Wednesday, September 30, 2009

The dollhouse has mold!

So, waking up, the morning after ripping off all of the siding, it was really hard to breathe--like I slept in a house full of cats. On the sides near the bottom there was some white mold. Lolly said if the mold is white or green you are fine, but “if it’s black take it back!” She said to wear gloves and a mask, make a solution of 1 part bleach to 3 parts water and scrub/wipe the entire house with it and then set it in the sun. At least I know that the dolls that used to live there didn’t have a tiny little meth lab in the basement!

Monday, September 28, 2009

The big switcheroo of '09

Dearest fans--all 3 of you :)--you've been with me through thick yarn and sport weight, but I've moved on to a new craft. Dollhouse miniatures! On Craigslist I found a woman whose mother had a dollhouse custom built for her in Chicago 35 years ago. It was one of those that you are meant to finish--paint the siding, put in the stair rails, install the chimney, etc. She was never really into it, so it sat around for 3 decades.

As you can see it is a fixer upper, but it's a HUGE Colonial with spacious interior and so much potential. I figured it was a good place to start instead of trying to build one from scratch. Of course, after ripping off the siding and removing the hot glue from it for hours I'm questioning that decision. Also the "builder" did a number of things unevenly so they will have to be evened up. Above was a look at the furniture that came with it. A number of good pieces and some items that could use a revamp.
Note half eaten dark chocolate bar in bottom right corner. For emergencies only. Siding in pretty bad shape. Lower right window unable to be saved. TONS of hot glue that had to be scraped off so I can reuse the siding. Voila! Siding-free house ready for work.