Porch Makeover

In my last post, I showed where we started some of the masonry work on the chimney and foundation areas for our new Christmas House.  Below are some of the pieces Babette tore from an old egg carton and then glued them into position to give the pattern she wanted for this house.  After they were dry, I came back to apply the spackling compound and fill in the gaps to smooth out all of the rough edges.  Next, she sanded the faux stone so it would look as realistic as possible.  The final step in this process was to apply a 50/50 mixture of water and Aleene's Tacky glue.  This acts as a sealer to prevent any further absorption into the paper.

Now that the masonry work is done, it was time to move on to the completion of laying all the brick work around the front step and porch foundation.  Babette (Local BR549) was called in to cut, paint, and glue all the pieces into place. 😆  First she glued the Styrofoam pieces around the perimeter of the front porch, and on the step edges.  Next, she scored each piece to look like real brick.  After the glue dried came the painting process.  Gray was the first color applied, then red, and finally some brown paint.  The final process used to give these bricks the look she wanted was a thin coating of spackling compound over the top.  Immediately after applying the compound, Babette gently wiped off the excess using a damp piece of paper towel.  This left some residue in the cracks and any other imperfections in the Styrofoam.  That final step is what gave her the old brick appearance she wanted.  As usual, she done good!  😁

Also, on today's list was to finish up the window decorations.  After being painted black, we hot glued a 3.5" x 5.5" piece of white vellum paper to the inside of each window.  Since we do not decorate the inside of these houses, the vellum paper helps hide the interior, plus it provides a more frosted, wintery look to the home.  To further enhance that look, Babette applied a small amount of white paint to the corners of each window pane.  This gives the look of some cold wintery frost build up.  For that finishing Christmassy look, Babette made some small wreaths, and then tied a tiny bow made from some red ribbon she had in her crafting goodie basket.

Looking at this new project, and how it is nearing completion, Babette told me it still needed something else on the front right hand side of the porch, just outside the main door.  It didn't take her long before she figured out what was needed; so, Babette took some of the foamboard we had lying around,  cut out this tiny planter box, and glued the 4 sides and bottom together.  Next, she distressed it to look like real wood, painted the box red, and then attached the little ornament and greenery.  Looks good to me!

So this is where we stand as of today; the front porch is just about compete.  Still left on this part of the house is to add some white lights underneath the porch ceiling to give the area a nice glow at night.  Plus, we also need to wrap the rest of the colored lights around the garland and drape it from pole to pole across the outside perimeter of the porch.  I'm anxious to see how all the lights are going to look; confident it's going to be real neat! 

We're nearing the end of this house re-make.  All that's basically left is to cut and attach the black roof shingles, make a walkway leading up to the front step, design a driveway and then place the red truck with a Christmas tree in position, dispersing the snow around the yard area, and of course, attach any extra or special goodies Babette feels are needed to give this baby the appearance she desires.  

I must admit, I was a little skeptical at first, but I've got to admit it, remaking these 2 old doll houses has actually been a lot of fun.  Two of our sons even told us we ought to make and sell them online …. naaaaah; they're just fun to remake.  Of course, seeing my grandkids go nuts is truly an added bonus!