The Roof

Here is where I get to fuss and complain a little about the instruction sheet.  They REALLY need more pictures to show what they are talking about.  They certainly are NOT kidding when they say you need to read the directions several times.  What they dont tell you is how to make your life easier when doing the install.  If you are building your own BH, I would like to make a few suggestions on adding the roof.

1.  Paint the trim and basics that will not be covered with panels or shingles.  This will prevent much more touch ups and reduce the OOPS factor when trying to paint after install.  This is especially true if you choose to use a multi-colored palette versus the plain white trim as shown on the box.

2.  Glue gun, glue gun, glue gun.  This is for installing the guide pieces for the curved roof.  However, white glue should also be used to reinforce the trims that will be supporting the roof panels.  Lots of pressure is put on the trim while installing and even after.  You will see why, I promise.

3.  Soak the pieces for the roof so they bend into place easier.  The kit has these pieces on thinner plywood so it is more flexible.  I am not sure if it is because my kit is old and had been in storage for a long time (in dry AZ climate), but the flat pieces were definitely not pliable enough to bend into place they way they describe in the directions.  Soaking the pieces means adding a couple of extra steps and a little more time, but it was well worth it.  You cant glue immediately because the wood is wet, but it will snap into place as described in the directions much easier.  I did my gluing the next day after it had dried completely.

4.  Buy some posterboard or something like that to make the templates of the roof pieces to be shingled.  Make the templates before you install the pieces, obviously.  I made the templates, glued on the shingles, put books on top of them overnight so they would not warp.  Then I cut the shingles to match the template and checked to make sure they fit to the roof properly.  Then I painted them and again put books on them to keep from warping as they dried (I also used wax paper to keep the sticking to the books to a minimum, which had its own pros and cons.).  When installing, use white glue to hold the centers into place.  But, I also used the glue gun to get the edges and around the windows to adhere quickly.  This is not exactly an easy roof to tape and clamp.  Once again, my hot glue gun was really my friend here!

The main thing to remember here is to take your time and try not to rush it.  If you get frustrated, find something else to do to take your mind off of it.  I still had a few of the pieces break and had to work with them to make them all fit just right.  The good news is that the shingles covered those places and there is additional trim that goes on the corners.  That plus a little wood filler will make the roof outstanding!

Fish Bathroom! And the study too . . .

I couldnt resist.  I knew at least one of my houses had to have a fish bathroom!  As more of the walls and roofing had to go in, I knew I should go ahead and put in the basic decor for the third floor.  I had to hand cut and install each piece of the wainscoting individually.  Got the walls painted a pretty blue and installed the fish border.  Next came the tiling.  I get most of my tiles from Home Depot and work with my own creations since there are no dollhouse supply resources in Flagstaff.  It allows me to be more creative!  And it is MUCH cheaper (always a good thing).  I went ahead and installed the interior window trim, but will have to wait on the rest after the roofing gets done and the dormers are assembled.

Once the bathroom was done and I giggled and clapped at myself for making it so cute (I am allowed to indulge myself occasionally, right?), I got started on the Study.  I have made another of my cross stitched rugs to go in here to add some color and a little more creative detail (pics later).  I was able to install the interior walls and wallpaper with little hassle (remember I made all of those templates?).  I did have to do some changes to the templates, but that was certainly a genius move on my part, if I do say so myself.  At the very least, if not genius, it certainly cut down on the swearing while installing!  Next came the carpeting.  The rug I made is a beautiful array of jeweltones, so I kept it simple.  Once again, instead of using actual "Dollhouse" supplies, I scrounge around scrap material pieces until I find a good material for carpet among other things.  It is cheap and usually gives you way more than the typical dollhouse carpeting.  Besides, I like the hunt as much as I like building.  In the study, I also stained the interior window trim and the small hearth for the fireplace.  While in the staining mode, I stained a bookcase too.  And yes, I was a little fuzzy headed since I didnt have any ventiliation!  The stain pens work great for the small detail things and is WAY less messy.

So the basic decor for the top floor is done!  Now?  On to the roof . . .

Stairs

I decided not to put in the main stairwell on the first floor.  It is big and bulky and doesnt allow much room for the space in the center room.  Never fear, however!  I have plans for this staircase.  More on that when I think it might work.  I am installing the staircase going from the second to third floor.  Stairs are cute in a dollhouse, I just dont like it when they take up an entire room!  I realized that in order to install this staircase and give myself the least amount of hassle, I would need to install the flooring and the wallpaper first.  This of course eliminates the need for me to cut around a difficult staircase, so of course I installed them first.  Although it took more time to cross this step off of the instructions, I am glad I did it this way.  Now I have two rooms almost complete in the house!  It makes looking at that side more enjoyable for sure.

Catching up on posts!

So I was able to get the basic construction done pretty quick.  The glue gun really helps get it stabilized so I dont have to clamp as much and wait for glue to dry as long.

It has begun!

Now that I have completed The Heritage, I have decided to take on one of the BIG houses, the Beacon Hill (BH).  The first night was spent sorting the parts and making sure everything was in the kit by comparing to the schematics (that I had to order and wait for).  Fortunately, everything was there from what I could tell!  The lady that I bought the kit from had started, but only put together a couple of pieces of the foundation.  That is a relief!  Now I know that the mistakes with be all mine!  LOL

After getting everything cleaned up from the Heritage, I started with a blank table and my basic supplies.  This time they suggested using a glue gun.  So I dug out my little glue gun and found some glue sticks.  I have ordered a bigger gun for later in the project and for future houses.  Can I just say, THANK GOODNESS FOR GLUE STICKS????? SO far, I can tell that this type of glue will hold nicely and will cool and set within seconds, versus having to wait hours between parts with the white crafting glue.  Obviously I will need the white glue for other parts of the house, but this was a massive time saver!

The first thing I did was to R&P (remove and prepare) all of the pieces to get the basic construction done.  Before putting anything together, I made templates of each piece, laabeled as to what wall, floor or ceiling they were.  I did this to make decorating with flooring and wall coverings easier.  This is just one of those things I had to learn the hard way!  Decorating after construction was not so easy.  But then again, neither was decorating while constructing.  The way the directions read for BH, the basic construction is essential in the first 3 steps.  Let's see how much cussing and grumbling I do later on with this method!

A couple of hours of making templates and a couple of hours putting the basic construction together finished up my first day working on this beauty!

Welcome!

Well, here we go!  A little background . . . the Beacon Hill is my third dollhouse construction.  I rescued the kit from a woman who got the first two steps done and quit.  Unfortunately the instructions are not in the kit, so my first step is to get the instructions to continue!

I had always wanted a dollhouse when I was a little girl.  Now I dont have room to keep my dollhouses, but plan to do nice things with them.  The Beacon Hill is a project I hope to build and sell to someone who can appreciate the detail work that I put into my houses.  I also have the Garfield Kit to put together.  In addition to those kits, I have two beautiful antique houses that were constructed but not completed.  One of these is enormous and is set aside for my daughter.  The other I hope to finish (lots of work needs to be done on it) and donate to a little girl who doesnt have much for Christmas.  The final house I have is in a kit, extremely old (the instructions were typewritten and falling apart) and without pictures of the finished design.  I have researched and found the pictures, but the kit is so old it needs nails to be put together.  Thank goodness I have purchased a miniature nail gun!

Thanks for coming to visit and watch as the blog grows along with my houses!  Pictures will be coming soon, I promise!