iwishtofish

Nice work!

Are you planning to wallpaper or do any kind of flooring? Maybe something to ponder as you labor over those stairs. I know I have to get that all decided for mine, as some may be best done (at least parts of it) before the final gluing takes place. I'm also curious if you plan to run electrical wiring throughout the house...

That's great about your floor, Heather! Please keep us posted on your stair progress. I started my first Garfield staircase before getting delayed by another project. I had to do a LOT of repair work because I did such a poor job cutting out the pieces.

Thanks, Sable! I was near a Michaels today, but hadn't yet seen your comment. That's pretty neat, Holly - thanks. I'm going to try to find some more time to experiment soon.

I guess just basswood? That's soft enough to cut with the utility knife? I'll paint the ceilings. I have 3/4" popsicle sticks, but they are quite thin and some curl a bit. Maybe I'll experiment with gluing a couple together...

Unfortunately, Holly, I have limited tools (as well as knowledge), so making something like that might be tough for me. I'd definitely be willing to tackle it, though, if I see a path to success! The whole inside of the dollhouse is already primed, so, yes, that white showing through any cracks in the flooring might be an issue. I have to decide, also, whether or not to paint the ceilings white vs. wallpapering them.

I tried to find some pre-made wooden shutters on Ebay this morning, but all are about 5" tall, and I need to find some that are about 3" tall. I guess I could cut them to modify? On my test board that is primed (like the inside of the dollhouse), I have glued and stained some flooring, and I like the way it turned out. The craft sticks I used cost easily twice as much as wooden coffee stirrers, so I'm debating whether or not to buy some stirrers and do an experiment with them. I also glued on some plain paper with Elmer's clear glue - it is Avery heavyweight textured note card paper, and it printed some wallpaper pattern very well. I just wanted to see how well the glue did, and it seems to have worked out great. I know I'll put some varnish over the floors when they are done, but what about coating the wallpaper? Is there anything that can be used to seal/preserve it that doesn't either run the ink, or detract from the look?

Ha, I know what you mean! Hey thanks - I think she is! Thank you, and a good idea. Just a little trim and shutters, perhaps.

She's happy. A different look, for sure!

Oh, well, here goes! I tried my best to suggest some alternate ideas, but she knows what she wants!

The instructions do leave a bit to be desired, and larger pictures would be nice, too. Fortunately we have the generous help at this forum. Wish I could be working concurrently on the foundation, but I still have to make that one piece out of some thin plywood I purchased (and I'm still working on an "interim" dollhouse for my daughter). Are you flipping the whole unglued foundation before your attachment of the flooring? Some people don't, from what I've seen.

I started the foundation a few weeks before Christmas, but got stalled due to one piece (foundation piece #8, which is a cross-piece) being hopelessly out of whack. I'll have to make a replacement. Before I got sidetracked, I was trying to figure out if I needed to sand down the tabs (the ones that point down) enough to make the stand-up foundation pieces rest flush with the flat ones. That's probably a no-brainer. The disturbing part is that the instructions seem to want one to flip the whole assembled (yet not glued) foundation upside down before mounting the first floor pieces. I guess it's all learn-as-you-go!

That's pretty neat, Holly - thanks.

Ok, thanks. The floors in the dollhouse are already primed. To experiment with flooring, I just primed a piece of scrap from the construction - tomorrow I'll try gluing the little wood strips I bought to that, as a test case.

Thanks for the tips, Tracy and Selkie...those look like some great tools!