Lulu's Maison

The past 3 days have been filled with more plaster, paint, furniture and a bit of wallpaper for Lulu's Maison.

 I started by putting the upstairs bedroom together. First I trimmed the windows. Then I plastered the walls. A couple of you asked why do do this step.  I plaster the walls to cover up imperfections, tape wire and to make the dollhouse stronger for travel. The plaster bonds the corners together. It's just an added measure to prepare for shipping. 

I also put my accent wallpaper on one wall. It's a pink paper with cream tiny dots. And I laid down the wood floor.

I white washed the floor. This is just 1/2 water 1/2 paint to allow the wood grain to show. 

I made a bed for Lulu's doll.  The doll is a little bigger than 1" scale so I adjusted all the furniture accordingly.

A grey painted bed with roses is a must for a shabby chic bedroom!

Here's the bed all dressed up.  I'm not going to glue down the bedding on this one. I'm sure Lulu will want to tuck in her doll.

I also made a lace chair for the downstairs.
Now I'm moving on to the exterior!
hugs♥

Lulu's Maison Day 3

Today I put in the wood floor downstairs. I used Popsicle sticks. I painted them with a mixture of 1/2 water 1/2 cream colored paint. This way the wood grain shows through.

I also put in the first chandelier.  Here's my dollhouse chandelier tutorial:
http://www.cinderellamoments.com/2011/11/chandelier-tutorial.html

I bought molding  at Michael's. And I found a great tutorial explaining how to make the molding inside corner cuts:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRwuONmNQEg

 Testing my stairs in here. I chose this design because you can see through them and they don't take up too much space. They'll be getting a coat of white paint and then a shabby chic treatment later.

 

Lulu's Maison Day 2

I plastered the downstairs of Lulu's dollhouse yesterday. Remember I also put in my wire tape for electricity before I plastered.  The plaster is finally completely dry.  At this time, if I was just going to paint my walls I would sand the plaster smooth. But I'll be wallpapering so I can skip this step.  My wallpapering job will be very easy in this house. But if you are using complicated paper with places that need to match up you probably want to make templates of the walls with the window cutouts at this time.

I am framing my windows on the interior.  I always put my "glass" on the exterior.  To frame the 3 downstairs windows I used bits of wood I have left over. You can get thin veneer from Hobby Lobby and cut it into strips if you don't have thousands of strips of wood lying around like I do.  : )

I glued the strips around the windows using a strong white glue.  Next, you'll need to paint over all the plaster walls and ceilings to seal the plaster. I'm also painting over the framing of the windows. 

I'm wallpapering the front wall first. I printed this paper off the internet. It's an actual wallpaper for real houses. I print the image off 1/2 size. This paper is a collage of book pages in all muted cream colors.

By the way!  I use to water down my white glue to make my wallpaper paste until I found this glue. It's already pretty runny. I don't have to do anything to it. I just smear it around with a paintbrush. It cost $1.99 for a large bottle.  I bought it at Hobby Lobby. 

The other wallpapers are from the scrapbook section.  I have white ridged paper that looks like wainscoting, a white paper that looks like a tin ceiling and a faux crackle in creams.

I applied all the papers to the dollhouse.

I cut slits into the ceiling paper so I can easily find my wire tape when it's time to put in my chandelier. 
Till tomorrow!
Happy building!

Lulu's Maison

I have a commission to make Lulu a dollhouse. So Wiltshire Cottage will have to wait a little because we're in full commission mode! 

I'm trying out a couple pieces to see where my chandelier will be over the kitchen island.

The sink piece I made from this tutorial:
http://1inchminisbykris.blogspot.com/2012/01/kitchen-cabinets-how-to-make.html
I only changed the height of it to 3" because Lulu's doll is about 7 1/2" tall.  I'll have to see what this piece looks like when it's painted.  So far I'm still waiting for the sink to dry.

This is the ceiling with the plaster drying.  I'm making this dollhouse electric.  So I left the tape wire exposed.  The ceiling will get covered by a special texture paper that looks like a tin ceiling.

This is my electric connection on the outside of the dollhouse. I'm running some electricity upstairs and to the front porch on the outside of the house. 
That's it for now. I'm watching plaster dry! It's taking forever!!
Happy Building!

Wiltshire Cottage - The Westville Kit

I've been working on commissions lately that are gifts. So I don't want to blog about them just yet and blow the surprise for the recipients.  But I did start another project!  It's the Westville  kit.  I'm going to turn it into an old world English cottage. 

I put most of the house together.  It's 2 story plus an attic.

My first project is the stairs.  I wanted something very old looking.  I started by giving the stairs 2 coats of cream latex paint.  These were pretty thick coats. I want a look of many, many years of layered paints.  Then instead of varnishing the wood for the top treads, I painted them a mix of brown and black.  This looks much more vintage then having a varnished wood.  Then I glossed each tread.

I'm always looking for that lived-in feeling.  So my paint jobs can't be perfect. There has to be scuff marks and uneven paint application. Old and worn!
I hope everyone has a wonderful time creating!

Some Dollhouse Furniture

I've been making some furniture from scratch for my next dollhouse project.

I made a sofa using House of Miniature's Chippendale Sofa layout sheet found here: http://www.houseofminiatures.info/images/40015.pdf
Print the layout sheet with all the parts on it. Then use veneer woods to make each part. And cover with fabrics of your choice. I used Aleene's Tacky Glue to glue the fabric on.

I'm missing a trim for the skirt. I haven't found anything simple enough yet.

 I made a sideboard.  I sort of followed this tutorial : http://cantimpalo1.blogspot.com.es/2010/02/publicacion-en-la-revista-miniaturas.html

I painted some sheep on the doors.  

Next I made a kitchen island.  No pattern for this one. I just knew I wanted it 3" high. I covered the top with aluminum foil (the not so shiny side). I aged the aluminum with watered down black & brown paints.

It has a little towel holder on the side and a working drawer.  Now I have to make the dollhouse!

Remember, there's still time to download your free version of the My Memories software.  Many of you have expressed your fright about computer downloads. It's really easy. Your computer will guy you though. You just have to press the SAVE button to begin the download. And it's free- so even if you mess up it won't cost anything.
The download is a  free gift from MyMemorySuite for my followers! There's no catch. The site has plenty of freebies too. There are new, free downloads every month.
Go to http://www.mymemories.com/software and get the My Memories Suite download( a $39.95 value). The next page has a download software on the right. Scroll down and ADD TO Cart. All you need to do is copy and paste the code: FreeTreatLO70   since it has to look exactly like that.  Also, make sure you enter that code in the promo code field before checking out.

It becomes active on October 14th and will expire on October 21st.

The code is for the download option only, if you choose the physical discs you will need to pay for shipping.

Thanks for dropping by!

Free Gift for All my Followers!!

I'm back from vacation & I have a fabulous free gift for all of you!

It's the My Memory Suite scrapbook program. This program is great for your photos, but it's also incredible for miniature projects.  You can make tiny photo books, print out your wallpaper and countless other dollhouse projects!

Remember Charmed Cottage?  (It's the one I build in my book Building a Fairytale Cottage Dollhouse.) I used the paper from My Memories above the wainscoting.  It's already aged. I just had to print it out.

The download is a  free gift from MyMemorySuite for my followers! There's no catch. The site has plenty of freebies too. There are new, free downloads every month. 
Go to http://www.mymemories.com/software and get the My Memories Suite download( a $39.95 value). The next page has a download software on the right. Scroll down and ADD TO Cart. All you need to do is copy and paste the code: FreeTreatLO70   since it has to look exactly like that.  Also, make sure you enter that code in the promo code field before checking out.

It becomes active on October 14th and will expire on October 21st.

The code is for the download option only, if you choose the physical discs you will need to pay for shipping. 

Have fun Everyone!

My Rose Tutorial in Woman's World Magazine

My rose painting technique tutorial is published in the October 7, 2013 issue of Woman's World out today in stores.

The tutorial is on page 37.

I guess you'll all recognize it!
Hugs to you all! ♥♥♥

Chairs and a Bed

For the  past couple of weeks I've been dabbling in furniture making. I started off with a miniature dollhouse  chair. It's the template from House of Miniatures.http://www.houseofminiatures.info/images/40016.pdf 
 I just printed out the page with the parts of the chair, cut them out, traced them on veneer wood and cut those out.
I decided to test it out with lace. It has been very popular in my Etsy shop.

So I made a couple more!

 This chair is still available here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/161700530/dollhouse-miniature-custom-handmade?ref=related-1

The ottoman is a little more difficult to make than the chair. I didn't have a template for it. I just winged it.

Then I decided to make a bed. *The ruffle comforter and the long ruffle pillow at the end of the bed & one little ruffle pillow were made by Thewendydollhouse here on Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheWendyDollHouse
*The top sheet with the lace trim and the pillow case with the lace trim were made by Debbie's Designs also on Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/DebbieCalif

I made the mattress, mattress sheet, and the hand painted roses pillow.
The bed is hand painted with twig garlands, roses, sunflowers and roses and birds.
The bed is available here:  https://www.etsy.com/listing/161703007/miniature-dollhouse-robin-egg-blue-hand?ref=shop_home_active

I found a nice tutorial for a bistro folding chair(it doesn't actually fold). I found it here: http://www.evangelione.com/2007/11/wooden-chair-tutorial.html
This chair is still available here:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/161803969/dollhouse-miniature-french-shabby-chic?ref=listing-shop-header-0
I'm still looking for something new to try this week.  I'm just researching Pinterest until something sparks the imagination. Have a wonderful week!