Burn Out??

How often have as a creative person have you just not been able to come up with what you want to do?? I have been fighting with that feeling for a while now, some days it just seems that I don't have a creative bone in my body. This week I actually spent a lot of time working on a project for my 18” doll blog but I still really didn't feel that creative. I actually had to fight my way through what should have been an exciting project. In the end I was fairly happy with the end result but there are several aspects I am going to have to go back and change when I get a better idea of how to do what I want or even on some things what I want. In case you are wondering the project is a wall with a door (or rather it looks like a wall with a door) to use as a set for outdoor/ front porch photos of those dolls for stories and such.

Back to the subject of the day- burnout. I know I am creative but for whatever reason I just don't feel it lately.I think I am suffering from a major case of Burn-Out!

For example I have finally found fabric for the crib project but I just can't seem to get myself motivated to actually get started on the dressing of the crib.

I looked on YouTube today to check how many videos I have made on the subject of minis. Do you have a guess as to how many videos I have made? There are over 250 of them, that is a lot of ideas and a lot of work that I have put into this channel. Don't worry I am not going anywhere but I think I am not going to be so hard on myself if I don't come up with a video once in a while from now on. I ask that you all have patience too.

One thing that would help is more ideas! I think right now what I need is a new list of ideas to pick from. So I am giving you all a job to do, I want you to come with as many ideas as you can and get them to me. Either in the comments on this blog post or on the Facebook page. I need a to start over with my lists and I want new ideas to do so with. So think hard what do you want to see on my channel? What kind of projects do you want to do that I can help you with?

Dollhouse Miniature Bark Mulch

Watch the video here.

Wow, I really don't have a lot to say about this project/hint. It is one I have had tucked away in my brain for a long time. To be honest I was sitting on my couch this morning (Wednesday) trying to figure out what this week's project should be when I thought of it. You see it is getting colder here so I had made myself a cup of tea mainly to warm my hands, nothing like snuggling up with a warm cup of hot tea when it is cold.

One of the really cool things about using the tea for mulch is that there are so many types of tea and each will dry to a different color. Experiment a bit and see what you like the best.

The only rules are really that you need to using the tea leaves after you make the tea with them and then drying them out really well.

Dollhouse Miniature Hearth Log Holder

Watch the video here.

I debated about this project, on one hand it could almost be a Trash to Treasure Thursday project but on the other hand it was just a bit more complicated than most of the projects I do on that series. Also I was short on time this week and didn't have time for a longer project for today. So by that process you get to learn how to make a log holder to go next to the fireplace or wood stove in your dollhouse. Later on when I finally get around to doing the landscaping on the Harrison I will show you an outdoor log storage and wood splitting area.

For today's project the thought process behind how I came up with it was kind of funny. The last couple of weeks my son has been doing a lot of work outside getting his firewood supply ready for the winter ahead (he has borrowed my truck more than a few times for this process) This got me thinking about how cozy the house is with a fire in the wood stove or fireplace. That got me thinking about how cute the fireplaces in the dollhouse are when they are set up with firewood, and all the tools you would find around their real life counterparts. About the same time as this was bouncing around in my brain I remembered that I had gotten this package of large paperclips a while back and they were still in my desk drawer. I took one out to look at and the rest came to me pretty quickly. The only real trial and error was getting the right size for the circle of card stock and for the dowel to bend everything around. After I made the first one I realized that those doilies that I keep forgetting to pick up when I am in town would also work really nicely for a more ornate version of the log holder. That one would definitely want to be painted with the elusive Brass colored spray paint.

I was sure when I started this project that I knew exactly where my Brass colored spray paint was at. I was wrong, I have no idea where it went or if I actually used it up. I use it a lot so I have already put it on my shopping list for my next trip to town. I will paint the log holder I made in the video with the new paint and post a photo of it on the Facebook page in the next few days.

To recap the materials and tools I used:

2” long paperclip

1 ½” diameter circle of card stock

¾” dowel

jewelery pliers

527 multipurpose glue

black spray paint

Small twigs from the yard

pruning shears

Now I do highly recommend that you either put those sticks in a low oven for a couple of hours or wrap them up and put them in the freezer for a couple of days. Either of these techniques will kill off any little bugs that may be living in them.

The same glue will hold the wood in the log holder if you desire to glue it in place.

Dollhouse Outdoor Decor

Watch the video here.

This week I have something a bit different for you. I got really busy and just didn't have time to film a project for a Trash to Treasure Thursday video but I did have a couple of neat things I got on the Halloween sale at Joann's that I wanted to share with you. I decided to call this a Fun Finds Friday, I know corny but I do love my alliterations. LOL

Anyway, I am always on the lookout for fun things that can be used in the dollhouse and so I keep my eyes open while I am out shopping. You can find items in scale in some surprising places. These two items are just an example of the the cool stuff out there on clearance before Halloween. The Joann's I was at also had some benches and other items that would be really cute around the dollhouse but I made myself pick just these two items. I think they are a bit different from things I have purchased before and I can definitely see myself putting them around the yards of my dollhouses.

I know I will be putting the arbor thing in the yard of the Harrison when I get around to working on it. I am torn between using the tire swing with the Harrison or leaving it with the Brookfield. I am going to have to think about that for a while. Since I am still in the planning stages of the Harrison landscape I have time to consider what I want to use.

Here are a few more photos of the two items in use around the Brookfield. The Arbor is a bit too narrow for the wider pathway in front of the house but I will plan the walkway for the Harrison with the size of the arbor in mind.

The tire swing is just down right cute no matter where you put it. Since the kids live in the Harrison it could go there but, I do have the big swing set I made a while back for that yard. The Brookfield is actually home to the grandmother of those same kids so it could just as easily live there.