Music on the Moonlit Terrace

Instead of closing off the third floor for the attic, I have kept it open as a roof-top terrace. The master of the manor loves to invite renowned musicians for concerts on the moonlit terrace. 

When I was little, one of my great-aunts had a similar set of miniature instruments that I adored. I never imagined I would find anything like it on eBay, but I did a search on a whim, and when I clapped my eyes on the set, I had to get it! 

I bought this vintage set of miniature Indian musical instruments last month from eBay for $24.99 (+$13.33 shipping). They are not 1:12 scale instruments. They are closer to 1:9 scale. But I love them!  

From the left: esraj, tanpura, sitar, bina, tabla-baya and mridangam. 

To read about Indian music, visit: http://www.payer.de/karnatischemusik/karnatisch07.htm

Cherry Blossom Bath Accessories

Finally got my hands on the cherry blossom bath accessories and the bathtub caddy by Reutter Porzellan. I have been wanting these for a long time, since they share the same Lisa pattern as the rest of the Garfield chinaware. At $20.45, it was still a splurge for me, but I usually see them being sold for around $32.

Water Pump

In the back of the house, by the kitchen bay window, we now have a copper/brass water pump by the Durham company. I mixed watered down glue with sand, and leveled it out within a border of paperclay bricks to create the cement effect.

The Perfect Lawn

Many many years ago, I had bought two Woodland Scenics landscaping kits from Hobby Lobby. I finally dusted off the boxes and was surprised that the Scenic Cement (watered down glue) was still OK to use!

I found one medium pouch of "Green Blended Turf" and smaller pouches of "Burnt Grass Fine Turf," "Green Grass Fine Turf" and "Medium Green Coarse Turf," all of which I mixed together in a zip-lock bag to get enough material to flock the lawn.

At this time, I am adding a lawn around the house, but leaving the courtyard empty. I am still not sure what I want to do for the courtyard.

I painted the wooden base with a coat of sap green acrylic paint.

Voilà: grass!

You can use Scenic Cement to glue the grass on, or you can simply use watered down white glue. I have used both during my project, and got the same result.

If you are watering down glue, make sure it is not so watery that it will not hold down the grass after it dries. It will be the consistency of full-cream milk, and slightly slimy from the glue.

I poured the flocking material into a disposable bowl, and mixed it with the glue so it looked like avocado dip.

I took clumps of the mixture, and patted them down to create a thin layer of grass on the base.

I mixed small batches so that the mixture would not dry out while I worked, but the process went quite fast for me.

This is the first time that I ever flocked dollhouse lawn, and I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was.