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Just One More

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Everything posted by Just One More

  1. The shell is all together. The attic is wallpapered and the roof glued on so I painted the outside, sanded and painted again. I decided to use the antique white. It just looks best on the Westville to me. The porch floor is the stained wood. I'm going to do the shutters barn red to match the door. I'm going to try and stain the shingles after they are on to match the interior and porch floors. I don't like messing with shingle dye. I tried it once and they got all curly. If it doesn't work I'll paint them a color to match the floors and sand them to look aged like I did with the black painted ones. I always do the shingles last, my least fun part of building. I think the red shutters and stained wood roof will be different enough than my other Westvilles. I have lots of wallpaper that will go with the exterior colors.
  2. Toothpaste caps from the bargain brand toothpaste make cute table lamp shades. The mini wooden fittings at Hobby Lobby have shapes that make the base. I just paint the wood part and glue on the cap. Not fancy but cute in bedrooms on night stands. I made a kitty litter box from a restaurant jelly container. Just filled it with pencil shavings. I found a printout for the bag of kitty litter on the web, can't remember where, it's been awhile. A whole canister set can be made from the little clear cap that comes on hair spray.
  3. As soon as I wallpaper or paint the inside of the roof sections I can glue them on. I finished the stairs. The fit nicely now without glue. I had to remove the tabs that go into the floor but they fit snuggly without them. I like to be able to remove them in case I change my mind on wallpaper sometime. This is the first house I've worked on since getting my dog, Toby. I have to watch him every minute and not leave anything where he can get it. I thought my cats could be a problem building but Toby will chew up anything. When I'm busy I don't always catch him. Yesterday he chewed up the felt case I made for my crochet hooks. At least he didn't chew on the hooks. I guess he was bored with me working on the house. I put all the wood pieces in a big plastic bin so he can't get into them. Dogs are so different than cats. He is always hungry and I think he would eat until he exploded. LOL. The cats eat their food only to survive. They look at me sometimes like, "you don't expect us to eat this?" It's like having little children all over again. I'll take some pics when the house starts looking good.
  4. Other than the second floor having to be slid over the porch roof, it is pretty basic construction. The risers and treads were not sized well at all and hard to fix because they are so small. Some were almost 1/16 inches different in size which in mini scale is a lot. They are all together now and don't show that much anyway. I like having the bathroom by adding the wall in the left upper room but it does leave just a little area for a sewing room or maybe a desk and chair and book shelves. Haven't decided yet. I also want to put a little ladder up to the attic. Twiggy, my black and white kitty was in the right upper room this morning. She loves to sleep in the empty houses.
  5. The shell is all together. I don't start the basic shell unless I can finish it. The center wall was a real pain. Just wouldn't go all the way into the slot in the floor. I taped the roof on temporarily and the extra weight seemed to help. I don't glue the roof on until I wallpaper the attic or you just can't get in there with the roof on. The stairs were a problem too. Instructions say treads and risers are the same. They are not. Very frustrating. Having the finished Westvilles to go by it all came out OK. I don't think a first time builder would be very happy though. Instructions were not very helpful and I had to go look at the finished houses several times. The stairs are all together but I'm glad they only show looking down into the house. Next I'll seal all the walls and paint the ceilings. I haven't decided anything yet about wallpaper, etc. so will just take my time now that the shell is together.
  6. I stained the floors tonight. I'll varnish them tomorrow. The basic Westville shell is not that hard to do. All the trim is what takes so much work. I seal all the walls with off white paint when the shell is together so the wallpaper will stick. If I paint the ceilings I use off white also but enough coats to cover nicely. I may try papering them this time but they need to be sealed, either way. The shingles and siding were in neat stacks in the box and all nice and flat. I have bags of RGT shingles I like better because they are just a bit thicker. I paint or wallpaper the attic and attic ceiling before I put the roof on because you can't get in it afterwards.
  7. I checked out all the sheets and they all look in really nice condition. The three floor pieces have pretty grain so will stain nicely. The pieces to the stairs look good, bannisters, etc. Having a dog now I have to be more organized and pick up scrap and sweep more as I go than with the kitties. They might bat things around they find on the floor but he chews everything he finds, pencils, plastic, etc. I'll get the basic shell together and then work on the stairs. The other two houses had stairs that weren't in very nice condition but these look like they'll finish up really smooth. I want to take my time on this one. I live in central Illinois and it's so sad so many not too far from here lost everything in the tornadoes yesterday. We had very high wind and rain but didn't even lose power. They blow the sirens if there's a tornado spotted. How would you deal with having your whole house just blown away with everything in it? Whole neighborhoods leveled. My friends out of State all called to see if we were OK. I've thought many times today how really fragile life is and try not to worry. One day at a time is really all we have.
  8. I really got carried away with the My Twinn Dolls. I have too many now. Same with American Girl. The dollhouses of course take up the most room. I've put the furniture in boxes in some of them and put them down in the basement on tables. If I ever sell them it would be just the empty houses. I'd try and sell the furniture separately. Both the houses and the dolls are a total obsession. My user name here is really how it is. I keep it all neatly displayed or in storage boxes out of the way. If I ever have a big sale, I know where everything is. Most of it I'm just not ready to let go yet. I have to learn how to organize my Picasa album. It's just all mixed up now.
  9. I have a hard time finding things in my gallery here. I never learned how to put my pictures in after the upgrade to this forum awhile back. There are a lot of pictures but some are four or five years old. I got more into my doll collecting when I had over 12 houses. Now my dolls take up more room than the houses. LOL I wasn't building any for a couple of years and now just got the mini bug again. I have my Picasa album but it's kind of a mess now because my computer was down and when my SIL got it back to me, my way of putting pictures in Picasa is all changed now too. I am not very skilled on computers and it's just trial and error most of the time. I can copy pictures from Picasa to my doll club, but can't email them or put them in the gallery here. I'd like to be able to show pictures of my houses so will just try and get them organized in Picasa. The link is at the bottom of my posts if anyone wants to see new pictures. There are quite a few in the Gallery here of my older houses but some I can't find.
  10. When I was in high school in the 50's we lived in Phoenix, Arizona. We had a Roper style range in bright orange. I've never seen one that color again. We finally got a more modern range, an O'Keefe and Merit in 1954. I have the white Roper range and fridge in my 40's Jefferson. I've always liked the older appliances in my dollhouse kitchens. Last Christmas I got a Hallmark ornament, a 50's style TV that lights up and plays the Beverly Hillbillies. I should put it in this Westville's living room. I don't know what style I'll do the new Westville yet. It should be here around Monday.
  11. I spackled the whole lower floor walls in my First Willow. Spread it around with my fingers so it looked like some tiny person plastered them. I've used it on ceilings too. The light weight white spackle is easiest for me to work with. It's great to use as plastered wall on hard to wallpaper dormers, etc. I used it a lot in the Glencroft.
  12. Holly, The tile floor would be nice but the wallpaper I have on the floor is a really old pattern I found so wouldn't want to cover it. It's permanently attached. Having the Kitchen on the left in the Westville doesn't have as many possibilities for appliance arrangement. I want to find some GE or Kenmore stickers to cover the Aztech on the door of the fridge and the stove. Having the living room on the left has hardly any room for a sofa and chairs. I love the Westville, just wish it was a little bigger.
  13. My Kit isn't here yet but I tried my 50's kitchen from HBS in one of my finished Westvilles. I can't put pics in the gallery here and have a heck of a time even getting them in my Picasa. I just put in three pics you can see by clicking on my Picasa link at the bottom of my posts. Do you think 50's works in a Westville?
  14. I just looked at the Tudor Westville. That really makes it different. I don't think I'd make that many changes but it looks nice with the half timbered exterior like the Glencroft. That's another house I'd like to build again. I love the stairs in that one.
  15. The dark green shutters and door would be pretty and maybe a gray instead of black roof. That would still be like the picture. Both my Westvilles have the kitchen on the left with a 20's style sink and the wooden stove, a 20's style with the side oven cut off to fit. There is no place to put a stove that needs to vent outside on that side of the house. I have the 50's kitchen set in white I just got from HBS. I may try that. It's nice I have the finished houses to experiment with when deciding on room and furniture placement.
  16. I don't put in the wallpaper until the house is assembled. I stain the floors before assembly with water based wood stain I find in the craft stores and water based satin varnish. When assembled, I prime the interior walls with what I paint the ceilings with, any good quality flat white or off white paint. I use regular wallpaper paste in the size available for real house size borders. I use an old credit card to smooth out any bubbles in the paper while it's still wet. The primer seals the wood so the wallpaper paste will stick. The slanted ceilings in the upper floor of the Arthur are tricky so you can make a plain paper pattern to make it easier. I use dollhouse wallpaper, scrap book paper and if I can find a small enough print, real house size wallpaper. A lot of the wallpaper is pre-pasted now and it works really well. I only use the wallpaper paste on paper without it. Hope this helps.
  17. I wanted both of mine to look just like the box too but I didn't put on the shutters and put a roof over the porch instead of the balcony. I can't imagine it other than white so will have to think of something. A cedar roof would make it look different than the black. I want to try and go slow which is hard for me, and really make this build keep me busy all winter.
  18. Luanne - The pictures in my gallery are the second one. The first is from 2007, and just the bathroom pic is in the gallery. I gave that house to my neighbor's daughter and then traded her back and put the bathroom in. I took pictures of that one but don't know where I put them. I had the kitchen on the right in that one I remember and changed it to the left when I got it back. It's very similar to the 2010 house now. That's why I hope I can make some other décor in the new one. Both of the houses are white with black roofs so I may put cedar color roof or something to make the outside look different. It's such a pretty house I don't want to make major changes, just wallpaper, paint etc. With the living room on the right with the stairs I found it much roomier than when I had the kitchen on that side.
  19. I just ordered my third Westville. It's one of my favorite houses. I got it on the HBS discount sale. It's not a very big house so I can find room for it. The other two I've finished are similar in color so I'll try and make this one different somehow. I have so much scrap wood and shingles so won't have to spend too much right away. Also lots of furniture. It's not a very difficult house to build. I put a roof over the porch rather than the balcony. I just like it better that way. The little attic I think is cute and I add a bathroom to the left of the stairs. There are pictures of it in my gallery and my avatar is a Westville. We already had snow here last night and it in the low 30's today so I'll have something to do with winter coming on early.
  20. Wouldn't 1/6 scale be about the size for a Barbie? Years ago I saw a 1/6 scale house in Barbie Bazaar magazine, no longer published. It was really fantastic. I wish I had saved the article. It was finished inside and out and looked just like a real house. I have a kitchen in 1/6 scale I used in a book case for one of my Barbies. A whole house would be huge.
  21. I built a Fairfield and it was really nice. I sold it and should have kept it. It had more decorative potential than the 1/2 scale Jefferson. The half scales are easier to hide LOL or display. The smallest 1/12 scale house is the Arthur. For a small house you can get a full kitchen and bathroom in it. I added the Primrose to one I sold a long time ago and it was still not too big.
  22. I just brought my completed Willow up from the basement and dusted it off. It's one of my nicer houses, all finished and ready to furnish again. I had made a few changes, closed up the crescent shaped attic windows and upgraded the other windows. It's a big house but light weight and I always liked the double chimneys. I have 11 full size finished houses, only four displayed. I had boxed up the furniture on the others so will have lots to sort through to furnish the Willow. It's wallpapered etc., in Early American style. I just can't get going on the 1/2 scale. I have boxes of 1/12 scale furniture and accessories and can't see spending more on 1/2 scale furniture. The kind with the detail I like is too expensive. I have two finished Jefferson's downstairs also. The Willow and Jefferson are my favorite style but I have two furnished Westvilles I really like too. I keep them turned to the wall so my Kitties won't get in them. They are back in the bedroom where I can't always watch them. My dog hasn't gotten anything from the dollhouses unless one of the kitties knocks it out. So far it's just pillows and little baskets that Twiggy knocks out. I used to find them under a door or the fridge but now Toby, who I've had for only six months, chews them up. I put the 1/2 scale pieces in a box and maybe will finish it sometime and leave it empty. It is a pretty house. If I had more room I'd build another 1/12 scale house. The building is so much fun. I haven't been really into the houses in over a year and I really do miss it.
  23. I'll check Grazhina's. I haven't checked there for 1/2 scale. I have all my wood stained, floors, stairs, window frames. I think it's going to be smaller than I thought. Once it's all together and finished, even empty it will look nice.
  24. I'll look at the Greenleaf kits. They do look to scale more than some I've seen. Some of the wood is too thick on the 1/2 scale furniture and doesn't look real like the 1/12 scale does. It looks more toy-like which would be nice for a cottage for children but realism is important to me, as I'm sure it is to everyone working in 1/2 scale. The Jefferson is quite a bit smaller than the Fairfield which has more room for furniture. Maybe it's because all the rooms are seen from the front on the Jefferson. The Fairfield has such a nice floor plan. I wish GL would make it in 1/12 scale.
  25. I've been working on my 1/2 scale Jefferson. I got out the furniture I had saved from when I had the Fairfield. I have the dining room and one bedroom. The second bedroom only has the bed. The kitchen I had then has a wood stove, a sink I made and a cute wooden ice box. There is also a kitchen table and chairs. I have a three piece bathroom. I need more for the living room. All I have is a sofa and a Grandfathers clock and a coffee table. Looking at HBS where I do a lot of my mini shopping, there is hardly any 1/2 scale. They have one Victorian LR set but it's almost $40.00. I can put the house together but without enough furniture it won't be much fun to work on. Is there anyplace anyone knows of with affordable 1/2 scale furniture, kits or patterns to make furniture?
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