She Sells Seashells By The Seashore

Shells, shells, shells. I had a fun day with my friend on Sunday! We walked to the beach from her house on Orr's Island and visited a beach our kids dubbed "Sea Soup" years ago. What a fun time we had there while the kids made "soup" from all the ingredients on the shore.


Here are the two parts for the roof. I painted them this luscious blue, then let them dry.


My original plan was to smash the shells and make a mosaic. I didn't like the way that looked. Lots of shells to choose from. Think we picked enough? I have a few periwinkles to add later.


I really had to hold the roof tightly for some time before the glue held. The weight of the shells made the roof heavy and it wanted to slide. The cupola needs to be added, but I will do that later. Not sure about the original blue with the blue of the roof. I want to add more shells, more periwinkles, and that will cover up some of the brighter blue. I like the fantasy effect of the shells. It doesn't have to be too realistic, which has been difficult for me to accept in the past.

I have seagulls to add later. I think one on top of the roof or on top of the cupola. I am toying with adding some realistic white drips for you know what, let's call it "guano". Just a touch, nothing too disgusting. I only have two gulls, so I may put one on the cupola, one on the roof, or have one on the roof and the other elsewhere.

I made a stove and refrigerator out of cardboard today. Still have some painting to do, but they look good. I also made a counter. I ordered a few more things today. I feel like I am really making progress. Once the order comes I will have just about everything ready to put it all together. I've got a bag of sand the kittens have been very interested in...all those delicious salty aromas!

Just a little shack

Here is the old shack covered with weathered shingles. I painted the walls dark gray, as you can see on the doors, then added the shingles with white paint. I cut a notch in a foam paintbrush to get the effect of shingles. I used a ruler and pencil to mark the rows and just dabbed on the paint. It must be realistic enough because my husband recognized what I was doing right away with no hints from me. The gray-blue trim looks like it has suffered from the salt spray for a few years, too.

After the inside was painted I started gluing on the trim. That is a lesson in patience as each piece must be added one at a time and allowed to dry one at a time. I am enjoying the process and am quite happy with the way it is turning out.

       Next job is to finish the roof. There is a cupola on the roof that was a fumbly thing to glue together, but I got it done. No photos yet. 

      I've ordered some things for the inside and went shopping locally on Saturday and bought a few more goodies, too. I'll wait until my order arrives to decide what will really end up in the house. My ideas are running way ahead of what can actually fit in this tiny space!

     Don't you love the view from the door? Can you tell where I am going with this? I'll let you know soon.

Greenleaf contest

I've entered Greenleaf Dollhouse's Spring Fling contest. You get a small workshop dollhouse, just one room with double doors on the front and a cupola on the roof. I've got lots of ideas for mine. This is the first kit I've ever put together so it will be a challenge just making the house, let alone decorating the inside.

Armed with Tacky Glue and masking tape I carefully glued the floor to the sides, matching everything so that the walls and floor are all flush. It was a little tricky keeping one side in place while putting the opposite end on, but once the front was ready to be glued on it all held together. Of course, I haven't had time to take the masking tape off yet, but I hope there is enough glue to hold it all together.

I spray painted the pieces inside a cardboard box outdoors on a nice day. Had to wait for a day that was not too windy (and not snowing for once). I was going to paint in the garage but Bill nixed that idea. He didn't want any overspray floating over to his customer's motorcycles. Funny about that, isn't he? Okay, okay, I see his point.

I mixed a batch of acrylic paint for the trim. I used light blue and tan to get a soft blue. I painted a few pieces of trim, nervously wondering if I really had enough paint for all of the trim. I knew if I ran out of paint I probably would not be able to match the color exactly as I had just squeezed a little of this and a little of that into the dish. Luckily there was plenty of paint and I really like the color. I'm a blue person.

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