Flooring

I finished the floors.  Ok I've put the flooring in.  Slim Sticks are the way to go.  I've gotten them straight and flat.  I love my iron, ankle and wrist weights as well as pots filled with water to make everything lay flat.  Slim sticks are a wonderful scale for the 1/12 but they aren't exactly straight, nor are they totally flat.  Which explains the weights, pots of water and my trusty Shark iron.  It too was filled with water which made things so much nicer.  So I'm going to let the glue get solid and the sticks settle and then I am going to stain.  I like the golden pecan.  It's nice and mellows into a dark brownish red.  So Sun room has the golden pecan along with the wooden furniture that is in there.  There is this nifty little outdoor sofa I got from Ana White and reduced them to the right (I hope) size and I'm going to cover the cushions with yellow gingham.  There are 2 chairs as well and I am going to use a Marine blue and bright yellow print for the chair and cushions on the sofas to bring them together.

The end tables and cocktail are mat board painted and deep Marine blue.  Texture was added to the tables by wrapping crochet cotton thread around the sides of the tables and painting them and adding hi gloss sheen to the whole thing.  They have bun feet.  I've made working lamps for the end tables by drilling small holes through the table and pulling the wire from the lamp.  I haven't gotten the transform to make the lights light but I do have the wire and the sockets for all three floors  There is also a table with two of those popular dining benches with a back of course and I'm covering that in solid Marine blue.

 I found a Marine blue and bright yellow print from Joann's which coordinates with both the gingham and blue linen.  I think it's going to look kinda of nice together using the blue and yellow print for chairs, throw pillows and drapes.   If you are going to do a lot with a particular fabric get half a yard if not quilting fat quarters do the job nicely.  I have several shades of blue, yellow red, black pink and purple in fat quarters both solid and print and they come in handy.  I usually get whatever satisfy my whim and I always get them when they are on sale.  The great thing is they are good for either quilts or making furniture so can't go wrong either way.

There are glass door leading out of the Sun room into the living room.  I have a Greek key print for the sofa in Dark blue and white.  The chairs I found a matching blue in solid cotton.  End tables and cocktail table there are balsa wood it feels like styrofoam, but it's actually wood.  Weird.  Window treatment is cornice in the Greek key print and white handkerchief linen curtains with the solid blue cotton as drapes.

That's as far as I have gotten in the construction of furniture.  The ceiling gets painted and the floors stained and sanded tomorrow after the usual daily grind.

I find this relaxing.  Gives me time to think and contemplate and plan.  Its my dream house in miniature with the things I want in it and the way I want to decorate it.  I know it's going to have a LOT of blue because it's my favorite color.  There is going to be some pink a little yellow, some black and red and a great deal of white because it goes with EVERYTHING but it's going to be the way I want it and where I want it to be.

Building from Scratch

The interesting thing about building from nothing instead of a precut kit is that although the kits in my opinion are expensive doing it from scratch is slightly less.  Through trial and error you figure out what you are doing and if you are doing it well.  Last year before I started on this journey of insanity I got a few books for Christmas about miniatures, building furniture, housing, curtains and drapes, garages and how to decorate and enhance the building in 1/12 scale,  The other good thing is that I found other blogs on the subject.  The one that I've paid attention to the most is one from a lady I believe is in Canada Kris Campas.  Her blog is 1" minis which I have to say works nicely in furnishing the house that I am building.  Although I still haven't figured out how to get her plans to the scale that I need I have figured out how to reduce them to the point where I can match them to the book on furniture in 1/12 scale that I use to build the things that I am building.

 I basically use her designs on the books scale sometimes from wood, sometimes from Mat board or Poster board.  I have to tell you that the mat board is the cheaper way to go especially if you are just starting out on how to build something.  You can get them at any hobby store that does framing, art supply places and even Joann's fabrics that have a framing shop has them so they are in ready supply.  The other things that she uses is 3/16" foam core which works nicely as a cushion base for a anything to sit on. You basically add some type of batting or according to the furniture book 1/4" or 1/2" foam which is hard to find without using mail order, fabric and glue to make cushions for sofas, love seats, chairs ottomans and divans.  I didn't know what a divan was until I looked it up, basically a fancy day bed with out framing.  Ms. Kampas has all types of projects with step by step instructions that occasionally can be confusing but if you send her an email she will be more then happy to set you straight.

She comes out with a new blog every month sometimes they are in parts like the one for her kitchen cabinets which is in seven parts or plans for parson chairs and dining table.  She seems to like the 1950's decor but with a little imagination you can up date it.  I view her each month for ideas and inspiration.

Yes I know I've been side tracked but I am still building my little dream house.  The floors and walls have been cut and I've started laying the flooring for the rooms in the house.  I've found this really great iron on flooring called edgebanding although it's wide 3/4" it looks great and you can always use a straight edge to slice it down the center to get the "right" planking width.   It comes in a variety of woods Ash, Cherry, Pine, red oak, white oak, maple, walnut, mahogany, white birch which is what I choose.  It also comes in Melamine in white, almond and black.  What I like about it is that all you need is an iron and pressing cloth to apply it to the "floor" and if you make a mistake reheat it and shift it until it lines up the way you want it.    The bad thing is if you buy it from one of the wood working supply you can not get it in the 3/4" size.  They have 13/16",2" and 7/8" width.  The other place I've found it is in England Bromley's which has it in 3/8th" widths in 25 ft lengths for about $15 in Cherry and Oak.  They have a deal if you purchase 3 for $32 in either oak or cherry wood.  25 feet may seem like a lot but the dimensions of the house I am building is 42 inches wide by 16 inches deep it has taken 2 rolls of the 3/4" to do the  second floor that is including the cut outs for the stairwell and the bathroom.  Which is why I switched to the slim sticks for the flooring.  Depending on which way I laid the flooring length wise would be 3.5 feet for each strip going across if I laid it width wise it would be 1.33 feet which is a little less then a foot and a half.   So the conversion to slim sticks on the main floor.  But it does look beautiful.  I do like light stained woods.

I've used craft sticks  in abundance.  The wide ones in the Sun room are the wider ones 4.5" and  stained in Golden Pecan which isn't really golden it's more a red pecan.  I've used the slim ones 5.5" in the kitchen and bathroom.  Painted the bathroom floor and I'm going to stain the kitchen floor Golden Oak.  The living room I discovered that all slim sticks are not created equal.  The longer 7.5" are rougher and not exactly straight some are some aren't.  The 5.5" ones are smoother and glue easier.  I know I was supposed to use the wood glues for the flooring but I used Elmer's Glue-All which works perfectly as long as there is a thin coat of it.  Whenever there is excess glue seeping out I use a damp cloth to wipe it off.  At this point I am half way through the living room dining room combination.  It's slow going and I discovered the joy of push pins and T-pins to keep my wood straight, and flat to the sub flooring.  I've purchased some craft wood strips from Hobby Lobby and those are going to be used for the baseboards and shoe moldings 1/8 x 3/32 for the molding and 1/16th square for the shoe molding.  I still haven't figure out what I am going to use for the crown molding yet.  I've picked up the triangle strips from Home Depot and I think I will be building my stair case next.  I've got 3" x 1/4"x 36 sheets if basswood and I've got the 16 gauge wire and drill to twist it for the balusters.  Home Depot may not be the miniaturist dream shop but it does carry 1/4 square dowels as well as round dowels in the sizes I need and they are cheaper then any mini store supplier.

As to wall paper I'm thinking seriously of using the sheets from the scrap booking notebooks.  They are large enough, sturdy enough.  I've got enough gesso to cover all the walls and ceilings and then paint either with interior paint. For the outside, I will  paint or stucco the building or at least the first floor and dye the stucco which is actually the stuff they used to join wall boards together and hide the seam.  In either case the whole project to date has cost $140.  So not doing to bad to tell the truth.  It did help that I had most of the wood for the building on hand although I did have to buy a base for the house to sit on of 3/8" sheathing plywood for landscaping the area around and providing a dining Patio and someplace to put the garage so the master bedroom could have a terrace  I also had to get  two 2x2 studs for the base to sit on and hiding the transformer for an additional cost of 15.

So not to shabby going here :)

There are times you wonder why am I here

Haven't been on this in  a few but things go wrong in the real world.  I wish when I was younger I had become a plumber, Then again I hate lumps in water and weird  smells so that explains why I am NOT a plumber.  I live in a house that was built by either a drunk architect or a contractor's crew that was extremely not feeling any pain or a combination of the two.  There isn't a plumb or square room in the whole house.  To top it off it was built at the end of Korean war however the price was perfect less then 25k with a mortgage of 250 which has been paid off for a very long time.  It's old and decrepit but it is home and the plumbing needs a lot of work.  So being a person that can work long and hard hours I've been doing agency work in order to acquire 3500 to fix the issue.  I haven't worked on the house in awhile, since I've been working on the real house since I last chatted with you.

The first disaster was I had a clog and did the liquid plumber thing which the clog laughed at called the plumber which discovered I needed the septic tank pumped.  Which was done for a sane price.  Next thing that went wrong was the clog came back called the plumber discovered about 4 galleons of grease clogging the pipe to the septic as well as hair.  So again got a clean out and things did well for a little while then Sunday the flood.  Called the plumber he called the underground person and together the shot a video of what is wrong with my pipe.  Aside from them being a combination of PVC, Iron, Copper and other assorted items one of the pipes has decided in it's infinite wisdom to disconnect from the other and drop out for a little while.  Or as my partner said it's taking a vacation.  Who knew pipes needed a vacation?!

So figuring that life is sane and I can get the work done for a reasonable price I asked the gentlemen in question what would it cost to put a working sleeve on the bad pipe which is the only piece of pipe that is encased in concrete in the entire system.  After the revived me from plumber shock and told me that work must be done and paid for as soon as the work is done.  I'm doing agency work for the next few so I can come up with the money to get the work done.  It's been interesting to date.  I've bee lucky with a friend that runs a hotel/motel so can shower there and cook there as well I do sleep at home but the water situation is a little weird but it's working out.  So no work on the dollhouse for the duration of the over work period which should end in about 10 more shifts.  I am more then half way there now thankfully.

I really need to start thinking of one or two things.  One remodel or two move.  Moving is a nice thought but then there is a mortgage to be paid. Staying and renovating isn't that bad a deal to tell the truth so I'll flip a coin to see which it is.  Besides I really hate moving which is why I have a house in the first place!

New Equipment

There is a company that has tools for miniature builders.  It's called MicroMark.  It's a little expensive when it comes to tools but when your building in 1/12 scale you have to be accurate so I purchased a few items for cutting and measuring and a jig as well to make sure my cuts were going to be accurate.  Funny little things actually.  A wood stripper that will cut thin wood as small as an 1/8th of  wide.  Chop-it to help me cut 45 degree angles and a pin vise never heard of those until I started the house but I have discovered that I need them.  I also brought light bulbs for the house.  100 clear grain of wheat side because of course there should be light in my little house.

Been working on smoothing the edges of the saw cuts as well as planing the edges to make them smooth for gluing and nailing so there will be no gaps in my walls or the flooring.  Picked up some fabric to do the upholstered furniture and I read this blog called 1 inch minis and I have to say that reading her has almost furnished my house.  About.com miniature section helps some as well although they are not as detailed as Kris Campas at 1 inch.

I never realized that there were so many people doing them.  There are literally thousands of blogs from the simple to the totally outrageous building of miniature houses.  If we get shrunk to 1/12 scale I have thought at least I would have a comfortable place to sleep.  Not sure about eating however cause although there will be lights no one makes a refrigerator smallest enough to use in the house!

Rain Rain Go Away

It's raining again. so no work on the house.  I don't have a garage nor do I have a work room.  I could probably cut wood and stuff in another room of the house but I guess I am lazy and don't want to sweep or vac the floors so I'll wait for awhile in the hopes that the rain will go away.  The interesting thing that happens here is that it rains with the sun shining.  Happy rain I would think :)

Hmm

You know that thing they say about measure twice and cut once?  Well I've measured 6 times and I am still off.  Not that much about 1/16 or less.  Didn't compensate for the width of the circular saw blade.  I like my circular saw I truly do.  It works most of the time.  The new thing in my arsenal of power tools is my Dremel it now has a cutting wheel that cuts wood.  I ran (ok walked sedately, ok drove my car) over there and picked one up for a reasonable sane cost.  Although I have a serious hard on for a set of cutting wheels by Dura Grit.  That bad boy seems to do everything and it comes in a set of 5 or 7 blades.  It's a little expensive but I am seriously thinking of acquiring it.

I don't particularly care for doing stuff on line, but getting the house up and running seems to be a study of learning from online sources.  I've picked up the wood for the furniture, the cabinetry as well as some of the downloads for wall paper and flooring.  I've purchased (Thank goodness for A. C. Moore) popsicle sticks for a multitude of projects concerning the house which include furniture, windows, doors, stair well and patio doors.  I've managed to acquire some lexan although it is a little to thick for the purpose of windows it was cheaper then the acrylic sheets being offered and I got two of them so they are going to become glass inserts that require them.

To date:  The sides and floors have been cut, The stair well has been cut out. I've purchased triangle beading for the stairs to the second story of the house.  I've made some head way in and I've made a few attempts of making windows.  They were not successful but then I'm learning as I go.  I've started acquiring things for the lighting and discovered that I don't have to use the expensive transformers that are out there I can get one from a local source and avoid that shipping charge and hit the beach as well for an hour of relaxation and contemplating the joys of building this monstrosity.  It at present is 2 sheets of plywood that are 42 3/8" in length and 16 3/8" in width.  pieces of plywood cut to 29"x 16", which has the roof peaks on each side.  I've purchased wooden coffee stirrers which will give me random width wood flooring along with the popsicle sticks they are fortunately the same width and once glued on a sheet of either mat board or 110lbs card stock  to fit the floor and stained I should have beautiful wood floors in my doll house.

As most doll houses have a name, I've named mine the Money Pit. :)

Simple and Easy?

This is the simple plan for the house I want to create.  I'm winging this so far so understand in advance there are going to be mistakes as well as perfection.  I am hoping for the perfection of course but willing to accept that there are going to be ALOT of mistakes.

Being of somewhat sound mind I have decided to build a doll house from scratch.  Oh no not for me the joys of buying a kit to do this insanity,  I must do this with lumber that is laying around the house and using the tools I have to create.

First step learn something about the swamp I am about to immerse myself in.  That means reading and purchasing books on the topic that has become near and dear to my lacking brain cells.

Ok I've read what I should do or think I should do and there are SO many ways to do this, cleaned off the plywood boards left over from a kayak construction project, (yes I was that crazy) dusted off the power tools and purchased a few new ones just to make my madness complete and started on this labor of fascination and love.  I'll post pictures as I get the building cut and dry fitted but for now I'm just letting you know that insanity is Queen and resides in me :)