So obviously any of us tier 3 orders are a bit annoyed , *BUT* the good news is I just received a delivery uodate!!! I hope everyone receives their fun packages safely, even though they're late. I'm impatient, but as long as it arrives, I'll be happy.
Favorite photos of the baby Spectre (brother to Spooky) so far. Still hard to believe he could change so vastly in the next year based on everyone else's toasty babies!
Little guy is 14 weeks tomorrow. His color has already come such a long way! He and the 1 year old black smoke seem to have bonded very quickly (last photo) 🖤
Finally moved up to a large pot for these two Thai cons I've been growing out (last photo shows them seperate). Major root growth on both showed it was time!
I love how full they look now and I'm excited to see the new growth from here now that they have more space for the aerial roots to anchor in. I live in coastal Alabama, so temps have been around 100°, high UV, high humidity. Had to get them put in together while we still have a few months of ideal weather before moving it inside. I wanted to have at least one nice, large, bushy plant to enjoy inside when the temps drop!
This is also the first time I've done a major repot as I usually just trim roots to keep plants in similar sized pots to what they were being kept in, so it'll be rewarding to see it grow in :) I had a whole room of plants but had to move states and essentially start from scratch. I'm slowly bringing some green back into my space!
TLDR: (Photos in backward order) I thrifted this kidkraft dollhouse on wheels for $9. It had 9 rooms! I collect dolls and in particular Monster High, so after years of ideas floating around, I've started on my dream dollhouse. I want realisric features but in a spooky/Gothic theme, fitting of my monsterous ghouls! Below I pasted my phone notes where I have been keeping track of my process- either to benefit someone else, or use as a reference for myself in the future! If you want a loose list of clean up, supplies, general costs, steps, trial-and-error, as well as the in-betweens, read ahead.
Doll house: $9 at Goodwill
Supplies? Currently at approximately $20 so far, mostly in popsicle sticks (I bought 200 at about $1 per pack of 50. Found a box of 1000 for $8 at Michael's! Much more cost effective) and buying a mini hot gluegun/sticks. I've always been a hoarder of craft supplies, and it turns out all of said supplies are becoming rather useful in this project, so few purchases thus far.
So I had a dollhouse for a project a couple of years ago at my old house. Two house moves and a whole different state later, we had to sacrifice a lot, including my doll house. It turns out that was for the best as the original was a flat front, 5 or so room house. It would've looked nice, but overall left little room for real room dioramas, as it would've functioned more as a fun shaped shelf.
The house we found at Goodwill at the end of July had 9 rooms, 3 floors, a 360-view, AND IT WAS ON WHEELS!!! Some rooms are deeper than others, and some are lager than others (It is a 'Kidkraft So Stylish Mansion, which apparently retailed for nearly $300 which is insane to me: sticking to the thrift life personally).
I started by using a plastic razor blade to scrape all of the floors before wiping every surface with white vinegar. This house was clearly owned by kids prior, and it looked like someone had let a grilled cheese melt onto the second floor (thankfully I knew I'd be cleaning and sealing). These Kidkraft houses have an unfinished wood frame, so wiping down with vinegar gave me confidence it wasn't growing mold, as my kiddo claimed the dollhouse smelled funky lol.
After fully cleaning the house and allowing to air dry, I coated the outer wood frame in acrylic black paint, as well as the upper two floors. I ran out of paint at this point and left it until the next day.
Come to find out, acrylic paint will scratch easily, which I guess I was aware of, but I wrongly assumed I could leave the house in the living room overnight. I knew it had an almost rubbery finish (the paint) but hadn't considered our kitties climbing around and exploring the house over night. No issue, I found my old jar of mod podge and touched up then sealed in my work the following morning!
At this point I trimmed 150 popsicle sticks to varying lengths to start work on my wooden floor. The cutting with scissors left me with two large blisters on my pointer finger and a small surface injury on my thumb, so pro-tip: gardening shears work SO much better for cutting these wooden bits (I'll include a photo in comments if need be). No pressure blisters, way easier to cut through even the jumbo popsicle sticks! I then filled a non-food bowl mostly with water. To this bowl I added various shades of browns, greys, and a purple color of acrylic paint- you want it to be almost a coffe thickness in color depth, if that makes any sense. I thoroughly mixed these with the water and added my popsicle sticks. I then added a little more of each shade of paint (a small drop-ish each, its acrylic so sort of difficult to get perfectly) on top of the sticks in the water/paint mixture, and mixed the bowl with the sticks in it (sort of using the popsicle sticks to help distribute the paint. Make sure to mix THOROUGHLY). I figured this would help the color be darker/more staining in some areas as the color sat more concentrated in areas (which I do think I achieved)! After a few hours I did add some black coffee to the mixture, worried the paint wouldn't be enough to stain, though in hindsight this was likely unnecessary. Just documenting my full process! The sticks sat for about 24 hours outside in the paint mixture, letting the sun help evaporate some water seeing as it's been 100° lately. I then allowed the sticks to dry for another tweleve hours all seperated. Some of the sticks would stick flat to each other from the moisture, so make sure you seperate them to dry without spots! (Realistically I didn't fully dry them, I finished in the oven at the lowest setting. They smelled good lol)
Now we move onto the roof while the floor pieces go through the process. I purchased some jumbo popsicle sticks from Wal-Mart for about $4. For these, I placed them on the roof to approximate how much of one end to chop off and line it up as I saw appropriate so that one jumbo stick would end with the scalloped edge slightly past the dollhouse established roof. These sticks will have one flat end and one round end- paint them a matte black color, but do not coat with mod podge as it changes the finish (we will do that later, stay with me). I saved the cut nubs for roof shingles!
After painting the roof black (both top-side and under-side, can't cut corners because we will get to the inside of the dollhouse eventually) and sealing with mod podge, I used another layer of mode podge on the back of the painted jumbo sticks to make my first layer of the roof. This worked, but I determined hot glue would give more exact placement, even if some sticks weren't perfectly flat/warped when placed flat (compared to the mod podge laying less evenly). On the side I adhered the pieces with mod podge, some sticks didn't lay totally flat, as if slightly warped from the moisture of the glue. The second roof side was done with the bottom layer hot glued and it resulted in a flatter look. Side 1 went relatively unnoticed with a 'rough' bottom layer though, as hot-gluing additional layers added structural integrity, flattening the look of the uneven layer.
I used whole popsicle sticks (trimmed) for the bottom layer, and a second layer in the middle of those sticks (offset in the middle but the same length as the first layer), again to create structural integrity. Every layer after this is completed with individual, short shingles using the end nubs we trimmed from the same jumbo popsicle sticks, which have also been painted. Painting these nubs is easier if wearing a glove as they are very short pieces!
New day, new project. The floor pieces were dry and ready to be placed. I made it across most of the floor for the largest room before running out of stained sticks and needing to start that process over to finish the floor. It was a lengthy process, taking nearly 3 hours of planning the pieces one row at a time before gluing (all of which to ensure an appropriate spacing in each row). The floor was not perfectly flat, which would have deterred my OCD-brain had I noticed prior. Well once you're in the project, you're in. There is a small section with popsicle sticks laid at more of an angle but you can't tell the floor is uneven without running a hand over it, so I am happy to have trusted the process for once!!
So that is where I leave off for now! Approximately 4-5 days of work so far, and I'm very pleased considering I had no prior experience on a project of this scale or type. Thanks for reading if you made it this far!
TLDR: (Photos in backward order) I thrifted this kidkraft dollhouse on wheels for $9. It had 9 rooms! I collect dolls and in particular Monster High, so after years of ideas floating around, I've started on my dream dollhouse. I want realisric features but in a spooky/Gothic theme, fitting of my monsterous ghouls! Below I pasted my phone notes where I have been keeping track of my process- either to benefit someone else, or use as a reference for myself in the future! If you want a loose list of clean up, supplies, general costs, steps, trial-and-error, as well as the in-betweens, read ahead.
Doll house: $9 at Goodwill
Supplies? Currently at approximately $20 so far, mostly in popsicle sticks (I bought 200 at about $1 per pack of 50. Found a box of 1000 for $8 at Michael's! Much more cost effective) and buying a mini hot gluegun/sticks. I've always been a hoarder of craft supplies, and it turns out all of said supplies are becoming rather useful in this project, so few purchases thus far.
So I had a dollhouse for a project a couple of years ago at my old house. Two house moves and a whole different state later, we had to sacrifice a lot, including my doll house. It turns out that was for the best as the original was a flat front, 5 or so room house. It would've looked nice, but overall left little room for real room dioramas, as it would've functioned more as a fun shaped shelf.
The house we found at Goodwill at the end of July had 9 rooms, 3 floors, a 360-view, AND IT WAS ON WHEELS!!! Some rooms are deeper than others, and some are lager than others (It is a 'Kidkraft So Stylish Mansion, which apparently retailed for nearly $300 which is insane to me: sticking to the thrift life personally).
I started by using a plastic razor blade to scrape all of the floors before wiping every surface with white vinegar. This house was clearly owned by kids prior, and it looked like someone had let a grilled cheese melt onto the second floor (thankfully I knew I'd be cleaning and sealing). These Kidkraft houses have an unfinished wood frame, so wiping down with vinegar gave me confidence it wasn't growing mold, as my kiddo claimed the dollhouse smelled funky lol.
After fully cleaning the house and allowing to air dry, I coated the outer wood frame in acrylic black paint, as well as the upper two floors. I ran out of paint at this point and left it until the next day.
Come to find out, acrylic paint will scratch easily, which I guess I was aware of, but I wrongly assumed I could leave the house in the living room overnight. I knew it had an almost rubbery finish (the paint) but hadn't considered our kitties climbing around and exploring the house over night. No issue, I found my old jar of mod podge and touched up then sealed in my work the following morning!
At this point I trimmed 150 popsicle sticks to varying lengths to start work on my wooden floor. The cutting with scissors left me with two large blisters on my pointer finger and a small surface injury and on my thumb, so pro-tip: gardening shears work SO much better for cutting these wooden bits (I'll include a photo). No pressure blisters, way easier to cut through even the jumbo popsicle sticks! I then filled a non-food bowl mostly with water. To this bowl I added various shades of browns, greys, and a purple color of acrylic paint- you want it to be almost a coffe thickness in color depth, if that makes any sense. I thoroughly mixed these with the water and added my popsicle sticks. I then added a little more of each shade of paint (a small drop-ish each, its acrylic so sort of difficult to get perfectly) on top of the sticks in the water/paint mixture, and mixed the bowl with the sticks in it (sort of using the popsicle sticks to help distribute the paint. Make sure to mix THOROUGHLY). I figured this would help the color be darker/more staining in some areas as the color sat more concentrated in areas (which I do think I achieved)! After a few hours I did add some black coffee to the mixture, worried the paint wouldn't be enough to stain, though in hindsight this was likely unnecessary. Just documenting my full process! The sticks sat for about 24 hours outside in the paint mixture, letting the sun help evaporate some water seeing as it'sbeen 100° lately. I then allowed the sticks to dry for another tweleve hours all seperated. Some of the sticks would stick flat to each other from the moisture, so make sure you seperate them to dry without spots! (Realistically I didn't fully dry them, I finished in the oven at the lowest setting. They smelled good lol)
Now we move onto the roof while the floor pieces go through the process. I purchased some jumbo popsicle sticks from Wal-Mart for about $4. For these, I placed them on the roof to approximate how much of one end to chop off and line it up as I saw appropriate so that one jumbo stick would end with the scalloped edge slightly past the dollhouse established roof. These sticks will have one flat end and one round end- paint them a matte black color, but do not coat with mod podge as it changes the finish (we will do that later, stay with me). I saved the cut nubs for roof shingles!
After painting the roof black (both top-side and under-side, can't cut corners because we will get to the inside of the dollhouse eventually) and sealing with mod podge, I used another layer of mode podge on the back of the painted jumbo sticks to make my first layer of the roof. This worked, but I determined hot glue would give more exact placement, even if some sticks weren't perfectly flat/warped when placed flat. On the side I adhered the pieces with mod podge, some sticks didn't lay totally flat, as if slightly warped from the moisture of the glue. The second roof side was done with the bottom layer hot glued and it resulted in a flatter look. Side 1 went relatively unnoticed with a 'rough' bottom layer though, as hot-gluing additional layers added structural integrity, flattening the look of the uneven layer.
I used whole popsicle sticks (trimmed) for the bottom layer, and a second layer in the middle of those sticks (offset in the middle but the same length as the first layer), again to create structural integrity. Every layer after this is completed with individual, short shingles using the end nubs we trimmed from the same jumbo popsicle sticks, which have also been painted. Painting these nubs is easier if wearing a glove as they are very short pieces!
New day, new project. The floor pieces were dry and ready to be placed. I made it across most of the floor for the largest room before running out of stained sticks and needing to start that process over to finish the floor. It was a lengthy process, taking nearly 3 hours of planning the pieces one row at a time before gluing (all of which to ensure an appropriate spacing in each row). So that is where I leave off for now! Approximately 4-5 days of work so far, and I'm very pleased considering I had no prior experience on a project of this scale or type. Thanks for reading if you made it this far!
Really fun Goodwill find today!! I never had any of the my scene dolls, but she's cute! Was never big into Barbie, or even Bratz (outside fashion pixiez), but this is such a perfect happy medium between the two, actually? She's articulated at the elbows which is nice (this line was the first to have them in the series), and actually came complete with all her accessories as well as the stand! Next task is testing if any of the clothes fit any of the MH ghouls, its a really cute little outfit :)
In the background is a also a goodwill find. $10 dollhouse that i just spent the last several hours cleaning and coating in black paint. *BIG* project plans on that one 🫣
I recently won a bid through the goodwill auction site. Super stoked as several of the dolls are ones I've been looking for (specifically the creepover & fearidescent dolls)!! However it also came with like 9 pairs of shoes separately? Hoping someone can help me figure out at least what dolls the shoes may go to. I think one or two pairs may go to the fearidescent dolls at least :)
Also looks to have most of the accessories for the coffin bean!
Won't have it in hand for about a week due to shipping, so hopefully if I don't have luck here, it'll be easier to identify once I have them here :)
We tend to watch Try content with my 6 year old. On a recent video she described Zach as 'the small one,' and just now while watching the 'Try everything at Dave & Busters,' she asked "where's the small one??"
This was even funnier to my husband and I, because I don't think Zach is particularly small, I think it's moreso that Keith is as tall as he is!
All 5 of our Moonspell ladies are available to order for shipping through Walmart (I am located in US)!
Stated to arrive tomorrow via shipping, I wish I had the funds to have them in that soon. I can't wait to see these start arriving in person for people (I've seen a few posts already, but I believe those were outside of the US).
Occupied first and second campsites, last photo is unoccupied, at night. Beachfront campsite plus mini campsite on land behind it.
Sorry if I'm posting too close together!! It's been a while since I was inspired and building so I can't help but want to share it somewhere
My shopping plaza felt very empty and I finally came across an idea that fit both in size and logistically. We now have a little outdoor music store!
I have a similar shaped area that's slightly smaller to the left, in front of my Nook's Cranny. Any ideas for something in a similar vein to put there? I want something else that makes sense in a shopping area. Maybe a smoothie shop? Could be smoothies for Spring/Summer and then Hot Cocoa for Fall and Winter!
Inspiration pic at the end, found on Pinterest :)
I am officially only missing a couple of flowers so I picked a space and started working on my rainbow garden!
I kind of just guess-timated on flower placement and made small adjustments after they were all in the ground, but I think it flows decently? The dirt placement for the flowers was arranged based on the farm behind it.
Once I add the few flowers I'm still breeding for, I'll let the garden naturally populate the empty spaces, but still leave some gaps by placing the butterflies on half spaces :)
I've been working on this island (Naturewood) since May of 2025 without online or playing with another person (so no treasure islands or any of that sort of thing).
Here's my farm area, which has staircases leading to intk my orchard. To the left is the island peninsula, which was designed as a sort of fishing cabin. Then to the south of the farm, I've begun working on my rainbow garden. I have personally bred every single flower minus blue roses and green mum's, which I figure will sprout any day now.
In the last week or so, I've massively moved several areas from the right side to the left of my island. Doing so turned out to be a great idea, because now I feel like the areas flow better from one to the next. I think I have approximately 50% of my island done now. It's nice to feel inspired to play again when I felt so stagnant and out of ideas for the last few months.
Anyway, finally started using the in-game camera more, and just recently stumbled across this specific AC sub, so imagine you'll see more from me :)
Thoughts/Opinions/Ideas welcome!
If you saw this in the last 10 minutes, no you didn't (I forgot to attach the photos on my original post I'm sorry)!
I have been saving pieces from my Monster High packaging for a while now (including all the cardboard backings and several cut outs of the characters and such). People mention how collecting dolls can be considered over consumption or wasteful, so this is one of the efforts I put forth to produce less waste.
Then, after the recent sales between Walmart and Amazon, I completed my Scary Sweet Birthday line! I wanted a way to set the ghouls up for display that could be moved and adjusted without knocking over anybody else, while still having the structural integrity to put dolls on top of the box as well.
Last night, I cut the box (Walmart size Large moving box), custom mixed the paint (acrylic) and inserted the backing of the boxes. This morning I've started adding streamers for that party look, as well as making one of those "photo op" style walls. The hanging streamers help disguise the 2-3 inches of box that shows behind the box backings.
One of the bigger parts of this project is making appropriately sized tables (x2) to display the cakes/cupcakes/etc, as well as a presents display.
I also cut out the individual coffin lights that "hang" across the front and back of the boxes. I'm going to glue these to a matching construction paper backing and then use thread to hang them up in a similar manner across the front of the box!
All of that to say, I'm happy to have an art project to work on and I hope someone else thinks this is cool. I spent only $7 for the supplies I didn't already have on hand! 🖤
I'll try and post more updates in the next couple of days!
I have been saving pieces from my Monster High packaging for a while now (including all the cardboard backings and several cut outs of the characters and such). People mention how collecting dolls can be considered over consumption or wasteful, so this is one of the efforts I put forth to produce less waste.
Then, after the recent sales between Walmart and Amazon, I completed my Scary Sweet Birthday line! I wanted a way to set the ghouls up for display that could be moved and adjusted without knocking over anybody else, while still having the structural integrity to put dolls on top of the box as well.
Last night, I cut the box (Walmart size Large moving box), custom mixed the paint (acrylic) and inserted the backing of the boxes. This morning I've started adding streamers for that party look, as well as making one of those "photo op" style walls. The hanging streamers help disguise the 2-3 inches of box that shows behind the box backings.
One of the bigger parts of this project is making appropriately sized tables (x2) to display the cakes/cupcakes/etc, as well as a presents display.
I also cut out the individual coffin lights that "hang" across the front and back of the boxes. I'm going to glue these to a matching construction paper backing and then use thread to hang them up in a similar manner across the front of the box!
All of that to say, I'm happy to have an art project to work on and I hope someone else thinks this is cool. I spent only $7 for the supplies I didn't already have on hand! 🖤
I'll post more updates in the next couple of days!
Starting to get my crafting supplies unpacked and back out after a move. Can I use acrylic paint for the details on my Monster High doll accessories? I already have a large set mostly unused. If not, what type of paint? What can I seal the accessories with (example- shoes which may still need to be somewhat flexible for removal)? I've never done any real customization and figured this was a good place to start. Thank you!
Spectre the Shrieking Phantom has been named. We are calling him Spectre, but I loved the suggestion of the commenter about incorporating the other names on our short list into a nickname or name of the house.
Shriek felt so fitting because of his talkative and squeaky nature, but we decided Spectre sounded good with Spooky considering the alliteration.
Updates on Spooky and Mr. Spectre baby: After approximately 6 hours, Spooky began gently swatting at and playing with the baby. Shortly after that, he was giving him a bath. I woke up last night to the 2 of them curled up together, severaltimes and positions throughout the night.
One of the main reasons I agreed to adopt this kitten from my sister-in-law was due to Spooky suddenly yelling at the doors and seeming under stimulated these last few weeks (he is just hitting 1.5yrs, adopted at aprocinately 12 weeks, and had been staying with a friend short-term, whom had several cats themselves). We are only a couple days in to baby life, and he has not been screaming at the doors and watches our baby very protectively 🖤👻
TLDR; We are stuck between naming the kitten Phantom, Shriek, or Spectre to keep with our 'spooky' theme for the little brother.
We have a cat named Spooky- he is about a year old. We adopted a kitten from my sister-in-law today after the very young cat her boyfriend found in a parking lot turned out to be pregnant.
Spooky has a white undercoat, but is overall a black cat. This kitten is almost like the opposite, being mostly white but developed these pale grey/almost golden colored stripes or splotches.
We are stuck between naming the kitten Phantom, Shriek, or Spectre to keep with our 'spooky' theme for the little brother.
First 3 are the little guy today, about 6.5 weeks old. 4/5 are at 2 weeks old. Last picture is Mr. Spooky for tax 🐈⬛️
Took these photos a few days ago, so it doesn't show the way I've made the area feel more complete with decoration and trees along the outer fencing area (which isn't really visible in most of these anyway lol)
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Still wanted to post the earlier progress for opinions :)
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The stairways both lead up to my fruit orchard, the little fishing hut on the peninsula is directly to the left of the farm area.