Showing posts with label planning. Show all posts
Showing posts with label planning. Show all posts

Tuesday, January 15, 2019

My Month of Good Intentions!

I have always used January, as my month of Good Intentions!
oldnewgreenredo

A sort of dreamy, sleepy, nesting time...
oldnewgreenredo

A time to incubate....thoughts, dreams, intentions!
oldnewgreenredo

But life and this season...rolls on, whether I want it to, or not.
oldnewgreenredo

From our non-white Christmas... 

oldnewgreenredo

to the cold JANUARY SNOW we finally had last week.

oldnewgreenredo

To Sunshine and a freezing thaw---hopefully someday.
oldnewgreenredo

I try to use this stalemate of all seasons....to reorganize---plan---
oldnewgreenredo

Sort, Label, and Dispose of...

oldnewgreenredo

...but, I'm afraid I accumulated more VINTAGE treasures
than I let go in 2018. 
I'm in my 70's now and all these family things---and the newly acquired finds, need to be gone through, sorted, sold, or saved.

oldnewgreenredo

I can't blame it ALL on my great grandparent's on any side.

oldnewgreenredo

I have OODLES of family ephemera I need to go through. I have photos, records to sort and decide how to preserve. Above is a photo of the family fish market in 1946. Look at those trolly tracks---my goodness, I remember the State Street trolley from my childhood.

oldnewgreenredo

From Denmark, this is a photo of a possible family home-----all my ancestors knew whose it was---so why bother writing on it...
when, where, or whom? 

I have joined several 'history' sites of our hometowns and our ancestors' home countries. That's a few months of a 'Good Intentions' project right there. 

My Danish family church (Furreby Kirke) has been active since the year 1200 on the same spot---and if you can read them, the church records go back to at least to the 1400's. I have genealogy searches going back to the early 1700's, and yet my 20th century grandmother's 'sisters' may not be her sisters at all? 

oldnewgreenredo

My husband's family have been in Wisconsin since 1853 coming from an area outside of Prague. Before that---it dries up---because of the 'iron curtain' that still keeps records closed in many Eastern European countries.

oldnewgreenredo

Then there are ALL our own 'things'....!
I do blame Mom (don't we all), yes----she acquired a lot of stuff and never let go of anything, but that horde included three generations of family items she chose to ignore and keep.
 We love this desk, but it is crammed in a corner and unusable---and we are planning on a new sectional sofa this year---
OY! Where will the desk go?
oldnewgreenredo

The antique brass plate is very old (noses are polished off). It has found a spot in the hall, but, the vase is from Grandmother's coffee set of silver-plated over brass (which is showing through from all the generations of polishing-not me, lol.). The brass candlesticks are from the mid 1940's and were my mom's favorites.

Honestly, I don't want to part with them, even though they are not 'IN' right now. "Everything goes around, comes around"---as my mom always said. (She was buried in her Revlon-Real Red lipstick color she chose in 1943 and wore every day). Of course she was right---Red lipstick was back in style in 2006, 
even Revlon Real Red.

oldnewgreenredo

I have contributed bunches of stuff to the family piles of treasures.
I  found this bathroom shelf and redid it my first year of blogging. 
I never wear jewelry, so this is the last time I looked at it.
 Now, the shelf is in a pile in the basement!
oldnewgreenredo

I don't know what happened to this great box of buttons?


oldnewgreenredo

Here's a fabulous old print I found a few years ago----needs to be reinforced and have new non-glare glass. Where is it? hiding in the extra bedroom on the floor facing a bookcase. 
I know it will cost some bucks to redo it, so I keep putting it off. 

I have sixteen bins of fabrics I promised to go through for donations for a friend's quilting group three years ago. 
Where does the time, specifically my time go?
oldnewgreenredo


Sometimes I think I'm buried, by the season or is it the season of  OLD AGE?

oldnewgreenredo
When focused, I'm great at making plans----(the DIY Barbie house)
And, even following through.

oldnewgreenredo

My husband and I made this for our grand in 2015.
Result, I got re-hooked on playing with dolls. 
 I have moved my doll related posts to my doll blog: https://barbieoldnewgreenredo.blogspot.com

I digress, but the issue at hand, is HOW should I move forward.

oldnewgreenredo

It is only 8 weeks or so to the Chicago Garden show-----where I can smell dirt---and revitalize, start plants, and hope for Spring.

oldnewgreenredo

But, for now, I'm pulling up my big girl panties and making 
a few PLAN(S). 

oldnewgreenredo

to TRANSFORM 

oldnewgreenredo

RAISE MY CHIN and 
MOVE FORWARD!
With Good, no GREAT INTENTIONS! 

1: Finish one of the four books I am writing.
2: Cut those fabric bins in half through donations or sell.
3: List at least 100 items by March 1, 2019 in the Etsy shop. 
4: Blog here at least once a week, and continue to support blogging.
5: Live Creatively, Thoughtfully and with JOY.

Don't hold me to it...!
HUGS, How are your new year's plans going?





Posted by at 2 comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , , ,

Monday, January 25, 2016

Plans and Teensy Bathroom Cottage Style-BEFORE!

Silver Pennies Sundays
oldnewgreenredo

While Chicagoland did not get hit by the last storm, we are still hampered by snow and residual ice.  Like many---I have taken January off from blogging to work on REDO projects, clean, recycle, donate, and plan...basically spinning my wheels with not much to show for it.

Our DIY plans for this year are for NEW floors in two bedrooms---NEW wall treatments,  basically exchanging bedroom sets, and freshening my teensy bathroom. In Spring we will move on to the kitchen REDO when warm weather hits and we can live/eat/cook on the porch.

So, by posting my before pictures---LOL, maybe I will get started on my COTTAGE STYLE bathroom. This is probably the most personal of my spaces in the house.

oldnewgreenredo
My inspiration, which will stay after the REDO---is my shower curtain---I also used two more for the windows in the bedroom. These were from Walmart a few years ago---and were out of stock instantly. I love the ribbon work, for NEW curtains--they have a vintage vibe.

My style here is definitely cottage--also known as begged, borrowed, gifted and thrifted.


oldnewgreenredo

This room is so tiny---actually a walk-in closet we made into a REDO bathroom about twenty years ago. Sharing a bathroom with three men was less than ideal. Then, I was blessed to have this one to myself. I'm literally standing in the tub to take this picture.

It has been redone once. A near-miss-tornado lifted the roof shingles and we had water damage in the walls, so we replaced much of the drywall and the window.

oldnewgreenredo

We had a custom counter made for the tiny sink and over the commode. I have never painted the trim or the window yet. We still have one window to REDO in this house and then all will be replaced. It's nice not to hear the traffic a hundred feet away because they are triple-paned insulated glass...a definitely GREEN thing to do, here in Chicagoland.

Read more »
Posted by at 16 comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Wednesday, October 7, 2015

DIY Barbie Doll House: Week #1 Planning



Well this is a little different from my usual posts. Grandbaby will be three on Saturday and I will have call her Grandgirl after that. So, since she so loves the little Marx metal dollhouse we have in the basement, we thought we would build a BARBIE DreamingHouse for her for Christmas.

Now we are building the house substantial to last forever, but for the furnishings, I have been collecting things since March. Many items will be altered or handmade. Once a Week I will do a Barbie Post to update you on the progress of this very big project.

Step:1 

Planning-After researching the internet and looking for all the scale 1:6 meaning 1" in real life is 6" in Barbieland, same for Bratz and Monster high. There are some fabulous ideas online...and many, many Barbie DIY's. We decided to adapt an idea based on one bookcase plan. Built from 1/2" plywood this will be a substantial piece of furniture. This is the site I used for FREE PLANS.

Step:2 

My Plans were drawn to scale on grid paper...1 square = 1" or 6" in Barbie scale.

BarbieDIY oldnewgreenredo
Here is the original plan we adapted ours from, originally 51 1/2" tall by 45" wide x 12 1/4" deep.
Since Barbie furniture is scaled large we opted to increase the depth to 16" and also to add stairways, so we added to the width to be 48" exterior and that makes it 47" wide inside the house.

Our total height will be 48" which is the size of a 1/2 sheet of plywood for the back.

BarbieDIYoldnewgreenredo

Since I have been collecting OLD and used furnishings, I drew the plans---with furniture I had in mind, and some I will still have to make (sink, stove, counters, desk, shelving, side tables, lighting, bed)

My drawing above is the second floor showing kitchen to the left, stairwells, and dining/living room to the right.

I drew plans for each wall, floor and interior wall. Then I placed outlines of furniture on all the plans...to see if I had enough room or needed more items. This kept me from buying too much. The spaces filled  up quickly, and keeping in mind a three year-old playing with it all.


BarbieDIYoldnewgreenredo


The middle above is the left side wall, all three floors: bottom/garage, 2nd/kitchen drawn in, 3rd tub and window placement in bathroom. To the right are the interior walls and stairwells. This is very tight and will be steep. I have no idea how I'm making the stairs, yet...the railings will be minimal and will involve acrylic sheets (we have scraps around from some other projects).

Step 3:

Laying out the furniture on the to scale plans.

BarbieDIYoldnewgreenredo

The Dune Buggy will be parked in the garage on the lower left. The left wall is shown here, with garage on right, the kitchen on level 2, and the bath on level three(left).

BarbieDIYoldnewgreenredo

Today I transferred my plans to the rough cut pieces. To double check placements from my drawings, I set up the furniture roughly according to the plans. I altered windows..etc. to accomodate visuals.
Barbie furniture is scaled so low---I will be adding height to just about everything, except the kitchen
appliances.

BarbieDIYoldnewgreenredo

 Ken barely fits in the tub for the upstairs bathroom, that's OK, he will have a shower in his bathroom on level 1.


BarbieDIYoldnewgreenredo

Here is a panel I took from the Barbie shopper/vending machine, which I found still full of shoes/accessories for $3.99 at Goodwill, but it didn't work and was abandoned. Anyway I took the back off and am using the filigree panels (REDO) as windows for the bathroom and Barbies' bedroom --how cool is that? The cabinet itself will be the closet in the bathroom.


BarbieDIYoldnewgreenredo
Back to Ken's bathroom.

Lower Level 1, on the far right wall. Ken's blue shower is on the bottom with the toilet, and then his closet/wardrobe. Marked on the board are two windows. A narrow partition or screen will be put between the toilet and the wardrobe to give Ken privacy, from his dressing room.

BarbieDIYoldnewgreenredo

Here is Ken and his interior wall dividing the 1st floor Mancave and his bathroom. The (Barbie) sink unit was dismantled from the shower unit and will be mounted to the wall. Some towel holders are  removed for painting silver. His bathroom/Mancave will be in blue, brown and beige tones.
BarbieDIYoldnewgreenredo


The two plastic doors will be used for a wall cabinet...that will have mirrors on the inside of the doors, maybe. Everything will be manly brown-beige-blue.

Seriously everything I found was hideous pink or purple and needs a REDO.


BarbieDIYoldnewgreenredo

Step 4: 

Adjusting the plans to work with the furniture.

Right wall--the second and third floor. In the middle (level 2) the short pink couch will be REDONE and raised 1". The window is marked to scale with the sofa.  To the left is a 12" bed of Barbie's on the third level, she will have a double-bed though, which I am making NEW with that length.


BarbieDIYoldnewgreenredo

On the otherside of the Level 1 interior wall, is Ken's soon to be desk bookcase. I'm just playing here to see the proportions. I found two of these case things for 1.99 each at Savers, a REDO--They were from bead kits. I'm using one as kitchen cupboards and one for Ken's desk...which will be custom built from scraps. Again...nice blue, tan, browns in this room and lots of Chicago BEARS accents.


BarbieDIYoldnewgreenredo

He really looks like he wants to work here...LOL. The rest of the ManCave will be shown later.

BarbieDIYoldnewgreenredo

 Here is a rough layout of the kitchen. Hmmm, it's going to be tight. The cartons in the back are where the stove and counters will go. The sink will go next to the pink dishwasher (99cents), The refrigerator I bought NEW...$8.99 at Walmart.

BarbieDIYoldnewgreenredo

Can you see the stove on the right there? And I'll raise the shelves up to the top of the dishwasher...maybe granite countertops...You never know. Still looking for a stove and sink...but am prepared to build them if necessary. Kitchen will be green and white with appliances in Stainless steel. I found brushed chrome stickum paper at OfficeMax for 99 cents a sheet.

BarbieDIYoldnewgreenredo

The Fridge was a good buy, and came with some accessories. I think the pink handles have to go silver though.

BarbieDIYoldnewgreenredo

I'm thinking I may make the table drop leaf (REDO). How often will Barbie have company more than Ken? And that will uncramp the kitchen, besides company can be served on the dining table in the next room.

BarbieDIYoldnewgreenredo

On to the second floor living room, dining area. Two couches cornered with a round skirted table and lamp. I will raise each of the couches an inch...honestly they are too low for the height of the dolls.
This area will be greens/grays/black and silver.  I'm thinking tailored skirts and a bit of cushions with bolsters and pillows in contemporary prints.


BarbieDIYoldnewgreenredo

Here is an inexpensive table and chair set (comes with dinnerware) that I ordered online...was under $17.00 with shipping. The chairs are flexible plastic, and I'm not sure about them...I will be supergluing the table though. I sure don't want to put it together again. It is sturdy, as long as nothing slips out of place, hence the glue.

BarbieDIYoldnewgreenredo

The scale of this room is looking good, things to add yet, TV...birdcage, coffeetable, bookcase, lamps, lighting. The room is long and skinny...but that all should work.


BarbieDIYoldnewgreenredo
I'm excited about the 3rd floor vaulted ceiling Bathroom/Bedroom. The wood piece on the right will become an upholstered headboard to the double Barbie bed. With fru-fru skirted tables on the sides with lamps, it will fill the far right of the room. This room will be pink and white, and another color.
I have yet to pick out fabrics.

The large dresser is deep 4" and pretty good size. Painted a solid white with some pink handles, maybe a silver front. It will hold much of Barbie's wardrobe. A mirror and her accessories will be on top. A chaise,  side chair and dressing table will finish off this room. 


BarbieDIYoldnewgreenredo
Here is the layout at the top of the stairs. Artwork and a clock will be on the high wall of the stairway almost at the peak of vaulted ceiling. The pink dresser will be in front of the railings and banister of the stairs. Again, think silver, and some pink here. Thinking crystal or pearl knobs here.

BarbieDIYoldnewgreenredo

This is the bathroom/dressing room. On the right of the sink will be a cutout door to the bedroom

BarbieDIYoldnewgreenredo

The sink will be on this wall with a wonderful mirror above it...can't you see it?
The wardrobe (REDO-busted vending machine)....will hold accessories and shoes and hanging clothes and the vending area in the middle will become shelves for towels etc.


BarbieDIYoldnewgreenredo
And here is Ken again in the tub...in front of a filigree window...use your imagination. At the foot of the tub will be a tiled planter to finish off the tub. Again, think silver knobs, but this room will be pinkish, but only as much as I can stand.

Step 5:

Make a list of items still needed and shop for moldings.

I hope you weren't bored with all the planning, but this saved a fortune doing it this way. To buy a Barbie House already furnished of this size, would be $300-400 dollars, maybe more. And we will be less than half of that, for sure. Planning does save money and creates a NON-putrid pink haven for Barbie and Ken to live in. Many Barbie houses are 8" deep...which is only enough for a narrow bed along the back.

When Grandbaby turns 10, she can change it all,  however she wants to. That will be fun to do it all over again. I hope I am around to help her.

NEXT POST: Priming, Painting, Windows, Doors, and Electrical.

Dollhouse posts here,

Thanks for Stopping by, I appreciate all your comments and questions.
I will be sharing at these Parties:
Sandi

All the opinions and photographs in this blog are my own, I have not been paid or reimbursed in anyway for my opinions or posts. Please do not use my photos without linking back to this blog without my permission. 
Thank you for your cooperation, Sandi Magle

Posted by at 12 comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)