Monday, May 31

Things I've Learned

I love this little book. If you haven't read it, you need to. Life can really be sweet and simple if we just follow the wisdom here.

I thought of this book when I was cutting and pasting the wallpaper for the bedroom. Wallpapering a dollhouse is not rocket science, right? Scissors and glue are all you need. A ruler helps too!

I found lots of wallpapering instructions online and recipes for wallpaper paste. Since I'm not much of a cook, I decided that real wallpaper paste might be the best way to go? This stuff is great and ready to use.

A word to anyone, like me, who is attempting this for the first time - wet wallpaper tears easily! At least the wallpaper I used did.

If you can cut your window openings before you hang the paper that helps. I did that with the new window on the side wall. The window in the back of the room was very hard to get to and very hard to trim out.

If you look closely you can see the paper on the back wall is a bit too short. I should have measured three times instead of twice. The furniture and accessories will hide any of my little mistakes anyway...

So now it's on with the floor!


I'm left-handed and all of the scissors and other tools I have are right-handed. I've learned to deal with a right-handed world just as I've tried to maintain my childlike enthusiasm for trying new things. Yes, I could get left-handed scissors but I'm too stubborn.

I found that my free bandage scissors work the best for cutting these little sticks. I'll have to buy the next pair! The sticks are all cut. Now it's time to sand each one and glue them down. That should keep me busy and out of trouble for a while.

Hope you have a happy Memorial Day. Remember the families of those who died to protect our freedom. Pray for those who are serving now, like Deborah's hubby. If it weren't for them, perhaps we would not be able to play house like we do.

Most of what I really need
To know about how to live
And what to do and how to be
I learned in kindergarten.
Wisdom was not at the top
Of the graduate school mountain,
But there in the sand pile at Sunday school.

These are the things I learned:

Share everything.
Play fair.
Don't hit people.
Put things back where you found them.
Clean up your own mess.
Don't take things that aren't yours.
Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody.
Wash your hands before you eat.
Flush.
Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
Live a balanced life -
Learn some and think some
And draw and paint and sing and dance
And play and work everyday some.
Take a nap every afternoon.
When you go out into the world,
Watch out for traffic,
Hold hands and stick together.
Be aware of wonder.
-Robert Fulghum

Blessings,
Kathi

3 comments:

Nina in Germany said...

Hallo Kathi,
do you know
http://moreminis.blogspot.com/ ?
There you will find much help with wallpapers and housebuildings.

So long, Nina

Maia's Twinkle Miniatures said...

Kathi, I'm listening to the e-book narrated my the author right now! How funny that you posted about it... I'm really enjoying it.
Maia

Tabitha Corsica said...

Hi Kathi, I tried to post this yesterday but could seem to get it to "take". I had a dear friend who owned a dollhouse shop and she gave me many tips over the years.

One was that it is easier to apply wallpaper if you hold off on the window, door and baseboard trim till after. Just glue the paper to the wall (over all the openings and all the way to the floor) and trim once the paper is dry. Perfect every time! Also, I find that it is easier to put the wallpaper paste directly on the wall rather than on the paper. Wet paper will stretch and sometimes tear but that problem can be all but eliminated this way.

Paper the side walls first, leaving a smidgeon of overlap on the back wall. Then put the paper on the back wall and no seam or edge should be visible.

Some miniaturists put the paper on a pre-cut piece of matboard and then attach the matboard to the wall. I have only done this for room boxes. But I think when one is "re-decorating" an existing dollhouse where the trim is already firmly in place, this technique would be helpful.

Tabitha