Cuddle Up By A Fire

These two little darlings are going in the Parlor...the larger will go on the outside left wall ( where I'm blocking up a window ) and the other on the inside wall between the Parlor and the Dining room. I made both from scrap pieces of wood. I'm also working on hearths for them to sit on, but have just started those and it'll be a few days. The concrete fireboxes are printies and the tile is tilepaper glued to wood backing. I will be varnishing both before I attach the hearths to them, but I'm still waiting for the paints and stain to completely dry. The colors are all in the wallpaper and they seem to compliment the room well. Give me a few days and the entire Parlor should be done and ready for a visitor.

Come In The Front Door !!!!

Be careful, the front door is not glued in yet, just resting in the opening. I had to take the tops of the door cutouts and trim them to fit the Palladian door. The frame is painted a "Java Bean" by True Value's 'Colors Made Simple" sample paints; the door is an acrylic "Victorian Blue" and the sun is gold leaf. The glass insert, doorknob, house numbers, mail slot, and kickplate are, of course, all extras.

The plastic window replacements have been ordered and are on their way from Greenleaf. Nice people there..........

COME ON IN !!!!!!

Garfield's 1st floor ceiling Part 2

The photo doesn't do the finished look justice. There are 3 coats of the pearly white paint on the plastic small circles ceiling sheet. I watered the paint down just a touch. It truly has the slight shimmer promised and looks like the tin ceiling tiles of Victorian days. I have, once again, tested to make sure that the tabs all fit...perfectly, after a bit more sanding in a few areas.

This is one of those many moments I get when I'm pleased with my work...I just stare and grin at the how nice it all looks.

The 1st Floor's Ceiling for The Garfield

I am working hard at NOT getting confused. The directions for The Garfield do not allow for decorating as I am doing. The term "R&P", remove and prepare, to me means removing the piece from the plywood sheets, sanding, painting, staining, wallpapering, gluing the ceiling to the plywood, adding bead board, etc. So, I am lost in the "R&P" process.

Today, I've begun the ceiling work, as this part of the house must be ready during the wallpapering process, since sections of the wall need this part for structural support. Sounds confusing, but I've got all the steps I need to do written down as best as I can.

Like the wood flooring, the ceiling needs to pieced together, trimmed in the right spots, glued, then painted. I have but just the first piece of ceiling glued and am waiting for it to dry, will trim it, and move on to the next piece. Looks like it'll take me a few days altogether to complete the ceiling tiles ( sheets ). I will then paint it with Folk Art's Metallic Pearl White acrylic paint and, voila!, it should look like the tin ceilings of Victorian days.

The Walls Are Going Up !!!!!

For me, one of the most exciting parts of building a new dollhouse, other than the actual acquiring the house in the first place, is putting up the first of the walls. Today, I erected 2 walls, the front wall with the main door and, around the corner, the front left wall. I did take a photo, but will post that at a later date; it's just not all that pretty right now, not that that really matters.

I'm going to stop with the walls at this point and decorate the first floor section of these two before I move on...I'm ready to wallpaper here and put on the bead board: it'll be easiest if nothing else is in my way. I have my wallpaper cut..remember the printie I showed earlier?, but have a few more pieces of the bead board to stain and varnish. ( I DID go back to Hobby Lobby to catch the last of the 1/2 off sale, purchasing more trim and bead board. There wasn't much left of anything.)

My sheets of small circle ceiling arrived earlier than I expected, plus Fed Ex made a shipping error and delivered a package from Miniatures.com that belongs to a dollhouse enthusiast in Honolulu...got to get that straightened out ASAP. Kathleen, I promise it'll get there!!!! I need to pick out the paint I'll be using for the ceiling after I get the ceiling glued to the underside of the 2nd story flooring. I don't care for a stark white, but will find an off-white that'll work soon.

I'm so tickled about having the 2 walls up....it just isn't as much fun until I get to that point for me. I like to think I have patience, but not always. From now on, I'll be spending a lot of time just standing there and staring...letting the imagination run wild.

A Little Background

I bought this great house from my local Goodwill for $45...what a steal. Once opened, I learned that some of the instructions and diagrams were missing, but Greenleaf Dollhouses was so kind to supply them for me. OOPS! Now I learn I am missing parts and, again, Greenleaf supplied them for me, but this time at a price of $95, still a bargain, at half the retail price.

I am delighted at the invitation to brag about my work. What is already shown is about 1 month's worth of mostly sanding and sanding. The next stage is all about doors, windows, and walls, which will be many more hours of sanding. Progress is at a pause while I remove a million splinters.