shutterbugkc

Those little furniture and paint set are cute and that's not a bad price! I too wish I had a hobby lobby nearby. OR any store that sells miniatures for that matter. Oh well, that's what the internet is for!

Oooooo! Your Garfield is looking beautiful! Thank you for sharing your photos. I wish my Arthur was big enough for a washer and dryer. I really like the everyday realism that things like that add. I hate to think of my poor little dolls having to wash their clothes in the sink!

Tip number 3: Spaghetti! When you are painting small trim pieces, don't lay them down on newspaper or the paper will stick to them. Spead out uncooked spaghetti instead and lay the trim across them to dry. :angry:

I imagine that the base will be fine. I've never seen a house fall in on its "crawlspace". The houses really aren't as heavy as you would think they would be. I only added extra support for one dollhouse of mine because I was making it for a three-year-old and there wasn't any support in the middle of the floor. I was afraid she might press down too hard in the middle of the floor. So I just added one extra "support beam" down the middle under the floor and it is very sturdy. Another trick that people have posted here is to use small wooden blocks under the floor when you are trying to square up the base. I have tried this and it works like a charm. Just glue and use masking tape to hold it all in place as it dries and it all turns out perfectly square and it gives it extra support. You can find these small wooden blocks at craft stores. And don't worry too much about making a mistake. I've yet to see a mistake that can't be fixed somehow. That's what wood putty and trim are for! :angry:

LOL! I can almost see the sight of this happening! I also have a cross-eyed siamese named Abner who can't help getting in the middle of things. Every now and then, I spot him sitting with his head inside one of my dollhouses. :angry: I think it makes him feel very big. B)

Your acorn looks beautiful! I'm amazed you got it done in under a month! Great job. ;)

You shouldn't need a jigsaw for your dollhouse unless you are doing some pretty extensive kitbashing with really thick wood. ;)

I also agree that it would be good idea to go ahead and wire the dollhouse for electricity. It will be very important to mark where you put the tape wire! I think that whis will be a lovely house even for a youngster. She will get many years of play from it this way! I made my daughter her first dollhouse, the Primrose, when she was just one and a half yeras old. The next year I made a matching Laurel to go with it and this year I'm working on a three little bears cottage made from a haunted house kit. It was supposed to be finished by Christmas, but I just couldn't meet the dealine! She is three and a half years old now and which house does she play with the most? My Arthur! I think she likes mine best because it is electrified and none of hers are. I may eventualy electrify her Laurel and it would have been nice if I had done it before wallpapering it. Oh well, I guess I'll just figure it out when we get there. I believe someone mentioned that this can be addictive! ;)

;) Isn't it terrible when nobody else can hear it's pleas. Sorry to hear about the frustration about the pieces not being labeled! B) Good luck sorting it all out! You would think that if the house would ask you to put it together, it would at least tell you what the piece are!

Books are my favorite Christmas gift! My husband gave me the Narnia series and one other by C.S. Lewis that I hadn't heard of before. I think that it is called Pilgrims Regress. I haven't read it yet. ;)

Absolutely beautiful! I just love to see your dollhouses, Tracy. They are very inspiring! ;)

Oopsy! So sorry to hear about your floor! This is the perfect time to try something new. You may find something you like even better! I still have a big stain of paint on my livingroom floor by my front door. I was trying to balance a lovely shade of blue paint on my leg that I just bought for my bedroom walls while I was fishing for the right key and holding another few things in my arms. When the door finaly swung open, the paint can slipped off my leg and bust open on the carpet dumping half of the gallon of paint before I could upright the can again. Worst part was that I had both of my young children with me at the time and couldn't shout properly about it! ;) So there was just a long angry silence while I mopped it up. My son, five years old at the time, was quick to scold me for making such a mess. B)

I got to see the new Narnia movie, too! I loved it and it inspired me to read the series. I never read them as a child so they are all new to me now. I've read five out of the seven so far, and I LOVE them.

My SIL and her boyfriend will be coming over for new year's eve this year. I imagine we'll play lots of games and just try to stay up until midnight.

Hi Heather, I have put together an Arthur and I found it easier to put on hte trim before the siding. The whole exterior (except the roof) of my Arthur was to be painted, so I didn't mind using bits of wood putty to fill in tiny gaps here and there around windows and such. I used sheet siding rather than strips and so you probably won't have as many gaps as I did. It seems that most people prefer the strips, but the sheets were all that were available to me. You can see my Arthur in the gallery.

I always use scraps of semigloss house paint. I'm one of those people that hates to throw out left over paint so I hang on to them and find a place to use them eventually.

I just love the turf that woodland scenics makes. It's the kind that comes in a bag and you spread out glue, sprinkle it on, and then spray more glue on top. You can even get bushes and such. I've been hanging around model railroaders a lot! ;) BTW, I am so jealous of ya'lls neighbors! People just keep getting handed dollhouses left and right! Maybe I should put a sign in my front yard saying "Now accepting old dollhouses."

I think that building a bay window would be very doable. Even if you can't get things just perfect, you can always fill in gaps with wood filler and glue or even trim. Trim is my best friend!

Wow! I never knew any of that about ceiling heights. That's pretty interesting. Just one more thing to keep in mind when working on the realism. I had noticed that most of the dollhouses I've seen have higher ceilings on the bottom floor and shorter ones on the second and of course attics are pretty short.

Hi everybody! I received my gift a couple of days ago, but I haven't had a chance to get on the computer until today. A BIG THANK YOU to my pal! :lol: :lol: Also, thank you everybody for the kind words. My father is fine and at home. He had a pretty severe bout of vertigo and couldn't tell up from down for a while. The doctor said something about tiny stones that had developed in his ears. My mother said to him "I told you you had rocks in your head!" Merry Christmas!

I mailed mine out today. I'm through with school for the semester, but now my Dad is in the hospital. :lol: He should get to come home soon, but I haven't had much free time lately. Soon, though.

Congratulations on the working lights! That's my favorite part about dollhouses - when you can turn of the lights in hte real house and turn on hte lights in the dollhouse and just watch it like a TV. (But then again, I am easily entertained)

Tee-hee! I've done that. If you repeat a mistake three times, then it's time for bed!

Your drapes look great, Peggi! I think velcro is a great idea for changing out window treatments of just for cleaning them.

The bench looks fantaistic! I can just see that sitting in a little garden somewhere. Very cute!