Painted roof

So I did kind of mess up the roof at first. I painted it with some paint I already had that seemed to be very dark grey. It was too dark. So I tried again with a lighter version by mixing the dark grey with the trim light grey colour. The trouble was the dark grey had a lot of blue so the roof ended up looking kind of grey-blue which didn't look right next to the grey trim.

So I tried painting it again with the light grey trim paint and that looked sort of insipid and not great either. I was starting to sort of not like the house anymore. Between you and me it wasn't the first moment when I had regretted the whole enterprise.

Finally I decided I would have to buy some new paint and found the perfect slate grey in a matte finish from my local paint shop. Then I layered on a lighter grey by mixing it with the trim grey. And finally I like my house again.

I had assembled and primed the doors already, so I also painted the front door in a nice dull red that creates a nice classic dolls' house colour scheme of grey, cream-white and red. The door has a lion knocker on it as well that I bought from the UK on Ebay. For some reason when I had barely started my kit I had always had the idea to get a lion door knocker, so it was nice to finally find one I liked. It also came nicely antiqued. The door isn't attached yet, I need to buy some hinges and doorknobs as well. Does anyone know where to find some that aren't shiny brass?

Now it's time to finish the interior walls so I can add the interior trim so I can attach the windows and doors. Oh, and I have to assemble and paint the windows and doors...

Glencroft roof tiles

My Glencroft kit came with roof tiles so I used the ones in the kit. They were the rectangular ones that come in sheets. I made a few mistakes applying them, so I have some tips to share.

First of all you really need to measure the placement of each row and draw a pencilled line. For some of the small areas of the roof you will need to tweak it a bit to make each facet of the roof line up with the others. So the individual rows may not be exactly the same width apart.

Don't get impatient and start gluing tiles before you've done the pencil lines exactly where you want them thinking you can just sort it out as you go along. You will end up with uneven tile rows that look wonky. Ask me how I know.

I actually started one area of the roof with several rows of tiles lined up vertically and forgot to place them in a brick pattern. I was even wondering why it didn't look that great. Sigh. My big tip here is when you need to remove a batch of tiles don't try to pry them apart from each other, just use your putty knife and pry them from the roof in one piece. Luckily the kit came with lots of extra tiles so it didn't matter.

The Glencroft roof has lots of facets that require you to trim the end tiles at an angle to fit. So I found it easier to just attach each tile one at a time rather than in strips as recommended in the book. That could just be me though. But if you want to stain them this also makes for a nice variation in the wood tones. I think I'm going to paint them though so this process could probably have been more efficient.

And lastly however neatly you've built your roof and covered it with tiles there will be gaps in the ridges. Here is my solution. You will find that some of the wood tiles are more flexible than others. If you try to bend a tile to fold over the ridge it will likely snap in two. But around 10% of them won't. They will bend over the ridge and you can hot glue them in place and it will cover the gap nicely. 

Don't forget to start at the lower or outer end of the roof and work up as you overlap the ridge tiles - like a real roof. Of course I waited until the end to make sure I would have enough tiles. I'm very happy with this solution and I think it looks much better now and matches the real look of cedar shingles.

I am actually planning to paint the roof though, so I'll show you that next. I hope I don't ruin it!

Glencroft trim

The next step to finish the exterior of my doll house was the trim. I painted it grey and I'm very happy with the way it looks. There's less contrast than with dark brown stained wood and I think it fits with a Tudor-style house rather than a historically authentic Tudor house.

Now I'm finishing up the extra bits like the flower box, chimney and brackets. Then I may start on the roof. After that it will be time to sort out the interior. With the roof on I can now finish the ceilings and if I'm going to add wallpaper, and I think that I am, I need to do that before installing the door and window trim (and therefore the doors and windows).

I'm thinking a lot about hinging the windows and doors and would love some tips on that. I'd rather not glue them all in a fixed position, but maybe that wouldn't be so bad for the windows at least. There are quite a few of them!

Happy New Year - house building!

As you've probably noticed, I was too busy for a few months to do much with my Glencroft kit. But I was tired of the half-finished house and clutter of tools and building supplies gathered around it. So over the holidays I stole a couple of days to finish the basic structure. It doesn't seem like much, but there are so many pieces and I couldn't put off doing the beams and those were a bit fussy to do as well.

So the roof is on, the walls are all up, and the next few steps are much less daunting. While there are numerous pieces of trim to put on the outside, in a way I like that step because it's more decoration than building. I'm going to horrify traditionalists, or perhaps Tudor afficionados by painting the trim grey. I just don't like the heaviness of dark brown trim. This is meant to be a contemporary house that looks the way I would decorate it. And I see lots of local Tudor style houses with painted trim and I like the way it looks.

Then there are other bits to do on the outside such as the roof shingles, the chimney, brackets, and flower boxes. I'm not planning to do a garden or the fence in front. I just want a freestanding house.

Then after all the doors and windows it will be time to finish the interior.  I can't wait for that part.

Right now I've been adding polyfilla to the gaps in the exterior and sanding it down because I don't like the tabs to show. It's extra effort of course but well worth the result.

Anyway, if feels good to be here, and not procrastinating with the furnishings. That will be my favourite part. Because to be honest this kit has roughly 4 million pieces in it, and each piece needed to be punched out of a sheet, sanded, and quite often trimmed more than once to fit in place properly before priming, painting and gluing in place. Definitely not something you can whip up in a few days!

Dollhouse doll update

These EFA dollhouse dolls were for the Yahoo vintage cloth doll making group, and the lady was rushed a bit to meet the deadline. I wasn't quite happy with her yet.

So I went back to add a few details and now she has a blouse and petticoat...

and a new hairstyle - my favourite style of braids worn up. Which incidentally was my favourite hairstyle when I was nine. Possibly the style I will return to in my old age?

She didn't exist two days ago and now I love her. I know, I know, I need to finish her house now. Believe me that is a long term project!

EFA dollhouse dolls

As promised, here are some Edith Flack Ackley dollhouse dolls that I just finished yesterday. The man has a brown knitted sweater with plaid trousers. The lady has a pink floral skirt and a top made from a bit of trim with a ribbon belt. They both have painted shoes, the cloth shoes just looked too bulky at this tiny size.

In case you didn't know, Edith Flack Ackley published a lovely book called Dolls to Make for Fun and Profit in the 1930s and her sweet designs have been popular ever since. In the book she has patterns for dollhouse dolls which I adapted so that they are a bit smaller. So the man is 6" tall (still a bit on the tall side) and the lady is 5 1/2" tall. I also made up my own clothes so they would be more up-to-date for my sort of up-to-date dollhouse.

Generally they are made exactly the same way as all her dolls, including the sewn joints, but it's just a bit more fiddly. The two tools that made sewing these little dolls possible: fray block to keep tiny seam allowances from coming apart and hemostat scissors for turning tiny legs and arms right side out.

Dollhouse bed updated

Dollhouse bed "after"

I had trouble finding a bed I liked and finally compromised on a new one from Ebay. It had a nice shape but I didn't like the reddish finish to the wood (it also clashed with everything I already had) and the mattress was a piece of yellow foam with the coverlet fabric glued to it. Ick.

 Dollhouse bed "before"

So I stripped it all down and washed off the glue (easier said than done). I painted it my new favourite colour, Martha Stewart's bone folder, a simple creamy white with a vintage look. Then I made a new mattress using some foam with a quilt batting sewn around it for extra cushioning. The best part is when you use thread to add the lovely tufting. I love the results! I even created a little free tutorial to share:

Just click on the image to see it full size and go ahead and print it out and make your own dollhouse mattress. My own EFA dollhouse doll (more on that next) and the pug have been lounging on it non-stop.