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WE ARE FINISHED! Although I still do need to go back and touch up the paint where we smacked it or knicked it with something. It did take 15 days to finish, but we can only work on it an hour or two a night, so it takes us a few more days than some others. According to Jimmy, it was a very good house to build and would be an excellent house for a beginner to build, because it does not have a lot of trim or architectural detail as some of the larger houses do. Jimmy says that people do need to understand that you can't just open it up and glue it all together--that you should take the time to sand pieces and wood putty it to make smooth edges. I think that the Arthur is a very beautiful house with lots of different ways to finish and decorate. This house is somewhat versatile, and could be made to look like either an older "out in the country" house, or a more modern "in town" house. It is a perfect size for display in any area, being only four rooms, in case space is an issue for someone. The entire design of the house is very charming, and the porch is adorable. Here are our finished pictures. Complements of LPCullen

The house is mostly done, and today we have just been doing last minute stuff. I have put the gable trim on, and the front porch railing is on. We had a problem with the side porch supports -- they weren't long enough, and I noticed that everyone else's wasn't either. Jimmy simply taped it off and filled it in with wood putty.We also had a problem with the gable trim having gaps in it, so hubby filled in the gaps with caulk. I have not yet painted over it. Complements of LPCullen

Gggrrrr! Somebody please remind me that hubby always mixes stuff up. If you want him to turn right somewhere, you better tell him to turn left! Moral of this? Well, he told me that the "interior" window trim was the "exterior" window trim and the "exterior" window trim was the "interior" window trim. Yes, that's right, I put most of my window trim on only to have to take it back off because it was wrong. Oh well. And, hubby and I are having "creative differences". He wants a color other than yellow and white, and I do not. Hmmm.... I have gotten the majority of the window trim on, and the top roof shingles have been stained. I am debating another coat of stain, but I kinda like the blondish color it is now. Still thinking about it. Hubby has begun putting the porch together, and the front door is installed. This is a very pretty house and a perfect size!Here's where we are now:Complements of LPCullen

Not much got done today. Been waiting on hubby to get the shingling done, and now he is finished. He created a "cap" at the top peaks with the shingles, which I think looks pretty neat. Here are pictures of the finished roof. Jimmy isn't real thrilled with the shingles because the minute the glue touches them, they start to curl up. Which means, he has to put a couple rows on and tape them down and wait for them to dry, put a couple rows on and tape them down and wait for them to dry, ...Complements of LPCullen

Sorry I haven't gotten much done! Yesterday I battled a sinus infection and did nothing! I came home from work and went straight to bed! Today I am feeling a lot better, and I got quite a bit done. Hubby has finished the siding and I have been painting trim, staining stuff, and putting exterior window trim on. Of course, this was done under the strictest supervision of Chloe. I also do have all the wallpapering complete. Somebody remind me to wallpaper that bedroom angle PRIOR to assembly next time. Nah! That might take some of the fun out of it. Complements of LPCullen

Today I finished up wallpapering the livingroom and began preparing to wallpaper the second floor. I start with the bathroom. I am looking at this little angle here, and thinking this is gonna be a little tricky. I start with the outside wall first, and then move to the inside wall. I will wallpaper the front wall last. I begin examining the bedroom to be wallpapered. Got to looking at that angle in the bedroom and decided I probably should have wallpapered that before assembly, but I didn't so I have to wing it ... Complements of LPCullen

Lots of work to do today! I finally got finishing priming the siding and painted it the color it is supposed to be. Then Jimmy had to put the front wall on for me so that I can prime the inside and begin wallpapering. Of course, he put the upper dividing wall in backwards, and had to take it back out, LOL! Once he has the walls installed, he puts a line of caulk into it where the rough edges are to give me a smooth line to wallpaper on. Makes life a whole lot easier and is much easier to do instead of using wood filler there--no sanding involved in caulking. Jimmy is finishing up the caulking by installing a line outside the house where the roof peaks meet the side walls of the house. While I am preparing to wallpaper, Jimmy decided to find a pencil to draw lines on the roof with for the shingles. I began by wallpapering the kitchen first. I like to use Prepz border prep & adhesive. First I lay the wallpaper onto the wall and crease it so that I will know where to cut it. The wallpaper for the kitchen is a pre-pasted wallpaper, which I tend to like better because it goes in easier and doesn't rip as easy as plain paper wallpaper. Next I put adhesive onto the walls and the wallpaper using a foam brush. Then I lay the wallpaper onto the walls, giving a slight overhang onto the next wall, and I use a dry washrag to smooth it down. I then put the paper on the second side wall, and put the paper on the front wall last. Once it dries, I will cut out the window holes and trim it down on the edges. Next, I begin wallpapering the livingroom. Because the wallpaper for the livingroom is not a pre-pasted or vinyl paper, I only put the adhesive on the walls. I do not put it on the paper. Complements of LPCullen

Building the Arthur-Day Three Nothing much exciting happened today. Jimmy wood puttied the walls to give a smooth edge for painting. Jimmy said that after he puts the wood putty in the walls, he dips his finger in water and then rubs it on the wood putty to smooth it down better. Here are pictures. Complements of LPCullen

Time for me to do a little work again! Yippee! Didn't get too much done though. Some of the siding didn't get glued down real well, or it pulled away. So I took some glue and ran it up under the edges, and then weighted it down again so that it would stay put. Then I "primed" the siding by using one coat of semi-gloss white paint on it. Other than that, I again ... painted trim.Complements of LPCullen

The siding finally arrived! In the meantime, I have been painting trim, lots and lots of trim. Don't think I will ever be done with the trim! Jimmy snagged the siding and began playing with it. He says to draw lines 1/2 inch apart on the house for the siding. He used wood glue to attach it to the house. Of course it bowed somewhat, so we had to weight it down until it dried. He attached it where it overhung on the sides. Here are some pictures. Once it was dry, he took his exacto knife and trimmed it all down and made it all nice and pretty. Jimmy says that siding isn't for beginners, and it's a pain to do. Here are more pictures. Complements of LPCullen

Building the Arthur - Day Five 04-22-05I polled several people on what color they thought this house should be, and most said the same color--yellow! So, I began painting the house yellow.However, I felt the house needed a little something extra, like siding, so as I was leaving work Friday I looked over and got a little boost in my inspiration for the Arthur, and so I took pictures of the house that I decided to model it after. Here they are.So, while awaiting the siding to arrive, Jimmy added some shingles to the front of the house. Complements of LPCullen

Jimmy has gotten the base shell all together and has sanded the wood putty for a smooth edge. Now it is my turn to work on the Arthur again. I begin by "priming" the outside and inside of the house. What I actually do is give the outside one coat of white semi-gloss paint. If you noticed in the day before, the upper half of the house was a different color wood than the bottom half of the house, so I give it one coat of white semi-gloss paint so that the actual color of the house will go on evenly. I put two coats of white semi-gloss paint into the interior as a primer for the wallpaper that will go in. I use two coats inside because it allows me to "move" the wallpaper around as I am installing it. Here are the pictures (and yes, I usually do turn my houses upside down and all around to paint them, LOL!). Complements of LPCullen

Building the ArthurI have the floors polyeurethaned. This time I used a spray polyurethane, and I am not sure that I like it. Doesn’t seem to go on as well as when I use the other which comes in a can and I would then apply it using a foam brush. Here’s a picture of the floors. Now it’s Jimmy’s turn, and he begins by building the base of the house by gluing the base supports together. Jimmy likes to use Elmer’s ProBond Interior/Exterior Wood Glue to build with, and he uses a combination of clamps and masking tape to hold everything in place while it dries. Here are pictures of Jimmy putting the base together.Next Jimmy puts the side walls on. Of course, the tabs don’t fit so he has to trim those down a little, and the walls are being stubborn about going in so he uses a rubber mallet to tap them into place. Here are pictures of the side walls going on. Next Jimmy installs the second floor. Because the first floor dividing wall is part of the support for the second floor, it has to go in at the same time as the second floor. He again uses masking tape and clamps to hold everything together while it dries. In case you are wondering, Jimmy doesn’t like to prime houses prior to their being built. He says that when you do that, it tends to cause the walls to warp more, and the glue hold is not as good because the glue is sticking to the primer instead of the wood, which weakens the hold of the glue. Here are pictures of the second floor going in.The first side walls and second floor are now dry, so Jimmy uses a “bead of glue” to reinforce the house. He applies a bead of glue to the underside of the house where it is all glued together, and he then uses a small paintbrush and glides it along his “bead of glue”. He says that this forces the glue into the wood and creates a better hold. Here are pictures.Next Jimmy puts the upper front of the house on. He again uses masking tape and clamps to hold everything still while it dries. Once this is complete, what I call the “base shell” of the house is complete and it will be time for me to work on it again. Here are pictures of the upper front of the house being put on.Complements of LPCullen

The Arthur is finally here! It came on Friday, but FedEx delivered up the street, so the lady it was delivered to brought it down to our house on Saturday. I was out of town until late Sunday evening, so we are beginning today, April 18, 2005. This is the front of the box, a little worse for wear I think …The first thing that we do is that Jimmy breaks out the boards for the main shell, meaning the sidewalls, front walls, back walls if any, interior walls, floor boards, and any base support boards. We then sand the areas of those that we can get, such as window openings. Sometimes Jimmy sands, and sometimes I do it. I usually like to do the floor boards myself, because I like doing those. Jimmy likes to use a 150 sandpaper, and I prefer 220.My sanding of those basic pieces is now done, and my floorboards are prepared to be stained. I really like hardwood floors, and I have discovered that the best, easiest and cheapest way to make hardwood floors in the dollhouse is to simply stain the floor boards.For these floors, I am using Minwax Wood Finish brand, and this is Golden Pecan. This is an oil based stain. I had begun using water based stains, and although the water based stains don’t smell bad, I just don’t like the way that they penetrate the wood, so I have switched back to oil based stains. I like to apply the stain using a sponge brush. I usually do stair openings first, and then around the sides of the floors, and then I lay the floors flat and stain themIf I am not sure that I will add another coat, I put my brush into a sealable sandwich bag. Here is a picture of the floors with the first coat of stain on them, and they are still wet so the flash glared a little.I usually work in my dining room, and I currently have another house on the dining room table, so I can’t put the Arthur there. We have made a small area to work on the Arthur near the dining room table. Part of the reason why I like the dining room is that there is a ceiling fan in there, so once I have applied a coat of stain or a coat of paint, I turn the ceiling fan on so that it will dry quicker.Complements of LPCullen