A Castle Modern #MiniMe: @ModDollHome -- a Staging Showcase for 18" Scale #DollhouseDecorators #Hobbies

I've collected miniatures since I was a young child. Tiny (working) versions of actual objects have always fascinated me. I never played with these items as "toys," preferring instead to setup elaborate still life stagings of the dreamscapes in my mind. As a child who viewed much of the world around her as nonsensical and alien, collecting and later crafting my own miniatures allowed me to fashion my own world, one that was natural to me. Dolls were always secondary to the miniature landscapes, buildings, vehicles and furnishings. (Seems I was a budding home & garden enthusiast even then.)

The recent Spring Break visit of my little niece, who is absolutely gaga over all things American Girl, expanded my miniature horizons into the 18" scale. (I was rather strictly a 1" scale collector prior to our various toy bonding sessions, which included a trip to the American Girl store in a nearby town.) During our far-reaching chats, I was peppered with questions. I was asked why I had all this "little furniture" when none of it fit American Girl dolls --- as if no other toys could dare exist --- and then it was inquired whether I could make "bigger" things for American Girl dolls. I'd never considered it, but then thought, why not? And so, virtually overnight I became a budding collector of 18" scale miniatures.

Toy Horse on display at the American Girl Store

As a creative side (or sub-) project to this blog, I'm now also developing ModDoll (as in model) Home, which is also all about "making a dream home" --- except in 18" scale, a sort of Castle Modern mini me, if you will. (As is often done in Architecture, in Design and in Fashion, I plan to demo some of the things I'm working on in real life at Castle Modern in miniature at ModDoll Home, thus, it will serve a practical purpose. However, I also plan to use ModDoll Home to stage whatever ideas strike my fancy.)

Overall ModDoll Home will showcase the latest in dollhouse decorating, employing a combination of things that I personally design & make along with things that I buy (or otherwise acquire), exactly as in real life. It should be fun!

NOTE: The ModDoll Home mini blog is currently under construction. In the meantime, I've registered Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram accounts to get things going (and protect my extended brand), using @ModDollHome on each platform. Not much content as yet, but eventually....

The #SundayFunday: #Recap and #Unwind #Keurig #Coffee #VeggettiPro #Spiralizer #Zoodles #Drinkwell

Sunday is one of my favorite days, the true weekend, I use this day to catchup and reflect on the week past. Pup and I head out for a leisurely constitutional to kick things off and then I make coffee and turn on the morning news programs --- I regularly watch CBS News Sunday Morning with Jane Psuley at 9:00a, but otherwise will flip channels between the different shows to find stories of interest --- when we return.

I might read a few magazines, do a little browsing online (often following up on news bits mentioned on the morning broadcasts), work in my garden (seasonally) and/or watch a movie or two. It's a day of rest, where I try NOT to set an agenda, but enjoy What Dreams May Come whenever they happen to arrive. (Sometimes I do work on a Sunday, but unlike Saturday, I aim for this to be the exception, rather than the rule.)

Spring Break is ending, which means my little niece is headed back home to prepare for school restarting. So we should have peace and quiet to contemplate and wallow. What's that sound? No thing. Not a creature is stirring --- exactly how we like it!

After a relaxing morning, we plan to play around with our new toys later today. The furbabies' Drinkwell® Multi Tier Pet Water Fountain arrived via post yesterday; while I've got my Veggetti Pro Vegetable Spiral Cutter and a Nifty Home Products K-Cup Storage Drawer for my Keurig 2.0. (As I don't generally buy the prefab K-Cups as a rule, preferring to use a refillable K-Cup filter --- less waste and I can grind my own coffee beans fresh --- I figure I can store other coffee ritual paraphernalia in the drawer, which also acts as an elevated stand for the Keurig brewing machine.)

I got the storage drawer for free at Sears using SYWR points and I only paid $3.77 OOP for the Veggetti Pro at Sears after deducting SYWR points. The pet water fountain is a reward (freebie) available through the Purina Catchow Perks program for which I redeemed 275,000 points that I'd earned over the last year or so. (It states to allow 4-6 weeks for Catchow Perks rewards to arrive in the order confirmation email I received and yesterday marked a few days shy of "4 weeks" from the date of my order.)

Perhaps, we'll make zoodles for dinner....

#Alpharetta #Shopping Trip #Babysitting #AmericanGirl #PaneraBread #Gamestop #Deals

My sister, our niece and I spent most of the afternoon (from about 1:30p - 6:30p) roaming around Alpharetta and then made stops in Brookhaven and Buckhead. We did go to the American Girl Store at Northpoint Mall. It was cute (and unsurprisingly crowded). My niece wanted everything, of course. Meanwhile, I could only laugh at the prices they charge for mass produced plastic doll furniture.

I remember when American Girl was introduced some 31 odd years ago by the Pleasant Company and while I thought it was very expensive even then as a kid, at least the furniture was (mostly) made of real wood. The original items showed craftsmanship and attention to detail. They were things worthy of "childhood desires." The majority of the "modern" items that I saw just looked cheap and cheesy, in my opinion. A sign of the (Mattel) times, I guess. But little girls --- and some adult collectors --- are still enthralled and snap up any brand introduction. (Whereas I would only buy the stuff on extreme sale or via free deals.)

I don't like to go shopping in the real world. I will go, if I can score deals only available in-store or if it's a special occasion trip like this (going to the American Girl Store for the first time). If we were only planning to go to the one place, it would have been fine, but my sister is (oddly to me) a Brick & Mortar shopoholic. She can literally spend ALL DAY out. I agreed to go, partially because her birthday is coming up next week, and spending the afternoon together would amount to "family bonding time." Urgh! Still, I knew that I would be bored out of my mind within moments as she and our niece, who also seems to like real world shopping, happily went about. Thus, I'd planned to take advantage of a few deals during our trip in order to make the afternoon more worth my while.

Turns out I had an old $10.00 Gamestop Gift Card that I got free with My Coke Rewards points like two Christmases ago, so I finally used it. (With the recently announced Gamestop store closings, I didn't want to hold onto it any longer and potentially end up with a valueless card, if its business "cost-cutting measures" progressed rapidly to bankruptcy or going out of business entirely.) So I ended up getting a couple Funko Pop vinyl figures and only paying $0.78 tax OOP. (The figures were $5.00/ea.)

Ms. Pac-Man

Suicide Squad: Killer Croc

I've been loosely reading various discussions of Funko Pop figures on a few of the gaming and movie sites I frequent. I was aware of them, but hadn't seen any in the wild. Then I spotted some near the checkout counter in the Gamestop store and thought "I could get two for free and they'll make fun gifts, if I decide not to keep them." So I bit. I chose Ms. Pac-Man, a favorite arcade game in my youth, and Suicide Squad: Killer Croc, because I recently saw the movie and liked the character.

I also used My Panera Rewards Card to get a free Cinnamon Crunch Bagel. (Panera Bread gifted me a "Free Daily Bagel in April" reward yesterday. At first, I thought it was an April Fools' Day prank. But it wasn't. I can get one free bagel each day this month, if I so choose.) I love bagels and I especially love Panera Bread bagels. My favorites being the Asiago Cheese and the Cinnamon Crunch. So this is an awesome surprise gift!

And finally, I used my Shopkick app to do a few check-ins while we wandered the mall. I earned enough kicks to redeem for a $2.00 gift card to either Target or Wal-Mart --- or I can keep saving for a higher tier reward.

Not a bad afternoon, in spite of my crazy family.

Missed the #AmericanGirl Boat? Adventures in #Babysitting

My little niece is visiting. It's her Spring Break. She is absolutely crazy about American Girl everything. She really, really wants to go to the American Girl store in Alpharetta. I told her "we'll see." I'm not certain I can handle an entire store of crazed little girls. My patience only goes so far. (I guess I'm out of the loop.)