Christmas Is Coming......

Leftovers......

Believe it or Not, Dear Readers, I have had No time for making minis in Weeks and weeks and weeks, and I am starting to feel a little desperate! There are so many projects partly done and even more waiting "in the wings" and I have Nothing new to show you in my Mini Worlds! Real Life has been a bit demanding of my Time and I feel as though I have accomplished Nothing! And with Christmas only a few weeks away, I am once again, Late to start working on drawing my annual Christmas card.... and it will absorb all of my spare time for the next few weeks. But All is not lost! As I was helping the Little People clean up after Thanksgiving, I noticed that there were more than a few "Leftovers" scattered throughout the various Houses! And I am not referring to the leftover pie that made it safely back to the Lovely Old Dollhouse! I happened to notice several Christmas decorations already in place on the mantle.... still Left Over from last Christmas!

Did you spot them? 

I assure you, this is Not because we are Ahead of the Game!

(Even the clock has stopped and needs a new battery!)

So I decided to see if there were any other "Leftovers" from Last Christmas....

Helen and Pollyanna are discussing plans for some Holiday shopping...

And Arthur and Charles are explaining how they have other plans 

for those exact times and couldn't possibly join them in shopping....

I didn't want to interrupt and was going to tiptoe away

 when I spotted a small Leftover piece of Christmas.....

Did you spot it?

There is a little lace Heart ornament that had fallen off the tree 

and was overlooked when all the ornaments were put away! 

It always seems that there is one Leftover....

And then I thought to look in the other Houses 

to see if there was any Christmas still there.

I glanced in the Castle Great Hall and spotted it at once!

The Wreath over the mantle was the most obvious, 

and had been there until just before the Halloween party...

But there was another little Treasure that had been there all year!

Did you Spot it?

This Beautiful Leaping Reindeer was given to me by Birgit....

Amongst So Many other Treasures.... 

and this fellow somehow eluded the post Christmas clean-up!

I was now eagerly looking into all the Houses to see what I could find!

A quick glance into The Folly kitchen had me thinking there was nothing there.

 But then I looked again.....

Did you spot them?

Two Christmas themed coffee Mugs 

were left hanging over the cupboard!

And upstairs, I glanced into the Book Nook.....

Aha! Christmas books!

Can you see them?

 

 

 'A Christmas Carol' by Dickens is on the top of the shelf

along with a copy of  'The Night Before Christmas' by Clement Moore.

 

Surely this was not all... 

I should check in the Shabby Sister House too! 

A quick glance into the bedroom.....

Is that another copy of 'The Night Before Christmas'?

Has it really been there All year?

And in the kitchen where Sally May and Annabelle 

love to spend time cooking.... 

(Yes, we were here just last week... but did you spot them...?)

 

Those are Christmas cookie cutters that never got put away!

And a pan of gingerbread men cooling on top of the fridge.....

And the Tea Cozy stitched by Rosanna.... 

with the Christmas Elf shoe design!

Surely, that will never get put away!

Well, Dear Readers, I hope you haven't minded 

this dose of Holiday Left-overs!

Christmas is coming, and I just might be so Far Behind....

That I am Already ahead of myself!

 

Book Nook And Fireplace Updates

A Gift From Nina!

As some of you Dear Readers may be aware, Nina of "The Tudor-Medieval -Jacobean- Queen Anne Dollhouse "Blog, (http://tudordollhouse.blogspot.com/) upon reading about the VAST Emptiness of my New Book Nook Shelves in my second to last post, decided from the Goodness of her Heart, to send me a selection of her own hand made Books! Her blog is one of the first ones I discovered as I began my adventures in Mini Blogland and DIRECTLY inspired my Construction of my Own Castle Dollhouse, so I am Doubly touched and Honored by this Gift! And of course, you must understand that WITHOUT the awareness of the immanent arrival of these volumes, my New shelves and the rest of the reading nook Probably would have remained unadorned for weeks, if not months! But Just LOOK at how many lovely books she sent!!!


They are not opening books..... but some of them are even covered in gorgeous leather bindings! And they are an assortment of colors and sizes as well! I truly am touched by this gift!

And while I have not yet made any BOOKS myself, I did manage to make some cushions to soften the nook! I started by making a mattress out of some very old and worn sea-green velveteen..... so soft and faded looking...... please excuse the roughness of my stitching... I am out of practice!

And added some round bolsters for each end, tucked into the corners......

And while I was decorating....
I found the right color blue paint and re-painted the shelves to match the rest of the trim.......

And then I made a couple of cushions out of some sparkly Paisley inspired fabric.....

isn't the pattern just Gorgeous?!

And I FINALLY finished the tiny piece of needlepoint I had started almost TWO years ago.... making a cushion out of the little rabbit......

And added a cup of tea on the window ledge....

and a Pear for snacking........

And the books...... Isn't it Cozy?

Nina's books look SO At HOME with the rest of the books I have!

I am going to have to make some more......

Thank you, Nina! I LOVE them!



And now I must show you Another little detail that I have FINALLY completed......
You have seen the ceiling for my Dining Room in the Cupboard House a number of times.... but ever since I started painting it, I have wanted to add some tiny Heavenly Figures looking down from the Clouds.... as though the Gods of Olympus are feasting up above the clouds and happen to look down on the Dining Room below........

Here is a closer view.....

it was a bit tricky to approximate the correct foreshortening......

And here is the view in situ in the Dining Room....

it is such a tiny detail.... they are hardly noticeable at all...

but I just didn't want to leave them out!

And Finally..... you want to see what I have done with the fireplace.....

I have painted the Initial coat of black....

very loosely .... to resemble Marble....

just so I can decide whether black marble is what I want.......

Here you can see it in place.......

And closer..... to see the details...
it is SO difficult to photograph black......

Then I decided I needed to paint the bricks of the firebox in order to really see how it would look.... so I cut some cardboard to the shape and quickly painted the bricks.......

That looks MUCH better!

But I REALLY wanted to see it with the Mirror in place too...
And because I haven't found any mirrors like what I am looking for.....

I started to build the mirror frame...
Using some of that small molding stock from Home Depot.....

Because my cut piece of mirror is a little uneven.....

I built up the back of the frame to surround the glass.....

I am leaving the bottom edge of the glass with no frame....

because I want that sense of the Mirror rising straight out of the marble mantlepiece......

And I have painted it antique gold .......
Here you see it with the glass in place...........

And giving it a try on the Mantlepiece.......

(Oh boy, is it ever difficult to photograph mirrors!!!)

You get the wackiest junk in the reflection.....

or the glaring lightbulbs!

And while we're at it..... I thought I would give a try to the Lighting.......

Gas lamps were the NEWEST technology at the Time of this House......

And another view......

I might need to get the lamp with more arms......
And forgive the still un-repaired ceiling.....

And THEN upon further reflection.....

I decided that Maybe the mirror DID need a bottom frame piece....

just a slim edge.... not the same as the rest......
So I added one temporarily......

Here's a closer view......

But now I'm not so sure.......

THIS is the first way........

And THIS is the second way.....

Such a Subtle difference.......

And I CAN'T Decide!

Sorry to leave you hanging......
but that's as far as I've gotten!

Book Nook and Fireplace Updates