This and That

During my week off (and my mother's visit), I didn't get quite as much done as I had intended.  Sometimes life gets in the way. 

Of course, the mystery picture was identified and put in place.  😊  The fairy lace for the lamp also arrived. I used the darkest gray, but it looks white in this picture.  (The pattern on the table cover is washed out, too.)  Nevertheless, I am happy with the way the ruffles turned out.

 

I also finished the annoying rug.  I loved doing the blue field, which zipped along, but then I hated doing the design, mainly because I'm just not thrilled with the way it looks.  However, it will mostly be covered.  It's really the border that matters.

Here is the finished rug:

Here it is under the zebra skin rug, which has been given a little mane made from embroidery floss:

 See?  You can barely see the main design.

And with the lights now in place, I finished the doorway.

You may have noticed that there has been a proliferation of teddy bears in the room.  There are no teddy bears currently on display in the real-life library, but I'm sure there must have been at least one there at some time 🙄, and I haven't been able to resist adding a couple.

The fuzzy one in the leather chair is from NeedleFeltedLove.  He was so cute, I had to have him.  The one in the flowered chair is from Dollhouses and More on eBay.  He is just made from resin, but I loved his little bow.  He seemed very much in keeping with the original teddy bears, who really were named after Mr. Roosevelt.

The bowl next to him does exist in the library. 

I'm not entirely sure what's in it, but I got a little set of green plastic bowls as an extra gift from Oakridge Hobbies when they sent my light bulbs, so I used some Testor's paint to turn one into a "wooden" bowl.

It's beginning to look like a real room.

On a completely unrelated project, I also had time to make the teeny, tiny deviled egg kit from Stewart Dollhouse Creations for the Merrimack (my mid-century house).  Every year, we (in real life) have a Christmas Eve Smorgasbord.

This year, the imaginary homeowners who live in the Merrimack decided they would like to have one, too. 😉 Deviled eggs are always a part of the spread, so I couldn't resist the kit, which I saw when I was ordering my doilies earlier this fall.  Making it up was incredibly fiddly.  There is a silicone mold that holds six whites and four yolks (no idea why they aren't the same number). You need to press polymer clay into the mold, level it off and scrape away the excess, and I kept accidentally pulling the little whites completely out of their slots.  AAARGGGHHH!!  I finally got the hang of it and baked several batches to make enough eggs.  The beautiful little plate comes as part of the kit.  It's 3-D printed in a translucent material.  You then coat it with clear nail polish, and it's suddenly transparent and looks like glass!  It's impossible to tell in this photo, but the yolks actually have tiny little ridges, so that they look as though they were piped into the whites.  Now that it's done, I am very happy with it.

I do like the Stewart molds.  I used their gingerbread men/women mold for the bungalow, and it made the cutest little cookies.  (That's my pinkie finger in the picture.)

That's it for now.  When the Merrimack table is fully laden (which has to happen by Christmas Eve), I'll post some pictures.

Hope you are all having a wonderful holiday season with friends and family, and are not getting too stressed out!