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vbharrington

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Posts posted by vbharrington

  1. I collect pigs, Beatle memorabilia (I prefer original),  different (movie) versions of "A Christmas Carol" (my favorite is The Muppets Christmas Carol" followed by a western version starring Jack Palance) and Tarot cards.  I don't "read" tarot cards, and some members of my Southern Baptist church would be appalled that I would own any, but I love the artwork.

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  2. I thought the same thing Kathi, and I did try it the other way, but there is a notch cut out where the wall meets with the ceiling trim.  My husband asked if perhaps the wood could have gotten damp and warped, but I don't think that is it.  I am working on it in our garage, but I've never had problems with anything else warping out there.  I measured, and the wall appears to be about 3/16 too tall.  I may just try to sand it down to the right height. 

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  3. I have the DC farmhouse stripped of the wallpaper and carpet.  I've tried to put the interior walls back in place, and now the lower level divider is "too tall"  When I put it in place, the entire left side of the house raises off the foundation (because that came unglued as well)  What has happened?  Could it be that it was like that to begin with, and over the years the glue gave way?  I've never seen anything like this before.

  4. I am not sure how to PM MIke, since my search says there is no members by that name (MikeUK) but in case you do see this Mike, I want to let you know that I think your work is awesome, and you are awesome yourself.  There has been many times that you have replied to a comment I've made and offered advice or even just encouragement, and I really appreciate it.  I will be praying for your recovery and for you to be back doing what you love very soon.  Best wishes and I hope you get well very soon!!!

  5. The DC farmhouse I'm stripping has what appears to be cherry flooring on the bottom floor only.  I've been debating whether to pull it up or not.  I'm not crazy about the dark color, but it is in good condition, so I may leave it.  I'll worry about the rest of the house first I guess.

  6. Funny, my husband only has one hobby, and that is bass fishing.  A year ago when decided I wanted a Sphynx cat he asked how much such a cat would cost.  I responded by asking how much he spent on fishing in one month, (he fishes 3 weekends a month) - and he countered by asking when we were to pick up my new cat.   I have found that dollhouses work much the same way, only now I am trying to negotiate either a building of my own, or space in his workshop/man cave/ boat garage to set up the houses I have.

     

    BTW: Congrats on finding your dream house!!

  7. I would NOT use glue to attach the carpet directly to the floor, I am having a nightmare removing some glue/carpet from a house I am remodeling.  I like to make poster board templates of my rooms and glue and/or tape the floor on the template, then fasten that into the house.  I made a "hard wood" floor from skinny sticks for my vintage trailer and glued the sticks to the poster board, and it fits perfectly in the trailer without being fastened down at all.  I also do wall paper the same way, and fasten it with double sided tape.  Adding floor and ceiling moldings help to keep it in place also.  

    As for material to use for carpeting, I do not like carpet (I don't have it in my RL house) so I rarely use it.  The carpet I am stripping from the remodel house looks and feels like velvet.  I did see areas where the rubber cement in one room and hot glue in another appeared to bleed through the carpet, so you may want to go with double sided tape.

  8. What is it with these Farmhouses!  I felt well enough to strip some more wallpaper yesterday and apparently that wallpaper was all that was holding the farmhouse together!  Hot glue is everywhere and I can't get it off, even with a heat gun, acetone, sanding, I've tried it all.  I'm not even 100% sure it is hot glue, but it is a mess.  It is amazing at what people can do to a CL ad to make things look better than they are.

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  9. I'm not sure if this is the case in other parts of the country, but metal roofing is very big here in South Carolina.  I've been thinking about my farmhouse, and I may want to try to put a metal roof on it.  Has anyone ever put a metal roof on a dollhouse?  If so, what did you use?  We have some leftover metal from our own roof (our log house has a green metal roof) but I don't think I would be able to use it.  Any ideas?

  10. I went yesterday and picked up a DuraCraft Farmhouse I found on CraigsList for $70.  I thought I was getting a deal because the house looked great in the pictures and it also came with a house full of furniture, as well as some extra pieces.  When I saw the house in person, I noticed a few minor repairs, but nothing major.  All of the furniture was either hot glued to the floor or had some sort of sticky, waxy stuff on it.  The furniture that was hot glued to the floor pulled up the "carpet" and "tile" when I pulled the furniture out.  There were also stains on the wall paper where the wax had been used to hold things to the walls.  There is tape wire already in place, but I'm not sure if it works, because there is no transformer or plug with it. Cosmetic stuff, but nothing that I wouldn't have been changing anything.  

    Here's the problem.....When my dad and I tried to unload the house, the shell of the house lifted off of the foundation. Before we knew what happened, the roof and porch had also come off of the house.  So, I now have a farmhouse that has come off of the foundation, stairs that have come off of the wall, and a porch and roof that has come off as well.  It looks like wood glue residue on the walls, roof, etc.  but it appears to be a thin line of glue, so that could be why it hasn't held up over the years.  I think it could be fixable, but I'm not sure where to start. 

    It also needs a HEAVY cleaning, and I'm not sure of the best way to go about that.  Any suggestions would be appreciated.

    Farmhouse_Front.JPG

    Farmhouse back.JPG

  11. I found a ton of picture mats on clearance for anywhere between .50 - 3.00 at Michaels.  Most of them are wide enough to make just about anything out of.  It was much less expensive than buying whole sheets of matboard.  However, if you have any local frame shops near you (the chain stores near me won't do this) they may be willing to sell (or give) you some of their scrap matboard.  I've gotten grocery bags of mat scraps for free, and they are almost always large enough to use for some activity.

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  12. I never thought about Dollar Tree online!  I've always been envious of the people who have found dollhouse furniture at the dollar stores, because the only thing mini related I've ever managed to find at ours is the jars of nail art beads.  I'm going to check it out now.

  13. I'm so frustrated!  I have made these things so many times with no problem, now all of the sudden my glue is acting stupid, so I think I'm going to have to redo half of my sets :(  Oh well, I have plenty of uses for the "not so perfect" ones.

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  14. I am working on the travel trailer, and I am debating whether or not to actually build the wheel wells, because I don't like the idea of them sticking up into the actual living areas of the trailer.  I have thought about not adding them, but then I'm not sure if the wheels will actually work or if I will have to modify the axles as well.  Is anyone willing to share how they completed the travel trailer in regards to wheels/no wheels, wheel wells/no wheel wells, etc?  Thanks in advance

  15. I am in the process of making "tile sheets" for the small bathroom in travel trailer, and I'm beginning to work on my swaps.  I hate to say this, but I'd love another couple days of snow so that I could stay home from school and work on the travel trailer.  Today is my oldest son's 19th birthday, so there will be no mini making after work today, we will be going out for dinner.

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  16. I paint wooden peg people as a hobby.  I've made several copyright infringing sets of Disney characters for my babies to play with, but I only sell generic ones to the public.  I have an Etsy store, and I've had a few custom orders, but my most popular peg by far is a Lizzie Bordon peg doll.  I'm thinking of expanding my mind to include other nefarious characters, I've got prototypes drawn up for Jack the Ripper and John Wayne Gaycy, but I've put them on hold for now.  Right now I'm focusing on my mini's, I have enough pegs in stock to fill any orders for my shop, so I am taking a break from them.  However, I'm sure I will be back to painting soon.....probably when I start painting some of my furniture, do it all while the paint's out kind of thing.

  17. Claire I feel like I am in the same boat as you - I finally joined this site and I'm amazed at the work others are doing, and I don't feel like I can do anything even half as good as what I'm seeing here.  However, I have seen that patience and practice are starting to pay off in some of my own skills.  Read everything you can,especially these forums.   I also really like the blog http://dollhouseescapes.blogspot.com/ , I have gotten a lot of advice and inspiration from that blog.  Don't be afraid to try new things and mess up while you are learning.  I taught myself to use wood filler, and next up is using a scroll saw.  We can all learn together, especially us newbies.

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