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Monday, January 26, 2015

Thrift store doll trunk makeover!



Here is the trunk as it looked right out of the thrift store.

The stool was broken, the mirror was bubbled.
I pried off the mirror and got rid of it completely.

It was dark and boring!!

After gluing the leg back on the stool I removed ALL the hardware, 
hinges, handle, drawer pulls everything!  
Everything gets a coat of primer.
 Actually I used a cheap primer and after 3 coats the finish was still bleeding through pink!

I got a can of KILZ and it covered in one coat.
(lesson learned)

Painted everything with white trim paint and finished the inner walls in my colors.
I painted the drawer pulls gold as well as most of the other hardware using gold model paint.

I watered down white glue and used it to paste craft paper to the back walls.

 Next I wanted to make an upholstered wall in the doll storage space, so
cardboard, quilt batting and fabric.  I hot glued the fabric to the 
cardboard making sure it was tight and smooth.

 Next I cut ribbons and pinned them in place

ready to hotglue the ribbon in back.

Here is the closet. The hangers are from Michael's.

Here is the upholstered wall and the
dressing table. I bought a small mirror at Michael's
and hot glued it onto the wall paper for the dressing table.

Here is the closet and Murphy bed.
I made an upholstered headboard using cardboard and fabric and hotglued it to the wall.
I was going to make a new bedspread and stool cover but
after everything was put together I liked the originals.

Here is a close-up of the dressing table.
(I will try to do a tutorial for this little table lamp)

AND, here is the whole trunk!


Here is a before and after!
I was supposed to sell this after it was done, but it is way too cute for that!
Let's see, who needs a room?

10 comments:

Christina L said...

That is awesome!! What a great find!

Flo said...

What an awesome find and even better after you worked your magic on it. I love it!

Brenda and Sophie said...

Thank you Flo & Christina! It has been such a fun project, and we love the results.

Kahle said...

So beautiful! What life you gave back to that trunk!

Brenda and Sophie said...

Thank you Kahle! It is SO satisfying to see something that is so-so and make it beautiful!

Gemini said...

Such a great and helpful post. I have this same exact trunk and am doing something similar. Your post have given me some ideas for my project. Funny - I too started off with a cheaper primer and had to go to Kilz instead.

How did you pry off the mirror? My mirror is severely scuffed and I want to replace it. I tried prying it off, but was unsuccessful. It's such a tight fit around it, and next to impossible for me to get the leverage needed to get something underneath it to pry it up. I'm thinking of leaving it and putting another mirror over it somehow.

Brenda and Sophie said...

The mirror was tricky, but don't give up! It is so nice having a nice pretty mirror! I used a combination of screwdrivers and tiny pry tools that my husband has. (It helps a lot having a tool happy husband) I did have a little damage to the wood on that section and we used putty to fill in the crack. after painting the fix is invisible. The new mirror I hot-glued to the wall.

Brenda and Sophie said...
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The Toy Collector said...

This is really cool. I actually have two of these Collectors Lane trunks right now. I am thinking about trying something similar to this on the one that has a broken latch. That way I can wood glue and use paste to smooth it out. I was surprised that when I cleaned the one with a wet cloth the cloth was bright pink. I would watch putting them in the bare trunk if you find them.

Brenda and Sophie said...

Thank you! I had fun remaking this trunk. I wondered the same thing, if the original stain would have leached into the dolls, if you were not careful?