Little White Cottage Dollhouse

To begin, let me clear up the floor painting technique from the previous post.  For this floor I took 1/2 white latex paint and 1/2 water. Spread it on the floor with a nice size brush. Your liquid should have enough color to stick to the floor. If you don't see any white on the boards you have too much water. If you can't see the wood though the paint you don't have enough water. Easy fix- just have water in a cup next to you and dip the brush in, and go back over the paint before it dries.  You can then varnish if you like a shiny or finished floor. But if you are after a shabby chic floor, don't varnish.  I also don't varnish floors in dollhouses that have to look really old and forgotten.

Now I'm going to put on some baseboards to finish off the bottom of the walls. I got these pieces from the kit cutouts leftovers. You can use Popsicle/craft sticks. I also used a piece above the wainscoting. It's much easier to paint the trim before you glue it on.

Next, the front door.  The kit comes with a door. I cut out the middle posts.  And I glued a square piece of wood on one side of the door.

The other side of the door is plain. I carved out my own design at the bottom. I used a box cutter/utility knife. This is why I love these cheap kits- the wood is so easy to carve and cut because it's thin. I did 2 rectangles. I cut 2 lines all around each rectangle. Then pop out the middle which leaves you a carved recess or channel. That's it! Don't glue your door together just yet. We still need the "glass." (Yes- I've already done this mistake. And more than once too! LOL!!)

Here's one side of the door.

And the other.

Now paint. I used a blue/green (robin egg blue) latex.

Let's do the "glass."   I want a clear stained glass effect. First I draw diagonal lines evenly spaced with a pencil.  Start with an "x" going from corner to corner.

Then draw the rest of your lines. I didn't measure. I just eyed it.  My lines are almost 1/2" apart.

Now I use silver latex paint to paint over all the lines on both sides of the plastic. I want to cover up all the evidence of pencil marks.

For the stained glass effect I use water based clear gloss varnish. Oil based works too, but it takes many more coats to achieve the effect.  I drop some gloss in the middle of each diamond and spread it to the edges of each diamond.  You can do both sides of the "glass" if you want.

 I glue the plastic onto the door with white glue.

And I glue the 2 door pieces with wood glue. Press under heavy books for complete contact between the pieces as it dries.

For the hinges, I use 3/4" hinges.  I always cut a piece off the screws because they are too long and will stick out of the other side of the door. Just use cutting pliers to cut them shorter.

I pre-drill all the holes(in the door and door frame).  Then put your hinges on the door.  By the way, my door always seems to grow! I always have to go back and make it smaller. I usually cut off 1/8" at the bottom so it clears the wood floor. And I also take 1/16" off the side. Once the door is in place, I usually have to take my sandpaper and sand off the side, while the door is hinged in place,  until the door closes easily. 

The door is in place!
Until next time!

Little White Cottage Dollhouse

Still no name for this cottage! But the next step for my dollhouse is wallpaper.  You might think this is too early. But it's the easiest way to put wallpaper on because your walls are your template.The top of the walls will be wallpaper and the bottom will be wainscoting.

Just lay down your wallpaper under the wall and trace your windows and door cutouts. I painted my trims
and also the interior of the cutouts before I glued down the wallpaper. Then Glued the wallpaper on and then glued the trim on. You can do this any way you prefer. I used regular white glue for my wallpaper.

 I used the door trim that came with the kit. Then for all the windows I used the other window trims that came with the kit, cut them up and glued them around the other 3 windows.

One little note about the wall with no windows. This is actually the upstairs floor. I cut off 1" at the bottom so the wall height matches the rest of the house. When you glue this wall in, you'll aplly glue to the 4 tabs and the floor edge of the house. Glue this wall on. 

 I finished all the walls with my wallpaper.

And I glued the house walls and floor together.

Next, the wood floor.  I'm laying mine front to back. Paint the floor.  My paint is watered down white latex. It lets a little wood grain show through.

At the bottom of the walls I will be using ridged cardboard.  All my papers are scrapbook papers. The ridged wainscoting paper comes already painted white!  Glue it on.

I also want to thank everyone for your comments on the trio. There were even more helpful hints from other Dremel owners. I love that. Thanks for sharing everyone!

The Dremel Trio Rotary Tool Kit for Your Dollhouse

In my previous post I mentioned that I use the Dremel Trio Rotary Tool kit. And I received a few questions about it. So here's my take on it.

 First off, let me tell you why I went looking for another cutting tool- FEAR!  I have a number of little handheld rotary tools with that spinning saw blade. It's scary! I can just picture my fingers getting cut off.  It's also really noisy when I'm cutting through the wood. I think that adds to the scariness.  I was also afraid of the wood flying into my face and the saw slipping on the wood.

Then I heard about this Dremel.  It's much more control in your hand. It's less noisy as you cut the wood. I'm not scared of anything flying at me.
This tool is $79 at Home Depot.  HomeDepot.com was having a sale for $39 & free shipping. BUT of course when I found out about this saw, the sale was one day expired. Rrrrrrr! So I waited a couple of months. But it didn't go back on sale and even worse it was constantly sold out.  So I went to Ebay where I found this one new, in the box, unopened for $50 including shipping.  Maybe you can do better and find a better price. I was in a time crunch and needed it for a project.

You'll need some practice with it.  You need to get used to this new way of cutting. Plus the tool tends to pull right(for me). 

At first, I was using this saw by staying behind it or on the side of it. This doesn't give you the best control.

I practiced some other ways to cut. Then you can see on the top left I finally figured it out on my last cut(of course!)  What you need to do is put your weight on top of this saw. So you are directly on top of your saw looking straight down at your cut line.  This gives me the best control with no slipping, no straying from my mark lines.
 I hope this helps you a little if you wanted to know more about the Dremel.  I think it's a good buy. Especially if the noisy saws scare you too. 
Thank you so much to everyone for supporting my new site: cinderellamomentsrealestate.com 
You are the best friends ever!!
Have a great week everybody!
Hugs♥ all around

Little White Cottage Dollhouse

I have settled on a new project! I was thinking of a few different houses and decided on this one:

 

It's a photo I found on Pinterest.  I love the simple and clean style of it.  Although, I feel like my little cottage should be light gray. We'll see!
So I took out my Primrose kit by Corona and got to work!

I took the side without any cutouts and drew out my plans for 3 windows and one front door. 

Then I took the original front piece and I cut the "window" the same size as the original "front door".  This will now become 2 floor to ceiling windows. 

And the other peaked piece with 1 window cutout will become our back support. I drew a 1" perimeter and will cut the middle out so you can access the interior yet still have a strong support for the roof.

For the other side(opposite our new 2 floor to ceiling windows), we are going to use the attic  floor.

 

To make my cuts, I'm using my new Dremel Trio Kit.   It does take a bit of practice to make straight lines. But if you go a bit off course you can sand your way back to a decent looking cut. So don't worry! This is a cottage after all and it really adds character to have little mistakes.

Off to make my cuts! More instructions tomorrow.

And I've launched my new site: www.cinderellamomentsrealestate.com

It will be a blog filled with interesting homes, tips and just overall pretty photos that have to do with houses. Maybe great inspiration for your dollhouses??  I put a little follower button on the sit. You are all more than welcome to join me there! It's a little lonely right now with 0 followers. LOL!  Again it's
www.cinderellamomentsrealestate.com

Hugs all around!♥

Charmed Cottage- Finally Done!

I don't think I've ever taken so long to make a dollhouse.  But It's done!

 I still need to finish the How To book that follows how I made this house step by step.

 I used all the same techniques I usually do for each house.

 The exterior is all pre mixed concrete that I carved with an old Exacto knife.

 This house has the battery operated lights with the switch and battery hidden in the chimney.

 I made the chandelier with floral wire and crystal seed beads.

 The flowers are millinery Forget Me Nots from:
 https://www.etsy.com/shop/32NorthSupplies?ref=seller_info

 These tiles are the hot glue technique- just follow your design on cardboard with the hot glue gun Mine is a regular size hot glue gun. Then paint. That's it!

 My first dollhouse spiral stairs. 

 This wall is fat craft sticks and skinny ones painted with different color watered down paint for a wash look.

 This stained glass is so easy. I start with a plastic window and paint the diagonal lines wit acrylic paint. Then I use water based gloss inside each diamond. You could even add a drop of color in the gloss if you want more variations.

 The loft.

 The ceiling is fat craft sticks.

 All the vines are from Hobby Lobby. And the pink Heather too.

 These are clay mushrooms made by Serenity Mosaics  who used to be on Etsy.  :(

 Measures:
17 3/4" tall x 14 1/4" wide x 13 3/4" long
interior: 10" wide x 11 1/4" long x 8" tall under loft & 14 1/4" tall over all.
loft: 5" deep x 10" wide x 6" tall

 I found this pumpkin at Hobby Lobby.

Maybe my next house won't take as long!  I'm off to think about what project I should do next.  Thanks for coming over!
This house is available in my Etsy shop: www.cinderellamoments.etsy.com
 https://www.etsy.com/listing/128058985/charmed-cottage-1-inch-scale-custom-old