Box Beds

The lights should be delivered today, although I think the tracking site said, "delivery confirmation".  Does that mean I have to sign for them! I don't get home in time and tomorrow is "Good Friday" then the weekend. Sigh... I hope it's in the mailbox when I get home.
Anyway, I've been playing while I wait on the lights. I wanted to try my hand at Quarter Scale furniture soooo...I made a "box bed". Apparently, during the 19th centrury, box beds and closed beds were common. The advantages are quite obvious when you think about it.  They are very cozy in damp drafty houses, they give you privacy without having to build a wall and you and/or your children are protected from rebellious farm animals and/or wolves that come and steal babies. Don't forget in inclimate weather they kept animals for comsumption inside the house. They also, usually, hang a cross inside to ward off evil spirits. Oh, but I digress... LOL!   It looks like a gyspy bed to me, but I had a lot of fun doing it. I found some instructions in one of Dolls House Magazines that was for 1/2 scale and it looked interesting. Okay, if 1/2 scale is this big, then 1/4 scale is half of that, right?  Well, my first attempt looked a little crude because the wood was twice as thick? Simply put...I didn't like it. So, I did it again with thinner wood and I think it turned out a lot better. I need to make a step stool for it and maybe practice a little more, but it seems do-able. :-)

So, this is about 1.5 inches wide (1.5 inches = 6 feet) I probably won't put it in the Mouse House, but I have future plans that may fit it better.

If U Want It Done Right, Figure It Out Yourself

I've been working on my "Mouse House" at every opportunity. Unfortunately, I'm blessed with a great job and a great people/cat house to run, so opportunities are infrequent. :-(  Anyway, this what I've accomplished recently.

• After 2 days (!) or research, I've ordered a lighting package with tiny LED lights that run on 2 AA batteries from Evans Design. Can't wait to see them! I think they will work perfectly because they are tiny, bright, and have a reasonably small battery pack that can be attached to the back of my clock. An on and off switch is included seperate from the battery pack so it can be placed conveniently. They actually have a set that runs off a CR 2032 or nickel sized battery.  Maybe for my next project!
• I've cut my 2 floors from 1/16th" wood. It will be a 2 story house, so I've measured and glued the braces for the floors in place. It's critical that I place the floors at the right height because if they are too low you can't see the rooms through the glass and if it's too high, then you'll see the side of the floor. I had to put notches at various places because the clock case/house is not braced symmetrically. I guess that's one of the characteristics of "made by hand". Awesome!
• I have cut my .08 plexiglass to fit against the aged paper lining the back wall of the house. I was told at Home Depot that it must be cut with a special tool that costs $10-$15, but I thought I remembered that thin plexiglass can be cut with a box cutter? "Oh, no" they replied while shaking their heads. "You don't want to try that" as they laughed out loud!  I got that "stupid old woman" look. Too cheap to buy their cutting tool, I went home uncertain about my plexiglass. However, after much inner debate, I drew my line on the plexiglass protective cover, placed a heavy metal square over the "good" side, applied pressure and used my Olga knife to repeatedly score the line. Voila'! Perfectly cut plexiglass! Short lived satisfaction as I began to experience more stress determining the best way to get holes in the back so that it can be screwed on. I can only deal with so much "inner debate" and stress. So, I took a deep breath, grabbed the drill with a new-ish bit, got it going pretty fast and stuck it to the plexiglass! I had the plexiglass flat against the back of the case with the back plate over it, so the existing holes served as my guide and the back was my brace. A little scary but worked like a charm! Problem solved!  Not, bad for a stupid old woman! 

So, I can't really go any further on the house structure until I determine where and how I'm going to install the lights......

I'm not sure you realize...
Miniature homes, furnished with domestic articles and resident inhabitants, both people and animals, have been made for thousands of years. The earliest known examples were found in the Egyptian tombs of the Old Kingdom, created nearly five thousand years ago. These wooden models of servants, furnishings, boats, livestock and pets placed in the Pyramids almost certainly were made for religious purposes.
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Design, Demolition, Delight!

So, where did I leave off.... Oh, WTH?
Well, the TOP 10 reasons I thought it was so PERFECT are:
10. It's old but useless as a clock, so I'm not "killing" the clock.
  9. It's the right size for at least 2 floors at Quarter Scale.
  8. It has a glass door that allows viewing of whatever is inside while staying closed.
  7. The back can be removed by removing the screws.
  6. It has a door that allows access from the front.
  5. The original glass in intact, though dirty...
  4. Virtually all the wood is there.
  3. The price was great!
  2. It's got a kind of "regal" design.
And the number one reason...........................
  1.  Hello?  Hickory, Dickory, Dock, The mouse ran up the clock!

Okay, back to work.  I started cleaning the clock by removing the clockworks, 2 screws, really dusty, but brass and pretty heavy duty stuff. Then I removed the door, no problem but the glass has this deteriorated black and gold paint on it (probably with lead in it!) and it was pretty scratched up. I carefully set that aside because the glass was still glued in pretty tight.  I then removed the back, 4 screws, came off pretty easy. I noticed that there was a piece of paper glued to the inside of the back plate, look like instructions...

Hmmmmmm, I thought, I better check on this. Well, apparently this Elias Ingraham made clocks in the mid 1800s and was responsible for several innovations in the clock world during his time. A clock in excellent condition can fetch a fair sum from this clock maker. This particular clock appears to have been made around 1861 (Civil War Era) and the black and gold paint on it represent Elias's Patriotic Series!   http://www.ehow.com/how_6591619_date-e_-ingraham-clock.html    Delightfully, he made these with rosewood (guitars are made of rosewood, so you know I loves me some rosewood!).  I'm enchanted! Now, can I kill this clock knowing it's history?    Yeah, I thought about it and the clockworks are not complete, the clock face is missing, and it's PERFECT for what I want. So, I'm going for it.  However, I did put the clockworks on Ebay just in cause someone can revive it or use the parts to revive another Ingraham masterpiece!  Cliff and I agreed that I should leave the paper on the back "wall" as the mouse wallpaper. So, I got a soft brush and gently brushed the cornstarch textured dust as best I could without ripping the fragile aged paper. It's wonderful. We then cut a piece of thin plexiglass to cover it and keep it intact in the house! I scraped the glass on the doors carefully, while holding my breath, and cleaned the glass as best I could. Then,  I repeatedly brushed dust from inside the main housing. It was like silt, 150 year old dust!  Wood soap, Watco Rejuvenator and my favorite - Fiddle Bright!  Note the maker's technique for forming the arch at the top of the clock. They cut the wood almost through until they got it to bend. These are not precise cuts, they appear to have been done by hand, by a human!! Amazing to me!

In the beginning....

I've been thinking about a 1/4" scale house for quite a while. I'm so fascinated with the "wee" in life.  "Quarter" scale means that every 1/4th inch equals 1 foot in our world. For example, a human in the quarter scale world would be about 5 to 6 inches tall and that's pretty "wee"!  So, I've gathered a few quarter scale items and have been considering what kind of home they should go in. I've looked online and there appear to be some pretty nice ones but I can't look at them in person and some are pretty pricey.... Fast forward to last weekend, the preview weekend for the Roundtop Antique Week in Texas. It's twice a year and we try to go at least once. I was keeping my eyes open for "wee" things, various housings for "wee" things, or just anything concerning "wee" things when suddenly I saw a mantle clock that had a 6 or 7 inch face and was kinda neat looking. As it turns out, it was $125, it still works, and it doesn't open in the front. But, the idea was planted! Eureka, how neat to have a "wee" home in a clock case. Intrigued by the idea, I began a new search.  Sure enough, I see this beautiful piece

$28.00, it's filthy, the "works" inside are hanging by 2 screws, there is no chance that it will ever tell time again, it doesn't even have a face on it... and it's PERFECT!   Soooo, I'm looking at the guy comes over and says, "I don't know if that works, but I can do better on the price."  SMILE  So, Cliff, in his every willingness to deal, says "I'll give you $20 for it."  SMILE  And the guy says, "Okay!"  SMILE   "Wrap it up, I'll take it!"   Now, you're probably thinking, "WTH, it's a nasty piece of junk!"  But, nooooooo, it's a diamond. Wait til you see what I do with it!