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Garfield- New builder! First house! need advise!


Ms. Mini

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Hello everyone! i just joined the forums yesterday and i must say I'm hooked! I've arleady learned so much from reading through all your posts. Anyway well I started asking questions under the "bashing the garfield" but i figured i had so many questions it might be better to just start a new one! So here are some of my questions, sorry if they are very "newbieish"

1. It says it comes with to fireplaces. Now does this just mean its the hole where the fireplace goes, and you need to be another to instert in?

2. Do you have to put shingles? what are the pros and cons? cause i know this house doesnt come with them and every site ive seen they are very expensive.

3. do you put wall paper and flooring up as you are building? is it better this way?

4. is this going to be a big big house? I love in a 2 bedroom apt lol

5. is it better to have side paneling or stucco? or just paint the wood?

thats it for now i already know thats alot of questions. any answers would be great! thanks so much! :D

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We only have the foundation of our Garfield put together so I can't help with most of your questions yet. It is a big house though. The measurements are 41 1/2" wide, 29 1/2" deep, and 40" high. Part of the reason ours hasn't been worked on more is that the interior doorways in our house are quite narrow and I don't think we'd be able to get the finished house out. So it has to wait until there is room in the front room to be worked on and displayed there. :D

As for the wallpapering and flooring, it's kind of a personal preference. A lot of people decorate as they go and others wait until the house is assembled. I've done it both ways and can see advantages to each. I tend to get bogged down when I do the papering as I go because I'm not very good at deciding how to decorate sometimes. I kind of like to get the house shell put together and let it tell me how it wants to look.

Same for the exterior decorating. It just depends on what kind of look you want.

I'm excited to see how your Garfield come together. It's really a beautiful house. :o

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Thanks so much for the tips! I think i might just wait to do the wallpaper once its all built. what do you think about the whole shingles thing? does the house have to have it? would it look bad if it didnt?

o yes by the way i took a look at your webshots page. I LOVE those minatures you made! your very talented!! :D

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Hi sweetsdgirl85,

Welcome to the forum. I'm much the same as molmrath, I like to have the house together to see what it's going to look like before I do any decorating. If you are planning on wiring your home, then that might be a consideration since you have to do that before wallpapering and painting. Either way, it's a very personal decision and I must admit, I admire the people who do their decorating as they build.

In my humble opinion, a house without some sort of roofing just wouldn't look finished. MicroJivvy just finished a house with a most unique roof (take a look in the Gallery), it's absolutely gorgeous.

I've used the stick and peel tiles for my Jefferson and it wasn't too costly, you may want to look into that idea as well.

When a kit comes with fireplaces, they are the actual fireplaces. You may have to put them together but the pieces are included.

Hope I was able to help and I also can't wait to see pictures of your progress.

This is one dollhouse I'm going to purchase very soon myself.

Good luck,

Wendy

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Jenny, I have made shingles from sandpaper, I cut it into strips and then cut the strips 3/4 the way up the width I wanted. If you check out my Glencroft blog I used black construction paper to simulate slates. If I can find some nice big pine cones I'd like to try the cone leaflets to roof the Fantasy Villa. I used corrugated cardboard to simulate a tin roof once, it turned out very well. There are all sorts of substitutes for expen$ine wood shingles.

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for my roofs if I do not shingle I have used textured paint that I made myself and which seems to never run out. :D

I had about 1/4 of gallon of white Laytex paint and I mixed in pool filter sand which is very fine.

I paint mine the color I want it to be after it has dried.

I am very eager to try calamari and microjivy roof look. although I dont think I would do it on the grand Garfield. but than again...

nutti :o

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I dont think I would do it on the grand Garfield. but than again...

If you found a lovely burled or other textured paper in appropriate colors and cut it into smaller decorative shapes you could glue them on in staggered rows to simulate shingles that might look quite elegant on a Garfield.

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Thanks everyone! these are great tips so far! im getting so excited about building! i just checked the tracker on my house. it should be here on the 29th! I wish it would be here sooner! I think I might do the last sugguestion, and just make it look like shingles. I'm going to go to michaels and get some more ideas later. I also just bought this book on how to make minatures objects out of polymer clay. So that is something else I am eager to start working on!

anyone else make objects out of polymer clay? how does it turn out for you? :D

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anyone else make objects out of polymer clay? how does it turn out for you?

If it's Sue Heaser's book, funny you should bring it up, I'm working on the interior fixtures, etc, for my Glencroft pub & decided to make the Dublin sink, with some modifications. I'm making the piers and drainboard supports out of wood and the drainboard is a formica sample chip I picked up at Home Depot (yes, Lynette, I'm taking pictures!!!).

I used an empty mustard tin for the washing-up bowl & poked the drainhole before baking (I've had VERY BAD things happen trying to make holes, etc, after the fact). The clay I used was "Original Sculpey", it's white & it's almost too soft. the sink basins continue to be flexible, even though I put them back for a further 10-minute bake. This was also the first time I used the pasta machine to roll the clay (I needed fairly precise to do the bowl), and the first time I used acrylic paint to tint the clay. Oho, I may never mix clay colors for skin tones again! And what wonderful marbled effects the paint gives! I PLAYED today, I tell you.

I used the leftovers to make dolls for dh dolls, but I won't know how they turned out until they're painted, strung, wigged & dressed.

BTW the sets of shelves I made for the bathroom & kitchen turned out very well, the craft sticks made it easy-peasy.

I shall have to cut my sample chips down & shall probably use my Dremel & a cutoff wheel to do this. Darrell, Ed, or anyone else who plays Dremel, have you done this, & does it work better to cut this stuff from the back (my inclination) or the front? I still have to finish priming & then painting the piers grout color & "bricking" them, and cutting out & staining the drainboard supports.

I also made drains & taps, the metallic paint is still drying on them.

After chatting with Ed_Cal last night I tried his suggestion & I scored the chip with my utility knife & it snapped apart nicely. Now to "brick" the piers.

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To go back to some of the original questions - I've done houses with shingles and without, and I think they look much better shingled. That's something you can decide on later, though. Paint or stain your roof if you don't want to do the shingles, and down the road if you change your mind it's easy to shingle after everything else is done.

For the fireplaces - I don't know about the Garfield, but the Fairfield came with fireplaces and they were basically just holes in the wall with little shelves for mantles. I chose to leave the mantles off and bought fireplace hearth thingies to go over the holes. You'll get a better idea as you build, but whatever's included with this kit in the way of fireplaces, don't expect anything too elaborate.

Oh, and the Garfield is a fairly large house. :) It's one of the larger ones Greenleaf makes.

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Check out Tracy's fireplace tutorial, you can use the cutout for a template to make your surround, too.

I find it "interesting" that there are dh kits with chimneys that have no fireplaces, even holes in the wall.

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yes I was talking about Sue Heasers book! its brilliant! i'm really looking forward to making the things in here!

Thank you all so much for all your tips! I keep getting more and more ideas and I really appericate it.! I will be posting more questions here in a few! :)

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I'll have to pull out the parts sheet for the Garfield, but I think the 'fireplaces' are just the sides, top and front of a really basic looking fireplace. I don't remember there being any holes in the walls for them.

Here's some photos of Garfields I found, for inspiration:

http://community.webshots.com/user/trueryan77

http://community.webshots.com/album/276116861gFCeki

http://www.gis.net/~cptdave/outside2.html

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hey i have a question. I was planning on purchasing a regular sized card table to be the "building" station for this house. Do you think that is big enough? My dinning room table has already suffered enough punishment from all my xmas present crafts this year. haha

:)

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Part of the reason ours hasn't been worked on more is that the interior doorways in our house are quite narrow and I don't think we'd be able to get the finished house out.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That's the reason my Garfield is still in its box in the basement! lol I didn't think to measure the doorways until after it arrived! :)

Debbie

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hey i have a question. I was planning on purchasing a regular sized card table to be the "building" station for this house. Do you think that is big enough? My dinning room table has already suffered enough punishment from all my xmas present crafts this year. haha

:)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I think a regular sized card table would work fine. We have the foundation put together and it would fit on our card table just fine.

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That's the reason my Garfield is still in its box in the basement!  lol  I didn't think to measure the doorways until after it arrived!  :)

Debbie

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I'm glad I'm not the only one. :lol: Actually we bought the dollhouse before we moved into our current house. Then after we moved in we pulled the kit out and started working on it and realized we might have a problem. :lol:

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YourGarfield will fit just fine on a card table, and you can get it through a 32" door so don't let that stop you from starting . I have found a web sight for wall paper for real houses and have adaped to the garfield also I used 1" strips of 1/16" balsa wood for siding another great thing I found to use is the jumbo pop sticks for a great look in the gable ends.

My garfield did not have the stair case so I made that a grand room with a sprial stair case

The best tool that is a must is the easycutter I have used that throu out the house from floors to the shingles, also have a few clamps in diffrent sizes you will find it alot easier to assemble

as for the fireplace you may want to take a look at the blog for fireplaces I did not like the ones that came with the kit.

As for prep work please don't skip the priming paint that will seal the wood and help from worping I used Kilz primer paint

Above all have fun!!!!

Donna :)

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don't skip the priming paint that will seal the wood and help from worping

I go ahead and slap a coat of clear Deft sanding sealer on all the plywood sheets, both sides, letting one side dry flat before doing the second side & letting that dry flat, also (unless I want to stain floors, for example, and I go ahead & stain first & then seal away). I have not had any warpage doing this treatment first, and I have no problem getting sealed wood to stick to sealed wood (of course, sanding as I go tends to remove selectively some of the sealer). Another benefit is that a single coat of primer will do to paint or paper over (I've also painted directly over the sealer & only needed a single coat, depending on the paint)

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