Current Mood : Happiest when busy
Today started off briskly - thanks to the daily Craft blog, I found a great craft. Miniature record albums, complete with sleeve and record ! The creator, Paul Overton, designed ‘em for use as gift tags, but ya'll know how us doll people are... I instantly saw it as a great doll prop !
As-is, they're a bit big, but would work for, say Crissy or American Girl-size dolls. But once you have one printed out - or good printer software - you can scale ‘em any size you want. Mr. Overton thoughtfully provided not only ready-to-use artwork in the PDF download, but also templates to create your own with. Link beneath has a video and photos, and a download link, so ya may wanna check ‘em out !
http://www.dudecraft.com/2009/12/how-to-mini-lp-record-gift-tags.html
I also did something new, something I've always avoided. Found directions for making fleece house-slippers, very easy. Only problem is, no printable pattern. Just a drawing on grids. I hate reproducing patterns that way. But Beloved Hubby needs some warm snugglies for his feet, and he hates hard-soled house slippers. So I gave it a go. It wasn't that hard, mostly because the designer included actual measurements beyond ‘each square is two inches'. Hoping to find my fleece and give it a quick trial this week.
I then moved to cleaning off my perpetually wrecked desk. I swear, it was completely clean when Beloved Hubby worked on my computer the other day ! Found a box for the dolls I'm not keeping, then moved on to the ones I am. Sanded down the peeling ‘skin' on Costume Ball Ken's left hand. A bit of lotion helped make the uneven edges less visible. Once he was resting, I turned my attention to the new-to-me clothes, snipping loose threads and checking wear marks, spot treating a few areas.
Then I dragged down my doll washing machine. Basically, it's a small all-transparent take-out soup container with a tight lid from the local Chinese place. It's reserved just for doll clothes maintenance. Easier on the small garments than tossing ‘em in the regular washer, but still gets the dirt and dust out. A drop of dish detergent, some warm water, and some fun shaking is all I need besides the ‘washer'. Like a real one, I do an agitation cycle with soapy water, then a clear water rinse. Since wringing ‘em out can damage fragile miniature fabrics, I roll the rinsed clothes up tight in a towel a couple times, then hang ‘em or drape ‘em in the Lab to dry. If dirt still shows up in the ‘rinse' cycle, I repeat a wash one. That's why I use the see-through soup container instead of a butter tub.
While the clothes are hanging out, I can often fix minor problems. Like getting that tiny tie to lie flat, or pinch-press a collar down. Usually everything's dry the next day. Which is good - laundry looks rather tacky draped over the Castle walls for long periods of time.
And, once in the Lab, I decided to see to a few things. Told Tiffany Taylor that she'd be living with a certain Mouse, soon as I found a good box for the trip. Dressed the nude Ken and two other dolls runnin' around nekkid, and put some stray doll clothes away. Remembered to put Brody's cover back on, and stored a bit of desk detritus. Then it was time to get the badly neglected dishes done - ugh ! - so I wished everyone a nice afternoon and got to it. I swear, I fell completely out of my routine when I had tummy trouble last week, and it's taken me the rest of the week to shake my stupor and get back to it. Then again, it's not like the dishes won't wait for me...
