Noob here, starting The Orchid and a Haunted House

[Sal]

Hi everyone,   I'm new to this site, not to building dollhouses.  I bought a half finished bashed Tennyson years ago, and finished it up without instructions, who knew that their was help online.  A few years ago I gave it up to a single mom with a lil girl who took it home with their wagon.   Obviously once you get the bug.....  I came across a haunted house at goodwill 2 weeks ago, but 3 of the outside walls are missing.  So I bought an Orchid at Hobby lobby with a coupon.....  so now I have 2 to build!   I'm hoping somone can get me instructions for putting the haunted house together, they are missing, I will be cutting new walls, and might consider putting both of these houses together.    I know there is another house similar to the haunted house, but don't remember it's name, that also has furniture included in the kit.  If I can get the instructions for the furniture, that would be great.   I dont' want to build furniture out of house pieces

 

A little about me, I took a fall last November, and hit my head, I've been off work since with post concussion syndrome and the longest lasting headache in the world.  Part of my rehab is to push my brain, keep it active, and also be creative.   I figure now's a good a time as any to start this project!   Any help would be appreciated.  

[havanaholly]

Welcome to the little family, Sally.  When they were in business Artply also make the Haunted House kit, called it the Bobbi.  Whilst you're exploring the site, click on the blogs and take a look at the Team Haunted House building blog for some ideas.  I don't think Greenleaf is making that kit now.

I saw you were in the chat room earlier; there's a box at the bottom of the chat room window where you can type your messages. 

[Soapz]

Welcome to the forum, Sally! I'm sure building a dollhouse will make you feel better.

[stickyfingers]

Welcome aboard! I think building dollhouses is great therapy for just about everything. It certainly can't hurt!

[Minis On The Edge]

Welcome to the. Neighborhood Sally! I'm so happy to see you here and I'm sorry to hear about your fall last year. I look forward to getting to know you better 

[Sal]

I found instructions for the haunted house via this website  http://www.nancysworld.net/mydollhouses/bobbidirections.html  the house is also know as The Bobbi. so I spent some time making the furniture from that kit.

So I got started on the Orchid on Monday and continued on Tuesday, Today it was far enough to put together, the glue is drying.  The next step says to add the roof,  I read ahead and the shingles appear to get  added last.  These are not shingles that I'm used to, they are like paper thin, and appear to come in sheets.   I will need tips on how to prepare them, I think I want them to be a very dark grey or light black.....  And from the notes I've seen apparently they are hot glued one at a time to brown paper???? I thought about shingling the roof pieces one at a time, but I'm guessing it would be harder to put the roof together and still look good.

For the floors and wall paper, I used scrapbook paper - sprayed with a matte sealer, and applied with modpodge..

Thanks for the encouragement.

[Sal]

 hmm, it won't let me upload pix.  says the max total size is .49 mb, i compressed the photo to 16 kb, not sure why it won't let me upload..

 

[Selkie]

You need to have made 5 posts before you can start an album. It looks like you only have 3 right now. Answer a couple items and you'll be gpod to go.

800x600 pixels is an ideal upload size for this site. I just throw mine thru MS Paint first and then upload. 

Also, it's better to put your pictures in an album and link them to your posts rather than uploading directly to your posts so you don't use up your attachment quota cap too quickly. There is no cap on the albums. 

[havanaholly]

I found instructions for the haunted house via this website  http://www.nancysworld.net/mydollhouses/bobbidirections.html  the house is also know as The Bobbi. so I spent some time making the furniture from that kit.

So I got started on the Orchid on Monday and continued on Tuesday, Today it was far enough to put together, the glue is drying.  The next step says to add the roof,  I read ahead and the shingles appear to get  added last.  These are not shingles that I'm used to, they are like paper thin, and appear to come in sheets.   I will need tips on how to prepare them, I think I want them to be a very dark grey or light black.....  And from the notes I've seen apparently they are hot glued one at a time to brown paper???? I thought about shingling the roof pieces one at a time, but I'm guessing it would be harder to put the roof together and still look good.

For the floors and wall paper, I used scrapbook paper - sprayed with a matte sealer, and applied with modpodge..

Thanks for the encouragement.

Welcome to the little family, Sal.  I find that to decorate the interior of a house I'm building it's better if I do each level before adding the next floor, and to wait until I'm done to install the windows, doors and roof. 

I generally prep the thin wood shingles whilst they are still on the sheet.  If I use stain I apply it with a rag of old teeshirt.  For what you want you might try a mix of isopropyl (unscented rubbing) alcohol and India ink.  Otherwise add black watercolor or acrylic paint drop by drop to a small cup of water to get the color you want and brush it on with a wide brush.  The thin wood will warp.  It will flatten back out as it dries.

Some people use templates to shingle their roofs, and these can be made of brown paper grocery sacks, lightweight poster board or other card, or whatever you have on hand.  I apply my shingles directly to the wood of the roof.  I recommend first putting a coat of shingle color onto the roof so that when your shingles go on raw wood won't show between the shingles.  I do not use hot glue EVER for any part of building my houses.  I rehab houses that were built with hot glue since they're already falling apart and therefore easy to finish disassembling and reassembling with wood glue.  Because most glues will also make the thin wood warp until it dries I use painter's tape to tape down several rows of shingles and lay a strip of scrap wood over them and clamp the strip at each end.

I do start with the roof assembled and installed.  I gently separate my stained sheet of shingles into strips.  After I lay my first row of shingles along the bottom edge of the roof I determine how much lap I want for each row and mark the top of the shingle for that net row and then draw a parallel line across the roof and then continue drawing parallel lines across the roof for each successive row.  Then I run a narrow bead of glue just below the line and another across the top of the preceding row of shingles and lay the next strip of shingles.  For dormers and other angled parts of the roof I fold a piece of scrap paper to get the angle I need and lay it along the end of the shingle strip that will go there and cut my angle with a pair of scissors I keep just for cutting the thin wood.

Shingling for me is a zen experience.  Enjoy the journey.