Dollhouse Renovation

Video: Dilettante’s Dollhouse Episode #5 Painting a Textured Roof

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Happy Sunday! I hope your weekend is going well and maybe you have had some time to indulge your love in all things mini.

I am so excited to be bringing you this week’s episode as I am finally painting my cardboard dollhouse roof! I have been thinking this one over in my mind a lot and I am so excited to share the process-and results with you today.

I started off by mixing up a gray with just some basic craft acrylic paint. I wasn’t too worried about getting the same shade as I worked on the room because I knew I wanted variation but if you are going for a consistent look make sure to mix up enough of your color to do the whole roof.

Once the first color was down I went back with a little lighter gray. I used some foam packaging I saved as sponge to dab on the paint and give some automatic texture. Once that was done I did the same with a bit of black and can I just say how happy I am with it?

The whole thing turned out way better than I imagined and it is looking like a real roof now!

I hope you enjoy this week’s video. I would love to hear what type of miniatures you are working on so please leave a comment below. I will be back next week when we tackle the front facade of the dollhouse.

Until next time…

-Michele, aka The Dreaming Dilettante.

 

Video: Dilettante’s Dollhouse Episode #4 Creating Roof Shingles from Cereal Boxes

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Please note this post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase using these links I earn a small commission but it doesn’t cost you and more money.

Welcome to Dollhouse Sunday!

I have to start off by saying, “thank you” for all the lovely comments and new subscribers to my channel. It has been so much fun reading everyone’s suggestions and thoughts and I am so happy I decided to share this journey!

I also learned something very interesting about my dollhouse from Kathy McNeely at My Mud Life Studio. Turns out that she has the same dollhouse! She rescued it from a yard sale about 15 years ago and apparently there plans with her dollhouse. It seems they were plans you could purchase which is really fun for me to know. I knew it was made by a family friend for me but beyond that I really didn’t know much about it. It’s amazing the wonderful things you can find out from the creative community!

So this week I am really excited to share my shingle project! I had been thinking and imaging this process for weeks and I finally decided to give the interior wall paper scrapping a break and work on the roof.

Using cereal boxes for chipboard I measured, marked and cut my pieces to size. The shingle depth is 1 3/4 ” (or 4.445cm) and the length of my cereal box. I then marked 1/4″ (0.635cm) from the long edge to make a straight line so I would know where to line up the second row of shingles to.

The ridge vent was the length of my roof and 2″ (5.08cm) wide. I marked a line right down the middle and then gently folded it over the roof to get the crease started. Once that was done I used a bone folder to make a nice sharp crease. I applied Gorilla Wood Glue (affiliate link) to the chipboard and then applied it to the peak of the roof. I held it down for a bit while it took hold but it really came out very nice! It is so satisfying to see a project come to life like this.

In next week’s post I am going to be spackling the front of the dollhouse and painting the roof shingles. I cannot wait to share that with you.

I hope you have a wonderful week and thank you for visiting my dollhouse.

 

Until next time…

-Michele, aka The Dreaming Dilettante

Video: Dilettante’s Dollhouse: Episode #3 Interior Demo

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It’s Dollhouse Sunday! In today’s video I am starting the interior demo of the dollhouse. I remove the divider walls and start with the attic to take down the paper I put up when I was about 12 years-old. There was a stubborn spot that I just couldn’t remove and while I was scrubbing at it I remembered putting up the paper. I remembered how there was one little spot that wouldn’t stick and for some reason I was determined to glue it down. I worked on it for a while to get it to finally stay down and apparently I did a great job! It was nice to have this memory come back to me while working.

I then went on to the other rooms taking out the carpeting. Some of it crumbled and I had to scrape it off but when I finished that I moved on to the rest of rooms. I was just using plain water in a spray bottle and a scrapper to remove the paper and I will have to go back and sand the walls as the paper was stuck on pretty well.

My next step on the interior will be to sand the walls. Before I start any decorating though I will be sure to sketch out my interior and determine where the rooms are going. And stairs, *sigh* I need to figure out stairs. If anyone has any idea on how to build them I would be happy to hear! If not, we will have fun learning together.

I hope you enjoy watching Episode #3 and have a wonderful weekend!

Until next time…

-Michele, aka The Dreaming Dilettante

Dollhouse Renovation: Season 1 Episode #2: Exterior Demo

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Welcome to another installment of the Dilettante’s Dollhouse.

Today I am working on the exterior of the dollhouse and removing the extra trim. Some of it was a bit stubborn but all in all it went much easier than I expected.

I was able to use a flat head screw driver to remove the facade and the balcony. There is some damage from the removal that will need to be filled in but I think that will be an easy repair.

One thing I missed was taking photos as I went along. I will try and do that going forward. I know some of you prefer to read and see the photos rather than watching the video so I will keep that in mind.

My routine has been off the past few weeks and I haven’t had as much time in the studio as I would have liked. With Mother’s Day over the weekend I am getting this post to you a day later than I planned but you can expect them to arrive on Sunday’s going forward.

I also want to thank all of you that have watched, subscribed and commented on my first video. It was so much fun to see how many people are enjoying this hobby. I am excited for this section of my work to grow and expand over time and I am so grateful to have you all to share it with.

That’s all I have for today. Wishing you a lovely day!

Until next time…

-Michele, aka The Dreaming (Dollhouse) Dilettante

As I am not a professional I would encourage you to use your own common sense and do your own research on the proper use of all tools.