Chapter 3: Shrek's Room, the Library and the Kitchen

I realize Shrek is not in the Disney pantheon but we have a Shrek doll that fits the scale.  The girls play with him and the princesses, so I felt he needed a space.  Given his personality, I felt his room would be most appropriately placed at a distance from the rest of the private spaces.  But since he's a sensitive guy, I put it next to the library, which, for no really good reason, is next to the kitchen.

These rooms are mostly finished, but there will likely be some updates to include a little more furniture, especially in the kitchen.  But the girls have been playing in them for a long time and I'm working on other rooms so they get their chapter now.  I'll add new pictures for any cool changes.

After using lots of masking tape to connect all of the shoe boxes, I painted the inside of all of them grey, because a) it seem very castle like and b) it was one of the paint colors I already had.

 Then I spent hours and hours (really) looking for the right images to create the feel I wanted for each room. My original plan was to create great backdrops and not a whole lot of furniture (it's still the plan, but I've started to really like making furniture).  I used Snag It, Picasa and Word (pasting images in docs to get the exact printed size I wanted) to get scale, direction and to change image styles--making real things look a little more like cartoons.
Then I started putting things together.  Glue sticks, white glue (stuff I had on hand) and lots of cutting and pasting happened.

Finding the images for the kitchen set of a bit of a making streak.  I remember pouring through my stacks of various papers trying to find the perfect floor when it finally occurred to me that I could just use an image for that, too.  Minutes later it was game on!

I was using white craft glue and clamps to add the wooden slats to the ceiling.  It took a few days.  The back wall, cooking stove, wine cellar, header beam and floors were all printed on photo paper and glued with stick glue to the walls and floors.  The steps and the little table actually came from the packaging from one the girl's princess toys.  With the floors, I ended up painting the seams of seams to get seamless look.  In hindsight, I could have just painted the floor but I was having a block.
The library was a little more difficult than expected.  I wanted something that looked really rustic and cartoonish to fit with the look of the dolls.  I finally found something and after bit of work with Snag It, I was able to create bookcases in the sizes I needed.  I did not want them all to be the same sized or even.  I don't know why, that was just how I envisioned it.

A stained glass window was important to my aesthetic and while the art nouveau styling might seem anachronistic, this is a magical, time and space bending castle, so it's all good.  

The girls wanted to participate in the project.  I had them gather sticks.  I had an idea for Shrek's space.  I'd found a cool picture of a "Hobbit" window, a stone fireplace and some "portraits" of Shrek and his loved ones and my favorite part--Shrek's outhouse.  The sticks would make a perfect addition to the rustic look I was going for with Shrek's room.  I used white glue to affix the stick.  It took a few days to finish because of the drying time.  I'd totally forgotten I had a hot glue gun.  I wouldn't forget that again.

I'm ridonkulously pleased with how the outhouse came out.  I'd cut through just one box to create the door and used the side of the other box to affix the picture of the toilet.  I even printed a reverse image of the door and cut it out so the interior would have the moon cutout in reverse.  The placement of the door frame was precarious.  I had to bend it at the hinge but I think it fit the whole look.

Chapter 2: The Ballroom

Naturally, a castle needs a ballroom, so that was a priority.  And in the grand scheme of rooms for this castle, this was seriously easy.
I used my paper trimmer to cut 1" squares from some origami paper, I had on hand.  I chose it because it was shiny and reminded me of the marble fancy ballroom floors in the real castles I've visited.
I didn't have enough of the paper I used for the back wall to do all the walls; nor did I have enough of the velum I used on the side walls, so I just used both.  I painted the entire inside of the box pink as base for everything.
I, also, happened to have some Disney princess stickers in my stash.  The group picture of the princess combined with the frame made me think of the gorgeous ceiling paintings in Versailles.
But I found myself dissatisfied with the way the paper edges looked where the walls.  I needed some sort of trim or molding, something to  give it a little extra sparkle to the room.  Because we live in an area that celebrates Mardi Gras, we just happened to have a shocking amount of Mardi Gras beads, many of which were already broken (I have two little girls who play rather roughly at times).  Voila--sparkly trim!

Still, I felt it was missing something.  There needed to be a source of music and lighting.  It was missing lighting.  With the ceiling mural a chandelier was not going to work.  Maybe sconces would work.  A visit to the local hobby shop and a rummage through the clearance part of the jewelry making department yielded two brooches that had the look and scale I felt the room needed.  I used wire cutters to snip off the pins.  Some gold hot glue and a few moments later, we had sconces.
I still needed musicians.  I found a perfect silhouette of a chamber quartet after a long search through Google images.  I printed it on heavy stock and with my very sharp scissor and an exacto knife, I cut it out, then glued it to the back.  I chose the smaller scale to give the suggestion that the room was much bigger than it and the musicians were not as close to the dancers.
After all that, lots of modge podge was brushed on everything, except the sconces.

Castle Project Chapter 1 or In the beginning, there were these build-a-bear boxes

So I had these cottage shaped Build-a-Bear boxes that were just aching to made into something cool, and a dozen or more Girl Scout Cookie case boxes and a hoard of empty shoe boxes to add to effort.  In my head, a castle was forming.  It was not a traditional, boxy, symmetrical type castle, but rather more a rambling, Hogswarts style castle that I had in mind.

 I didn't manage to take a shot of the "inspiration" box before I started painting it, but it looked like the one here.  The sides had icing/chalk drawings of doors, but they weren't functioning.  That is until I got out my box cutter.  I decided I would use on of the door styles as a base shape for a castle essential--the drawbridge and on the other box I would use the other style door as an actual door use the windows as is.  I, also, cut out the circle logos at the top of the box for sky lights.  With lots of masking tape, I smoothed out the parts that stuck out and covered the handle hole, to make a solid looking roof.  Then I cut out one side of one box opposite what would become the drawbridge.  and I cut two panels out of the other box to provide more access for play.  Then the interior wall decor began.

For the gatehouse (the box with the drawbridge), I cut 1/2" strips of a variety of wood colored paper I had in my ridiculous stash of scrapbook paper (I used to be a Creative Memories consultant) and with a watered down white glue, I began to paper the drawbridge and the interior of the gatehouse.  After "papering" the interior, I painted the boxes with some acrylic paint I had left over from a mural I did for our nursery before my first daughter was born.  

The keeping room or tack room (I still can't decide what to call it) also got it's interior set and exterior painted.  

While cutting up and taping the Build-a-Bear boxes, I also started cutting up and taping together some of the Girls Scout Cookie case boxes.  One was planned as the stable to go in between the two Build-a-Bear boxes and another case was going to go on top of the stable and become a ballroom.  On top of all of these, two cases were masking taped together to form the dining room and sitting room.  Then on top of that I was going to put the kitchen, a library and a room from the chief of security, Shrek.  

It was originally, once all put together, it was planned to look like this:

Things changed a little bit and the dining room and sitting room, as well as the kitchen, library and Shrek's room, were moved to another wing.  But this is how it started.  I had this primary building and some shoe boxes fashioned together with masking tape to form an additional wing, planned primarily for bedrooms.  

Boxes, masking tape, hot glue, scrapbook paper, acrylic paint and modge podge, all of which I already had on hand were the primary resources I used when the project started.

The Gatehouse, stable, and tack room were the first things I finished.  

For the stable, because I knew the box was going to support other boxes, I made a support column to ensure stability.  I, also had to build up the top of the ballroom box so that the dining room and sitting room boxes would sit across it and the rooftops of the gatehouse and tack room.  

The stable got a paint job before putting on the pretty paper and then go several coats of modge podge.  The stable was hot glued between the gatehouse and tack room.  The places where the walls joined up were taped for reinforcement and repainted.  

Eventually, I decided to line the opening between the gatehouse and stable with wooden craft sticks.  I, also, covered the glue joins on the outside of the castle with wooden craft sticks and painted them for nicer, less gluey look.  The opening between the stable and the tack room is still a little rough looking but I'm not trying to make it perfect--it's a stable in an "old" castle, it doesn't need to be flawless--or at least that's what I'm telling myself.  The girls haven't complained.

The finished stable and tack room look like this.

The drawbridge to the gatehouse had to be a working drawbridge, obviously.  How would I make that happen?  

I went out to the craft stores and searched in the jewelry making sections.  I found a necklace chain of heavy-ish weight and reasonably smooth links.  Since I cut the drawbridge right out of the side of box, instead of attaching something, the drawbridge was exactly the same size as the opening, so I couldn't simply pull the chains through the sides of the castle wall, the drawbridge wouldn't close proper, plus it would look odd.  So I made a header, to go across the arch of the opening, using popsicle sticks.  This did two useful things--provided a place through which to pull the drawbridge chains and provided a stronger structure that would handle more wear and tear.  

I carefully punched holes in the wooden pieces and placed tiny rivets, also from the craft store, in the holes to ensure the chains would glide smoothly through the holes.  To ensure strength, I actually used two sticks and glued them together.  I also punched holes, using a compass point, in the drawbridge, at the same spots, and put rivets in the holes as well.  Once the chain was in the drawbridge, I hammered the rivets to affix the chain to the bridge and then sealed it with hot glue.  

I left a fair amount of slack in the chains, since little children would be playing with it.  The ends of the chain were affixed to small nobs which were glued to the interior walls of the gatehouse.  You wrap the chains around the nobs to keep the drawbridge up and unwind to let the drawbridge down--not very sophisticated but it works and is easy for the kiddos to use.

Decorative buttons were used to cover the holes and glue on the exterior of the drawbridge and were added to the header beam and eventually to several of the windows that I trimmed out with wood pieces, for both aesthetics and durability.  The interior of the gatehouse looked like this, at this point in the project.  

After I began work on the project, it started to grow in scope, insanely really.  And there were some changes made to the plans.  As I mentioned the dining room, sitting room and the rooms above those, were moved to another wing.  An atrium/greenhouse, requested by my daughters who were inspired by an episode of "Sofia the first," was added.  The how's on that are for another post, but this is how the "mostly" finished wing ended up looking.

The girls play with the rooms as soon as they are even a little finished.  It became apparent that having to reach through the stable to get to the drawbridge controls was a serious hassle.  So, even though I had trimmed out the windows and thought I was mostly finished, I decided to cut out the exterior wall.  So it the gatehouse looks like this.  Easier to play.  

There are five more wings to the the castle and dozens of rooms.  It now takes up the entire dining room table.  I'll create posts for the rooms, in varying detail.  This is a long story, and the project is still in progress.  Stay tuned.

Easy Elsa Cape or Adventures of the Reckless Seamstress

B, my youngest, wearing the first cape I made.

So a friend of mine messaged me with a request that was something of a leap of faith.  Her daughter, like a large portion of America, including my daughters, is quite taken with Elsa from Frozen.  She loves the gorgeous flowing train of her fabulous sparkling Ice Queen gown.  So my friend, after seeking a cape with a train and not finding anything in a reasonable price range, asked if I might be able to make one.
I have already admitted that I am no seamstress, but I do have enough bravado to try things if I think for a minute I might be able to figure it out.  This request though, concerned me.  I told her I'd have to think on it.
My youngest daughter has a beautiful Elsa dress she got for Christmas from her grandparents.  It fits her perfectly and is made with higher quality fabric than you often find with these costumes.  The flowing, sheer train part is totally sewn into her dress, not unlike Elsa's actual dress in the film.  There was no way I had the skills to replicate that.
Fortunately, my daughters also have an Elsa 12" doll and a tiny 3.5" Elsa mini princess doll, both of which have capes rather than a singly constructed dress.  Aha!  Inspiration!
Then a stop at Hancock's Fabrics and Hobby Lobby and I was in business and around $80 poorer.  Not knowing what I was doing, the buying of fabric and notions was pretty much a swag--I went a little overboard on notions.  Fortunately, it worked out that I had enough fabric to make two very lovely capes and some fabric that will work very nicely for the Elsa room in the castle I'm building (another story for another time).  I selected two fabrics for the dress, one sparkling, semi-opaque turquoise blue and the other a shimmery, sheer fabric--thank goodness it was prom season.  Because it was the end of the bolt, I got almost two yards of the turquoise and a yard of the shimmer.  They were pretty wide.  I'd purchased two yards of another shimmery fabric at Hobby Lobby but once I saw the turquoise with the tiny sparkly stars, my plans changed.  Plus the Hobby Lobby bolt was much narrower than the Hancock's bolts.  My new plan was to layer the sheer over the turquoise, somehow.
I used wrapping paper to make a pattern.  After measuring my eldest daughters shoulders and clavicle, I determined what the neckline/collar measurements needed to be.  I folded the wrapping paper in half, used a ruler to draw a line of half the width of her shoulders.  Then I angled the ruler down a bit and drew the length of where I wanted the front of the cape to clasp.  After that I freehand drew out half a cape--a long cape.  The last step in the pattern build was to cut out arm holes.  I made a long triangle with about 2/3 the base under the back shoulder line and a 1/3 under the front of the cape line.  I had my daughter try it on.  I cut the triangle a little wider toward the front, retried the paper cape and was satisfied I had a pattern.

The pictures that follow are from the making of the second cape.

The white is the wrapping paper pattern folded in half, the other two are the fabrics, also in half.  I don't know why the pattern looks longer, it wasn't.  It could have something to do with my not even trying to iron the fabrics.  

Paper pattern folded.  Fabrics opened and layered on top of each other.

It's almost a perfect fit.  Fortunately, perfection isn't totally required.
After cutting comes the annoying, but not difficult work.

I used a wash-away wonder tape, instead of pinning to keep two slippery fabrics together.  It takes a little less time than pinning and it doesn't have to be removed.  YAY!  I "taped" the fabrics together with the right side of both fabrics facing up.  I only taped the neck and sleeve areas.  The sides of the cape are left open.

Then on the top of the sheer fabric, I put wonder tap around the sleeves.

Then I added the silver bias tape to the inside of the sleeves.  This is where the wonder tape is really wonderful.  To make the corners neater, I added tiny pieces of bias tape across the corner.  That makes it look nicer and it strengthens the corners of the delicate fabric.

Along the edge of the sleeve facing the front of the cape, I also added a fancy trim piece, tucking the edges of the trim under those corner covers.  Lots of wonder tape was used.  I did get two capes out of one roll of wonder tape, with a smidgen left over.  Then, using silver tape, I ran it through my sewing machine.  I don't have a serger so I just used a zigzag stitch, pretty tightly set and ran over both the inside and outside of the bias tape.

Next, again using wonder tape, I tacked down a wider version of the silver bias tape along the neck, leaving about 2 extra inches of bias tape on either side of the neck.  Then I stitched up both the inside and outside along the neck.

I added another bit of fancy silver trim to the neck--stitching up both sides.

Next, I tucked under the ends of the collar, hand stitched them down neatly and added the hook clasp.  All done with the silver thread.  Warning, the follow steps will possibly disturb serious seamstresses.  I'm sorry.

After testing the fabric to make sure it would survive, I used silver hot glue to seal the edges.  I don't have a serger or patience.  This did the trick and will endure being dragged on the floor better than sewing.  Plus, it looks kind of cool.  

With the top, sheer layer, I intentionally brought the glue line in about a half inch or so from the originally cut edge.  I wasn't particularly neat with the glue, though I tried to keep the inside edge of the glue straight and the thickness consistent.  I glued all the way around the unfinished edge of the cape, keeping paper underneath the fabric and continually moving the fabric to keep it from sticking to the paper.  I also was careful not to glue it to the turquoise fabric.

After gluing all the way around from collar to collar.  I trimmed the fabric to the glue line, neatening up any sloppy areas of the glue and leaving a cool, durable edge.  I did the same thing with the bottom layer of fabric, except this time I kept the glue very close to the originally cut edge.  Trimmed it clean and VIOLA!

Finished cape.  You can see there is a slight reveal of the bottom layer.  Below is my older daughter, with her new cape on over a different snow queen's costume.  

The cost, amount of fabric and notions will vary based on fabric and trim choices.  One spool of silver thread got me through both capes (I bought 4 spools of silver plus two more of turquoise thread--I hope they take it back).  One package of the wide bias tape did both capes with plenty left over but I needed two packages of the thinner bias tape.  Both were double folded.  If you make your pattern first, you'll have a much better idea of how much stuff you'll need.  I bought too much trim, but I will end up using it in some other random project, so no big deal.  

Guardian Angel? Karma? or People Are Really Basically Good

Anyone who knows me well knows I have a severe dingaling streak.  I come by it very naturally--my exceptionally intelligent parents both contributed this trait to my genetic make up.
So, it will probably not be terribly surprising to learn that I have left my wallet in the grocery cart at the Decatur Kroger at least a half-dozen times (probably more but I don't like to keep track) in the seven years I've lived here.  Miraculously, EVERY SINGLE TIME, I have found my wallet, still sitting in the cart, in the parking lot, untouched.  That is until tonight.  Tonight, someone saw it and turned it in to the customer service desk.
My husband, who finds my dingaling streak to be very low on the list of things he loves about me, says I was "very lucky."  Naturally, the only appropriate response is, "Yes, I know."
However, I wouldn't actually describe myself as lucky--fortunate, yes.  Lucky?  Not so much.  I have another theory, at least for this particular type of good fortune--the lost-wallet-retrieved-quickly-and-intact variety.  I think it might by my mom.  I know that sounds crazy, and it is.  But anyone who has lost a loved one can tell you that there are times when you feel their influence very strongly.  For me, this is one of them.  It goes beyond the leaving the wallet at the Kroger problem I, clearly, have.  In my many years of traveling for work, I have lost many things--some never to be seen again.  However, on the few occasions when I have done something foolish like left my purse on the door of restroom stall or left my kindle under the seat in front of me and not realized it until I got to my gate or home (after midnight), I either returned to restroom and found my purse hanging there or received a call from the airline letting me know they had my kindle and the sweater I left with it.  And when these things are "miraculously" retrieved, I say prayers of gratitude and it crosses my mind and heart, that my mom just might be looking after me.
Interestingly, my sister, who periodically shows she's inherited the same dingaling streak, has had similar experience and similar feelings of "mom intervention."
When I got home from the store this evening and realized I'd left the wallet, I got the girls out of the car and raced back to the Kroger and called their customer service to ask if someone would please go out and see it the wallet was there and hold on it for me.  When they told me it had been turned in, the relief was huge!  I just returned from a work trip so it had all my trip receipts in it, travel card and passport--the hassle factor would have been ridiculous.  I quickly called my husband to let him know.  I thanked God and my mother.  And tears in my eyes, I called my sister to talk to her about my theory.
It is good to have someone with whom you share a little bit of same sort of "crazy," because they can listen well and understand with a lot less explaining and a lot more working through.  We both share the same idea that mom is a big part of our uncanny good fortune in recovering our wallets/purses after total flake outs.  My sister suggested that even if it wasn't a guardian angel version of our mom, it could be the goodness she inspired in her life is continuing to influence people to do the right thing and we have been beneficiaries of that goodness.  That's reasonable and even a little sane sounding.
Even more "sane" possibility, one that supports another belief of mine, is that most people are basically good and do the right thing.  So perhaps it's not all that remarkable that people haven't felt like it was okay to take a wallet that someone had clearly lost.  It's just a refreshing reminder that we live in a place with honest people.
Or it is really my mom keeping a helpful eye out for me and good karma and most people are basically good.

Fabulous at any age

It is a tradition almost as old as time for people, especially women, to fib about their age.

When young, people often want to present themselves as older.  I recall, my sister telling people she was almost 5, days after turning 4.  And I remember how delighted I was, when at 13 and 5'7", people frequently assumed I was at least 16, if not 18.  And let's not even talk about all reasons people might wish to procure fake IDs.

I was twenty-four when I started my current career path, a position that includes advising university and college administrators on solutions that will support and/or advance their business.  I was told my that, regardless of my expertise and knowledge, my youth would be held against me (it was), so I should wear more make up and dress more conservatively (read--less flatteringly), to disguise my youth and gain credibility .  Fortunately, after 21 years with my company and almost 19 in my current area, I don't have to worry about credibility based on perceived age or experience.

I am currently in that other time of life, the time when people start to fib in the other direction.  Somehow, around 30 or 40 we start wanting people to perceive us as younger than we really are.  People frequently, miraculously, stay at 29 or 39, whichever seems remotely plausible for years, even decades.  Media floods us with ideas about how those are really the most desirable ages and after that, as long as you look those ages, it's perfectly fine to claim them.

I've never quite cottoned to the need hide my age.  I liked being thought of as mature or wise for my age when I was younger and enjoy instant the instant credibility my age gives me now that I'm older.  This point of view has, apparently, been subtly presented to my daughters.

The other night, the subject of age came up at dinner for one reason or another and my husband joked to my daughter that "Mommy is only 29."  To which, my eldest daughter responded, with crinkled nose and raised eyebrow, "no, she's not, she's 42."  My husband laughed, "your mommy is 39."  Again, brow furrowed, E replied, " NO, Mommy is 42," and looked at me for explanation to this nonsense.

I told her "some people think that being older makes them less beautiful, so they tell people they are younger than they are."

I truly wish I had been video taping the conversation so I could have caught and shared the look on her face.  Her expression said without a doubt that was the most absurdly, unbelievable thing she had ever heard in her life--this utter disbelief from a child who is in full belief of fairies and magic and Santa.  I lauded her greatly for her priceless and beautiful expression, telling her that hers was the exact right response.  "That is exactly right, baby, it's total silliness.  Mommy believes she, and most everyone else, gets more fabulous with age, not less."  She nodded, her expression reading, very clearly, "well, DUH."

May she always, always feel that way--may all our daughters feel this way.  May we all.