Wonderhouse....!
I Left You, Dear Readers, still at the very beginning of my Adventures with the Fairy-Tale Wonderhouse kit, and already well embarked on a divergent course from the Original! Yes, it is True, I have the well ingrained habit of starting something that looks utterly perfectly enchanting just as it is and then saying,"But.... I would really like it better if..." and proceeding to go it my own way. This only Sometimes causes me really serious construction problems down the road... but I think in this case I am managing to stick to mostly just "cosmetic" changes, not entire make-overs! I proceeded to build the little desk corner entirely to specs with only the modification to the darker paint color for the woodwork. The curtain went according to plan (inside the plastic "glass" window pane) and the "printies" that liberally adorn every wall in this kit all are so far right where they should be! But I can't tell you just how much fun it is to look at every single bit of printed stuff and realize it is ALL about houses or dollhouses from RL! Practically the very first one I located and "removed" from the printed sheet nearly knocked me off my feet!
Here you can see a "bunch" more has been added...
tools in the wall rack, extra stuff under the desk,
a bulletin board ready to hang up...
oh, and a lovely vase with a flower on that window sill...
Which you can see a bit better in the morning light!
(I do apologize in advance for the numerous darkish photos...
I work in an old house that has poor lighting...
that is good enough to make do but not great for photography.....
and I forget to pay attention while I am making stuff!)
And because this little "studio corner"
needs to be entirely fitted out before
moving on to the rest of the structure....
I needed to follow the steps and make all those little things ...
like glue bottles... (above) and paint cans...
And occasionally seeing something that
I Knew had to be "modified" to fit my "taste"....
in this case the coffee cup becomes a "teacup"
with the tea bag tag still hanging over the side....
because I am a tea drinker!
Can you see it back there... in the corner
where it is "designed" to sit on top of a book about dollhouses...
(even though I Never put a cup of tea on top of books...!)...
and that paint can with the stick still sticking up....
(who left that there!!! ??? !)...
and I nearly died when I saw that the stick has
words on it that say "magic brush"...!!!!!)
Truly I was shocked at the minute wondrous
details that are in every aspect of this kit!!!
Here you can see the wall at the other side
of the main room is being glued in place..
Which gives more definition to the main room itself...
and I have added the golden "clouds" cornice trim
to the top of the walls.
The ceiling frame needed to be painted and attached
so the lights could all be glued in place...
You can see here I am weighting it down
with a lovely heavy piece of agate......
Then the whole thing needs to be upside-down
to do the careful gluing of the light string
across all the wooden framework...
Which is so wonderfully visible in the morning light!
And all the lamps are hanging from the correct places....
except for the rest of the "light string" that
continues across the front opening door....
which I need to get assembled...
Which I am starting by painting those window openings the dark brown!
And gluing on the interior wall papers...
And painting the pieces needed for the "Front Door" of the Shop!
This door required hinges... but not screws!
This gave me a few moments of panic!
It has been a long time since I used a hinge without screws!
But this wood was clearly not equal to the task
of housing screws.... (way too thin and delicate)...
and the method was to sandwich the hinge flanges
between the layers of wood... all glued together!
But the first glue I used (wanting it to be "Strong")
was the wrong kind.... and squeezed itself
into the moving parts of the hinges... NOT okay...
and had to be carefully extracted.... (mostly successfully)...
and started over.
Second try I used a dot of superglue and
a dot of white craft glue (Aleene's)
and glued them fairly quickly into the
finished "sandwiched" location on the Front panel.
It worked. The hinges work,
the door opens nicely... All good so far!
But I forgot to take any pictures during all that panic!
And the opening windows on the front wall
also needed to be painted and have "glass"
added to their openings...!
Which required some very delicate fitting and
the addition of an extra layer of "cardboard frame"
to be glued over the glass panel on the inside of the window...
here it too has already been painted the dark brown and glued in place.
(These windows have built-in "pin hinges" so no metal hinges are used.)
And the decor for the Exterior Front Wall also
needed assembling and gluing in place.
The paper wrinkled alarmingly in the two printed side panels...
but I can live with it!
So many other items will cover most of them anyway.
The really Tricky part, Dear Readers,
was the Front Display Window that sticks out on
the front with treasures on display on the shelves inside....
and the kit has them open to the elements!!!
"Glass" windows were essential for my peace of mind!
And yet, the wooden framework was
really slender and delicate on the sides....
was there room to glue the "panes" in place?
Just barely!
But first it was time to glue the Front Panel to the Base....
making sure it was completely vertical!
Oh, and I forgot to show the Front panel with the
top decor in place.... and the front door too!
But the bump-out window can't be assembled
until the wall is glued to the base...
the whole thing swings open when the kit is opened up.
Here you can see the Display Window foundation is in place.
Here the Display Windows have been attached....
this required a lot of testing and pieces falling down
before I could be sure of the proper order for gluing.
But it worked in the end!
And all this while I have also been
assembling little pieces of the decor...
in this case the top shelf in the Studio had some items...
one was a lovely paper house...
that I thought could use a tiny bit of landscape....
And some snow!
Because there is a snowman printed on the front of the house....
all it needed was a little bit on the ground too!
(Because it has been snowing a lot around here!)
And the front opening windows have also been glued in place!
And the Whole Front panel has been
Hinged to the Main body of the kit!
Regular hinges with screws were used this time...
and I am not used to working with MDF...
it is a bit soft... but the hinges are sturdy and work fine!
And then the rest of the lights needed to be
glued in place across the front wall...
in the window, over the door and in the display cabinet
.
The bulk of the "shell" construction is finished, Dear Readers,
but I think I have just begun
the Adventure of the Tiny Decorations
in this Fairy-Tale Wonderhouse!
