Off Topic: I heart Craigslist: My $5 purhase....

I am calling this the 'Blue House Mystery' because I am still trying to decide what to do with this new house of mine. I found it on craigslist for $5 and I am super excited about it. It's somewhat rough looking. Through the roof is well built it is not attached, the painting is pretty bad and some of the siding was put on upside down??!? haha - but the walls, floors, and base are very solid so I think it can be bashed and sanded into something really spectacular. I really think I found a great deal!!

So ... two questions:

Anyone recognize this as a kit? I think it might be from a kit but have never seen one like this personally. Also, I think its pretty old, but it could just be covered in dust making me think that.

Anyone have any ideas on what I should do with it? The Alison Jr. reminded me immediately of the addams family mansion, so that one was easy.... this guy I can't quite pin point what it should be. My initial thought was a murder mystery house... like the game/movie Clue?? Might be fun for me to try and hide clues and people to figure out what happened? I dunno.....

Up, Up and Away we go....

So FINALLY some of the walls have gone up!!! Now - if you are a seasoned dollhouse builder don't freak out... not all these pictured walls are glued yet so I still have room to move around a bit. And the floors are really darker than they seem in the photograph. I also included the organ for scale. It is a large piece but it kind of makes me concerned for how much room I really have..... so not as much as I thought.

Also, I love seeing all the stories of people cats getting into their dollhouses (as long as its not a complete destruction story... those are so sad) so I have included a picture with the most curious creature living in my house.... Audrey the dog. I think she licked nearly every piece of this dollhouse as I unpacked it from its box...ahhhh :(. But I took a picture of her so possibly I can prove to her that she does not fit in the house AT ALL and that it is not for her... not that pictures help with this one :)

You Awarded?

We have been awarded by the lovely and talented Jodi Creager from Creager Studios. Please go by her blog and see all the wonderful things she creates and how much character she can squeeze into a tiny tiny face!!!

Thank you so much Jodi for this award (it was for all us lucky ones following her blog). I so enjoy reading through your blog and seeing your creations and getting a kick out of your stories!!! I think you're probably the only blog I've read that posted solely for the purpose of a nice doll-bum!!! And that's what makes your blog great!!

Much love, Ara and Addamses

My first "printie" completed and I like it!

So here it is.... I saw this frame at Hobby Lobby and thought it looked just goth enough to fit into the mansion ok. So this one will be going on Gomez's night stand!! For scale... those yellow lines mark one inch squares.ahem... pardon the saw dust :)

We just hit 50 followers!

Wowwwwee! 50 followers to this blog and I don't even have the walls up yet! Thank you so much to everyone who follows this blog and gives comments and helps me along! Really, its knowing that people are interested in what I am doing that keeps me going sometimes. You guys are all so creative and are so inspiring to me and I just really appreciate getting to know you all.

BTW... #50 follower is Karina of Kabidesigns. She makes the most beautiful pendants! Please stop by and see her creativity at work!! I believe you can also buy her objects as well so be prepared!

Hugs to each and everyone of you, Ara (and the Addams family - although I believe they would rather shake hands than hug.... :)

Colors and a Rug!!!

Oh wow its been a busy week!! Lots of stuff going on here at the house and to top that I have a swap going on at All Things Mini!!!! Oh man... i am just about to finish them up and send them off tomorrow. I will post pics of what I made and what I got when everyone's recieved their packages. This swap is called "Behind the Castle Walls". So I am hoping there will be a few things to interest the Addams family!!

Also, Tara at Pooh Corner found this awesome deal on Ebay and got a fur rug that she didn't want (along with something else she did). THANK YOU TARA!! She let me know about it and we made a deal and now its mine! And its soooo perfect. It will be going in Gomez and Morticia's bedroom for that little bit of romantic flair ... oh la la! Its in the picture below (btw - its soooooo soft!)

Also with the rug I just wanted to post my color palette I am thinking of for the house. The grey color on top is just for simple highlights in different areas... the overall will hopefully be pretty dark.... but lively :)

I got tagged.... and I need to issue an award....

I got tagged!!! My first time too... I was tagged by Debbie over at Tiny Treasures and need to tag some more people!!! Also I need to issue some awards as I got one yesterday :)



I think since I have double duty I will do 3 for each thing for a total of six blogs being tagged/awarded ... so here goes....



for the Butterfly award I would like to give it to:



Texas Belle at Myrtlewood Manor if you haven't been over for a visit GO NOW!!! The detail in this place is jaw droppingly amazing. I can only pray for the patience this woman has!!!



Tallulah~Belle at Tallulah~Belle Originals . She recently made some beautiful foxgloves for Nikki and if you haven't seen them look here!



And finally Debbie over at Tiny Treasures! Even with seemingly her entire herd of ponies giving birth she manages to keep up with everyone and with her own blog! She's an amazing lady! Check out her cute ponies too!



Also here are my TAGS ( I decided to tag some of the newest blogs I am following!)...



Eileen Sedgwick who just recently sculpted one of the most beautiful paintings in history (I think).... check it out!



De at De-lightful Minis. She's got one thing my current project is lacking... COLOR!!! And I love it - check out her bright minis! They'll brighten your day :)



Minna at Linnanneidon Lokikirja. Proof that you do not have to speak the native language to enjoy the beauty of someone elses creation! Check out her majestic scenes :)





And lastly .... I will add one thing that has made me soooo happy lately (and is def NOT unimportant!!).....

My wonderful, loving, forgiving husband who puts up with all my craziness and occasionally sits down to help me cut out my millions of mini-peices! I am so lucky to have him! Love you Kev!

The Addamses and I won another award!

We have been awarded very generously by MiniKat at Little Thoughts from an Average Mind.

Thank you so much. I am also so honored that you feel we are have-the-dh-over-the-shoulder read worthy as well!! As always this award will only make me work harder to try and keep from disappointing my lovely followers!

Lately I have come across many MANY cool new blogs so I will take my time coming up with a few blogs to pass this on to! I will add to this post when I decide!

Thanks to you all! -Ara (and the Addamses)

Trying to fill out Grandmamas Basement....

Heard a distant rumor somewhere that Michaels might stop selling their hutches... so I decided to pick up a few for Grandmamas basement. She'll need several shelves for potions, 'parts' and spices :) Also possibly a cabinet for Uncle Nick-Nack from the first movie - haha! I always thought that was hilarious.

Anyway - I'll really have to beat these up and de-frill them a bit but I think it will be fun! Plus I just had to pick up a couple trunks for Wednesday and Pugsley. I hope to wood-burn a few pirate images in them... possibly.....

Going out of town for a bit, but will be back to finish floors, start putting together the house and beat some furniture!!!

The Addams Floor...

Well the Alison Jr. comes with its own wood floors... a pine looking sticker with grooves in it. Soooooo not really what I was looking for in my mansion. I thought I would have to cover it all up with wood floors to get the desired look BUT I decided first to not be wasteful and attempt to change what I had. So I took my box cutter, files, sand paper, and stain and came up with this. The first pic is 'before' and the last two pics are after.

What do you think - good enough for the Addams Family?

"Thing, you're a handful"

Thing agreed to pose for me on top of the organ this afternoon...


This is my first attempt at him (or any hand for that matter) I am pretty happy with him but may try again. He's a bit rough around some of the edges! He's snapping along to the Addams Family Theme by the way :)

The Addams Family and I have been given an Award!

Thank you thank you MiniKat at Little Thoughts from an Average Mind !!! She gave me my first award today. I am so excited that people are enjoying my project. I must give at least some credit to the Addams Family seeing as they are incredibly more interesting than I am ;)

Edit: Also, thank you Mary for helping me better understand the award! I am even more honored knowing what it means :) So as to follow instructions...

7 Random Things I love:

-Smelling something that reminds me of years past (memories of my grandparents mostly - my gma was an amazing cook)

-Interesting shadows

-Sleeping during a rain strom with my Husband and dogs all snuggled up in bed

-Typos! I try not to make them on purpose but some just make me giggle!

-Having a good laugh with my 2 sisters

-Old glamorous photographs of beautiful ladies! Even old highschool senior photos where just so gorgeous!

-Getting home from work and putting on my favorite pair of JEANS!!!

7 Blogs that I would like to pass this award along to (its been to several wonderful blogs so I wanted to pick a few wonderful ones that I haven't seen post it yet... I may have overlapped a bit though.. not sure :)....

--Sumaiya Mehreen is getting it twice! Once for Doll House Minis (I could spend hours on there going through all the things she's posted!) and another one for Exotic Dolls by S.Mehreen (her dolls are gorgeous and I haven't seen anything like them anywhere else yet!)

--Justus for Harmer Manor. I have a feeling I'll visit her site a lot of inspiration on my own project!

--Marie at My Miniature Menagerie for being such and inspiration and great encourager! I linked specifically to one of her projects she did which I really enjoyed seeing - warning - it's a little startling!

--Grazhina at New England Miniatures. Check out her Victorian Interiors link! There is more research in there than I know what to do with!! Just amazing!

--Cate and David at Solet Luna. Check out this link... Cate has just created a whole slew of new dolls and I linked to my favorite one.... sooooo adorable!

--And Tara at Dollhouse at Pooh Corner. She is making an amazing old English Classic Winnie the Pooh Dollhouse and it is very detailed! You're gonna love the addition of Owls house too!

Off Topic: Hidden Meaning behind "Ara"

You Are Bold and Fearless

You are usually the best at everything ... you strive for perfection. You are confident, authoritative, and aggressive. You have the classic "Type A" personality. You are wild, crazy, and a huge rebel. You're always up to something. You have a ton of energy, and most people can't handle you. You're very intense. You definitely are a handful, and you're likely to get in trouble. But your kind of trouble is a lot of fun.

What's" Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

I guess I need a new name!!! I took the name quiz as Debbie and Nikki have on their blogs. I've been sick lately and have no new news on my Addams Mansion so thought this would fill a little time.... This is totally not me! In fact I wish I was a little more of what my name means :)

Anyhow, thanks to everyone for the encouraging comments on the blog! I am just now getting over my illness so I hope to be back working again soon. (It wasn't swine flu, for anyone who's been watching the crazy news - hehe)