Lisa_F

1. How often? once a month would be ideal for me. While I'd probably enjoy getting together more frequently, life happens and once a month would be all I could really commit to. 2. Meeting content/format? I would enjoy a semi-structured format, at least in what to expect at each meeting (i.e., discussion/sharing mini topics, monthly projects where perhaps a member volunteers to teach a new mini skill, and best of all a "trading" portion of the meeting where members could bring excess or unwanted supplies to trade with other members. 3. Vibe/atmosphere? Informal. Just a gathering of friends type atmosphere. 4. # and kind of members? The number would depend on where the meeting was held. If it was held at various members homes it would need to be kept to a small manageable amount like perhaps 10. If the meetings were held in a conference or meeting room, maybe 20. Still small enough to feel friendly but large enough for a variety of skill levels and interest. 5. Bonuses? No fees or dues to belong and participate. A daytime, weekend gathering would work best for my schedule. A mini club geared mostly to 1/12 scale would also be a plus. 6. The max I'd be willing to drive would probably be 15-20 miles. I don't really have a preference for a stationary or changing meeting place. While I love being a part of an online community I do have to say that I would thoroughly enjoy having a real-life mini club in my town where I could participate in person in different projects.

I've had great luck with gluing them down to a cardstock template using tacky glue, then covering the flooring template with a piece of wax paper & weighing it down & letting it sit overnight to dry. The next morning the tiles are glued down nice & flat to the template & I can just slide the template into the house.

I just went through this with the windows on the Lawbre Shadowcliff I am working on. The previous owner hadn't started on the house shell itself but had painted the window pane frames & window frames, with primer I think. I needed to get them apart to sand them & paint them & when I took them all apart (an adventure all on it's own!) I discovered little globs of dried glue on the edges of several windows. What worked for me to get the glue off was to soak the plastic window inserts in a bowl of warm soap water (Dawn dish soap). After a few hours of soaking i was able to peel the softened glue off with my fingernails & the windows look nice as new. Edited to add: (because I originally posted before my morning coffee!) this method won't work if the plastic window inserts are already glued to the wood frames. Soaking would destroy the wood. I should've read the post more carefully!

I spent a good part of the weekend working on the windows for the Lawbre Shadow Cliff I'm working on. I think these windows are going to take me weeks to finish! A good many window frames were falling apart when I got the house and so I had to spend quite a bit of time gluing them back together. Same with the window pane frames. Now I'm working on painting them and I figure it's going to take at least two light coats of paint on each side of the window (different color on the inside frames from the outside frames) and this house has a lot of windows! This weekend I got the first coat on both sides of the windows done & a light sanding. Now to start on the second coat & see how they look. It's slow going but relaxing and since it's a small project that doesn't require a lot of prep or clean-up, I can continue working on it after work in the evenings.

Another fan of tacky glue on the underside of these tiles. Tiles I put down approx. two years ago with a little dab of tacky glue are still sticking tight to the floor!

Those eyes of Buddy's are enough to melt the heart of any dog-loving person! What a wonderful thing you did, rescuing him and showing him such kindness and caring. Any chance he's found his "forever" home with you?

Karin, I think plain cornstarch would work beautifully & without the scent! Using the baby powder works great for creating textured ceilings & stucco. Even works to create swirled patterns in the paint if you get the mix to the right consistency & the great thing about it is if there's not enough texture the first time around, you just slop more of the mix on top & pounce or swirl it again. And if there's too much texture in any one area it can be sanded smoother.

I mix paint with baby powder until it's a medium thick paste consistency & then brush it on the ceilings. Once the ceiling is covered in the "paste" I use a sponge brush & pounce the paint before it dries - gives it a neat textured finish & you can keep pouncing till you get the look & texture you want. Side note - you have to like the smell of baby powder if you use this method because the the scent lingers for quite awhile! Not my original idea, I read it somewhere, probably here on the Greenleaf forum

I used to be able to get them at the dollar store but they stopped carrying them a few years ago, at least my local one did. I've seen them at Walmart in the craft section and also at Michael's & Joann's in their "woodsie" section. I currently get them at a place called Cash & Carry - in the coffee supply section - the wood coffee stir sticks come in boxes of I think 500. They are thin like the craft skinny sticks but these have rounded ends that have to be cut off. Very cheap, as far as flooring goes. And they make awesome looking wood floors.

I don't really have a favorite primer for my houses, I just use whatever I have available I've used latex primer, left over from a rl house painting project, leftover latex house paint and gesso all with fairly equal end results. Mainly I just use leftovers that I want to get used up - and there always seems to be more than enough of those!

My sentiment exactly! I commend you both!

Looks good Joyce! I think whether or not to stain now or wait till the entire floor level is finished is a personal preference. Myself, I would wait until the entire floor level was done - and then do the floor all at once to ensure that the entire thing got the same, even coat. But that's just me. I've always glued my skinny stick flooring to a cardstock template - then after sanding & staining I just glue the entire template down to the house floor. I do all my wood floors with cardstock, skinny sticks and Aleene's Tacky glue & it's always turned out just fine.

I appear to be in the minority here 'cause all my houses have to have bathrooms & stairs. They have to have kitchens too otherwise they don't seem 'finished' to me. It's funny, when I look at other people's miniature houses it doesn't bother me in the slightest if any of those rooms or stairs are missing - I can visualize that they are in the part of the house that you can't see. But in my own houses, the kitchen, bath & stairs are mandatory to make it feel complete. Yeah, I'm a tiny bit obsessive! lol! The only exception in my houses is my little two-room honeymoon cottage. That has just a bedroom & bathroom. No stairs (lack of space) and no kitchen. With that said, while the rooms themselves are "must-haves" in my houses, the things you might typically expect to find in those rooms aren't. The house I'm working on now, while it will have it's mandatory kitchen - and the kitchen will be fairly modern - it won't have a fridge in it unless I can find a more realistic looking one. The one's I've been able to find so far just don't do it for me so I'll probably be leaving it out & just imagining that the fridge is on the wall that you can't see! lol!

I've come full circle with my work space Back in the earlier stages of my mini hobby I started off with using my dining room table. That quickly morphed into my minis, supplies & houses taking up every available bit of floor space in our house! lol! It was so crazy there for awhile (so much stuff that I couldn't work on anything for lack of work space) so my DH suggested we turn our two-car garage into a hobby room. We emptied the garage out of all the unused junk that was stored there and had the space remodeled, complete with laminate flooring, heat, lighting, etc. I was in a happy place - had 440 square feet for all my mini stuff! Fast forward a few years, and our empty nest became very full and more than a little complicated... In order to make room for everyone and make the new living arrangement work I needed to give up my hobby room. So I downsized my collection of miniatures & dollhouses significantly. Kept only what I couldn't bear to part with, and I'm back to working on the dining room table... Really got me down for a long while, but I'm working on seeing the brighter side of it all nowadays. Downsizing my houses & supplies to such a great extent has put me in a position to really focus on what I have left. At one point I had so many house & kits that it was often hard to focus on any one project. Now I am able to put my time & energy into working on making my *forever* house into exactly what I want it to be!

Me too!!! I love being able to thumb through the pages on a printed magazine & this one looks like it would be a beauty!

Welcome Melinda and congratulations on your Beacon Hill! It truly is one of the most beautiful miniature houses there are! You've definitely come to the right place while starting your build - check out the members gallery & you will find many many photo's of completed Beacon Hills! I've not built this particular kit but from my experience building other houses I'd have to say it's not going to be a short-term project. It's really all up to you how long it takes though, based on how much time you have to devote to the project & how much you want to build yourself (furnishings & accessories) or buy ready-made. A well built dollhouse can last for generations so take your time & enjoy the process. I've built my houses on card tables, large sturdy conference room size tables and am currently working on a house on my dining room table. The best place to build your house is wherever you have room for it . You don't have to build it on a surface where it won't be moved around during the entire process, I've moved projects from room to room, depending on where I wanted to work in my house. But it does make things easier if you can set up a little work space for yourself & leave it there during the build. You'll be less likely to misplace important house parts if you don't have to move everything around a lot. Have fun with your house & try not to panic. Take the time to read through all of the directions a few times so you will be familiar with the various steps and then do a dry-fit of the house before gluing anything, to check for fit (dry-fit is where you put the shell of the house together with tape). It also helps to use a pencil and label the various parts of the dollhouse before punching them out of their sheets. I didn't do this with my very first house & I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what was what (because in my excitement to get started, I punched all the parts out before I even started on the house!) Because so many members here have built the Beacon Hill, you will find a treasure trove of information about that house in the forums. Also, this forum is full of some of the nicest, friendliest people there are, so if you have any questions about your build feel free to ask! Edited to add: even if the directions in your kit suggest it - don't use hot glue to put your house together, you probably won't be happy with the end result. Use wood glue or tacky glue - the glue will take longer to dry than the hot glue would, but the house will be sturdier and not apt to fall apart if you use wood or tacky glue.

Kelli, I haven't been able to find out much information on my house beyond a few sites that have photo's of the completed Shadowcliff. I would love to have any information you find out about the house! In the meantime here's a few links to photo's I've found. Shadow Cliff - this one has been listed on Ebay for forever it seems like. Get a load of the asking price! There are lots (12) of really great pictures of the house though, so you can get an idea of the layout of the rooms & sizes of the rooms till you get your hands on yours. Shadow Cliff 2 - this one doesn't have nearly as many photo's but talks about a Shadowcliff found in a museum. I just took a peek at the photo's you've upload - how wonderful that it comes with so much!!! Looks like yours is complete! Near as I can tell, the only things missing from mine was the conservatory & the wall with the pocket door between the living room & dining room. I'm looking forward to seeing what you do with yours!

Yay Kelli! As gorgeous as she is in the photo - just wait till you see her in person! While I currently have a love/hate relationship going on with mine (I love her but she's not too fond of me sometimes!) I still think it's probably the prettiest house I've ever seen! Can't wait to see what you do with yours!

You're getting a Shadow Cliff? How cool is that! I would love to follow your build as well! I've searched for quite awhile for online photo's of the completed Shadow Cliff and while I've run across a few, there definitely aren't enough!

And I'm gonna hold her to this statement too! Seriously though, I think the plans Kelly has for this house are outstanding & I can't wait to see it all start coming together!

I like using skinny sticks and wood coffee stir sticks for wood flooring. I found a great deal on large boxes of wood coffee stir sticks at our local Cash & Carry. I think they make very realistic wood floors for just pennies. For wallpaper I've used miniature wallpaper that's designed specifically for dollhouses, scrapbook paper, real life wallpaper with very small patterns on it and then paintable real life wallpaper. All work equally well.

I use plain old Tacky glue to attach my cabinets to the walls. But then I use Tacky glue for almost everything

Thank you Morgan! This is exactly how I see it! I am an equal opportunity hoarder, I mean collector. When it comes to collecting stuff I might use or need *someday* I'm not really very picky I collect scrapbook paper & embellishments because someday I'm gonna get around to finishing up some family scrapbooks that I started more than a decade ago. Every time I go to the craft store if they have a great sale on scrapbook paper I pick up some more because I'm gonna need it and it's too good a price to pass up. Doesn't hurt that scrap book paper transfers over to mini projects beautifully either! I collect little odds & ends of wood scraps from house kits, etc. Cause they might come in handy for custom mini furniture or filling in window holes on houses that I think have too many windows! I have an entire Rubbermaid tub full of these scraps. But in my defense, I actually do use these! I have a whole stack of egg cartons to make stones or bricks with - not sure when I'll get around to using them, but when the mood hits I'll be ready! lol! I collect yarn when it's on sale because I love to crochet. I collect House of Miniature kits because, well, just because I can (over 120 and counting!); for a long time I collected dollhouses - kits & rehabs & shells because they were all different & I had this idea of starting my own little mini town in my hobby room - back when I had a hobby room. I collect fabric for all the H.O.M. kits that will need upholstering and for bedding for the dollhouses, and I collect artificial flowers that can be cut down for miniature landscaping. I do, on a semi-regular basis, do a "purge" of excess stuff. Occasionally I'll decide I need to organize all my *stuff* so I can find what I need easier and that's when I'll go through & get rid of stuff. Then everything will be nice & tidy for a few weeks. But I'm not fooling anyone - we all know I'm just making more room for new stuff!

Absolutely beautiful!

What a wonderful memory for you! I am in the process of working on a log cabin with my niece - which is going very slowly because our schedules don't often mesh - but I'm hoping that she will have many fond memories of her first house like you do. I've already given dollhouses to my granddaughters & I'm hoping that someday when they are a bit older I will be able to share the love of building with them too.