This is what it looks like in real life:

Andrew (aka doogster) posted some knowledgable information about the type of glue to use for this material. He said Tenax 7R would be the best. It welds the plastic and sets in 10 seconds. Of course I didn't have any on hand when I started the project, so I used Aileen's Tacky Glue to assemble the two floors and the three sides. The next morning, when I took off the masking tape, one side fell off. And the other two walls were failing fast. So, off I went to the hobby shop for some Tenax 7R. I did some test pieces with scraps and discovered that it is marvelous stuff if the two pieces to be joined are absolutely in contact with one another. Even a teensy gap and there is no attachment formed. I added some superglue gel to the arsenal and am now chugging along cheerfully.

I got some Krylon spray paint for the roof bits. I want it a lovely, smooth satiny red. I pinned them to a piece of styrofoam insulation and sprayed away. It worked beautifully.

As I was prepping the large octagonal window for the center gable, a couple of things were churning around in my head. I thought I'd rather have a blank wall in that area on the inside. One of the challenges of this housing arrangement is that there are four little men elves and one little lady, plus the fairy godmother. Sleeping arrangements are going to be difficult to sort out. A blank wall might give me a bit of flexiblity.

Then it occured to me that the window might be a doorway. A cuckoo might live in that little space. So I went looking for a cuckoo that would be found in a Bohemian forest and who should introduce himself but a Great Spotted Cuckoo. I did a search on the internet and found a tutorial by Kerri Pajutee on the CDHM website for making a parrot. Her directions are so straightforward and clear that I think I can use them to make a cuckoo. Here's what he ought to look like:

All I need to do is get out the Fimo and round up some feathers. I'll save that for when I'm in an accessory building frame of mind.

There were some little details to work out, like how would the cuckoo's door open. I cut the center punch-out in half, superglued some hardware on it, and made a little perch out of part of the roof trim (which isn't going to be used on the roof). I glued some spacers made from other punch-out scraps for the back wall, which I cut from foamcore board. From even a small distance, the foamcore looks much like the Sintra. I would have used the wall pieces, which aren't going to be used, but they weren't big enough.

There are some other challenges to be met, like stairs. The stairs that come with the kit take up too much room. I was very much taken with Grazhina's gnome house and its lovely brick & plaster oven. I'm thinking that something similar built against the side wall might have steps built in for the elves to scamper upstairs. It would have to be a bit more elaborate and might even include a space for a tiny lady elf's bed. How cozy and warm would that be? ;) That would make the upstairs bedroom challenge a bit less complicated.

So here's where the build is now, with the ornament by the porch for reference. The plan is to finish the outside completely while the plans for the interior have time to ferment in my brain.

Of course they do! While fiddling with the outside bits, adding windows, etc., the inside has been nagging at me. I finally chopped up a piece of contractor's foam board to make a combo stairway/oven wall. This is the first attempt. About 2 inches near the window will be removed and the corner rounded a bit to make a little closet/nook. An alcove will be cut out for a half-inch scale woodstove. The baker is only 3" tall. I thought a full size stove would have her running up and down a ladder -- dangerous near a hot stove! The foam will be smoothed, Spackled, and gessoed so it will look more like the Sintra walls.

The unfinished chair is the fairy godmother's. She's pushing to have it gilded, but I don't think so. I'm hoping if I ignore it (her) long enough, she'll turn her attention to something else.