I was told this morning that "we" were going to work on the hat shop today...

So I spent some time trying to find all of the stuff that was supposed to be in the hat shop. 

Found it.
Then I was told that "we" were going to paint the hat shop, inside and out. 

I spent an hour of two painting... Inside and out. 

Rather than stand on my head, I took everything out of the hat shop and stood it on it's head.

I managed to only get one spot of paint on my pants. It came right out. No problem there.
 I have the feeling that Tessie is going to pronounce the off white boring... She has very few buildings that are plain white. 

I am just waiting for the other shoe to drop.  I don't think I want to know what color she is going to come up with... I just hope that it isn't puce.  I haven't tackled her bedroom yet...

Unless I find the right color at JoAnne's, I am going to be mixing my own... I don't really want to do that.
This corset is one that goes missing every once in a while. 

I suspect that Tessie takes it out of the inventory for the shop and wears it for a couple of days at a time.  That is until it gets too uncomfortable.  Then it reappears in the shop. 

She does like her comfort...

I am the same way, so I don't hassle her about it.  That just isn't everyday wear nowadays.

I am going back and see what else Tessie wants done.  She and Zar have been watching TV and eating pizza all day... Every once in a while she shouts a direction at me.  Then it's back to the pizza and TV.

Maybe I will just clean up and watch TV too.  I can always work on a rya rug and drink coffee while watching.

See you tomorrow.

OK.  I have to get serious now.  Only 10 days til Christmas!

I am housecleaning and mini house cleaning as well. I cleared off the worktable and put on a fresh cloth. 

Then, I turned on the oven to clean it... As I suspected, there is no longer a tight seal on the door.  About a 1/2 hour after I turned it on, the smoke alarm went off.  What usually stays in the oven, didn't.  I had to turn it off and wait for the smoke to clear!

I don't know if they can put a new seal on the oven door or not. If not, I will be cleaning by hand....Ick!

Anyway, after the excitement was over.  Not really exciting.  Just irritating. I went back to refurbishing Tessie's hat shop.  A long time ago, it was her first house.

When she commandeered  the townhouse, it was decided that she needed a hat shop. 

When I looked at it this morning, there were hats scattered all over the floor of the shop and a few pieces were missing from the workshop upstairs.

I did find Friskie's hiding place.  That alligator has been loafing in the workroom.  He has his favorite dragon chew toy and a food bowl.  What else does a gator need?

After I cleaned the workroom and replaced the chair that had been borrowed for the last party, I noticed something very strange for a hat shop....

It had everything but a mirror!  How can you see what the hat looks like without a place to try it on and examine it? 

What to use?  I found an old purse mirror with a fancy back.  I stuck a couple of sweater clipsto the back and there it was.  Ready to go! (Long ago people wore them on cardigans. one clip on either side and a chain in the middle. I found these in a bag from the thrift shop.)  It was a five minute project, but it made Tessie happy.

She has been trying on one hat after another... Now I understand why the floor of the shop was littered with hats when I looked in this morning.  I imagine she was using the front windows as a mirror. 

I am putting in a link to all of the entries with hats mentioned.  You may have to wade through them and the "older posts" pages of them, but there are several different hat tutorials in there.  Have fun! http://caseymini.blogspot.com/search?q=hats

At least she doesn't like corsets, so I don't have to mess with the one in the corner.  She says they are unnatural.  She's right!

I am going back now and clean the oven as best I can....I hate scrubbing it out, but it has to be done.

See you tomorrow.

I promised to show you how I decorate the hat stands this morning. Here it is.

I did have one tiny problem. I couldn't find my roses or my rose making tool.

There are other ways to make flowers.

I resorted to ruffles. Did you know that silk ribbon can be gathered without sewing? I am sure that some of you do, but for those who didn't, this is how.

If you want a single ruffle, like the top example in the photo, you just pull on a thread at one edge of the ribbon and keep going until you have a ruffle the length that you want. When you have it, you simply put a spot of glue on each end of the ribbon, making sure that you cover the thread that you pulled. The hardest part is getting a hold of the thread in the first place. I use a pair of needle nosed tweezers to do this.

The second option is to pull both sides of the ribbon at the same time, like the bottom example. It gives a more orderly, pleated look.

I use the first method for the ruffle around the bottom of the last stand and for the flowers too.
Those, I just pulled into a circle and glued the ends together.

I really like roses better on these hat stands, but when you can't find what you are looking for, you improvise...At least that's what I do.

I did one other thing yesterday. I decided that the outside of the cottage needed updating. I painted the plaster with Trail Tan Ceramcoat. It still needs some ageing, but Tessie seems to like it so far....

Her only question when I finished wasn't even about the paint. She asked, "Can I sell helmets in the shop? They are hats, and witches need helmets for motorcycles as well as for brooms! Both can be hazardous to your health without a helmet."

She has a point. It is going to be difficult to make a helmet that will fit over her bun.....And her pointy hat. Maybe a pointy helmet is what we need. I am going to look into that.

See you tomorrow.

We are getting there.....I managed to install the shelving units this morning and discovered that most of the hat stands that I had on hand were too tall for the shelves. I forgot that I made them when I had a hat shop in a large hat travel case from the 30s. I did a lot of shortening this morning. Right now, I still haven't changed the curtains in the downstairs shop area. If I don't mention toasters, maybe Tessie will forget them.