Custom Styled Dollhouse Kits: Orchid Dollhouse Building Blog Days 1

27 July 2006

Posted by Minis On The Edge

The Fun Begins Day 1

I don't know what it is about opening a Brand New Wood Kit from Greenleaf but I ALWAYS feel so excited. I am not sure if it is the first smell of wood fresh of out of the box or the fact that it is a new house waiting to be born or what. I just know I have feel excited about it evey time.

I opened the box and it told me it did not want to be a stone house from medieval times or shortly after. It said it wants to use the same windows from the kit (Which are so cool because they look like they really can open and close).

I started building the shell and I got this far in under 1 hour. I used wood glue and my favorite fast bonding glue "Quick Grab". I use the Quick grab to hold the house into place while the wood glue dries and it turns out very well for me this way.

This is the "Building the shell" part. This house is SUPER fast to build if you are going to build it according to the directions without bashing, this can really be a fast build that will take you days NOT weeks to build. I hope many of you out there that have this kit hidden in your favorite spot (Basement, Garage or under the bed) will dust it off and join me in building this kit too!

27 July 2006
Posted by Minis On The Edge

The Fun Begins Day 1 Part 2

I have decided to change the window silk screen and leave it clear below and a Wisteria stained glass print on the top of the double hung windows. The bay window will be texture glass and only the big octagon window will have a stained glass pattern. To see more about how I do stained windows, see my Arthur Dollhouse Build Blog entry.

I painted the window Casings "Brown Iron Oxide" I also painted the Pediments this color. I then painted the the window sashes "Dark Burt Umber" (it almost look black in the pictures but it is not

I love the way it has turned out so far. I made transparencies from some stained glass window pictures I had. I printed them directly on transparency film and put glue around the casings and placed them on the part that I wanted to show in the window. After it dried, I cut them from the sheet and glued them in place on the house :lol:

31 July 2006
Posted by Minis On The Edge

Lights, Clay Action!

I added the lights to the house today. There is a down light on the front porch a chandelier in the living room and a down light with a frosted shade in the Kitchen. There is a outlet in the bedroom that has room for three lights to plug in. It is hidden behind the right side of the roof. The bathroom has a ceiling light too.

I added stone to the bottom half of the house and stucco with exposed bricks on the top. Now I have to let it dry then I will touch up the paint on the windows and then start on the insides. I spent 2 hours on the clay and 45 minutes on the lights.

1 August 2006
Posted by Minis On The Edge

Something New Part 1

Well, every building blog I do, I try something new. This time I wanted to try something new I had found at Hobby Lobby. It is called Paper Perfect and I wanted to try it to make the stucco or plaster effect on the inside walls downstairs.

I chose Mocha Creme color and it is very easy to use (Takes forever to dry though :lol:

about 12 -24 hours ) but I really love the effect that I was able to achieved by using it. I did it last night before I went to bed so that I would not spend 12 - 24 hours touching it to see if it is dry (I would not be able to resist this urge

)

I woke up and it was still damp so I put my fan directly on it and 1hr later it is dry completely. It comes in 8 Colors which and all you do is apply it directly to the wood. There is no mixing or extra steps involved. 1 jar can do the entire 1st floor (I don't have the inside walls installed yet because I want to do my floor first.

1 August 2006
Posted by Minis On The Edge

Floors are in and stained Part 2

The Floors are all in and stained now. I also did touch up painting on the insides of the house around the windows. I also added the wall downstairs but I put it in so that the opening is in the front and not by the door. I did this because it is sometimes easier to put furniture in the kitchen when the wall has a corner like this one does.