Refinishing my first dollhouse

[Joyologist]

Hello everyone! I am a newbie and this is my first post here ever! I am writing to tell you why I have joined you all. When I was a young girl of about 7, my uncle made me a colonial style dollhouse that I treasured and played with for YEARS! When we moved away from my childhood home, it got given around to various relatives over the years. A few years back, I was able to get the dollhouse from an Aunt who was going to sell or trash it as the dollhouse has been well-loved!

My own daughter is now 16 and very interested in helping me fix it up. I am very happy to undertake this project but I am also a bit overwhelmed not knowing where to start or where to get supplies. My daughter helped me figure out today that this dollhouse of mine and all it's furniture is at least 30 years old! How great would it be to restore it and play with it again. Yes, you read hat right. I am a 39 year old woman interested in playing with my childhood dollhouse once again!

I am hoping you all will help me as I try to navigate my way through this restoration. Perhaps someone can give me a brief pointer on how to post my "before" pictures so you all can see my lovely yellow colonial that is in desperate need of some TLC! Also on my TO DO list is finding out where I can get some replacement parts. What I am in need of so far is plastic window "glass" with white "panes" printed on it, black plastic shutters and black asphalt roof shingles. I know this is not the most glamourous way to restore this house, but I am trying to restore it to how I remember it being. I still have all my dolls and furniture, too and they are a family of modest means so that will not be bothered at all by my use of less fancy finshings. LOL

If you know where I can find any of the items on my shopping list, please do let me know as my daughter and I are eager to make progress on our first dollhouse project!

Big Love to all,

Rachell in SW FL

[sparklepuppies]

Hi Rachell! Welcome to the group, we're so glad you joined us! How wonderful that you got your childhood house back, and what a fun project to do with your daughter! When you have 5 posts you can open an album to show us your pictures, we can't wait!

For windows, you can use plastic from household packaging, or even transparencies. You can paint, draw, or print the lines on if you wish. You can buy shutters from most miniature stores and Hobby Lobby, if you have one close by. They also have asphalt shingles there. Some good online places to start are Hobby Builder's Supply (HBS) www.miniatures.com, DeJoux Miniatures http://www.dejouxminiatures.com/, Manor House Minis http://www.manorhouseminis.com/, and Dollhouses and More http://www.dollhousesandmore.com/. There are many, many more stores, and I'm sure everyone will chime in with their favorites.

Have fun! :wub:

[kreativitea75]

As for being a grown woman excited to "play" with your dollhouse, you are in very good company on this site! My first dollhouse was for my daughter, and my second is for me!

There are two main places to get miniature supplies: Hobby Lobby (you just missed the half-price sale, but it should be back in 6 mos.) - they have shutters you can paint black and black asphalt shingles, and miniatures.com - which has EVERYTHING! Sign up as a fan of theirs on facebook and you can get a code for 35% off your highest priced item. You can find anything and everything on ebay - just check miniatures.com to compare prices - most of the time it is cheaper to buy it from them than an ebay seller.

As for the windows, they are probably going to be dollhouse specific - once you are able to, post a pic of your house and see if someone can identify it for you; you can then either order replacement windows from the company, or if they are out of business, you can usually find some on ebay (I see duracraft replacement windows on there all the time and the company went out of business quite a while ago). Miniatures.com and hobby lobby also have replacement windows or just the plexiglass that you can cut to size.

I must say, I am very jealous - I kept a dollhouse given to me as a child for years, hoping to fix it up, but gave it away when my local dollhouse store closed and I had no idea where else to turn. I can't wait to see pictures of your project! Welcome and best of luck!

[MerriMagic]

Hiya Rachael!

By all means, post some pics of your house for us to see. It would help us to help you with any tips we may have to offer. After you put in five posts, you can set up albums and we can see them by clicking a "Gallery" button that will appear under your name sidebar.

Welcome to your daughter too! A future dollhouse builder in the making!

:wub:

[KathieB]

Hi, Rachell, and :wub: to the group, and welcome to your daughter, too!

The posts above have good information in them. Once you start looking around, you'll feel more comfortable. I have been rehabbing a childhood dollhouse twice the age of yours and having a grand time doing it. It came back to life as a mini quilt shop. There are photos in my miniature blog (link below).

Stop over to the New Members forum and introduce yourself when you have a minute. And please feel free to ask questions. There are no dumb questions. What you need to know may be perplexing someone else, so you're really doing a favor to ask. You'll get a variety of answers, all pointing to the fact that there is not one "right" way to approach building or rehabbing. Do what feels comfortable to you, and you'll be on your own right track.

You can include photos in your messages before you reach the minimum five posts to open a gallery album, which means we are looking for a "before" picture of your house. Hesitate, and the eye candy police will be at your door! :o

[LLyn M.]

Hi Rachell , and welcome to Greenleaf Forum to you and your daughter.Age is never a factor to this hobby,play,way of life. I'm 60 and have been into dollhouses for the last two years!! Love it! Learn something new almost everyday! Welcome.. :wub:

[Monica_the_haunted]

Hi and :wub: to the group!

[sexyfeet]

Hello, and welcome to the forum!! I am 37 years old and joined this forum 7 months ago because I decided that I would like to build a dollhouse of my very own. When I was growing up all I ever wanted was to have a dollhouse of my very own but unfortunately for me that never happened, however I am of the belief that it is never to late and you are never to old to fullfill your dreams!! When I was a child I would use any and all household items to build my own creations and had quite the imagination when it came to building my own version of dollhouses. My mother used to get quite upset with me for stealing the face cloths from the bathroom to dress my beds, and the toilet paper to make pillows. As a result of my fondness to dollhouses, mini furniture and dolls, I have sparked a real interest from my 10 year old daughter who is now working on her very own dollhouse with me. If there is one thing in life that I want to make sure I accomplish, it is to make sure my children have every opportunity that I never had and always wished for!! I am just enjoying every moment that I get to spend with her working on projects that we both love!! Enjoy your time with your daughter and welcome her aboard as well, you will find all the help and advice you could ever need right here! :wub:

[havanaholly]

By all means do introduce yourself to everyone at the Newcomers' Forum, Rachell. I'm nearly 30 years older than you and I most definitely play with every dollhouse I own! If you glue 60-80 grit sandpaper sheets to construction paper you will have simulated scale asphalt shingles you can color any way you want with either paint washes or chalk pastels, and then cut them into strips. Shutters can be made from scrapwood or craft sticks.

[Joyologist]

Yay! I found my way back here and how wonderful to find so many thoughtful posts! You guys are so creative, I can tell! I would never have thought to use sandpaper or craft sticks for shingles or plastics from around the house for windows! What a wealth of info. I am in for, I can tell!

I did drive an hour to find a "local" dollhouse store where i was able to get some wooden shutters similar to my plastic ones, asphalt looking roof shingles and some sheets of window "glass" (plastic sheets) but they are lacking the "panes" (lines).

Now that we have enough posts to this thread, is it easy to post photos to show you where I am at so far?

Big Love to all,

Rachell ;)

[Sherry]

Yes, just go to your control panel (my controls at top of this page) and click on album in the left hand column. Then just follow the directions. We'd love to see pictures!

[sparklepuppies]

Hi Rachell, when you have made 5 posts, you can start an album. Until then, you can put pictures directly into this post by clicking on "Add Reply" (not "Fast Reply"), then going to the bottom of the reply and attach a picture there. We would love to see some pictures!

[Roxxie]

;) Welcome Rachel..that's so great that you are redoing your childhood dollhouse. You will find lots of ideas and help around here. Have fun!

[Just One More]

Welcome to the forum. You will get lots of ideas here to bring your childhood house back to life. I've been building now for over 20 years. I never had a childhood house but it would really be fun to have one to work on. Can't wait to see your pictures. ;)

[Joyologist]

Yay! I finally made it back here again and boy do I have progress to share! So far I have:

cleaned the dollhouse exterior (from dust/etc.) to prep for painting

sanded the dollhouse interior to remove old (paper) wallpapers/carpets

removed all wooden window/door trim

taped all other trim that does not get painted the main color

covered over all windows and doors to prevent spray paint from getting inside

covered the roof for the same reasons

sprayed the entire exterior with plastic safe primer spray paint

sprayed the entire exterior with plastic safe spray paint - a buttery yellow color, much the same as it was in my youth!

allowed to dry fully and removed all taping/paper covering

The next step for me is to paint all window/door/house trim white which I will do by hand instead of with spray paint. After that I plan to reattach the trim I removed using glue. Not sure yet which type of glue to use. Suggestions?

I am excited to share pics of the progress so far, so I will try to figure out how to do that soon!

Love Rachell!

[MerriMagic]

Rachael, I really like Aileen's Fast Grab tacky glue. It tacks up and holds piece together VERY QUICKLY, and is a really sturdy glue.

Also, I like E6000 for doing other work. Careful tho, the E6000 is one of those glues with an 'aroma' that can give you a headache unless you use it in a well ventilated area. Having your area well ventilated is a good rule of thumb for using any glues or paints. Sometimes you can't smell the odors but the chemicals are there, in the air.

Also, mind that if you are using anything with phenols, you should remove your pets from the area. Cats and birds in particular are very sensitive to phenols.

Both birds and cats breathe 'different' than other animals..their lungs literally do double duty, functioning a bit different than our lungs. This means they can absorbe a lot more of petrolium distallates than we do, and are extremely sensitive to phenols anyway, . What is tolerable for us, can kill our beloved pets, if not immediately then in cumulated fumes over time.

Cats, being animals who like to travel UP as well as AROUND, do like to stick their noses right up close to glued joints, checking everything out like the good little supervisors they are. Birds can be even worse, deciding to 'sample' some of the glued wood when you aren't looking. And if you think birds won't like the smell, stop right ther.

Birds have virtually no sense of smell. Smell is closely linked to the ability to taste. While we have 9,000 taste buds in our mouths, birds have only 50, meaning most birds smell ' Jack squat'.

An exception to this rule are the janitors of the world, the vulture family..they can and do use a very good smell and taste sense...and certain seabirds, who need all the senses to be sharp, because of swimming in large expanses of featureless open ocean.

So our birdie pals can tuck into a glob of dried or drying glue without realizing "OMG this smells and tastes HORRIBLE!" Do akeep them strictly away from a room where you do craft work. If they don't collapse outright, their lives will be considerably shortened by the exposure.

The bird or cat you save, might be your own.

Jeanne

[KathieB]

Rachell, you're really chugging along! B)

Is the house plastic? You mention using plastic-safe spray primer.

There is a good website that will help you decide what glue to use. It's call This to That.

Make two more posts and then open an album in your own Gallery. That's the best way to share the photos that we all want to see.

[havanaholly]

Rachell, for gluing wood to wood I prefer to use wood glue. If you're trying to glue trim to a painted surface, though, I suppose the E6000 would work.

[Joyologist]

The house is one from a kit from when I was a kid. Although the structure is wood, the siding on the exterior is plastic. The trim I need to glue around windows/doors is wood also. So I will have to glue wood to plastic. I think I will try tacky glue as I am no pro so I am not into the idea of using heavy duty professional stuff. I just wanna stick the trim back on lickety split.

Thanks to Jeanne for the warning about glue fumes and pets. I happen to have 10 feline supervisors here at my place and 2 avian ones, too. LOL

[KathieB]

Tacky glue will not adhere to plastic. It will peel off. I think Holly's suggestion of E6000 is what you'll need. It comes in a tube and is easy enough to work with. I usually squeeze a small dollop on a piece of foil or waxed paper and dip a toothpick in it to apply. It doesn't take much. As the old Brill Cream ad said: "a little dab 'll do ya."

[havanaholly]

If you don't have a screen porch, use the E6000 outside, if you have pet concerns.

[Joyologist]

Oh, ok, thanks! Where would I find E6000 glue?

[sparklepuppies]

I got it at Hobby Lobby, but I'm sure any hardware store or Walmart would also carry it.

[havanaholly]

Wal Mart carries it in both the adhesive section where the tools, paint, etc, are and also in the crafts section.

[Pat]

You will have more fun than you ever anticipated. My original dollhouse (I got in around 1948 when I was about 7) and it was handed down to my younger sister then her daughter & I was never able to re-furbish it. Back in 70s I even bought a fireplace and made bed linens for it but was so afraid to start cutting out plastic windows to insert working ones so I stopped. I finally bought the McKinley last October and am having so much fun. It is relaxing, challenging and rewarding to do it. After I complete the McKinley I will try to get my old dollhouse back to re-furbish it now. I now have some confidence to go ahead with putting in new staircase, windows, doors and even stucco the outside and put in the needed exterior wood as it is a painted Tudor. I have beautiful dining room set and upholstered living furniture which was bought from H O Schwartz in NYC and even battery operated lights (they are huge for the 1" scale). I was always afraid of touching the original but what the heck...I'm going to go for it as you should to.