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seeking advice on building my first house


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Hi everyone, my name is Leona and I am new to this site and to minis all together. My mom is a collector and a member on here (justmesue) and she has such beautiful houses. I ended up making her things such as a couch set and a crocheted rug for one of her houses as a christmas present last year because I knew how much she adores mini things. I had never seen her houses until about a month ago when I went to visit her and all I could do was admire them. I never really knew what it was all about until I actually saw those amazing little things! Since my mom saw that I loved her houses so much she decided to get me my very own house, lucky me. Over the weekend she gave me the Orchid house. I haven't started building it yet, I was wondering if someone could give me some tips as to what the best glue would be to make sure it doesn't collapse on me and also what kind of paint is better to use to get the best results. I would like to get some good quality products that aren't too costly. So if anyone can help me out I would really appreciate it. Thanks in advance and I look forward to making new friends on here.

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Welcome to the forums, it is wonderful to have you here. My first build was also an Orchid. It was a fantastic learning experience. The glue I use for building is Tacky Glue, but everyone has their favorites. So far, it has held well, but the house isn't even a year old yet. :) We shall see what the future brings. I completely understand the 'aren't too clostly' part. I was fortunate and found some rolls of real life wallpaper border at a thrift store and was able to mini it into dollhouse wall border. Also, I tried to create various little things to furnish it. I found a couple furniture kits on Ebay that were a good price. For the painting, being the newbie that I am, I used good ol' acrylic craft paint...inside and out. If I knew then what I know now, I would have grabbed my leftover paint from my kitchen redo and used it. I went through a lot of craft paint. :) I found that scrapbook paper makes wonderful wallpaper and is very ineexpensive. Just remember, you don't have to have the top of the line, high end things to build your Orchid. Goodness knows I didn't. Spring style clothes pins make great clamps...masking tape is another good thing to have. A good craft knife is essential. Since your mom is a builder, I am sure she can tell you even more. Looking forward to watching your progress. Have a wonderful first build.

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Hi Leona!

Welcome and congratulations on discovering our hobby! The Orchid is one of my favorite kits.

For assembling the house, I like carpenters wood glue. I use Quik Grip on trims, componenets, and shingles. You can use hot melt glue on shingles, but not on anything else, okay? And rethink the hot glue if the dollhouse will be kept someplace where it will get really warm. I use Yes adhesive or commercial dollhouse wallpaper paste for wallpaper.

For paint, I use housepaint. I buy a quart for the main color. Some stores here in the states sell 2 oz color samples that are just right for painting an accent trim color or just one room in a house. The color samples are often offered in 200-300 colors, so there is a lot of selection! I don't use craft paint because I don't like the texture. Twice I opened dollhouse paints to find they were lumpy and unusable, so I gave up on buying them. Plus you get a choice of maybe 40 or 50 colors, and never the shade I want!

Once you get underway, please post pics of your progress!

Jeri

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Hi and welcome! The Orchid is a nice house to build :)

My favorite wood glue is Titebond II, i get that at Lowe's.

Please share lots of pictures with us as you build your house!!!!

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Welcome to the forum and congrats on the Orchid! It's a wonderful house! If you will look at the various blogs, you will probably pick up some pretty good ideas there!

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Hi Leona - welcome! I think it's terrific that you and your mum can share this addiction ... er, hobby. :( There are all sorts of tips and tutorials here at the forum - I've learnt an awful lot from our wonderful members. The Orchid is such a pretty house - what colours are you thinking of using?

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Welcome to the forum.

I use Aileens Tacky glue for most everything.

hasnt failed me yet.

as long as it is not hot glue I think you are safe with many choices!

enjoy your entry to a new Hobby

Happy Building

nutti :(

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Welcome Leona. I'm so happy you decided to check out the forum. It really is the best place to learn the how-to's of much mini making. The members are wonderful in helping with tips and tricks in all aspects of house building and furnishings.

I used many different glues on different houses. I did like "NO MORE NAILS" from Canadian Tire. I'm told Ailleen's tacky glue from Walmart works good too. Then there's good old Elmer's wood glue. All in all I just can't wait to see your progress.

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Welcome, Leona! Thanks, Suzanne, for pointing her this way.

I use Probond wood glue for building and white all-purpose Elmer's for the acetate window inserts. I also use interior latex/ emulsion paint in satin/ semigloss for painting, in flat for priming, and the sample paints for colors.

Last year we had two teams building the Orchid and you may find the building blogs helpful.

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Hi and welcome to the forum....I'm working on the Orchid now....I have pics in my gallery...I really love this house....as for what I use to build with everyone else has covered that......

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Thanks everyone for your heart warming welcomes and great advice. You are all so nice, it's really amazing.:yes: I will definitely keep you posted on my progress and it's very likely that I will have lots more questions along the way. Thanks again! I am really happy to be a part of this wonderful group.

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Hi and welcome. For wallpaper, you could check with a local paint shop and see if they will give you the out of date sample books of wallpaper. I was fortunate and was able to get about 12 books free and although some of it can't be used for minis, you'd be surprise at the amount that can be used not only for wallpaper but floor coverings.

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