I started the day thinking I'd paint the little bits of furniture, but I kept staring at the pillows on the sofa and chairs and thinking how plain they were. I Googled pine cone clip art and found some pictures for inspiration, then painted the design on the pillows. I thought I'd like tassels on the corners of the pillows, but after tying 16 of them, I decided I didn't like the look at all. Instead, I glued an edging of embroidery floss around them. It added just the little zip they needed.

That finished, I considered the workbench and the need for a ladder. After a few minutes, the light came on. No need for the elves to climb up if the workbench were lowered. Out came the little razor saw, and voila! Problem solved!

I painted the little stools and chairs in primary colors. While waiting for them to dry, I rummaged through my stash again and found a kit for 3 toy boats that has been hanging around since the NAME conference in Kansas City a few years ago. I had fun putting them together. They're stored in a nice plastic shoe box with the rest of the finished interior items.

Since I had the paints out, I added some gold trim to the cookstove. It looks neater than this in real life, as it's too small to see the details. The gold brings out some of the detail. Photographs magnify every little mistake.

With the house emptied, I could run more white tape along the interior joints in the center gable. That will hold the back wall of the cuckoo's house in place as well as make a neater presentation.

I got out some beads and cut one of the upstairs lights off so I could work on lamps, but inspiration eluded me and I had to walk away. I guess there's not much point in doing lamps until I make the furniture they'll sit on. There's always tomorrow.