grazhina Posted May 14, 2020 Share Posted May 14, 2020 Continuing to use my styrofoam stash, I've made a masonry style old world kitchen hearth. It's not quite finished, needs some top coatings, but good enough to show. It's based on a photo I found months ago and really liked. The little lady is my first big headed clothespin doll, hadn't made any clothespin dolls in 35 years, took me a while to get the hang of it again. For those late to my styrofoam adventures, last year we remodeled a bathroom, and everything arrived packed in big sheets of styrofoam, which would have cost me quite a few dollars to dispose of, so I decided to find a use for it. So far I've used it to make a 1:24 scale Alpine house and interior walls and hearth for a southwest style roombox. While on the subject of styrofoam, last year I used a block of the stuff I bought on ebay to make a stump house. I used green builders foam to make a stone house last year. I've included here a picture of the adobe room's hearth too. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted May 14, 2020 Share Posted May 14, 2020 Grazhe, what are you using to carve your styrofoam? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathieB Posted May 14, 2020 Share Posted May 14, 2020 The oven is charming, and the doll is too cute! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Medieval Posted May 14, 2020 Share Posted May 14, 2020 Using found or free items to make something realistic looking is a SKILL! You need vision and talent. That is really cool! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grazhina Posted May 14, 2020 Author Share Posted May 14, 2020 42 minutes ago, havanaholly said: Grazhe, what are you using to carve your styrofoam? Holly, I used my scroll saw to cut the pieces out. The upper chimney part was a bit tricky to shape. I cut a bit of it off to shape, then held it at an angle against a disc sander, finally sanding it down to even out the lumps with a sponge sanding block. I also discovered that I could use a band saw to cut out the piece that was too thick for my scroll saw. I was nervous about using it before, as I saw guys discussing it on a home improvement forum, and they advised against it, but it made a nice smooth cut without crumbling or melting after all. Thanks Kathie, I decided I wanted to use something like a gnomeish creature, but all my lady gomes were sitting down, and my men gnomes were dressed for outdoors, then I thought - I know! a little clothespin doll! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grazhina Posted May 14, 2020 Author Share Posted May 14, 2020 (edited) 9 minutes ago, Medieval said: Using found or free items to make something realistic looking is a SKILL! You need vision and talent. That is really cool! Thank you, Jess. You know, being a person who is sort of cheap frugal helps too! Edited May 14, 2020 by grazhina Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeB Posted May 14, 2020 Share Posted May 14, 2020 Grazhina, what did you use to give the foam the plaster-look surface texture/finish? And how hard/durable is it? It is very convincing in appearance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grazhina Posted May 14, 2020 Author Share Posted May 14, 2020 2 minutes ago, LeeB said: Grazhina, what did you use to give the foam the plaster-look surface texture/finish? And how hard/durable is it? It is very convincing in appearance. Lee, when you cut the styrofoam with a scroll saw you get a pretty smooth cut. The next step is to sand it, and it's possible to get it smooth as a baby's bottom. It can be sanded on a disc sander or by hand, generally sanding only in one direction, not back and forth. I've found when you go back and forth sometimes some of it can come disloged. I've coated mine in several layers of thick gesso, and drywall compound too. I wrote out detailed instructions in my Alpine house blog post. Those walls are pretty sturdy, I used 1.5" thick sheets for that one, and even added a coating of acrylic varnish over the gesso and under the final paint. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mid-life madness Posted May 15, 2020 Share Posted May 15, 2020 Very nice use and reuse project. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mineejv Posted May 18, 2020 Share Posted May 18, 2020 Clothes pin dolls... cute cute. You used the good styrofoam... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grazhina Posted May 18, 2020 Author Share Posted May 18, 2020 2 hours ago, Mineejv said: Clothes pin dolls... cute cute. You used the good styrofoam... Actually, I used some decent styrofoam and some pretty rough styrofoam, seeing as how I expected to do a thin coat or two of joint or drywall compound after sanding. I use those interchangeably, whatever comes to hand. Glad you like the doll too. I just found a bag full of clothespins I bought years ago, when I thought I'd make some more dolls, but put them off for later. I must have about 50 wooden clothespins and have lots of small patterned fabric scraps. I finished a little work table and am working on a corner hanging cupboard, glue is drying on that one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grazhina Posted May 20, 2020 Author Share Posted May 20, 2020 I wanted to share a picture of the work table and cupboard. The door doesn't open. I rarely make working cupboard doors, because I don't feel the need to and because I feel the doors are too chunky anyway. I even felt that Bespaq's doors were too, can't be helped. I'm NOT using styrofoam for the roombox walls, I'm just using this box to figure out the size of room I need. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mid-life madness Posted May 20, 2020 Share Posted May 20, 2020 I love the pretty rose motif. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathieB Posted May 20, 2020 Share Posted May 20, 2020 They're lovely. They would feel right at home in my 1890s Bohemian Inn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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