Everything's Purple!

The new project (1:12th scale cottage) is all purple...

I'm supposed to be shingling the roof right now, but after sticking on 4 tiles, I needed a break *lol*

Still, it gives me a chance to show some other bits and pieces...

I had a large display cabinet which a door had fallen off. It didn't really match anything else, and the varnishing was a bit rough, so I decided this would be my first 're-furb'.

I was quite rough, ripping the doors off. Some were 'hinged', whilst the middle doors were all glued into place. I decided that for the look I needed, I would leave the rough bits alone and just paint over them.

 I only had some leftover Humbrol enamel model paint and a tiddly brush... but better to use what I had, I thought, than go and buy new stuff.

I hated waiting for the paint to dry - I am so impatient with projects like this... I really have to learn to just leave alone and find something else to do :) I scouted the internet for purple gingham fabric... and eventually ended up scanning a piece that I had leftover. I didn't want a straight, precise design, but rather more of a 'squiffy' home-made feel. I used this paper I printed to cover the back of the unit, the shelves (including the little overhang) and the inlay on the doors.

 Next I had to cover the gap I had left by ripping off the middle door. I just wanted to have a piece of fabric hanging there... and I used an offcut of the piece I had scanned :) To hang the little curtain, I found a long decorative pin, and cut it to the size I needed, plus a little extra to turn up about 1/8" each end.

 I 'borrowed' hubbys Dremel to drill the holes in the cabinet for the curtain rod to fit. It was a lot easier to turn the unit upside down to drill the holes :)

Of course, I couldn't glue the rod in until the curtains were placed on it. I sewed the gathers into the curtain permanently, and added another couple of stitches to make sure to curtain didn't billow out too much.

 Then I simply glued it into place... but it needed something else... a bit more...

 I 'dyed' some cheap leftover lace with shimmer mist sprays, and then glued some around the top, and sewed a bit across the curtain.

 Okay, so the curtain bit should have been sewn on BEFORE the curtain rod was glued into place - the lace is a bit bowed. But after 'hmming and ahhing' about whether to un-sew it and glue it in place instead, I thought that I quite liked it being wobbly :)

I found my purple wax, and so rubbed a generous amount into some rubbed-down edges. I frayed the edges of a few squared off-cuts of purple gingham material scraps, painted the endes of a rolling pin dark purple (nail polish! I had no paint), and added a few accessories. I was very happy with the result :)