Thursday, September 20, 2012
Mail Art From The Haptic Werewolf, Erni Bär
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
The Great Dollhouse Rescue
Back in July, I got a message from my good friend, Dorothy:
"I 'rescued' a doll house for you today. A neighbor was throwing it away so I carted it home for you. That is, if you want it."
Yikes! Of course I wanted it. I messaged her back telling her so and would make arrangements to pick it up a few weeks later. At first, I thought I might need something larger then my Ford Focus to transport it home, but after getting the dimensions, I figured it could fit in the back seat with a bit of creative maneuvering.
Did I happen to mention that I had no idea what it looked like or what I was getting myself into? Although, it was in pretty good condition, it did need a bit of a clean up, so that was the next business at hand as it was pretty dusty and full of cob-webs. Nothing that a Shop-vac and a bucket of vinegar water can't handle. The house cleaned up nicely. Dust and cobwebs gone.
One thing I did notice as I was cleaning it up, was that many of the shingles and the veneer strips were coming off as the glues (they used 3 different kinds) that were used had dried up and lost their stickiness. When I had showed it to my husband, Pete, he felt it would probably be a good idea to just strip the shingles and veneer strips completely off.
Right.
The following day, with a couple of different scrapers and my bare fingers, I proceeded to rip it all off. Some parts were easier then others as some of the stuff was held in place with rubber cement.
But, other parts used other types of glue, which was next to impossible to strip off and was just a mess. Ugh.
Once again, I consulted Pete about this conundrum. "We should take the roof pieces off and just cut other ones, it would be quicker" was the sage advice I received. Goodbye roof. Hello, Home Depot, where we went that afternoon to purchase some fresh pieces of masonite.
So, here it is, stripped bare, which gives me the freedom to do what I please with it...and with so many more choices...
"I 'rescued' a doll house for you today. A neighbor was throwing it away so I carted it home for you. That is, if you want it."
Yikes! Of course I wanted it. I messaged her back telling her so and would make arrangements to pick it up a few weeks later. At first, I thought I might need something larger then my Ford Focus to transport it home, but after getting the dimensions, I figured it could fit in the back seat with a bit of creative maneuvering.
 |
| Home we go! |
One thing I did notice as I was cleaning it up, was that many of the shingles and the veneer strips were coming off as the glues (they used 3 different kinds) that were used had dried up and lost their stickiness. When I had showed it to my husband, Pete, he felt it would probably be a good idea to just strip the shingles and veneer strips completely off.
Right.
The following day, with a couple of different scrapers and my bare fingers, I proceeded to rip it all off. Some parts were easier then others as some of the stuff was held in place with rubber cement.
But, other parts used other types of glue, which was next to impossible to strip off and was just a mess. Ugh.
Once again, I consulted Pete about this conundrum. "We should take the roof pieces off and just cut other ones, it would be quicker" was the sage advice I received. Goodbye roof. Hello, Home Depot, where we went that afternoon to purchase some fresh pieces of masonite.
So, here it is, stripped bare, which gives me the freedom to do what I please with it...and with so many more choices...
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