 

from the windows on the front and the side of the house,

So I have decided to make the fireplace at least a little bit realistic

and started to make it look like carved marble....

And I added bricks to the back of the hearth....

and I plan to use this small "Regency Grate"

to hold the coals.

It still needs a lot of details and soot and ashes...

but you can get an idea of the look.

Here we are testing the mantel in place,

And I have added another sculpey branch to the near side of the fireplace.

Here's another view from where the side windows will be....

And with the sconces lit...

I don't know about you, Dear Readers, 

but I think the Tree branches with the lit sconces 

cast a wonderful network of spooky shadows.... 

blurring the edges of real and magical....

Creating an otherworldly atmosphere....

Perfect for this Witchy House!