MiraPrincess

I'm glad it worked out for you! I have a story to tell. My Orchid never arrived. They had shipped it separately and the glue and all made it just fine. I was hoping it was just held back in customs because of the size, but I had planned on putting it together over Christmas. Well, Christmas rolled around, no dollhouse. New Year's, no dollhouse.... at the end of January I contacted them because it still hadn't gotten here. They were so kind to send out a new one (and shipping to Germany is outrageously expensive, which I realized when I had to pay for shipping for my first order), and it finally got here today! Unfortunately I'm stuck up to my neck in work, so I won't be able to look at it until Easter, or maybe even summer.... Oh, second part of the story: the barrel I've ordered is actually made by a German company in Germany.... at least I now know where to look for decoration!

OK, I did it. I've used the 20% Halloween sale on miniatures.com and ordered the Orchid, Museum Wax, Grandmover Stover's glue, and a barrel for the pub. I'm hoping to build most the bar myself...

I love your house so far! Especially the stucco! Did you stick the cardboard on first and painted everything afterwards, or did you put up the painted cardboard after you were done with the wood fill?

Pinterest is every crafter's friend

Hi! I'm new, too, so since you've travelled further down the rabbit hole than I have: which books did you buy and which ones were worth the money? I ordered the October issue of Dolls House and Miniature Scene and really enjoyed it because it covered a lot of topics I'm interested in.

I have a paper maché project planned for the end of the school year. If you check youtube for creative mom, she does fairy houses with lights out of plastic bottles and paper clay. I'd love to do that in school, but need to keep the limited time in mind. That's why I craft things at home first. If something takes me 4.5 hrs, that would already be 3 weeks in school, without taking into consideration that kids will need longer than I do! Honey bees are in trouble over here, too. We talked about bees in social studies and visited a bees keeper and his hives. And since art is often connected with the topics we talk about in social studies, I decided to do the houses which the kids then can hang in their yards or on their balconies. Our new topic in social studies is forests, hence all the leaf/autumn projects. :D

OMG I checked them out and they're fantastic! The Great Hall would be such a fun project to do!!!!

I used to be a high school teacher, but because of financial and other reasons I decided to join a program that retrains high school teachers to become elementary school teachers, since job prospects are much better in that area. That means that I don't only get to teach English and Geography now, I also get to teach art. And that means a dream has come true. I get to teach my favourite hobby! I get to plan lessons on my crafting desk! It's wonderful! So I'm trying a lot of different things to see how long they take me and what is involved in it to get an idea whether it's something I can do with 8-year-olds or not. So here are the things I'm going to do in class from now til Christmas. (The bees houses and bees mobile I did before the autumn break.)

Aaaah see, I thought it would come with the window already being cut out. If I have to punch it out myself I can just not do that. Good to know! I spontaneously decided on a smaller project. I was out buying crafting materials for my students when I found this beautiful wooden lantern with tree bark on the roof and I immediately thought miniatures! So I'm thinking about doing a mini scene inside of it. I have a few ideas and don't know yet which way I want to go. There are so many great ideas if you google or look through pinterest. But it would give me a chance to test the materials. Would you recommend modge podge for the wallpapers, or is there a better glue?

Yeah, I was already thinking that one build has to have a crafting room that has that box sitting there. Maybe I can find miniature house bits so that it looks like someone is building a dollhouse The Orchid being modifiable is great! I had decided against it because of the small downstairs rooms. Can you also leave out the big window on the side wall? I’d like the bar to be on one side and a fireplace on the other

AWesome!

Ok, so I’ve looked through Greenleaf’s other Dollhouses and I’ve narrowed my choices down to the following: 1) The Haunted House http://shop.greenleafdollhouses.com/ZoomImageEx.aspx?productid=DH66&image=Dollhouses/66-Haunted-House-Dollhouse-UF-zoom.jpg I’m thinking Shrieking Shack, although since Halloween is almost gone, I’d rather save that idea for next year. Alternatively, the Hog’s Head. I love the idea of adding a basement to it to store wine and beer barrels in. And a fireplace and a picture of Ariana Dumbledore would be cool 2) the Storybook Dollhouse http://shop.greenleafdollhouses.com/Wooden-Storybook-Cottage-Dollhouse-Kit.html# or the Sugarplum http://shop.greenleafdollhouses.com/Wooden-Sugarplum-Dollhouse-Kit.html# Both may be neat as Honeydukes sweets shop or Zonko’s jokeshop. Their windows would work well as shop fronts. The Storybook could also work as the romantic tea shop, but I’m not into building a poofy tea shop. For the shops, the idea of building dozens of product boxes is a little scary. Is there a simple way to do those? so, what do you think? I think I’m leaning towards the Hog’s Head idea...

Yeah But yes, now that I’m not completely clueless I’ll definitely do that

Great idea! When I first saw a picture of the kit I was thinking The Potters House in Godric's Hollow!

You're a gem! I've not heard of Pinder, but then Leipzig is on the other side of Germany, but I will definitely check out their online store. I've found Mini Mundus and the dollhouse museum is about an hour away from here. I was planning on in-laws there when they come to visit over Christmas. Trier is not too far away from me either, so maybe another day trip with the in-laws ;) I'll google the craft store and see if they have another store closer. Since I just found out that I bought a replica of the building box instead of the actual dollhouse, I need to either ask for it for Christmas or find a cheaper house to start with. But the Glencroft will stay on my to do list!

You made me cry, lol! I went back to the item description and you're right. It's a replica of the box :,( See, total noob here. When it said Glencroft Cottage Replica, I thought there is a real life cottage called Glencroft and the box contains the replica of it... I didn't convert inches into cm, so I didn't notice the size and with $20 shipping I expected a large box. OMG I spent $20 shipping on something you could ship in an envelope for $5... Now I'm really sad.... OK, since I need a new dollhouse to start out with... which is a cheap one that's easy to assemble and a great starter? Maybe 2 rooms to begin with that I can turn into the pub "The three broomsticks"?

Yeah, Aldi is a grocery store here, too. But twice a week they have specials, like tools, clothing, baby stuff, decorations, school and office supplies, etc. My husband loves "American week" when they have American products like mac'n'cheese or mini blueberry pies :D

Thanks! I'm an English teacher and my husband is from the US, so anything I don't understand he can help me figure out. I think I'll have to put together a list of things I need and then pester the people at the hardware store to find it all for me. I looooove hobby lobby and I always do a splurge trip when we're visiting the in-laws, unfortunately we don't have a crafting store like that here. The only crafting store in the area is small and outrageously overpriced. Aldi and Lidl here have crafting weeks 3-4 times a year, that's when I stock up on papers, glues, etc., anything else I get off Amazon, ebay, and etsy.

Beulah, that's what I was wondering. Especially the staircase and the inside of the fireplace seem very tricky to do afterwards. I also want to practice a bit first before I actually start on the dollhouse. The postman just brought me a deep picture frame I want to do a miniature scene in. Maybe something Christmas-y or shabby chic. Need to check my scrapbook paper stash I'd also like to do some stone/brick on the outside using paperclay. I haven't worked with paperclay before, but there is an artist on youtube who makes fairy houses out of plastic bottles and paperclay. That would look nice and is a small project to get used to the materials. The postman also brought me this month's issue of dollshouse and miniature scene and it features someone who built Dumbledore's office including a miniature Fawkes and Dobby! So excited! Going to read that in bed tonight!

Thanks! I started reading through your construction journal earlier! Even though I don't have the kit yet, I really worry about how to start, especially the construction/painting bit. I see many people who put their houses together first, others paint and stick wallpaper and floors in as they go. And do I need to paint all the pieces white before I actually paint/put wallpaper in? And how about installing lights... so many basic questions.... What material do y'all use as wallpaper? Can I use scrapbook paper, or is that going to be too thick and heavy? With my Hogwarts theme I have particular colours and patterns in mind that I haven't found on dollhouse websites yet...and how about lights... can I put in lights later, or should I put them in on the go, too?

Hello everyone! I kind of stumbled accidentally into building a dollhouse! In the facebook craft group of the Hogwarts running club someone posted about building the Glencroft cottage and turning it into a wizards shop. I was intriqued by the looks of the dollhouse, went on ebay, found someone selling a Glencroft box for $2 plus $20 shipping to Germany, so I went ahead and bought it right away, thinking that all I have to do is put it together, paint it, and then decorate it... But about 5min after I had bought the dollhouse I went on Pinterest and then google and realised that there is much more about building a dollhouse than just putting paint on the outside. So while my box is on its way over here, I'm trying to read up all about building dollhouses, installing lights, and making my own furniture. I've looked for stores, but I only found one German website that sells dollhouse equipment like lamps and such. I'd love to light up the fireplaces, but I'm concerned that I won't find the equipment I want. But since it's my first dollhouse, I may skip lights and concentrate on the actual building first. Any advice on how to tackle a project like this (e.g. putting it together first, then wallpaper it, or wallpaper first, then putting it together, etc.) is highly appreciated. Oh, and my plan for it: I want it to be Hogwarts themed: Gryffindor common room living room, Ravenclaw library, Slytherin potions lab, and Hufflepuff kitchen or bedroom.