Doing It-Projects with CSBergman - Arts and crafts, writing, home and garden, dollhouse and miniatures, pets, and anything else!

How to add a stud in the wall to sturdy a towel bar

So this is an unexpected post. I had a guest use my shower recently and they apparently yanked the towel off of our towel bar, pulling one end of the bar, drywall anchor and all, out of the wall. Suffice it to say, I am not pleased. While I don’t have a photo of the towel bar in situ, this is what I am working with.

After some youtube reviewing, I have decided to cut a hole in the drywall to expose the studs on either side of the towel bar and insert a 2×4 to use a new stud to anchor the towel bar to. Then I will have to patch the drywall and put the towel bar back on, screwing it into the new stud so this doesn’t happen again.

This is a handled device that holds a saw blade so you can use it as a one-sided saw. It is working for now but i have to be careful to cut slowly and not cut in long strokes or the blade will bend. I am using a hacksaw blade because that is what I had on hand, but they do make saws specifically for drywall and I am sure they work better than this one.

To start out, I tapped around on my wall to discern where the existing vertical studs are. This isn’t a very scientific approach, but I don’t have a stud finder. Then I inserted my little saw into the big hole left over from the towel bar and slowly cut a hole between the two vertical studs in the area I need the towel bar to be. I am trying to cut the drywall at an angle so I might be able to pop it back into place when I am finished, like a big patch, although this little saw is difficult to control without bending the blade.

Once I had sawn to the edge of the vertical stud, I gently pulled on the drywall until it popped up.

This stud is in the middle of my towel bar area.

The stud to the left. I will have to cut farther than my hole on that side.

Next, after both vertical studs are exposed, I have to measure the space between them so I can cut a piece of wood to fit across.

Next I cut a piece of wood to fit the space. It’s not quite a 2×4 but should work.

Then I found some long screws that I had available and pre-screwed them into the ends of the board, unscrewing it just enough that they don’t protrude on the ends.

Predrilling screws to make it easier to install.

Then, very carefully so as not to drop our hard earned wood into the wall, I shoved it into the wall space and screwed it in. I was careful to leave enough space between the edge of my new stud and the inside edge of the drywall to allow for the edges of my screws, which will stick out slightly from the board’s surface.

It’s not pretty, but it should hold the towel rack as long as I use long enough screws on the towel rack. I will also have to be careful not to over tighten the screws on the towel rack, as I don’t want my drywall to crack because of the gap between drywall and wood.

Now that both studs are installed, it is time to clean up and prepare for patching the drywall.

This is what I plan to use for my patch job, along with the pieces of drywall that I cut out.

First, I used the all purpose compound to mud the edges of the hole. I figure this will act as a glue.

Then i shoved the pieces of drywall back in place, carefully piecing them into the same locations, making sure not to push them too far into the hole.

Next i used the mudding spatula to put a thin layer of mud around the edges of the cuts.

Then i cut off pieces of the mudding tape to push into the mud so they are glued in place. I taped them over the cracks so the cracks won’t be as noticeable.

With a few pieces of tape over the cracks.

Once the tape is where i want it, I put another thin layer of mud over the tape to hide it. Then I used the spatula to make the compound mixture as flat and smooth as I can. I will sand it once it is dried, but it will be helpful not to have mounds of uneven compound to sand off.

With all of the tape on, plastered over with the mudding.

Now I let it dry for at least 24 hours, per the compound instructions.

After the patch dried completely, I found a few shallow areas where it shrank into a hole. I skimmed another thin coat of plaster patch over those areas.

A small depression where the patch shrank into the hole.

A fresh coat skimmed over the depression and smoothed out.

After the plaster is smoothed to your liking and has completely dried out, it is time to sand. I used an electric sander because I have one handy, but it was messy and also sanded some areas more than I would have liked.

This electric sander got dust all over my bathroom and over sanded some areas because it isn’t as easy to control as a hand sander.

Ideally I should have used a hand sanding block or a sanding sponge. Anyway, this is the result.

Oversanded. There are a few areas where the paper tape is showing.

After sanding, I vacuumed off the dust, and then wiped it down with a damp cloth. As far as the exposed tape is concerned, I am hoping that my paint will cover most of it.

It may take a couple of coats of paint to cover the dried plaster, but once it is done you can proceed to rehanging your towel bar.

My paint job isn’t as beautiful as it could have been, but it is so much better than it was!

In retrospect I should have put another skim of the plaster patch on after sanding to properly cover the tape, as there is now a small bubble under the paint where the tape is. I can live with it, however, as I have always been more about function as far as these things are concerned, as long as it doesn’t draw my eye (I am only noticing the bubble now in the photos as it isn’t that obvious otherwise).

Anyway, I hope this helps!

Identifying Ancient Horseshoes–keyhole horseshoes of Great Britain

As a passive collector of horseshoes, I decided one day to attempt to discern the ages of several shoes that I felt were older. I live in the United States. Most shoes in my area aren’t much more than 150-200 years old, with anything older than that a fine treasure, indeed! Ironically, good information about aging the shoes of horses in the United States is very hard to come by. I did, however, find some good articles and even books on horseshoes from Great Britain.

It seems that nail-on horseshoes have been around for centuries—almost a thousand years, even. During that time, changes in shoe-making evolved according to new discoveries in farriery and blacksmithing. It seems that every century or so saw a new style of horseshoe become popular for different reasons, such as altering the shape of the shoe to allow the frog of the hoof to make contact with the ground, adding more nail holes, alterations for traction, or adding an extra piece of metal to the hoof-side to keep the shoe from slipping and falling off. What is wonderful about all of this is that these discoveries and changes were usually documented in advertisements and journals.

I have discovered three great sources, so far, on dating English horseshoes. One is the Museum Of London, who has a website. They took photos of many old shoes and listed them online, along with their estimated dates. It has been enormously useful in testing myself on dating, and to discover possible dates for unusual shoes in my own collection.

Another good source is a book called ‘The Medieval Horse and its Equipment’ from The Museum of London, edited by John Clark

This book has excellent material on dating and categorizing the older shoes that were found in London.

A third excellent source is the Shire Album ‘Old Horseshoes’ by Ivan G. Sparks.

This book has a nice history of shoes found in England. The author categorizes them slightly differently than the Museum of London book, but I believe the dates that he uses are pretty much the same. This book also lists shoes that are post-medieval, which is nice.

Studying these sources I have learned a little about ancient horseshoes, at least in Great Britain.

With this article, using these sources, I will show off some of the keyhole horseshoes I have in my collection. These shoes were bought from a metal detectorist in Great Britain.

One of my favorite examples of a keyhole shoe. The fuller doesn’t extend all the way around the shoe so it may be older.

The keyhole shoe tends to be larger and heavier than its predecessors, and the thick branches and heavy heels form sort of a keyhole shape in the center, thus its name. It was mainly used on draft horses. Because the shoe is heavier, it tends to have more nail holes than previous shoes (older shoes tend to have 6 holes, 3 on each branch). Of the 5 keyhole shoes that I have, 3 of them have 8 holes (4 on each branch), 1 has at least 10 holes, and the smallest (which is pony sized) has only 6 holes (because it is a smaller shoe).

Notice the concavity. Also how thick this shoe is!

As in the shoe above, apparently the calkins on keyhole shoes are a slight turning downwards of the heel. This is to add more grip on the ground surface.

Keyhole shoes also tend to have a concave foot surface. Some have calkins on the heels as well, and some have a fuller (a groove that extends along the branches that the nail holes are in). Mine all have fullers, although some of the fullers are more pronounced than others. Apparently the keyhole shoes from 1700 and onward have a fuller that extends along the whole shoe, heel to toe, while older ones tended to only be fullered along the holes on each branch.

This shoe is fullered all the way around the shoe, so it may be 1700’s or later.

This shoe has a fuller all the way around, and may be from 1700 or later.

This shoe is fullered all the way around, and is probably from 1700 or later.

The keyhole shoes were more popular from the mid 1600’s to the 1800’s.

I think one of the reasons I like these shoes so much is because they are so easily recognized by their distinctive shape, which is in sharp contrast to most of the shoes you see today.

The Big Antique Family Dollhouse

My newest acquisition. I was told that this dollhouse has been passed down through generations, and that it was made to resemble a family home. The previous owners decided that they didn’t have room for it and there was no longer an interest in keeping it, and so I purchased it.

Unfortunately my family recently lost the beloved real home of my grandparents, so this dollhouse came at a good time for me. It lost its family, and I lost a house. Maybe together we can find a little closure.

My ultimate plan is to turn this into my own family heirloom, as it slightly resembles my great-great-aunt’s house, which I have loved since childhood. It will only require new paint to emphasize the bricks, the addition of some small architectural details such as decorations in the roof peaks and some fancy brickwork, and replicas of a few family heirlooms.

This house doesn’t fit in my real house-it’s about 3 feet square. As a consequence it resides in my garage until I can get a bigger house, or make the door bigger! It’s fine, though, as I spend a lot of time in my garage. Anyway…

First things first, I decided that I need to get functional windows made and put in, to keep out any mice or insects.

I wrapped it in seran wrap over the winter to discourage pests. This is one wall of windows completed.

Using instructions posted in another article on this blog, I made all of the windows. Yay! Next, I wanted to make brick designs that go over the windows, to more closely resemble those found on my great-great-aunt’s house.

The bricks I added aren’t exactly the same as those on my aunt’s house, but I think with some creative painting I might pull off some similarity.

Fortunately for me, the house came with a few strips of wood with ‘bricks’ left over from the siding. It wasn’t quite enough to do the whole job, so I made more by gluing sandpaper to popsicle sticks, and then cut the sticks into brick-sized pieces.

Some of the old bricks and some of my ‘new’ ones made with popsicle sticks. They were virtually the same.

Now on to paint!

The paints I used. I used the paints right out of the bottle, plus mixed them together on a pallet to make new colors that are similar shades. I wanted them all to look like similar bricks but not all the same color.

I wanted them all to look similar yet different.

One side done. I will go back to the window bricks when the sides are all painted, and then, eventually, I will paint all of the trim.

When I am done with all sides plus the windows, my plan is to put a watered-down gray wash over the whole thing to add some weathering.

Here are some photos of the inside, which has not been touched (or unfortunately cleaned) yet.

Another bedroom. Love all of those angular ceilings!

Upstairs hallway, with stairs to the attic.

This house has lots of nice details, like closets and some built-ins, and the rooms are very big! The attic is only accessible by small windows. It does need some minor repairs, but it will be fun!

I am not sure how old this house is. When they say ‘generations’ it may just be made by grandma and given to grandchild. There is no real telling as I can see some updated items, and nothing points to this being an actual antique. It could be older, though, under its newer paint and flooring, as some houses are updated through the generations. I can say fairly confidently that it is one of a kind.

I can’t wait to get more done on this! This is my 13th dollhouse/structure. It’s nice because most of my houses have little projects that can be done on them, so I can pick and choose what I feel like working on on any given day. After the initial outside work, this house will be mostly a furniture-project house, as the inside is mostly decorated nicely already. Stay tuned for more updates!

How to clean Antique Horseshoes

I am an avid horseshoe collector, and often find myself in possession of a particularly rusty specimen that has been buried for years, if not centuries. I have tried several methods, with varying results, to remove excess rust so that any distinguishing characteristics are more easily recognized, such as the nails and any maker’s marks. These are a few methods that I have tried so far.

Very old British horseshoes before cleaning. I had to scrape off a LOT of flaky rust and dirt. If I hadn’t, they would shed a lot of grime with just handling them, as some of them had been buried for hundreds of years. Also, rust can be ongoing even after removing them from the ground, and I want to preserve them the best that I can.

Evapo-Rust. This product can be purchased at different hardware stores or auto supply stores. It’s a chemical that you can soak rusty parts in to get them clean. I have used this on my horseshoes and, while I did really like the results, I ended up soaking the shoes for far longer than the directions recommended. I had to soak them for a few hours, scrub them with a hard-bristled steel brush, and soak them again, over and over to achieve the desired results. Granted, if the shoes didn’t have a thick deposit of rust on them the job went very quickly, but for shoes with heavy accumulations of caked-on rust and grime, it was a very tedious process, and the chemical cost me about $25 a gallon. It only takes off so much rust before it needs to be disposed of and replaced, so for a lot of shoes it can be expensive.

This shoe was cleaned with Evapo-Rust. It looks about the same as one with Vinegar. There are a few flakes of fresh rust (the reddish brown. Dark brown is treated) where my Rustoleum didn’t cover well, or where I picked off a tiny chunk of treated rust afterwards, exposing untreated metal. It is important to spray SEVERAL COATS of paint on front and back, and the thin sides as well, to prevent further rust from forming and further damaging your shoe. I will have to put another coat on this one.

White Vinegar. This is my go-to method at the moment. I simply soak the shoes for about 20 minutes or so, scrub them with a steel-bristled brush to remove rust, and soak them some more until they look the way i want. Afterwards I soak them for a short time in water with baking soda in it to neutralize the acids from the vinegar. Be careful not to soak your items for too long in the vinegar, as it will eventually eat away at the metal. I vaguely recall trying this method when i was a child and being very disappointed when my shoes were very, very pitted after having been forgotten for, say, a month or so. It’s ok to soak them for that long if you keep checking on them and scrubbing to help the process, but if you throw them in the vinegar and forget about them forever, the chemical will eat into the metal.

I suspect that this shoe was one that I carelessly soaked in vinegar and forgot about as a child. Notice the excessive pitting and how some of the nail holes are eaten through at the edges. In my area, this shoe isn’t much older than 100-150ish years old. While being buried in different environments might cause this damage, the lack of rust makes me suspect it is from the vinegar accident of my childhood.

Vinegar is cheap and easily obtained. I keep an old covered tote with a gallon of vinegar to soak my shoes in. Afterwards I wash them with soap and water, using a soft scrub brush. I use hot water so they dry quickly, then finish off with a few coats of clear Rustoleum spray paint, which prevents new rust from forming.

A soap water scrub after removing most of the rust.

Whichever method you decide to use, you will want to remove as much dirt and flaky rust as possible beforehand. If the rust is really thick and flaky, I use a thin scraper of some sort to gently pry between the layers. Always wear safety goggles and be careful not to stab yourself with whatever you use. Only pry a tiny bit, as whatever you are trying to pry might be a part of the original metal, and you don’t want to ruin the piece. I merely pick at it and see what flakes off easily. After you have removed some of this surface rust, the chemicals will more easily get to the metal beneath.

Other methods. There are other methods that can be used, such as electrolysis or a grinding wheel. I have not used these methods, but i have shoes that were cleaned using them.

Electrolysis involves soaking the shoes and using electricity. It appears to work extremely well, but involves special equipment.

This shoe was cleaned using electrolysis. I bought it this way. Every bit of rust is gone, and if treated properly with rust-preventive chemicals like Rustoleum, wax, or etc., it will hopefully stay that way.

If using a grinding wheel, you can attach a wire wheel and use that to remove rust. There are also other attachments that can be used to buff the metal. My dad did this with one of my first horseshoes as a child. I worry that this method might damage the surface of the shoe, but on the backside of it I can make out a lot of detail from its original forging, so the scrape marks on the front could be original.

Front side. This shoe was cleaned with a grinding wheel.

Other Chemicals. You can use Coca Cola or lemon juice in the same way as the vinegar. I haven’t used these methods in years but they do work. Just don’t forget them in the solution!

Bear in mind that whatever method you use to remove the rust, if not treated properly and according to instructions, the rust will come back, sometimes even within minutes of being removed. I honestly don’t mind a little bit of rusty patina and have experimented with giving some of my freshly cleaned shoes a spritz of water and letting them sit for a day or so to get a little of the color before spraying them with clear Rustoleum to stop the process and preserve them. My main goal of cleaning them is to remove the thick rust that obscures detail.

This is an ancient shoe from Great Britain that I created a rusty patina on. It was cleaned with vinegar. Notice that it is very difficult to clean around nails and in nail holes, but cleaning the shoes will expose them enough to identify them better.

I also have a lot of more recent horseshoes that I did not remove the rust from, as it wasn’t as thick and obscuring. I simply clean them well with a wire brush if necessary, and then spray them with several coats of Rustoleum clear paint (the one that specifically stops rust). They still look good and stay protected.

This is the clear spray I use. Be sure to get the one that says ‘STOPS RUST’

This donkey (or small mule) shoe didn’t have a thick coat of rust, so I simply treated it with preserving clear paint.

In the end, the most important thing is preservation. Rust eats away at the metal of the shoe, and if not treated properly, it will continue to eat away at them after you find them. Make sure you don’t destroy them by soaking too long, and make sure you prevent further rust corrosion by treating them afterwards. After treating them it is important to store them in a dry environment to make sure the treatment works. I keep my prizes filed in narrow boxes with cardboard in between them, like a file cabinet.

While not very pretty, this storage works for me at the moment until i can find something that suits my tastes better. It has to be strong enough to support the weight of all of my shoes.

Hopefully, with proper care, these shoes will last for generations to come. (You’re welcome, kids! Have fun!)

How to Make Realistic Stone Bricks on a Pepperwood Farm Dollhouse

This is my Pepperwood Farm Dollhouse from previous posts, with an updated exterior!

I have debated for a long time on the exterior of my Pepperwood Farm dollhouse–it had light blue siding on it from a previous owner, and the siding wasn’t done very well, or maybe it shrank over time, and had a lot of gaps. I have wanted a brick dollhouse for a while, and when my husband said ‘no more dollhouses,’ (which is reasonable, I guess, as I have 13 in our small house), I decided to update my Pepperwood with some bricks!

It all came about as I wandered the aisles of our local Menards hardware store and stumbled on a pile of stone-like backsplash on clearance.

The backsplash. It is very rough and stone-like.

The backsplash came as strips of stone-like material, all held together with a big sticker on the back. I needed to separate these strips and then cut them into bricks to attach to my dollhouse.

Step 1: Separating the strips.

I used my handy-dandy box cutter and an old piece of wood as a cutting board, and scored the underlying sticker between the strips of bricks.

Individual strips.

Step 2: Cutting the strips into bricks.

I used my miter shears to carefully cut the stone pieces into bricks. This was very difficult work, but worth it in the end. I eventually discovered that it was to my benefit to point the shears inside a box to catch the bricks, to prevent them flying all over the place after being cut.

Using a box to catch the bricks.

Step 4: Placing the bricks.

Placing the first bricks. These have an adhesive back, so I just peeled the paper backing and stuck them in place! The grout mortar I will add afterword will help seal them to the house better.

More bricks! I used the copper strips that were in the backsplash to make ‘supports’ for the windows. I left space above the windows to make fancy brickwork later.

And more bricks.

Most of the bricks placed.

Brick arches above windows. I wanted it to be somewhat reminiscent of the brick farm houses common in my area.

Step 5: mortaring between the bricks.

This step was probably the hardest, most time-consuming dollhouse project I have yet accomplished. I can not begin to add up all of the many hours I spent performing this task.

I ended up using un-sanded tile grout, mixing it into a thin paste, filling a tiny squeeze bottle, and squeezing it between the bricks. I had to used a thick piece of wire to push the grout around in between the bricks to fill any gaps.

This is the squeeze bottle I used. It came with many fine tips but this one worked best. The grout ‘mortar’ had to be mixed to just the right consistency to be easily squeezed from the bottle, but not thin enough that it runs when you squeeze it in place.

Squeezing mortar between the bricks. The white mess in the lower left was from when I first started, trying to get the hang of it. I eventually touched the bricks up with paint there.

Using a thick wire ‘rod’ to push the mortar around to fill in gaps.

A little more progress.

More progress. Many hours of work. That is a cast iron door stopper holding the back of the dollhouse closed, so curious cats don’t sneak in and redecorate.

Almost done

Step 6: a stone foundation. I wanted to add this before aging the bricks, so i could age the foundation at the same time.

I wanted to make the bottom foundation more of a natural stone instead of bricks, so I thought I would try the egg carton/modpodge method. You start with a cardboard egg carton and break it into pieces (for this project I only needed one carton).

Egg carton

Then I used Modpodge and a cheap bristle paintbrush from DollarTree (I think it was a stencil brush).

I basically just pasted the cardboard pieces all over the base of the dollhouse so it looked like stones. I built them up in layers to add depth.

Doesn’t look like much while it is wet, but when it is dry…

So satisfying.

I eventually decided to keep the ‘stone’ on the base as-is, without painting it, so I went back through and added a few more pieces to cover up any writing left exposed on the cardboard.

Step 7: Aging.

I didn’t want the stark white grout between the bricks to stay that color, as it just isn’t very natural looking, so I knew right away that I would age it with some watered down paints.

Watered down acrylic paints and my good old bristle stencil brush. The bristle brush is good for digging into crevices with your weathering paints.

I ended up using brown, a little green, and a tiny bit of black, making various washes over different areas of the house to make it look weathered. Just like any real house, the weathering will not be consistent through the entire finish, as variations in architecture, sun exposure, potential leaks, water runoff, etc will create different effects. I just varied it enough to make it interesting.

Patting off excess paint with a paper towel.

Working paint into those cracks and crevices.

In a brighter light.

This house project took so MANY hours to complete, and my hands were so sore from squeezing that little squeeze bottle, but I am so pleased with how it all turned out. My next plans for this include making gutters to cover some of the white trim on the corners (I should have removed the trim before putting on the bricks, but hadn’t thought about it until it was too late). Also I have started remodeling the bathroom. Stay tuned for more!

How to Make Working Dollhouse Windows from Scratch

For my new-ish 1920’s style house, I had a hard time finding room for it and ended up keeping it on the floor, under a table that has another house on it. Unfortunately, my darling kitties have discovered that it has no plastic in the windows, and they can slip their paws in and play with my mess. (I have furniture inside, but the inside was basically stripped before I got the house–no trims, doors, flooring, even the wallpaper was ripped off the walls.) Anyway, I made it a priority to get windows on it.

At first I was just going to slap clear plastic into a frame and call it done. Then, after studying the working windows in my Pepperwood farm house, I decided that I might be able to make some working windows.

For this project, I collected clear plastic from different food containers to use as the ‘glass.’ It is clear, it is cheap, it is sturdy enough, and it is easily available. I have my own little collection that I have been building over the past couple of years for projects such as this, mostly the tops off mini doughnut lids from Walmart. Anyway, I also used Hardwood Outside Corner Trim from Menards. This trim has two equal sides that form a right angle to each other.

Hardwood Outside Corner Trim from Menards, with my handy dandy miter shears.

I also used my miter shears, wooden coffee stirrers, and wood glue.

First, I used the miter shears to cut the corner trim at the proper angles and sizes to make a frame inside the window. I glued the pieces together, so it is an inner frame for my window hole. When you hold it up, it will look like a picture frame where the outside of the frame is nice and flat, while the inside has a raised ridge that will hold the window workings.

Example of a measured and cut piece to line the inside of the window hole.

I placed the new inner window frame so that the section that looks smaller is pointing outward, while the side with the wider opening is pointing inward, to the interior of the house, and the side with the smaller opening is pointed outside.

The outside section of the frame is flat against the side of the house.

The inside section of the frame has a lip all around it to help hold in the window workings.

After this inner window frame is in place and the glue is dry, I started on the window workings.

First I cut a piece of clear plastic to fit the top section of the inside of the window. I glue it in place at the top of the frame. Then, using wood coffee stirrers, I made a little wooden frame for the whole inside of the window. It covers the edges of the top section of plastic glass and stretches all the way to the bottom of the window frame.

First section of plastic in place, with frame glued around it.

Next, I cut a piece of coffee stirrer to finish framing off the top half of the window.

Top half is framed off. Note that I have to trim the plastic at the bottom as it was made a bit too long. I will do that with an exacto once the glue is all dry.

Next, I cut a section of clear plastic to fit the bottom half of the window. I cut this so its frame will overlap the the bottom of the top frame. This will keep the bottom half of the window from falling out to the outside.

Lower window plastic is cut so it is tall enough that its frame will line up with the wood in the middle of the window.

Next, I made a little frame around this piece of glass out of the coffee stirrers. I make sure that it will fit inside the window ok.

Frame built around the lower half of the window.

I set this lower window frame in place at the bottom of the window.

Lower half of window, the part that will move up and down, set in place.

Finally, I made a frame around the edges of the window frame. This wood will hold the lower part of the window in place so it won’t fall out of the window on the inside. Make sure you don’t get any glue on the moving, lower section of window, as it won’t be able to open if it is glued to the trim.

Trim glued in place to keep lower half of window from falling out.

When it is done, you should be able to easily move the lower half of the window up and down. It won’t stay open on its own, but you could cut a small dowel to prop it open.

Once the inside of the house is complete, I will finish it off with a nice bit of decorative trim around the whole window. I plan on making a small framed piece of screen to use as a window prop to hold the window open in some rooms. You could also use a section of dowel if you want the widow to remain open. Mine will probably stay closed to keep curious paws out.

How to Update a Breyer Horse Barn to be a Realistic Dollhouse Livery Stable

While I was working on a dollhouse saloon, my mother suggested (jokingly, I am sure) that I should do a livery stable next. I had bought an awesome horse action figure (McFarlane Toys Roach from the Witcher series season 2), and was planning on eventually tying it outside of the saloon at a hitching post. The idea of a livery stable kept growing on me, because I LOVE horses, and I love barns as well. I started searching Facebook Marketplace for a suitable candidate.

It’s not easy to see in this photo, but this is the barn I picked out. It is a vintage Breyer Horse barn. It had some minor structural damage that I was working on in this photo.

I chose a vintage Breyer Horse barn. There are 2 large stalls and a loft. Each stall has 2 doors–one in front and one in back. I loved these doors, as they slide like a real barn door. There is also a nice, wide aisle in front that I can use for staging photos.

I found several of these barns on Facebook Marketplace, and so had several to choose from. This particular one was nearby, came with some wooden fencing to use as a paddock, and needed a few minor structural repairs. The repairs didn’t scare me as they looked pretty easy to do, and the price was right, so I bought it. The above photo was as I was ‘clamping’ it so glue would dry properly. Unfortunately it is the closest ‘before’ photo I have of it.

I decided that I wanted to make a few changes to this stable so it is more realistic. I wanted to add a hinged section of roof to cover the front of the barn, as well as another section of flooring in the loft so it would be closed on top, making a second floor that I could fill with straw and horse tack.

I cut out a section of thin wood to use as a hinged roof.

Roof section fitted into place. I secured it using small brass hinges from the hardware store.

After these modifications were in place, I used Varathane aged wood accelerator stain to make the barn look aged. I brushed it on per the instructions.

This stuff is awesome, and has come in handy for several projects. I brushed it on with a foam brush and then used a paper towel to wipe off excess.

A ‘during’ photo so you can see the before and after.

Wiping off the excess. it helped make the individual ‘boards’ stand out.

Next I wanted to add shingles, so I did.

Layer the shingles, starting from the bottom and going up. They overlap the previous later just a little bit. Stagger them so the cracks between don’t line up, just like on a real house. I use wood glue.

Shingles added. Note–this is the BACK of the barn.

After shingles are stained. This is the front of the barn, staged with the original ‘Roach’ horse action figure (the black one in the stall) and a modified ‘Roach’ in the aisle. I painted this one to look like my childhood horse, Sugarn Spice. The girl figure is ‘Ciri’, also from the McFarlane Toys Witcher series. There are Breyer horse accessories and some cats that I found on Amazon.

I stained the shingles with the same aging stain that I used on the rest of the barn. I bought more McFarlane ‘Roach’ horses and even painted some! My plan is to explain my painting/modification process in a future blog.

Any questions or comments? Feel free to post them! Thank you for visiting!

How to Refurbish an old cat Scratching Post

This morning, as I watched my cats joyously scratching on their post, I realized that these posts were LONG overdue for refurbishing.

The first of the two- this post was refurbished about 10 or so years ago. Definitely needs the sisal replaced.

The smaller, more simpler of our scratching posts has been around through ages, surviving many cats. I replaced the sisal rope about 10 or so years ago, at least. It has absolutely seen better days. My cats absolutely destroyed it. But, alas, it has more life to give!

I started with a quick trip to Menards for replacement sisal. I bought 100 feet of the cheapest sisal rope I could find.I was careful not get anything too thin as it wouldn’t last long, nor too thick as it would be more difficult to work with.

After selecting a good rope (1/2 inch thick x 100 feet, as I used it on 2 posts), I got to work removing the old wrapping. I used my handy-dandy box cutter to cut off all but the bottom few inches of rope, as that section was seldom used by my cats and still seemed in fair condition.

I tied the end of the new rope to the end of the existing rope that was still in good shape. If your old rope is all bad, just tie a knot in the end of the new rope, then use a fencing staple to nail it to the wood post. I will show examples of this later on in the post.

I tied the end of the new rope to the end of the good section of old, and then wound the rope around and around the post, keeping it nice and taught so the pieces don’t overlap each other. Keep the coils nice and tight, and push them against each other tightly so they make a nice mat for the cat to scratch on.

Keeping the coils tight to the wood, keep them pushed close together as you wind the rope all the way up the post.

If you have a simple post like mine, don’t bring the rope coils totally flush with the top. I kept mine about an inch down to prevent my cats from pulling the topmost coil up over the top of the post and unraveling it all.

Keeping the rope tight, hammer in one of these awesome fence staples so it holds the rope tight to the post. Hammer it in good and secure so the cats can’t pull it out–give it a good tug to make sure it is really in there! After the nail is in, you can tie a knot in the rope on the other side of the nail and cut the loose end of the rope. The knot will help keep the end of the rope from sliding through the nail staple.

It should look like this (except hopefully a little neater). Notice the heavy duty staple on the other side of the knot, helping it keep the rope securely in place.

That’s one post done. The cats were scratching at it before I was even done wrapping the coils!

Here is the second tragedy–I mean post. They really did a number on this one! The rope has never been replaced on this 14-ish year old post.

My second scratching post was just awful! I hadn’t realized all of the damage they had done to the rope, as it was turned away from view. First I had to remove the old rope, as before. I removed all but the bottom few inches. This post was trickier as it has the platforms to work around. I ended up cutting the old rope as close as I could to the platforms, but a few strands were stuck where the post and platform connect so I just cut them close to the post, as the new rope covered up the tiny fragments of old.

As before, I tied the old rope to the new and began to wind upwards.

When I got to each platform, I ended up just winding the rope as close as I could to where the platform connected to the post and then continuing over the top of the platform, as pictured. I just focused on keeping the spacing of the coils as consistent as possible with the rest of the post.

I tied a knot in the end when I was at the top of the post, then used one of the fence staples to nail it in place on the post.

Finished post. The cats (I have 5) are already excited to use it!

I hope this article gives a better idea of how to recover different types of cat scratchers. My cats were very grateful and excited to have their posts repaired. Any questions or comments? Feel free to post in the comment section!

How to paint the San Franciscan Doll House to Look Haunted or Abandoned

Recently, I was at the local Goodwill store with my 10 year old daughter, and we came upon a very dilapidated San Franciscan dollhouse for only $15. I wasn’t very interested in it, myself, because I already have a very nice Victorian mansion (the Beacon Hill, see other posts), and the San Franciscan didn’t really interest me much. My daughter, however, fell in love. She told me she would trade my Bayberry Cottage house back to me if I got her this one. I decided to go for it.

As we bought it. It needed a LOT of work. Part of the roof needed mending, parts of it weren’t attached correctly, interior walls are missing, etc. Luckily a lot of the parts were there and just needed to be reattached.

My daughter is a big fan of my haunted Beacon Hill dollhouse, and plays in it often. She has been bugging me to repaint her San Franciscan to look haunted like my Beacon Hill. I LOVED painting my Beacon Hill to look abandoned, and relished the opportunity to try it again on a different house.

After a lot of mending was done, i started putting on the first coat of paint. This is the beginning of the base coat of light gray.

First thing, I had to make a few structural repairs to the outside. I was lucky in that a lot of the missing pieces of this house were in a ziplock bag that came with it. I also had to take off and reattach a few pieces that weren’t put on correctly by a previous owner. After these initial repairs were done, we started painting.

I started with a base coat of light gray exterior paint that I had left over from previous projects. We worked it into all of the nooks and crannies of the siding, on all of the railings, and pretty much anywhere that we wanted to look aged.

After the base coat. In the background you can see the Beacon Hill decorated for Christmas. While my paints were out I was finally able to get that bright white trim at the bottom of it darkened to match the rest of the house lol!

After the gray coat is on, I let the paint dry thoroughly before moving on to the next step.

For the next step, I found it easier to use two brushes. I used one brush to apply a small amount of a dark gray paint. I wet the second brush with water (but not sopping wet), and then brushed it over the wet dark paint. My wet brush had stiff, coarse bristles that I used to scrub the ‘dirt’ into the crevices of the siding. I scrubbed the pigment up and down, back and forth, and all around until I was satisfied with its grungy appearance.

More grunge. It’s a little thick in this photo–I think I softened it up more later.

I continued the dark gray ‘grunge’ over the whole house until I was satisfied.

After the dark gray looked satisfactory, I moved on to the next color. I wanted more contrast, so I added JUST A BIT of black. Black is a very overpowering color and I did not want to overdo it. I applied it in just a few areas, particularly the porch rails, the trim above the windows, and a little on the porch floor where I felt there might be more dirt and rot accumulated.

With a small amount of black highlights. The black is also scrubbed in (using the same method as the dark gray) to keep it more weathered looking. (My daughter has her Pokemons in it already lol).

After black, I wanted a little green as wood can get a thin film of mold on it over time. I kept the green paint watered down a LOT because it didn’t want it very strong. Just a very thin hint of it is enough.

With some green added for mold. It is very watered down. I made it stronger in some areas for interest.

Front view after the green wash was applied.

Feeling fairly satisfied with the paint, I moved on to the shingles. As they were, they looked way too new for an abandoned building, so I needed to age them somehow. Luckily, I have this handy-dandy Aged Wood Accelerator from Varathane. This was purchased in the wood stain department at Menards. So far this product has come in handy for several of my dollhouse projects.

Here is a color comparison of the original shingles (bottom left) opposed to having them stained. A word of note- any areas of glue will not stain. If that bothers you, you could go back over those sections with a bit of matching paint. I wasn’t bothered so I just left them, as they weren’t very noticeable to me.

We were both pretty pleased with how this project turned out. Eventually we might move on to the interior, but for now it is a blank slate for my child to decorate as she pleases. Let me know if you have any questions or comments!

How to Make Ghosts for Haunted Dollhouses and Halloween Decorations out of Glass Figurines

Finished ghosts with glow-in-the-dark paint on them.

I have been wanting to make some ghosts for a while to inhabit my antique church. My church is a little on the rough side, so making it a bit haunted seems reasonable (without, of course, altering or damaging my church in any way). Anyway, this is a solution I really like.

I started looking for clear glass figurines, and finally settled on a nativity set.

These figures worked out perfect! The base is a bit hollow, so a battery operated votive candle can be used, if desired, to light it up (the figure in the upper left corner is standing on a votive candle.)

These figures will fit well in my church, as they are about the right scale for the building, and also they look holy. I decided that, for my purposes, I wanted them to glow by themselves instead of having them elevated by sitting on candles. The candles would work fine if I had them in different settings, but I like using glow-in-the-dark paint.

The glow-in-the-dark paint I use is just a run of the mill crafting paint that can be found in the paint aisle of many craft supply stores. There are different brands and probably any brand will work. I bought mine from Walmart. I also used a darker paint for shadows; I believe I used payne’s gray acrylic.

I watered down the payne’s gray and put layers of paint in areas I want to be shaded, just to add more definition to the form, because otherwise the clear glass makes it hard to make out details. After the shadows, I put on thicker layers of the glowing paint in the raised areas like the head and hands, shoulders, sleeves, etc.

After painting the shadows and glowing highlights.

In order to make the figure glow, you need to hold it under a light, shine a flashlight on it, or just keep it in a well-lit place for a while to ‘charge’ it. The glow won’t last for very long before it needs recharging with a light source, but it is still fun.