I am beginning to learn that it is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones after all. - Laura Ingalls Wilder

Good morning, everyone. I hope this Wednesday morning finds you happy and healthy. I can't believe I'm saying this, but it's going to be a hot one today. 91!

Hubs and I have been working on caulking and painting beadboard in our spare moments and things are really starting to shape up. I think I've mentioned this before, but white paint {on this beadboard, anyway} is very hard to cover. It's taking about 4 coats,plus the primer coat. A much slower process than I had anticipated but wow - finally my white cottage style beadboard! It really is what seems to be pulling "the look" together.

I thought that since I am giving away a new dollhouse kit for one of my Cottage Charm giveaways this month, I'd share a few photos of the kit I'm working on. It's the Storybook Cottage. I've gotten the main parts all glued together except for one side of the roof - I'm waiting until I install the wood flooring in the attic to glue down that side. I'll be using lightweight spackle on the inside to make the walls nice and smooth and then I'll be ready to add some trim work. I haven't yet decided how to finish the exterior - whether I'll use siding or some kind of sanded stucco or stone - or ...oooh...an aged brick foundation?!... {As if I didn't have enough decisions to make with our real house!} Ah, but this has been so much fun and I've enjoyed working on it here and there when I catch some snippets of down time.

This little house will become a little patisserie. A few months back I made the tiny pennant banner for a cupcake party I had for the girls and used it to decorate the miniature farmhouse kitchen. I couldn't resist {very prematurely} stringing it up in the patisserie for these photos just to get an idea of how sweet it could be.

The little attic space...

The floor has been stained a dark chocolate color. I was thinking about creating a white 1-inch diamond pattern on the floor as well. What do you think?

Oh polka dots! I have such a weakness for you!!!! Especially you red and white ones... *sigh*

I don't know where I'm going to put all these *little* projects that have stolen my heart with their sweetness. Our real house is tiny itself and I'm running out of space!

But I think the patisserie project is just fine right here for now. :)

Have a lovely day, everyone, and until next time, don't forget to keep checking in on the Cottage Charm Giveaway party going on this month. If you want to add a giveaway to the party, that's even better!

A Dollhouse Update

It's the little things that matter, that add up in the end, with the priceless thrilling magic found only in a friend. -Elizabeth Dunphy

I've updated my dollhouse blog... I'd be honored if you'd come take a peek!

Also, don't forget that the 5th Annual Cottage Charm Giveaway event is coming up on May 1st! You can read more information about it here ... I hope you can join us!

Dollhouse Cottage Kitchen Snapshots

I was going to write about something entirely different today {a few Goodwill finds to share or our living room beadboard progress} but as I was going through my photos, I found a couple of shots of my dollhouse cottage kitchen remodel so far. I've finally collected all of the "remodeling" supplies needed to finish it - all of the tiny crown moulding and window trim and beadboard and baseboards...and the lower kitchen cupboards should arrive today. I have the uppers already, but the lowers will need to be put together, painted, and installed before the beadboard goes up. Wow, just like remodeling a real house! Oh, and my painted tin ceiling is installed along with the kitchen electric wiring, but I haven't taken photos of that yet. Just a few snapshots...

It's really a fascinating circle to run with. Their talent and creativity leave me in constant awe to say the least!

Right after I started my dollhouse blog Little Rosey Posey, a miniaturist and a sweet Twice Remembered reader, Tallulah of Tullulah~Belle Originals sent me the adorable little flower arrangement in a tiny teapot you see there on the table. She makes these and is soooo talented! I will take some better, close-up photos of the flowers when I'm closer to being finished with the kitchen {again, these were just random snapshots} but aren't they just precious! Thanks again, Tallulah!

The cake was my second attempt at making anything miniature. {I apologize for the crooked photo...the floors really are level!} The first thing I made were donuts, well before I bought the old farmhouse dollhouse to remodel. I'll always have fond memories of making these little things with my youngest daughter.

Can't wait to make more little sweets! I still have this Storybook Cottage to build when more of the farmhouse is completed. It will be my miniature patisserie.

I love how the "old" plank floor turned out. These planks had to be painted and distressed individually and then glued down one by one once they were dry. I tried gluing them first and then painting them all at once after they dried, but they all curled up on me when the paint was wet! I had to rip them up and start over, but it was well worth it. A lesson learned!

I bought the vintage style table set at Hobby Lobby. It had been on the shelf for several weeks because a table leg was broken along with a couple of chair legs. So I asked the manager if I could have a discount and he gave the set to me for just $10! I superglued it all back together and painted it. I still have to distress the edges of three of the four chairs. It's a bit challenging to work with such small pieces. One little oops and you've practically sanded a table leg right off!

For those of you who may be new to my site, my dollhouse blog is used to tell a fictional story centering around the house and it's remodel, but I'll be updating it again soon with basically this same entry so my fellow dollhouse peeps can get a little sneak peek today, too. It's really a fascinating circle to run with - miniaturists. Their talent and creativity leave me in constant awe to say the least! If you get a chance, make sure you check out my dollhouse blog blogroll so that you can be inspired as I am. Maybe you'll end up with a dollhouse to remodel, too! {Just what we all need, right? Another project!}

Oh, and for what it's worth, here is a shot of what the little kitchen looked like before I started. Quite scary, eh?

And just a couple of final thoughts: I've pulled out all of my blog sale items for next week. How in the world did I collect so much stuff since the last sale?! I will be posting random cellphone photos on Twitter in the next day or so just so you can see a few of the things I'll be listing. My mom's yard sale was postponed, so I have a little extra time now. ;)

Thank you so much to those that gave me their input on the Cricut machine in my last post. I'm looking forward to having one even more now!

Until next time!

The Blue Door

I think perhaps I should have have titled this entry "Ebb and Flo". As most of you know, things constantly change in our lives and we never really know where we are headed next. What I do know right now is that at Twice Remembered, we are feeling a major budget squeeze and have had to take a break from our remodeling efforts. This makes me sad, but I also know that we'll pick it up again as things ease up a bit and when my health hopefully takes an upswing. Hubs has been doing so much domestic work around here when he comes home from work - things that I may not be able to do right now - it's little wonder that he has limited time for even what we can afford to do - like painting! An arm brace is helping me with carpal tunnel issues, and I'm still looking for ways to improve the other health issues...I don't want to be an old lady at 36! Thank you all for your continued visits despite my irregular posts. It's so nice to know that when I'm here, so are you!

I wanted to at least get the one wall shown in the photo below painted the new kitchen color before sharing the new door color with you,
but I couldn't wait! The new door color is called "Tranquility" and I got it from Lowes. I'm loving it! What do you think?

Now I need to find a few more blue dishes like the little creamer in this photo. It matches the door exactly and I'm not sure how that happened!

{Edited to add: My backsplash is a different shade of white than the beadboard...I'll be changing that in the future!}

When I can, I'm trying to keep myself busy at something creative, so work continues on my dollhouse. You will definitely be able to tell that my favorite colors are being used in the dollhouse as well.

You may recognize the little miniature island in the photo above. I'm not quite finished with it yet, but it's modeled after my own kitchen island. It even has a tin ceiling front!

I hope everyone is doing well and staying cool in this heat...it has been a hot summer so far! Until next time...!

Little Rosey Posey

I want to thank everyone so much for their sweet comments left on my "first dollhouse chapter" down below! You've encouraged me to continue with the storyline as I renovate the old farmhouse. :) I've decided to keep a separate blog for my new dollhouse hobby and wanted to share the link with you. I haven't yet added a blogroll, but I will! It will be made up of other dollhouse enthusiasts who blog about their projects, so I know you'll love reading them as much as I do!

I have a few other things to add to the blog as well, but for now, it's a good place to get started. The blog is called Little Rosey Posey. I hope to see you there sometime!

The Old Jacobson Home Place

The old Jacobson home place. Though meticulously built by Matthew Jacobson ages ago for his young and growing family, the house seemed to lose it's will to hold itself together after Matthew and his wife passed away in their old age.

The old house was left to the family, but all of the children had moved on to various bustling cities with their own young and growing families, where they were very contented to remain. No one wanted to sell their place of birth and upbringing, but no one was willing to care for it properly, either.

To the family's credit, some of the major damage to the home was dutifully repaired, namely, the dormer that had been destroyed by a falling branch of an ancient oak tree.

The exterior of the house was also given a fresh coat of cheerful yellow paint, Mother Jacobson's favorite color.

While the outside of the house maintained at least a portion of it's original charm and dignity, the interior was quite another matter.

A few years after both Matthew and his wife died, their children leased out the home to a lively family of twelve, who put their own stamp on the Jacobson home place. They were much less meticulous than Matthew had been, particularly in the area of painting.

No one knew exactly how, but that entire family of twelve completely vacated the house in the middle of one mild winter night, taking with them some of the home's finest features, including the wooden doors Matthew had made by hand and the beloved old cook stove Mother Jacobson had used to lovingly prepare thousands of meals.

Stripped almost bare, no vestiges of the beautiful and cheerful interior that reflected Mother Jacobson herself remained.

The house was never put up for lease again after that unsettling experience, nor was it sold. It was simply "kept" by the Jacobson children and grandchildren, wistfully visited a few times here and there for "old time's sake".

Eventually, though, the Jacobson home seemed to be all but forgotten. It was abandoned and left in it's shameful state to face alone the cold and cruel consequences of time.