Friday, June 7, 2013

A Little Rehab Work

Another post by Chris:

 I've been able to get a few things done with my hand out of commission. I mentioned that I have been having fun building up a little library. I have been going through books reading up on technique, and putting post-its on pages with projects I'd like to tackle once I can have the use of both hands back. Today I organized my little library on the bookshelf that is home to my sheet music library.













While I was organizing, I decided to do some repair work on a piece of furniture my aunt had with her Arthur dollhouse. I reattached one of the cabinet doors and replaced 3 knobs on the drawers.



It is a darling piece, but I am going to have to give it more attention than I did. Apparently, she put the hinges on with hot glue and it is a hot mess where they are attached.


I
I wonder if she built this piece and made the accessories. I love the little Butterick patterns and the sewing box.  She also has a treadle sewing machine, a dressmaking form, and a basket of knitting included with the house. Erma was quite the crafts person herself, so these are sweet touches.






Sadly, no one told her not to use hot glue on her dollhouse builds.

This is the landing to the staircase in the Arthur; another hot glue sob story. I have read that a blow dryer will soften the glue enough to remove it. I might work on this repair this evening. 


It is a charming house and needs a name. Any ideas? 

 It needs TLC around the gingerbread. I'm not really certain whether I'll need to build new pieces for the ones that are broken off. It seems like the most logical thing to do. The rest of the roof trim is pretty solidly glued in. Suggestions are very welcome.

 The brick foundation is coming off. I am torn about what to do about it. This is the way Erma built it, but I don't really like the brickwork. It is
prefab and looks it. I am tempted to tear it all off and either make a paper clay brick or stone foundation. Both of those projects will have to be for after my right hand is working again.

 Meanwhile, I am enjoying getting the things done that I can with one and one half hands. It IS summer; time to play!
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4 comments:

  1. snowkittyJune 10, 2013 at 7:57 PM

    Maybe you should call it "The Erma."

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  2. Powellgirlz3June 11, 2013 at 3:27 AM

    Thank you, Hannah. After thinking about it for a long time, and thinking about Aunt Erma, I decided to call it Chez Erma, or Erma's Home in French. This was Erma's style and I think she would have liked it. I can't wait to see what you do with your dollhouse this summer!

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  3. elizabeth sJune 13, 2013 at 10:37 AM

    Hello Powellgirls3! I too had a rather broken down Arthur that I purchased from the thrift store and it was in real rough shape. It had the most HOT GLUE on it that I had ever seen on a doll's house. I had to be brutal and clean it all off and then repair the gouges with some spackle and begin from the bottom and fix what bugged me rather than try to ignore it! With your Arthur or Chez Erma, I would suggest that you take some time before you jump in to making any changes to see what you would like to keep in memory of your aunt and what is needing correcting to make the house special to YOU. The house is a very pretty color and is quite charming! It looks to be in the American Country style which is always a great look in full size as well as in mini!

    elizabeth

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    Replies
    1. Powellgirlz3June 13, 2013 at 11:42 AM

      Thank you, Elizabeth. I totally agree with keeping the house the way Erma had intended it. The only rehab I want to do is repair work to the hot glued stair rails, the roof gingerbread, and the foundation. I may make the foundation stone instead of the pre-made brickwork that has deteriorated. I haven't quite decided on that yet.

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