Let's continue building the custom dollhouse with this part 2 tutorial post. Since the last step, I added a front wall to the bump out section in the front of the house. It has 2 long narrow windows. Plastered this wall and painted it with primer paint.
The next step is putting on your wallpaper. I picked a floral, a ridged cardboard and a linen fabric. The floral paper comes from the internet. Pinterest is a great place to find printable paper. Just type wallpaper in the search and you'll see tons appearing. The ridged paper is my wainscoting. This one comes from the scrapbook isle of the craft store. As does my linen fabric.
After the wallpaper, I did the ceiling. I also used a 3D textured paper from the scrapbook section. It has a very subtle design. Then I did the beams. These are just Popsicle craft sticks. They are 3 sided box like. I make these directly on the ceiling. Then I do the wood floor also with craft sticks. I like my floors to go from front to back. I feel like it makes the space more open and clean.
You can then start all your trims. They are all done with craft/Popsicle sticks. I have a double trim for the crown molding near the ceiling, a single for the baseboards, and some to frame the windows and walls too. This wall with the window will be the kitchen area. So I'm not putting baseboards here for now. I'll wait until my sink and stove are in place.
The stair opening is also framed with craft sticks. I always leave a space with no trim where the mantel will go because I want the mantel to fit right up to the wall.I also left room free of trim where my stairs will go.
Here you can see the front wall of the bump out with its 2 windows.
I also added 2 pieces of wood to make my landing upstairs. And I wanted
to add a vintage look with these 2 planks showing downstairs.
The trim is now painted. I used a white wash. Just add a lot of water with your white paint.
The floor color is several steps for depth. First, it gets the same white wash treatment as the trims and beams. Let it dry. Sand partially and do another wash. This time with grey paint mixed with water.
My french door is from Ebay. I painted it white. The door came with an interior trim so I glued that in place with Aleene's Tacky Glue(an all purpose white glue). I also installed my chandelier. Here's the tutorial for chandeliers:
http://www.cinderellamoments.com/2011/11/chandelier-tutorial.html
I also added a light above where the mantel will be. I used a jewelry end cap on top of the bulb as my light fixture. You can glue this to the ceiling with regular glue or hot glue. I get my LED lights here:
http://www.modeltrainsoftware.com/mi.html They also have fire kits for inside your mantel.
I have painted some stairs and glued them in place. These are from Hobby Lobby.
http://shop.hobbylobby.com/products/miniature-simple-stair-kit-606889/ They are 14.99 plus you can use your 40% off coupon.
I then started the upstairs. I put on a front wall that is 15 1/2" x 3" tall. This is so the roof is not too slopped for the rooms upstairs. Otherwise, you get tons of unusable space. This also makes the upstairs taller. I had the two triangles for each end of the upstairs from a kit. I decided to use them here. I propped them up on a bottom piece of wood so they would be the correct height that corresponds to the front. These two side walls are now 18 1/2" tall.
I did my upstairs wood floors exactly like downstairs. Don't worry about upstairs walls for now. Just do the entire floor with craft sticks.And paint.
To make the back look finished I added trims around the edges. All 4 sides have trim.
Here is the exterior view of the side walls.
Here you can see the stairs. They are painted white with grey treads and banister.
The last step for this second part of the tutorial is to make a little triangle top for the front bump out section. I plastered it and painted it with primer paint(paint with primer already mixed into it). This wall is now 14 1/2" tall.
Today is Lizzie's birthday! She's 6 years old. We have a big party planned. Her favorite song is "Happy Birthday". So she will be thrilled that everyone is singing it for her. It's a miracle she is here on earth. This tiny girl had a rough start with her birth and had subsequent health problems. But we have found a way to manage. So celebrating her is an absolute must. She's definitely a survivor with a love of life bigger than anyone I know. Happy Birthday sweet Lizzie!
Thank you everyone for coming over. I hope you are enjoying the building tutorial. If you see anything I forgot to explain please leave a comment below. Have a great day!
hugs♥,
