Inetmonkey

My 20th was supposed to be this year as well. Although I didn't get contacted about it due to the fact that I changed my address to that of a pizza place in Ney York. I always felt that a reunion was basically an opportunity to go back and see how everyone turned out. Some people probably use it as an opportuinity to brag or gloat, and others to gossip or sneer. I guess it just depends on your personality and those of your fellow alumni. My HS was snobby to the Nth degree, so I have no desire to see anyone with whom I don't already maintain contact. Let us know what you decide!

Hi All, In beginning my Orchid, I've noticed that no matter how carefully I remove the pieces from their sheets, I seem to be losing bits of the thin lamination on the backs of the wood. Is this common or do I just have a bad sheet? I'm not even sure how much of a problem it is since I only have a pile of parts being prepped and I'm not sure what they will all look like when assembled. What's the most common way to deal with this? The lamination is so thin, I was just going to glue it up as-is and use a drop of spackle to hide the gap (if it's even noticeable when built). My main concerns it further delamination once it's glues that could have pieces falling off the house. I also came up with an easy way of helping with the removal of the pieces. Since it's sometimes hard to see the die marks on the backs of the sheets, I lay the sheet face down on a lightbox and the edges of the pieces can then easily be seen. I take my razor knife and score the back side before punching them out. The pieces seem to come out nice and clean.

Since the first task in building my Orchid is prepping the windows, I've been giving this some thought: Has anyone tried to make the windows open and close? I had a couple of ideas on how it might be done but I'm not sure if A) there is already a simple way to do this, or if it even SHOULD be done. It seems like the realism added would be desirable but there might be a reason the manufacturers make them static. Any ideas or comments?

OMG, I laughed so hard when I read this. My first thought was "she's insane!" but then I considered the texture you'd get from such a mix, not to mention the ability to color it to the exact shade you want. Essentially what you're getting is homemade grass similar to what you'd buy for model trains. How do you fix it in place? Sprinkle it down and then spray with a thinned white glue mixture?

Since I'm building my Orchid for a 6-year old, I wanted it to be accessible from front or back without the need to move the house. I'm going to use 3/4" MDF cut into circles and make a simple lazy susan table. The top disk will be covered with some sort of grass for a lawn, and the bottom disk will have simple screw-on legs. This would probably be a decent solution for other displays as well since you wouldn't have to touch the house itself to turn it around for different views. If you have trouble finding turntables, Rockler has a large assortment that are rated up to 1000lbs. Check the link below. http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=22...er=lazy%20susan

I was really surprised at this question, both because of where it showed up (a forum on dollhouses; I'm here thinking, "COME ON, you're all too sweet to to have been in fights!") and how many people answered yes (especially all you ladies; deadlier than the male indeed). I attended Catholic schools until I went to college. Most might think this would be a deterrent to fighting, but I also lived as one of the few caucasians in a very hispanic neighborhood. Between my skin color and my school uniform, I fought a lot more than I cared to as a kid. Unfortunately this gave me a lot of attitude as I got older and I turned into a bit of a bully. A tour in the military was enough to remove all traces of attitude as well as any ideas of how bad I /thought/ I was.

Hiya Heidi, I'm not sure if it's your thing, but I know Rockland, Bath, and Portland all have places where you can take a sailing trip on an old wooden ship. The trip lengths vary, but I really enjoyed it when I went. So are you going to drive through all 3 states in 3 days or or those just the places you were thinking of going?

Thanks to you all for your answers & awesome encouragement! I went through the destructions again a few times and think I have a better idea of how things go together.

Hi All, Well, I finally got the honey-do list cleared along with a portion of my workbench, so last night I thought I'd get started building my Orchid. However, after going through the contents of the box, I was a bit dismayed to find that it seemed to be somewhat lacking in directions. There is a page of written directions as well as a page describing each part on the die sheets, but nothing with assembly pictures! Since this is my first one, I was hoping for a little bit more hand-holding. Am I missing a page of directions or do I just need to turn up my instruction interpretational skills to max? Any help is appreciated.

Holy miniatures, Batman! They aren't kidding when they say that pictures can easily be mistaken for real rooms. I don't know if I'll ever be able to get that kind of detail from my models, but it certainly is inspiring.

Hello All, My name is Robert and I'm new to both the forum and the world of dollhouses & miniatures. Ever since I was a boy, I have loved building things. ANYTHING. From Legos to Erector sets to model kits, I was constantly putting things together & taking them apart to do it all over again in a different way. I first fell in love with dollhouses when my father built one for my little sister. I watched his meticulous attention to detail as he assembled & decorated, wired & painted. I can still remember the joy in my sister's face when she saw it for the first time. For many years it was her favorite toy and I remember the endless hours she spent playing with it. Now my little sister is a grown woman with a family of her own, and she has asked me to build a dollhouse for her daughter. So now, after almost 30 years of admiring these small homes that can be decorated with such beautiful detail, I finally have an opportunity to build one for somebody. It has been interesting to read the other introductions and see that the choice for my niece's first dollhouse - The Orchid - is such a popular choice. My sister has informed me that my niece likes "girly colors", which should go well with the details of the house. My wife (an interior designer) has already told me that since I have "no taste in colors" she will be choosing the paints for me. At any rate, I'm excited to begin. If I have as much fun with building this dollhouse as I think I will, I intend to build more of them and donate them for raffles, charities, and local schools. Happy Building!