All Those Little Details

Raw Edges, Unfinished Pieces, Small Improvements....

Can you believe it, Dear Readers, that weeks after my vacation is over I am still showing you little pieces that I accomplished during that busy week? The above picture is a case in point. And it is even a further example of something I have been thinking about doing for ages and ages and only got around to finishing while I was enjoying that productive vacation time. This kit is the first piece of furniture I bought as an adult..... Ages and Ages ago when I was only twenty. I completed the assembly shortly after buying it, but didn't know how to do the "finishing" including the attaching of the drawer pulls. So I put it all carefully away, unfinished, awaiting a time that I could learn the proper methods of staining and gluing. I finally gave it a stain a few years ago, but still didn't attach the drawer handles. I finally decided to just glue them on before the pieces got lost... and I got it done during my recent vacation!  And while we are talking of finishing unfinished pieces....

I had decided to stain the table and chairs for the Willowcrest...

I wanted the silver-gray color I had used on the Conservatory

So I pulled out the stain and got right to it!

Which only got me to thinking about other long-unfinished pieces....

The hutch in the Folly kitchen was given to me by my sister many years ago...

And I have been unable to decide exactly what color to paint it.

So I tested one of the stained chairs in the room and it was perfect!

It didn't take me long to get the hutch stained too.

I am probably going to add more details to it... but it is a start!

But that is not all I have to show you, Dear Readers....

The chief little detail I wanted to show you 

is one of those projects I have been wanting to make 

ever since, well... Forever!

So I Finally got started....

I started with ordinary cardboard and made a little box with a drawer.

And then I started to cover the outside in a pink patterned cotton....

and lined the insides in light green silk....

The shape of the box was a bit complicated to cover... 

but I glued one section at a time...

and only cut away pieces when I was 

sure where they needed to be cut.

And the top lid has a folded edge....

Here you can see it up close...

Here I am working on the lining for the top sections...

I left the raw edges of the silk unturned,

relying on the glue to prevent raveling.

Here it is mostly finished.....

A sewing box just like the one belonging to my Mother...

that my sister and I used to "borrow" 

when we were children just learning to sew!

And here I am starting to add the accessories.

Do you see those scissors on the table?

I have saved those scissors, Dear Readers, ever since I was a child!

I got the larger pair in a gumball machine when I was ten...

and they actually cut paper!!!

The smaller pair I have had for just as long, 

but I don't remember where they came from.

There were a few other things I wanted to add to this sewing box....

 And one of them was a measuring tape....

So I decided to see if I could make one by painting some cotton...

and writing numbers on it....

and covering that with craft glue.....

and cutting it very very close to the writing...

 I think it works!

And when I was at the Sturbridge Fair two years ago,

I had bought some tiny metal thimbles and tiny stork scissors...

which I have tucked into the top of the box...

I also added a pin cushion (bought more recently)

and wound some ribbon on card like bias tape.

I am sure I will be adding details for quite a while.

I just can't tell you, Dear Readers, 

How satisfying it was to finally, Finally get around to 

working on all these Unfinished pieces, 

Raw edges and Small improvements...

I really had So much fun with all those little details!