SHOP/NEW Room Diorama: Quick Wall Strengthening REDO

 

Dear Readers a quick how to---

After over 5 years, the walls in the Resort/Halloween shop had been used multiple times---the original Skeleton's Bash, Vickie's First Shop, then the Basement Resort shop. Where it was located in the dollroom  semi-permanently, I kept bumping into it...and well, it was getting rickety. So in the spirit of REDO and REUSE, I decided to reinforce the walls and cover them in contact paper.

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First thing I did was cut apart all the corners, salvage the door way (working doorways are a pain to make) and clean up/remove all the tape and left over bits. I then decided to lower the height o the walls to 16", so that was 4" cut off, so I cut all the pieces to this height.

Taking new $$STore black foam core, I took each old piece and copied the size, and cut new ones. Doubled, the foam core seemed very strong, so I then taped all four edges with 'duct/k tape' in white.

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Apparently I had at some time even tested paint on the backside of this piece. I DIDN'T use spray glue-or wet water-based glue---mostly because of fumes on the first, and warping on the second. Tape would have to do the whole job.

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This white duck tape has the thinnest of threads in it, which makes the texture subtle.

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Here you can see the new thickness easily equal to the thick foam core that is now running about $7 a sheet. So two $$$ store sheets are just $2.50---SCORE a $avings of $4.50 a sheet.

Then I covered the new front side completely with contact paper with a generous overlap.

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Working slowly, removing the strippable backing about 4" at a time and rolling my hands across the surface to smooth. I buy name-brand large rolls of white semi-matte Contact paper at hardware outlets or Walmart. This has the nicest body and usually better coverage than cheap brands, so costs about 30-40 cents a foot.

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The door panel was weakened by so many years of usage, so I totally faced it solid. the black area in the middle will have a photo print applied to look like a hall stairway. The new piece was again black, so I faced this after taping with the white contact paper.

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I left the top part blank as I'm doing a build out for the EXIT sign with another piece of white wrapped foam core.

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Here is the walls are taped together on the back side into a trim-fold. The walls that went under 'storyline construction were done in a subtle pattern---reason being they are patched walls in the storyline, and I ran out of pure white. This pattern is from $$store rolls, and was just as opaque as the name-brand. SCORE.

The EXIT sign was placed on a raise small piece of foam core covered in black vinyl paper--$$$STORE.

The corners on the backside are taped in white duct/k tape. The back bottom edges are taped with packing tape, and easily removed if I wish to pack these pieces away-FLAT. The old floor is an old piece of  thick foam core I have resurfaced with a sheet of dull silver poster board (Michaels)

 I do love how silver posterboard photographs and looks like concrete. The edges of the floor are wrapped in silver/duct tape, giving it a tight surface to wrapping tape the walls to. 

TIP: Make circles of your floor/base materials to match the bottom of your doll stands giving a seamless look to your photos. These can easily be changed out from wood to concrete to grass. I keep all the discs in a small box near my stands. A little double stick tape and your doll is standing on the base you choose.

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Tools and supplies used for this project. If you only buy one expensive tool---buy a long square for doing walls-silver on the right---this saves so much sanity!

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 Two thickness foam core is a great way to use old pieces with new. If made from all new product the cost would be approximately

Floor 20 x 30"- 2 pieces of 20x30 foam core   2 x $1.25. =$2.50

           20x 30 - 1 piece of silver poster board  1 x $1.25  =$1.50

Walls 20 x 16"- 4 pieces of 20x30 foam core  4x $1.25  = $5.00

          30 x 16 - 2 pieces  of 20x 30 foam core 2x $1.25 =$2.50

You will have lots of nice left-over pieces to use for fixtures/furniture if you wish. Scrap pieces used for the back of the doors frame.

Contact paper  90-100" total  if using $$ store contact paper 2 rolls @ 1.25 = $2.50

Tape, shiny silver tape for exit doors and edging flooring, you can use silver duct/k tape    20 feet for under 50 cents

White duct/k tape 40 feet under $1.00

clear wrapping tape   Cents

New construction Total Under $16.00 for an entire room. 

My reusing floor and wall  pieces reduced this to only 3 pieces of new foam core,  so my. total of new product was under $8.00. Not leaving the house IS -----$$$PRICELESS!$$$ 

UPSIDE purposes of the contact paper----you can easily double stick tape anything to it, and remove it. The entire room could be covered with wrapping paper, or scrap book  wall papers---to use as another space and then easily removed. Shelving or framed artwork can be double foam-stick taped to walls and removed. 

I can't wait to move into the freshened Resort/Men's Shop

 into the NEW ROOM.

WHAT DO YOUR DOLLS NEED 

A NEW ROOM FOR????

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