Should I Glue Down Dollhouse Accessories?

You spend a lot of time (and money!) setting up your miniature scene. Which begs the next question, “Should I glue down my dollhouse accessories?”

As you start having fun filling up your dollhouse cupboards and cabinets with all the fun miniature accessories and chachkies, you’ll start noticing how easy it is to knock things down! When my baby nephews come over, they love playing with all the mini foods and the dollhouse always looks like a hurricane blew through it.

Which begs the question, should I be glueing these mini accessories down or not?

There is no right or wrong answer to this question. Like with many questions, the answer is, well, it depends!

Permanent solutions

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If you are creating a diorama or scene that you do not want to change, ever, then gluing your minis in place is a terrific idea. This could be small scenes like food on a charcuterie board or everything on a bookcase. You are preserving a moment in life.

For whatever reason you want to permanently secure your miniatures, you will need to use the right glue. Heavier objects need a stronger adhesive. I use wood glue when I am gluing wood together.

For simpler smaller objects, I have found that white glue or super glue works really well, depending on how quickly I need the glue to dry. Also, I read that super glue dries ‘hot’ and can melt some paints.

Experiment and see what works best for the item you are trying to glue down. For the most part, Aleene’s tacky glue works great for most solutions. One glue not pictured that I do use a lot, is fabric glue. I use this when I’m too lazy to sew!

The main thing to remember when working with glue is to be patient. You have to wait for the glue to dry. One glue you don’t see here is hot glue. I use my glue gun sparingly. It makes a mess and it is hard to be precise with it. Also, its hold is not very strong, especially when building furniture.

If you are gluing something complicated, like furniture, try using a gluing jig. This helps holds sides up when you need an extra hand or two or three! Also, it holds your object while it dries, freeing you up to move on to other mini making.

Temporary solutions

Most of the time, I want to be able to change things up in the dollhouse for the seasons or just for fun. Plus, it is taking me FOREVER to get things done. I can’t really make up my mind on what to keep permanent in the dollhouse.

I recently bought a variety of mini stemware, wine and liqueur bottles that I wanted to store in this miniature pie safe that I found in Hobby Lobby. I wanted to make it a bar. Every time I placed a plastic wine glass or bottle on that shelf, something else would fall right back down.

After 5 minutes of this, I knew I needed a better solution. I knew I didn’t want to permanently glue anything, so I used these clear double-sided adhesive gels to keep things in place. I cut some in half to make them fit into the shelf and they work great!

Besides these kinds of gels you can use adhesive putty or double sided tape to keep your minis in place. There is also double sided foam tape. Some of these options last longer than others and are stronger than others. The gels and putty do not usually ruin the surface they are stuck on. Double sided tape can tear off paint when removed.

I also use these temporary adhesives to hang any wall art that I like to switch out for the seasons or when I just can’t make up my mind on what I want.

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