New England Lighthouse – Rebuild

Attn: High Priestess Agatha

As you can see, things have moved along nicely this past week. We have managed to salvage some of the furniture left by the previous owners and made them over to fit our needs. Matilda and I have been able to move out of the Inn in town to the lighthouse, now making our days less hectic without the travel to and fro.

Something interesting happened this week! Matilda built a dresser for the bedroom, which was very nice but a bit plain, I thought. So after she was finished, I hand-painted the inset areas with the theme of the room. A local shop owner from town happened by while I was still painting and fell in love with the dresser. She has asked if we might consider building a few pieces to put in her shop. She seems to think they will sell well and only take 10% for the shop. We would love to give this a try using our own money and spare time. If you agree, we would happily give 25% of our sales to the coven. Let us know what you think, and here is a look at the finished dresser.

Matilda’s dresser before

My hand-painted finished dresser

Before I get started with the updates, I want to thank you for the bottle of Regrow! My finger is just about back to normal now. I’ve learned to be more careful when operating power tools these days!

Completed List . . .

• We have cleaned up the exterior as best as we could. Due to the wind, the exterior doesn’t stay clean looking for more than a day or two at a time, so we gave up trying to keep it spotless. We did get the blue paint covered up with white paint, and the grey trim touched up as needed.
• A new weather vane has been added to the roof. I hope you like the design. This is another item the local shop would like to sell.
• All of the final trim has been added to each of the rooms.
• The signs arrived a few days ago and have all been hung, bringing a lot of questions from the locals, I might say.
• We salvaged the bed from the previous owners and have made a trundle bed underneath, giving both Matilda and me a warm, soft place to sleep. It suits us fine enough that Matilda has abandoned her plans to construct a guest house.
• We also managed to repair the sink so that we both have a place to wash up as needed.

Here’s a look at the finished rooms. We both find it very comfortable.

As to other news . . .

Matilda seems to have attracted an admirer. It’s unclear if she is happy about it, but she doesn’t seem to be giving him much reason not to hang about. He arrives each morning with a basket of scones and a pitcher of warm herbal tea. I guess he may have some good points about him. I’ll keep you posted about the situation in future reports.

The guardians have finally been convinced to come down from the roof and retire from their post. Since we are now here full-time time they are no longer needed. I think the locals were a bit glad to see them go as well.

In closing, things are moving along well here. We will start working on the kitchen area next and should have more for you on that in my next report.

Till then . . .

Blessed Be

Zelda & Matilda

For those following the Lighthouse renovation . . .

I am currently working on the SVG files and wood kits to be sold in my shop, for the Moon Goddess Bed, Sink, Dresser, and Weather Vanes. If you are interested in any of these, keep an eye out in my shop. If you would like a weather vane with a custom design on the top, please contact me to discuss this. The price for the Weather vane wood kits will be around $8.99ea.

Note: There will likely be a short break from the Lighthouse while I fill some orders and make a few Christmas gifts so they can be put in the mail. It may be as much as two weeks before I can get back to the project.

Happy mini building to all . . .

Teri

Emerald Coven Lighthouse Remodel Project

Attn: High Priestess Agatha

Things have been going well here, and the remodel is on track time-wise. However, there have been a few mishaps and some strange happenings. First, we caught some teenagers in the shop area the other night trying to perform a seance. Thank goodness we found them before they had even begun! There’s no telling what spirits they might have let in. I’m not sure how you knew we needed the help, but thank you for the guardians you sent. They have, however, perched themselves up on the widow’s walk and refuse to come down. They say the view of the sea calms them. This makes no sense to me, seeing as how they are simply skeletons of earthly bodies and have no souls. But, they seem to be keeping the teenagers away. The other townsfolk seem to love them, and I did notice that one came down from its perch to converse with one of the ladies who comes by daily. Very strange indeed.

Matilda has been most helpful and has been teaching me how to do many things without the use of magic. I’m amazed at how much she knows about the Wicca religion, and I’ve enjoyed the many talks we have had over the long, stormy evenings. She has given me much to think about, and I’m beginning to see that my rush to achieve my goals, which brought me to the use of dark magic, was a foolish act on my part. I am hopeful that the coven can find a way to forgive me in the future.

One local lad brought us an electric heater to use until we have the heating issue figured out. We don’t believe there will be room for a fireplace in the shop, so we have been looking at a small pipe-style stove instead. Would this be agreeable to you?

Now, on to the work completed this week . . .

• Wallpaper, trim, and flooring have been added to the second-floor kitchen workroom area.
• Matilda wanted to do something special for the ceiling in the kitchen, so I left her to it. I happen to love what she did and hope it all sits well with you.
• The front door and entry have been completed.
• We are waiting on the beads to arrive for the beaded curtain between the entry and shop areas. Hopefully, those will arrive soon.
• In the bedroom area, the wallpaper and most of the trim have been installed. (Matilda did dip into the paste again … I have no understanding of how she thinks it tastes good. Alas, another visit from the local doctor who has given her strict instructions not to eat the paste again!
• Matilda did such a good job on the kitchen ceiling that I let her choose the bedroom ceiling as well. Once again, I think she did a lovely job with it. Note that we are still waiting for the ceiling light to arrive.
• All windows have been installed at this time and look amazing!

In closing, I do hope that you are happy with all of the work we have completed. Please let us know if anything needs to be changed. Over the next week, we should start seeing fixtures and possibly some furniture arrive, and we will send the next progress report near the end of the week.

PS: Matilda wanted to thank you for letting her be part of this project and will enclose a short letter on her way to the post office.

With the highest regards,

Zelda

Merry Meet Sister Agatha,

Just a little update here. Zelda has been working tirelessly, and I’ve seen such a great change in her attitude over the past couple of weeks. I believe her temperament has changed much for the better, and she is on the road to redemption. She still has no idea that I was part of a sister coven and have moved here to be part of the Emerald Cove Coven. Nor does she know that I will be staying on here at the lighthouse as one of the two keepers. Even though the work has been hard, Zelda seems to be enjoying herself, is eager to learn new skills, and has made the comment that she will be sad to leave this place when the work is done. She gets along with the locals very well and has made a friend or two. Might you consider letting her stay on as the second keeper? I think she would be a great asset.

One last thing . . . I’m going to whip up some Re-Grow, as you gave me the liberty to use my magic only if deemed necessary. There are some things Zelda struggles to do without all of her fingers (grin). I’ll be sure a wait a couple of days after this letter and simply pretend you sent it via Owl post.

Have a blessed day,

Tilda

For those following the Lighthouse renovation . . .

Second Floor – Kitchen/Work room

I’ve tried to do something unique on each floor of the lighthouse. For the second floor – the kitchen/work area – I’ve printed out a hexagon digital pattern on paper and am in the process of using Liquid Glass on each hexagon shape to create a tile appearance. It’s a tedious process, but one that truly makes a difference and is super inexpensive. The floor is larger than 12″ in diameter, so I’ve had to piece it together. Where you can see, it seems will be covered by furniture, so these won’t show in the end. The digital paper used is: Hexagon Mosaic Tile paper for dollhouse by GioGrafica.

The wallpaper was also created with two digital papers overlaid and merged. Unfortunately, I do not have a link for these. The ceiling was also a digital paper with a pentagram added in the center. Plastic vines were painted with a Moss Green acrylic paint, cut to size, and glued to the paper.

Third Floor Bedroom . . .

For this room, I wanted a calmer feel and used another digital paper: Junk Journal Moonlight by Liana Scrap. It’s a bit hard to see in these photos, but the center area of the ceiling paper has tiny stars on it. I fell in love with this paper, and it prints out beautifully.

The flooring was made with balsawood cut into half-inch-wide strips of various lengths. Once again, you are not able to build the entire floor and then get it inside the room due to the small opening. I actually split the floor in half, creating one side with a little lip so that the other side could be glued to the lip and hide the seam. I used brown Cricut Kraft Paper to start and glued the wood strips onto that, then glued each side in the room one at a time.

As you can see in the right image, I’ve added the pull-down stair door into the ceiling, which gives access to the widow’s walk area. I still need to trim this out a bit. And I’ve begun to paint the underside of the widow’s walk with a medium grey paint. This will take at least two coats of paint.

What’s to come . . .

• Finish Liquid Glass application on the second floor
• Trim the outside area of third-floor ceiling
• Paint the underside of the widow’s walk
• Fix the flooring on the widow’s walk area
• Add railing around the outside of the widow’s walk
• Create signage for the outside of the Lighthouse walls
• Decide on paint colors for the outside walls
• Add shingles to both roof areas
• Create a weather vane for the top
• Figure out a way to hide the electrical strip at the bottom of the structure

So as you can see, I have a ways to go on the project before I can start creating furniture for the rooms. It’s likely that I will have to take a break from the project to make up my Christmas gifts and then maybe get back to the project before the holidays. Wish me luck!

Once again, thank you for following along with this build, and I do hope you are enjoying the little story behind the build.

Zelda’s Progress Report 3

Blessed Be . . .

Teri

Emerald Coven Lighthouse Remodel Project

Attn: High Priestess Agatha

As required, here is my first progress report. It has been a rough week to say the least. On the first night, a storm blew in, taking out two of the round windows. We discovered that all of the windows leaked badly, so they will all have to be replaced eventually. The fireplace also stopped working and will need to be fixed or replaced. There are a few plumbing issues that will also need to be addressed.

The first floor has been completed so that we have a warm place to lay our weary heads at the end of the day. Several local women have taken pity on us and brought a portable ice box filled with drinks as well as several boxes of sandwiches and casseroles. I think you will find the locals very receptive to the coven and shop opening. The same two women stop by daily to view our progress and ask questions. I believe they are informing the townspeople of all the goings on.

Matilda managed to find a local handyman who could help with all of the above issues. His estimate for all the work needed is enclosed. These issues require special tools and abilities that neither Matilda nor I have, so we hope the coven will approve the work. We look forward to your reply on this matter.

Here is a list of all work completed up to the date of this letter.

• Wood flooring was installed per your requested design – we did have a little mishap here when Matilda carved the words in the wrong direction, but rest assured that has been corrected.
• The wallpaper has been installed. That was not a fun job and takes two people. Do you think it’s odd that Matilda likes to eat the paste???? She did look a bit green the next morning, but the local doctor gave her some medicine and said she would be fine, thank goodness.
• The ceiling was created as you designed it and has been installed. I do think something should be done about the hanging light fixture …. it’s rather horrid, I think.
• All of the wood trim has been installed. I’m thankful that handyman Ron came around to help before I lost more than my pointer finger! I’m in hopes that after this is all over, you might grant me a spell to grow my finger back?
• We are currently using heavy sheet plastic to cover the windows to keep the cold and rain out. Who knew it rains so much near the sea! We have been enjoying the night storms, though. We hope to get some windows installed by the end of the week, as we had to special-order the glass panes.
• Lastly, the entryway has been painted, and a new door has been installed.

Final Notes: Due to the growing curiosity of the locals and the teenagers creeping around the house during the night, we – Matilda and I – made the choice to remove all the stairs to the upper floors. Since our kind can easily apparate from one place to the next, stairs are not needed, and we hope this will keep the locals out of the upper floors should they sneak inside while we are out. I hope you will agree that this was a wise choice.

PS: Matilda and I have a hidden ladder we are using to move between floors at this time, since neither of us can use magic, as you know. Any chance of being granted an appairating spell???

Blessed Be, Zelda

**For those following the Lighthouse renovation . . .

Thank you for stopping by and following this build. Below are some notes and a list of supplies I have used. With each of “Zelda’s Progress Reports,” I’ll add notes and images for the build at the end of the post. All of the SVG files I’ve created, and will create, for this build will eventually be uploaded to the shop, so keep an eye out for notices on those!

Flooring – I created this special wood flooring from 3mm plywood/basswood cut on the XTool M1 laser cutter. You could easily duplicate the flooring with a Cricut or other cutting machine using my SVG files. The design could easily be sized to fit your own needs. Do note that the original file has been created for a full-scale (1:12) project, and due to the size, it must be cut into pieces and then fitted and installed into the lighthouse. You can not build the floor and then install it, as it will not fit through the lighthouse opening. The file will be added to my shop very soon.

Note: I have used a combination of markers and watered-down paint to color the flooring. Once completed, I have sealed the floor with one coat of DuraClear Satin finish. The center design file is set to be scored and then cut out around the black edge. The outside pieces are set to score the boards, then cut out two sections at a time. You can easily change the file depending on how large an area your machine can cut out.

Wallpaper – I’ve used a digital printable paper found on Etsy – Sacred Pagan Junk Journal Pages, Digital Scrapbook Paper Kit. I sized the paper to 11.50″ and printed it on my 12×12 printer, then made a template for each wall with plain paper and used that to cut each piece for the walls.

Ceiling – For the ceiling, I’ve used cardstock (AC Denim) with stars cut out, placed on top of a sheet of Cricut shimmer paper in platinum color. I will also have an SVG file for this in the shop soon.

Trim – all wall trim was cut by hand using strips of thin balsa wood from Hobby Lobby. I created a stain of sorts from watered-down paint: Coffee Bean, Coffee Latte, and Cinnamon Stick (Folk Art/Deco Art) acrylic paints. One coat was brushed on, wiped off, and then a second coat was added. Small square dowels were cut and fitted around the edges of the star ceiling as well. The outside edges of the ceiling were painted with a Navy Blue Folk Art Matte Acrylic paint.

Note: the entry area is very difficult to remove and to get inside and paint. It’s going to take several coats of paint, but when finished will match the trim color. I will also add a couple of wall art pieces to cover up a few blemishes left from the removal of previous decor items.

You might also note in the first image at the top of the page that the stairs were removed. Since there will be a lot of shop furniture in these rooms, I decided not to use stairs in any room.

Window – I’ve cut diamond design pieces from cardstock with the Cricut and sandwiched them between two pieces of thin plastic to create an “iron look” for all of the windows. You will see more of these in future posts.

Zelda’s Progress Report 2

Till next time . . .

Happy Mini Crafting!

Teri

It’s official . . . the previous owners of the New England Lighthouse have been hit by the current economy and have had to abandon their precious lighthouse home, leaving all belongings behind. The Emerald Coven of Witches has purchased the lighthouse to use for future local chapter meetings and a shop to sell magical goods. The problem is that none of the coven members has time to spend fixing up the lighthouse to suit their needs. But . . . they have come up with a solution that should work well.

In a recent unfortunate event, a coven member named Zelda was found to be dealing in black magic, which is against the coven’s rules. The head members have bound Zelda’s magic powers and banished her to the lighthouse. As punishment, Zelda will have to work on the lighthouse, without using magic, making it ready for the coven to use. What she once could have done with a few flicks of her wand, she now has to do with good old manual labor! Most unfortunately, if Zelda ever wants to get her magic unbound, she will have to report on her progress each week to the coven. After each report, a coven member will visit the lighthouse to make sure Zelda is not getting any help from magical friends in fixing up the lighthouse. Fortunately for Zelda, one old non-magic friend has agreed to help, even though she is old and can’t do much.

Zelda and her friend Matilda arrived to find the lighthouse in this run-down condition. It would appear that the previous owners were very neglectful of the property and extremely unhappy about having to leave.

Neither is happy about the daunting work ahead of them, but at least the lights are working, and there are sleeping quarters for two. The windows are not broken, and if they can find wood, the fireplace will provide warmth from the chilly sea air. It could be worse, they decide as they walk off in search of wood.

It will be interesting to see what these two get up to while working on the lighthouse. If you would like to follow along, bookmark this post and keep watch for weekly updates! You might also join the Covered Chipboard Facebook page to get notice of their progress reports.

Progress Reports . . .

• Zelda’s Progress Report 1

Stay tuned for more photos and adventures of Zelda and the Emerald Coven Lighthouse!