Re-Wallpapering the Dollhouse

Dining Room, 1996-ish

Dining room after (2021)

Does anyone else redecorate their dollhouse?  I purchased mine in 1996 (while on maternity leave).  I SLOWLY worked on it room by room and now, 25 years later I still have 2 of the 13 rooms unfinished.  I'm curious if anyone else is in the same boat?  I guess it follows actual life because we sometimes update the kitchen without updating the bedroom but a 25 year difference in decorating styles within the same house?

Anyway, that's my situation.  Most of the house was decorated in the 1990s and only recently did I start working on the last 3 rooms.  Regarding this dining room, in 2011 I had a problem with electricity.  I had to peel back the wallpaper to repair the wiring in the dining room and decided that would be a good time to change that wallpaper since I really didn’t like it anymore.   I did like it at the time I papered it but ... changed my mind.

I was really into toile back then (2011).  I love the kind of odd combination of green and purple (see my green & purple kitchen HERE.)  So I really wanted to switch to a toile wallpaper.  I was inspired by some lovely vintage green toile wallpaper by Beehive Studios (from the 1970s).  It was sort of papery, not very thick so I decided to mount it onto some poster board then glue the poster board to the walls (over the top of the old wallpaper).  The poster board would also cover the wiring where I had to solder some connections.

I measured and cut pieces of poster board for the 3 walls and cut out the window and door openings.  Then I glued the wallpaper to the poster board using “Yes” wallpaper glue and an old credit card to spread it.  You can see in one of the photos below I allowed the new wallpaper to extend about ¼ inch beyond the poster board on both vertical sides of the back wall piece.  You’ll see why below.  I also used a brayer to remove bubbles and weighted it down overnight.

In the room I had to remove all the trim around doors and windows (I hadn't gotten as far as putting in baseboard or crown molding at that time).  Then I glued in the papered poster board starting with the back wall. I used the brayer again to remove bubbles before bracing.

Photo below is of how I glued and braced the wallpapered poster board using a book and wood strip scraps wedged between the walls.  The book was to hold the poster board to the wall as flat as possible and take up some space since my wood scraps were too short.  I used clamps and more wood scraps around the doorway.

Below - old and new wallpaper.  You can see here why I let the green toile paper extend on both sides of the poster board  - so there would not be any gaps or old wallpaper showing through at the corners.

I left the bottom section of the walls un-papered because I wanted to simulate faux paneling on the lower half of the wall.  I really liked some woodwork I saw on another blog that were French style, sort of scallop shaped.  I cut paper patterns for the different areas using different sizes for the areas below the windows, and between the windows. 

For the lower panels, I cut the shapes out of very thin 1/32^nd inch thick basswood and then sanded the outer edges so they  were beveled and sloped toward  the wall.

 

Deciding on sizes and positions of panels to fit in wall sections

I glued the panels (probably with Ultimate glue, I can’t remember) and used wood to brace again because they kind of curled from the glue.

I painted over the panels and wall in the off-white color (“buttermilk”).  Then I aged them – just a tiny bit with diluted paint – mixture of burnt umber and raw umber.

 

Above photos shows aging wash before some was wiped off

Lightly aged panels - has just a little 'wear' from grubby hands and dust

Finished Room (back in 2011):

Here is the same room with chandelier (finally hung!) and drapes I recently made (May 2021).  I was trying for the green and purple color scheme with the carpet and drapes.  You can't tell in the photo but the dishes on the table are purple too (see close up below).  Carpet was an Etsy purchase, artist unknown but it may be a Harry Whalon design.

Vintage 1980s(?) magenta dishes by Jo Parker and Jo Berbiglia petit point dining chair seats to keep with the green and purple color scheme.

Incidentally, here is a fun fact.  No one really knows this BUT my dollhouse was used as the background for a children's music video produced by Joe McDermott - a musician in Austin.  Here is the link if you want to check it out.  It's called "Holiday Cooking Set".  He found me through my blog and came to my house to photograph the dollhouse then used it as a background.  Those chairs the kids are sitting in are the chairs from this dollhouse.  And the thanksgiving dinner I made that was in the dining room above.

Well, readers, hope you can use this info to redecorate when you get tired of your current wallpaper!  It can be done!

How do you Glue That?

Are you a miniaturist and not sure what glue to use for a particular project?  Something that is unique about the dollhouse miniatures hobby is that incorporates many other hobbies such as woodworking, sewing, paper crafting, jewelry/beading, etc. This can be daunting and intimidating for new miniaturists.  How does one know what glue is best for wood furniture kits?  How to glue fabric to cardboard? How to glue Foam Core together?  What is the best glue for beads?

For my last blog of 2021 I have assembled some hints and tips for dollhouse miniaturists on different types of glues.   Here are some of the glues I refer to below:

Chart of Glue Uses for Miniatures:

	Paper, card-board	Wood	Foam Core	Plastic	Fabric	Crystal, beads	Metal
Crafter’s Pick Ultimate	Yes	Yes (to paper)	Yes	Yes (to wood)	Yes		Small items
Sobo					Yes
Fabri-Tac					Yes
Spray Adhesive	Yes (Wallpaper)
Wood Glue		Yes
GS Hypo Cement						Yes	Jewelry Findings
E6000						Yes	Yes
Loctite Super Glue (Gel)				Yes (to plastic)			Yes
Two-part Epoxy							Yes

Here are the glues I like best and what I use them for:

For paper, fabric, cardboard, foam core and gluing any of those things to wood I use Crafter’s Pick “The Ultimate” glue.  This glue really lives up to its name since it can be used for almost anything! Though I don’t use their bottle (ever!).  Instead, for a tinier line of glue, I transfer it into paint bottle with a small tip [see hints below].  I have tried it in those needle tipped bottles and it is too thick for those.  The only thing I don’t like about this glue (besides its bottle) is that it balls up if you try to sand it so I never use it for gluing wood to wood.  Here are two hints for using "The Ultimate" glue:

Alternate Glue Bottle

Hint #1 – get the slick paint (dimensional paint) or glass stain in plastic bottles with a tiny tip on clearance and dump out the paint.  Rinse well with water then rinse with Isopropyl Alcohol (rubbing alcohol) to remove all the water.  Let dry then fill with glue. 

Hint #2 - It’s a pain to transfer it into the new bottle.  I use a small skinny spatula and tap, tap, tap it down into the new bottle allowing air bubbles to come to the top to make room for more glue.  I don’t know why glue manufacturers don’t package glue in bottles with tiny tips (for miniaturists, eggers, modelers, etc!

For ribbon bows and anything requiring a very tiny line like upholstery cord trim I use Sobo glue in one of the needle type glue applicators.  The only reason I don’t use “The Ultimate” is because it is too thick for the needle applicator.

For fabric, I use either Fabri-Tac, Sobo, or Ultimate Fabric glue.  Fabri-Tac is a solvent glue but very tacky and doesn’t seem to seep through most fabrics.  It holds very well but is smelly and hard to clean off your fingers.  Sobo is a thinner white glue and may seep through silk so be careful.  When using Sobo and gluing to cardboard, let it get a little tacky first (on seam or edge where it won't show) before pressing to the other surface.  Examples of things I have used fabric glue on are hats, upholstering (wrapping fabric around a cardboard form covered with padding), draperies (gluing pleats to cardboard backing), lampshades.  I usually don’t use solvent glues when I’m teaching a class because someone in a room will be bothered by it.

Another product for fabric, not a glue but for sealing edges of fabric seams, I use Fray Check.  It’s amazing how you can seal a very narrow clipped edge then sew it, turn it inside out and it will hold!  I’ve even made tiny stuffed animal bears out of velvet ribbon using the tiniest cut pieces sealed with Fray Check.  See my earlier blogs on making pillows from vintage hankies where I have used this product.

For gluing wood to wood I use any wood glue because it can be sanded.  Wood glue also grabs pretty quickly and holds strongly.

For Mini jewelry or rhinestones or crystal beads glued to metal or glass I use GS Hypo Cement.  This glue doesn’t fog up crystals like some of the other Super-type glues.  But it does try to ooze out while you are holding it due to the heat of your hands.  Also get the smallest tube (unless you do TONS of rhinestones) because it does dry out if you don’t keep it tightly capped.  Uses: beads, cabinet hardware, jewelry findings.

For metal to anything I have these favorites:

• 
  Loctite Gel Super Glue.  I especially like that it doesn’t seem to clog (you can leave it open for a long time) and I like how the bottle is easy to squeeze to get only a tiny amount. If it does close up I use a long ball head pin to unclog the opening.
  
• E6000 (see photo above).  This is a solvent glue so it has a smell and dries very fast.  But if you get it positioned before it dries it is very strong.  Use for gluing jewelry findings together, also works for beads (as in gluing lamps) and it doesn’t fog crystals.  Other uses: gluing hardware into wood drawers, cabinets.  Also gluing acetate windows into cabinets (since it doesn’t fog plastic).  I also use it for gluing brass parts for light fixtures where they don’t need to be supportive (for that I use two-part Epoxy).
• Two-part epoxy.  a little harder to use than the E6000 because you have to mix equal parts from two tubes with a toothpick then apply.  But I have never had it not set up – or in other words I haven’t used too much from one tube such that it didn’t work.  You have to work fast and have your parts all ready to go, trial fitted, etc.  I use this for making light fixtures where metal has to be glued to metal and it has to stand up to being knocked around or holding the weight.  Also good for jewelry findings.
  

For Plastic to plastic – I also like the Loctite Super Glue especially if I need a quick set.  For plastic glued to wood, paper, etc I would probably use Ultimate glue.

For Wallpaper – I started out using Yes glue up until about a year ago.  My entire dollhouse was wallpapered with this.  You have to use a credit card to smooth it on and a brayer to smooth out the bubbles.  But recently found that when using a very old container which had turned quite brown, it did show through a light background wallpaper.  So very recently I have been using a spray adhesive for my wallpapering.  I am not brand loyal yet as I have only used what I had on hand (Elmer’s brand and another one from the dollar store).   I spray the back of the wallpaper outdoors on a piece of cardboard then apply the paper to the surface.  I find this to be less messy and you can find the repositionable kind.  Crafter’s Pick Ultimate could also be used for small sections of wallpaper but I wouldn’t use it on large areas unless you were able to smooth it out really well.

Special Circumstances

For any situation where you need strength plus immediate ‘grab’ and can’t really clamp – use a combination of Ultimate (or Tacky type glue) PLUS a dot of Super Glue.  This is a trick I learned a long ago from Brooke Tucker when I took one of her workshops.  She used this for gluing wood braces in place behind the false walls.  The super glue provides the immediate ‘grab’ to hold the piece in place until the Tacky dries (Tacky provides the long-term strength).  You can even put the dot of Super glue right in the center of the Tacky blob.  Or spread out dots of each along the length of the piece, Tacky, Super, Tacky, Super, etc.  You just have to hold the piece in place until the super glue is dry then let the white glue dry on its own.  I find it helpful for mounting brackets on exterior walls, exterior wood trim, things that are kind of heavy but can’t be clamped.

Hanging pictures or objects on dollhouse walls (non-permanently) – instead of “Blue Tack” (which

I used to use for years) I now use only Mini Hold wax.  This is a sticky wax for holding vases on mini furniture but I have found it very useful to temporarily hang objects on walls.  I don’t like to permanently mount anything on my dollhouse walls because I like to re-decorate.  A few years ago I purchased an old 1980s dollhouse.  All the items on the walls had been mounted with that sticky wax.  I was able to scrape it off with a palette knife and there was ALMOST NO RESIDUE AT ALL!! Also no 'grease' stain like you see from the white or blue tack poster hold products.  And scraping didn’t damage the wallpaper, either.  I couldn’t even tell afterwards where the items had been on the wall.  That wax had been there for about 30 years.  The lady even hung her curtains with it. The only caveat may be that it might not be so easily scraped off of papery wallpaper (non-vinyl type – like J. Hermes or scrapbook paper) or textured paper.  I use Mini Hold wax to mount plates, artwork, sometimes even shelves holding light items. 

Yellowing - some glues dry more yellow than others. Here is a test plate I made back in 2014 of several different glues.  For some reason I forgot to ever put a blob of Sobo on this test plate but from all the other glues you can see that Crafter’s Pick Ultimate is the most clear after 7 years.  The regular “Tacky” (in the gold bottle) seems to be the most yellow.

One final note - there is one glue I have never used for miniatures: Hot Melt (glue gun).  I haven't ever assembled a dollhouse kit so I don't know if hot glue is useful for tab and slot kits but I don't see glue guns as very useful in miniatures.

I hope this has been helpful to my readers to prevent your buying expensive glues unnecessarily.  Please leave me any questions you might have about glues and I will try to answer them.  HAPPY NEW YEAR to all my blog readers!