Don't Take It Personal

I'm home today, using a personal day. John's daycare is closed for Presidents Day, but Eric's school and mine are both open, so one of us had to stay home with him. I was glad to take one though; this year has been busy and stressful and exhausting, so I don't feel like I've been spending alot of quality time with him lately. Today, we're going to relax, watch a movie together, bake some cookies, and go out to lunch.

I've gotten very bogged down with some report card stuff and my online graduate school course, so I was very happy this weekend that we trekked up to Goodwill Buy the Pound. I'm not usually looking for anything in particular when we go there, but I love finding odd things that inspire me.

I found this 'antique' radio. It's not really old, it's just meant to look like it. On its own, I would have thought it looked cool, but probably wouldn't have picked it up. However, it was missing the back panel, and the space inside is perfect for a little scene:

I wanted to cover up all the innards (and sharp things) so I cut some cardboard to size and covered the walls with 'wood' contact paper from Dollar Tree. I think it's going to become another mouse mouse because I think Millie, the little mouse who lives in the 'books' and has an impressive wine collection, needs a neighbor:

At Goodwill BTP, I also spotted a large Christmas music box decoration. It already looks like a dollhouse:

 

It had really cheap looking, resin figures inside that would move with the music. I ripped them out (you can see in the photo on the right that they left behind some plastic knobby bits) and made some new floors, utilizing the cardboard and 'wood' contact paper method again:

I know that some people would prefer real wood floors, but those are expensive and time-consuming. And honestly, once I fill the house up with furniture and accessories, the floors won't show very much anyways. 

I like to make my dollhouses as child-friendly as possible so that I can display them at school, libraries and other exhibitions. I wouldn't be comfortable doing that if I had to spend alot of money on this hobby, and what's the point of building dollhouses if you're not going to share them with the little people they're meant to inspire?