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The 12 Month, 46 Hour Library

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When Katie saw this DIY miniature library online, she  was entranced. It’s perfectly adorable with its tiny little books and knick knacks on the bookshelves and darling framed pictures and actual working chandelier with four lights. But she did NOT love the lengthy process of constructing it. It took 46 hours. 46 HOURS. Katie, share with us your epic journey…

I built the Rolifé DIY Miniature House: Sam’s Study (DG102), which can be purchased on the Rolifé website for $47.99. There is another company, Hands Craft, that makes a similar, if not identical kit. You can purchase their version of Sam’s Study on Amazon for $35.85. There is an age suggestion of 14+.

The kit arrives with a multitude of wood, fabric, and paper parts and pieces to construct the library, as well as small bottles of white latex and liquid glue, tweezers, white paint and a small paint brush. You will need to have a few additional tools to help with the construction: a ruler with millimeters, scissors, needle nose pliers, screwdriver, pencil and a binder clip.

I also highly suggest having a glue stick, another option of super glue (I used Krazy glue with an applicator brush), and a pair of small sharp scissors (I bought a pair of 4.5 inch nano detail scissors). Even though the kit claims batteries are included, you may need to purchase a pair of CR2032 Lithium 3V batteries for the chandelier.

There is an instruction manual packed with photographs and detailed steps to create the miniature library. I followed the manual very closely, making sure I had the correct pieces for each of the cabinets by using the included part number illustration paper.

So many pieces! So much glue! Oftentimes I had to be creative with figuring out ways to assist the various parts to hold together as the glue dried. Elastic hair bands for the win!
When I reached the section to build the sofa – it’s actually a wingback armchair – I was riding a wave of confidence. I had put together six dressers, cabinets, and bookshelves and a ladder without much difficulty.

The petite handles for the doors and drawers were a challenge, but I was able to create them. Surely I could make an armchair.

Surely not.

I created one side of the armchair and my fingers were so completely covered in glue, I was forced to give up. I couldn’t pick up the red fabric or the bottle of glue without it being nearly impossible to put back down. Defeated, I set aside the armchair.

My next challenge was cutting, folding and pasting the roughly 130 paper books, boxes and paintings that fill the shelves and walls of the bookstore. I started snipping with my 9 inch pair of scissors, and it didn’t take me long to realize I needed a much smaller pair in order to save time and my sanity. I was able to cut through the paper much faster with the 4.5 inch scissors, but it took a while to fold the little books and boxes and glue them all together. I used the glue stick and a q-tip to apply glue to the narrow paper edges, which greatly helped speed up the process.

The pièce de résistance was constructing the walls and floor of the bookstore, as well as creating the realistic chandelier that provided the gentle glowing light. The bookstore was relatively easy. The chandelier was complicated. And frustrating. And it nearly didn’t happen because I almost ran out of wire necessary to provide electricity to the bulbs.

Despite trying to be very careful while cutting and stringing the fragile wires, I cut some and broke others. It took many long hours (and the utterance of many bad words) to bring the light to life. I can fully understand why some who left online reviews of the kit simply gave up on the chandelier. Trust me, I almost did.

finished walls and light 2I was just about ready to furbish the bookstore, but I still had to finish the wing back armchair. The various bits and pieces of the chair were ready to go, but I was not looking forward to the actual construction. Begrudgingly, I used every last bit of my dogged patience to put the chair together. It’s not pretty, in fact it’s far from perfect. One side of the chair is slightly taller than the other and there are many areas of the wood frame showing through the red cloth, but I finished it.

Now came the fun part – decorating! The instruction manual had generic photos showing where the furniture needed to go, but you can decide where the books and decorations go. There were many times I needed to use the provided tweezers to glue a tiny framed picture on the wall next to a bookshelf, place a minuscule pamphlet in a specific area, or put the bitty silver coffee mug on top of a book. After all of the irritation I had while building the kit, decorating the bookstore was quite cathartic.

The miniature library is amazing. There are so many charming little touches and details that you could stare at it for hours. Even the red wing back armchair, in all its misshapen glory, looks fantastic nestled in the corner with a pile of books resting on the seat.

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Dr. Dana and I had a bet as to how long it was going to take me to finish the library. She said 25 hours, I guessed it would take much longer. I was right – it took nearly 46 hours.
Now that I am done putting the kit together, I think it is safe to say that I completely overestimated my technical crafting abilities when manipulating small parts and pieces. It is also safe for me to say that I will try to avoid doing another one of these types of projects in the future. I would recommend it for adults who have tremendous patience and dedication to lengthy projects.

May the teeny-tiny crafting kit odds be ever in your favor.

Fudge, Part Deux

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Today, Katie is broadcasting from our official blog test kitchen (which wow, looks remarkably like her own kitchen!). She’s tackling her old culinary frenemy…that cursed confection, sneaky sweet, diabolical dessert otherwise known as…FUDGE. Take it away, Katie!

It’s hard to believe it has been nearly six years since I tried and spectacularly failed at making Monsieur Bon-Bon’s Secret “Fooj” from the book Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang by Ian Fleming. Six years! C’est impossible! But after six years, dear blog readers, it’s finally time. Let’s trying making fudge again.

I found a recipe in a charming book titled Peeny Butter Fudge, written by Toni Morrison, Slade Morrison,and illustrated by Joe Cepeda (Simon & Schuster, 2009 – read here by Sankofa Read Aloud). There’s nothing better than spending the afternoon with Nana. She adds love and extra excitement to play time, story time, even nap time! But the best part is helping Nana make her yummy, delicious fudge before Mom comes home.

With just five ingredients and clearer directions than the “fooj” recipe, my confidence was high. I carefully followed the instructions exactly as they were written. When it came time to let the milk/sugar/chocolate mixture boil for five minutes, I set a timer and pulled out my candy thermometer (purchased when I attempted to make acid drops from Harry Potter). I remember reading that fudge must reach a certain temperature to solidify and have the correct texture, so I watched the thermometer closely. I also admit I was a bit nervous when the mixture needed to boil for longer than five minutes before it made a tadpole shape when dropped into a glass of cold water.

While the pot was taking its cold-water bath in the kitchen sink, a series of unfortunate events drew my attention away from the task at hand. The pot must have rested in the sink for too long because when I tried to add the peanut butter, the fudge was hard. Absolutely rock hard. I frantically tried putting the mixture back on the stove to see if it would soften up as I mixed in the peanut butter, but the result was a colossal, clumpy mess. Fudge failure, yet again.

I wasn’t about to give up on Nana and her peanut butter fudge, so I started over from scratch. Armed with the knowledge from both of my failures, I focused wholly and completely on the fudge and finding the sweet spot of victory. And somehow, against all odds, I did it. I made fudge!

Peeny Butter Fudge is delightfully rich and provides the perfect flavor mixture of chocolate and peanut butter, which is one of my favorite dessert combinations. I provided samples for my teen son and his neighborhood friends to try, and all of them said “this is so good!” My son also said it tastes exactly like the filling in Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. Collectively we give Peeny Butter Fudge our official seal of tastiness approval.

There’s an art to making fudge. You must balance a fine line between delicious success and disastrous failure. I’m very grateful my third attempt was a charm. And though I still consider myself an amateur fudge maker, I’m definitely planning on making Nana’s fudge again.

The Ultimate Escape

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It should come as no surprise to anyone when I make this statement: KATIE ADORES ESCAPE ROOMS. Since her first in-person escape room during a birthday celebration, Katie has gone on to design many awesome literary escape rooms, both in-person (see here, here, and here), and virtual (see here, here, and here)! So it makes total sense for her to test drive Finders Seekers, a mailed-right-to-your-door escape room company. Take it away, Katie!

Yes, I adore escape rooms, both participating in and creating them! Not being able to partake in a live escape room because of the pandemic, I eagerly started searching for a worthy “at-home” alternative. That’s when I found Finders Seekers.

Finders Seekers is a monthly subscription where you receive a box in the mail with an escape room mystery adventure inside. The rooms are based on the culture and history of a different city somewhere in the world. The cities have covered the entire globe, including Sydney, Australia; Athens, Greece; Petra, Jordan; and San Francisco, California. There are a couple options for purchasing: you can sign up for a month-to-month service for $30, or you can select up to 3 levels of prepay spanning a year. There’s a gift option for sending a box to an escape room fanatic as well. You can cancel your subscription at any time.

Your “Escape Room in a Box” literally comes in a Finders Seekers marked box, which tells you that “The Mystery Begins Inside.” When you open the box, you find a “Classified” envelope with all the materials you’ll need to solve the escape room, along with a letter of specific instructions from Lucy Calder, Chief Seer of the Society of Seekers. Chief Seer Calder provides a website with links to different locations within the city, along with supporting information to help you solve the clues and puzzles.

Our first Finders Seekers adventure took us up the East Coast to Boston, Massachusetts. From the deck in our backyard, my son and I raced along Boston’s Freedom Trail and visited 10 historical stops along the way. We were tested by 10 “patriots” at the sites and once we solved the riddle, we were given a token that helped us decipher the final mystery to the location of a stolen relic.

The descriptions and data provided within the website work hand-in-hand with the materials found inside the envelope. You definitely need both elements to figure out the solution. If you get stuck on a puzzle, never fear. The website provides additional hints (and even the final solution!) if you need help as you work through the escape room.

My 13 year-old son and I found some of the puzzles rather easy to figure out, whereas others required us to put in a bit more thought to figure out the solution. Some friends of ours did it with their daughter and her friends (ages 9-11) with success as well. Even though my son and I had decided to not use any of the extra hints, we did get help once because it was difficult to read part of the clue on our materials and the puzzle wasn’t terribly clear.

Otherwise we managed to solve the escape room entirely on our own. Together we traveled through the city, learned fun facts about one of the most historical places in the United States, and crossed the Boston Marathon Finish Line in a little over two hours!

Our other Finders Seekers adventures had us jetting off to Paris, France and making various stops along the Metro, including the Catacombs and Moulin Rouge. We also have a mystery in Beijing, China waiting for us to solve.

For families who like game nights, for couples searching for a fun date activity, or for anyone who simply loves escape rooms (including yours truly), Finders Seekers is ideal. You finish the escape room in one sitting, rather than having to solve one section and then wait another month for the next part of the mystery. You can also do it entirely on your own! It provides enough challenges to foster excitement and intrigue for several enjoyable hours and introduces the adventurers to new places and cultures. Finders Seekers receives my highest recommendation!