DocGreen

Elmer's exterior wood glue.

Duracraft has been out of business for quite some time so if you have a problem with missing or broken parts then you may have a bit of a problem. ALL sellers assure that ALL the parts are there but the truth often lies somewhere else. Not saying they are deliberately lying but unless you break it down and compare all parts with the schematics you really can't be sure. I have made a Duracraft house before and it is a bit more complicated that the Orchid. As you are pretty new to this I would personally recommend a new kit as that way you are assured of having all the parts and if not for some reason you can get them quite easily. If you have a masochist side and want to try something new then by all means go for it! You pays your money and you takes your chances!

As far as kids and dollhouses and broken things, it happens. I have built several really nice dollhouses for my granddaughters and spent a lot of time doing it. They loved them and played with them much to my dismay as they were not as careful playing with them as I was in building them. They would bring parts and pieces back to me to repair. I could have fussed and bitched but I just smiled and fixed the broken parts and mended not just the dollhouse parts but the grandfather and granddaughter parts! It hurt me that they were so rough on what I had put so much love in but they were just being kids and enjoying what I had made for them. Just gotta put sh. . .uh. . .stuff in perspective sometimes.

Do not use hot glue as it will not last. You can buy packs of hinges for the doors. Also you can do pins in the top and bottom on one side if you don't want to get hinges. If you have left over pieces of plywood big enough you can make your own interior doors or you can buy them aftermarket as you can stairs. I made a trapdoor on one of my houses and made a ladder for attic access. It's in my gallery, The Willow if you would like to see it. Some folks come thru the ceiling and then hide the wires under carpet or faux floors which can be removed for repairs if needed. Just personal preference. Hope this helps a bit.

I don't recall if I spackled them or not but spend an inordinate amount of time sanding them down so the two pieces so they would be even.

The inside is smooth. I used an oak veneer for the inside walls on mine. You will need to paint or paper or something to get a presentable inside.

There is a Shadybrook in my gallery that I did as a three pigs house.

You can make a simple jig by drilling a hole the same size as the tubing in a block of wood and use a small hammer to drive a razor blade into one end of the hole. Start the split by hand, insert the tubing in the hole past the razor and simply pull gently. It will then be a consistent size.

I would probably use airline tubing and split it in half. It is what they use in aquariums to supply air so it comes in different sizes. Once split I would paint the inside whatever color you wanted and go from there!

Well, I would use white wood glue with a touch of paint or food color and some fine sand to make jam and preserves and without sand for jelly. The glue will dry clear and the color will stay and the texture should give the illusion of fruit. Try one or two in a clear straw or small plastic bottle cap to see what it looks like before putting it in the jars. Let us know how it works out.

What house are you working on?!

Go to the top of this page and on the left it says Greenleaf next to forums. Just click there and it will take you to the Greenleaf site and go from there.

Ideally if you are using wood glue the wood needs to be bare for best adhesion. If thats not possible sand a bit to rough it up so the glue will have a surface to adhere to.

There is no 'correct' way. Having said that it is usual to mount the house to a board, mount the turmtable to that and then that is attached to another board. The reason for the first board is twofold. One, to provide a place to mount the table and two to provide support for the house. You can leave the bottom board off if you desire. I normally use half inch thickness boards. Hope this helps.

Type "Willow instructions" into the search window above right. This will bring up a list of discussions about the Willow. One is titled willow instructions and there is a link there to download them.