First things to toss

The first items to toss:

1. 20 bras (trash) too worn and too small 3 bras (donate) victoria secrets in good shape

2. Hair removal kit (trash) Oh, my this is old.  I did keep this plastic popsicle shaped stick which I thought might come in handy with the dollhouse.

3. Elmer's stainable wood glue (trash) mostly hardened

4. 4 plug outlet from Egghead Discout Software (trash) the switch on the side is stuck.  Does anyone remember Egghead?  That's like 20 years ago.

5. Conair lotion container warmer.  It was always causing me troubles but still works if someone has the patience. (donate)

6. Fabric pill shaver (donate) I think I had this back in college.  If a sweater is in that bad a shape that I need to use it I'll just toss the sweater.

7. 4 indoor timers (donate) I kept 2 just in case.  We used these 13 years ago at our townhome for electric christmas candles in each window.  I donated the candles years ago but hung onto the timers.  Silly.

8. Pedicure stuff - special socks, brush, ridge filler etc... (donate)  just don't look at my feet okay.

9. Nile file and emery boards (donate) I never liked nail files and emery boards ... give me those new softer emery board things.

10. Earplugs (donate) a friend of mine sleeps with them every night and I thought this might not be such a bad idea...it was horrible...I couldn't stand the way they felt in my ears.

Well that's 10 only 40 more to go.  It would have been 39 more to go but my daughter insisted on keeping the vanity mirror for herself.  Let's see how many other things get pulled out of the bag.

Throw Out Fifty Things

Well, I checked out this book from our local library on a whim.  It's by Gail Blanke.  You're suppose to throw out fifty things...really.  You're suppose to start in the bedroom and you have to write down everything you toss.  Plus if you toss say 5 socks that's 1 item not 5.  Tricky huh!!  I figured that if I wrote this on my blog I was commited to this.  Wish me luck.

Next step stone work

Since I had experience with mosaics, I decided to put field stone around the dollhouse. I glued the stones to the dollhouse using quick grip. It was fairly easy to break or cut the field stone with an X-acto knife. After the glue dried, I applied the mortar mix. The stones were very porous which caused to them to absorb much of the mortar mix. I wasn't real happy with this since the field stones lost some variety in coloring which I really liked. I found it valuable to apply the mortar mix using a children medicine dispenser. This way I avoided getting a ton of excess mortar on the surface of each field stone.


After the mortar mix was good and dry. I waited at least 2 days. I then applied a clear satin polyurethane varnish to seal the field stone and mortar. I really liked the result. I no longer had a dusty feel to the area and the field stones popped more.

First Attempt

I decided to prime the walls and ceiling of the dollhouse. I had read in several places that it is best to prime them because then the grain of the wood will not show through the wallpaper or paint. It was a tedious task. I dribbled one spot on my hardwood floor and will have that boo..boo on the hardwood floor for a very very long time to remind me of my haste.

History of the dollhouse

Each dollhouse has a name. In this case "Lady Westerner". It was produced by the Dollhouse Mfg. Co. in N.J. As far as I understand the factory burned shortly after this model was manufactured and proceeded to go out of business. The date on the instructions is 1985. My mother-in-law purchased the dollhouse completely assembled as far as I'm aware. The width on the dollhouse is 31". It opens by raising the roof and then opening the front wall just like a giant door. This is traditionally how the Europeans would design their dollhouses. Americans traditionally leave the back wall open to get into each room.

Dollhouse The Beginning

Back before I even meet my husband, my Mother-in-law had a dollhouse she had purchased at this large dollhouse store in Elgin, IL. She painted part of the exterior a burnt red. She also purchased lots of furniture. Shortly after her death the dollhouse found a new home with us. My father-in-law thought that our daughter might enjoy it and he was right. I hoping the she can pass this down to her children.