Dollhouse Miniature Easy Corner Roombox pt 3

Watch the video here.

This week we are getting the outside of our corner roombox ready to put in the electric wiring.

So what we are doing is getting the siding ready to paint and then painting it. We also add the needed trims to the siding and the door.

The trim for the edges/corner of the siding was cut 3/8” wide. Be sure to cut the corner one on the corner of the box with 3/8” on each side of the fold.

For the trim around the door I cut the trim ½” wide then cut them to length when I was ready to glue them in place. Be sure to touch up the paint on the ends of the top piece.

My roombox has developed a curve to the front wall but I will show you how to minimize that when we put in the wallpaper. (that comes later after we do some of the wiring)

Tips for Dollhouse Miniature Crafting- Working with Chalk

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This week we are going to cover the basics of working with chalks on your dollhouse miniature clay projects. We are really only scratching the surface of working with chalks. I just want this be an introduction for you if you haven't played with chalks much.

I love the effects that I can get with chalks and similar products on my clay projects. They just seem to glow.

So if you haven't played with them grab some scrap clay and just play with them to see what effects you can get. I am pretty sure once you try you will be hooked and you will have so much fun experimenting.

Be sure to show me what you create!

Dollhouse Wiring 101 pt 1

Watch the video here.

This week we are starting the series on wiring your dollhouse that I promised. I just go over the things you will need to have in order to proceed with the rest of the series and follow along with me. I intend this to be a very hands on series. I will be going slow and showing you step by step how to do this.

So the things you will need to follow along:

Tape wire

Brads and grommets (eyelets) these are sold specifically for use with the tape wire.

Pilot punch

Junction Splice

Lead in wire for your transformer

Test probe

Transformer the correct size for you project.

These are the main things you will need I will be telling you other common household items to gather up as we proceed with the series.

For part 2 of the series you will also need:

a scrap of foamcore (about 8” by 10”)

a pencil

and access to an electrical outlet (to plug your transformer into. 

Dollhouse Miniature Trash to Treasure Coffee Table

Watch the video here.

This week's trash to treasure project is a fun one. We only need a couple of items many of which you probably already have.

For the table top any scrap of thin wood will work. For the legs we are using flat headed machine screws that are 1” long. Be sure you get the ones with flat heads, that is important for gluing them to the bottom of our table top. Machine screws have flat ends too so they work fantastically for table legs.

I used epoxy glue since I want the metal screws to stay in place. Some E6000 or Household Goop would probably work well too. The downside is pretty much any glue that is going to work for this project is going to smell horrid.

Once the glue is dry paint of finish your table as desired to go in your dollhouse setting.

See that really was easy wasn't it??

Dollhouse Miniature Easy Corner Roombox pt 2

Watch the video here.

First let's talk about the door. Since I want this project to be super easy and inexpensive (the room part) I decided to use some paperboard (cracker box) to make the fake door for the front. I really don't want the door to go through the wall into the interior. I could have used wood but I had the cracker box here and wood would have required a trip to town. Besides I love working with paperboard, it is fun to make it look like something it isn't.

As far as cutting sizes you will need:

I piece 3” by 7” for the door.

Then some strips that are ½ “ wide

2 @ 6”

2 @ 3”

2 @ 2”

1 @ 1 ¼”

1 @ 1 ½”

1 @ 2 ¼”

Then you will also need some pieces ¼” wide that 3 layers thick to surround the door.

Be sure to try each piece on your door before you start gluing and trim as needed.

When the door is complete glue it centered to the front wall.

Now the siding

This week we are also going to be adding some siding to the exterior of our corner roombox. I decided this would be a good time to show you a method I have wanted to share on this channel for several years.

I had first learned about this just after I purchased the siding for my Brookfield dollhouse. I have wanted to try it out ever since. I am so glad I did this on this roombox but I really wish I had tried it before, it works even better than I imagined.

So the material we are using is the cardboard tack strip that is made for upholstery. It is used at the back of upholstered furniture to help make the top of the fabric that covers the back have a nice straight line.

The roll of the strip I bought was 20 yards long so you get a lot to work with. I think I will be thinking of some more projects for it.

A few hints-

Be sure to measure the width of the strip with your ruler. You want to make sure that only is the strip the size you think it is but that your ruler is correct also.

Especially on the longer pieces try to take some of the curve out before you try to glue it down. Take my word for it that will make your life much easier.

Only glue on a few strips at a time. You don't want to accidentally move the pieces around. You really want this to be straight.

The most important thing is to take you time and work carefully. This took me all week to do for the video.

Next week we are going to go on to the introduction of the electrical series then the following week we will come back to our roombox to finish the exterior some more. 

Tools For Making Dollhouse Miniatures- Chalks and Brushes

Watch the video here.

This week I thought I would talk a bit about the chalks I use for making dollhouse miniature projects and the brushes I use to apply them. Primarily I use these for making doll foods but there are other projects you could use them on. Really any clay project that you want that translucent effect that chalk gives. I am thinking that I should try making some doll dishes and use chalks on those. I think that might be fantastic.

Anyway the products shown in the video are the ones I use the most. The stick chalks are from Michael's but any similar product will work just as well. Here is a link for the ones I have if you are looking for them.

The brushes are just cheap eyeshadow brushes for the dollar store. Look for the ones shaped like the ones I showed in the video (and in the photo at the top of the page) I like that shape the best. 

Dollhouse Miniature Easy Corner Roombox

Watch the video here.

This week we are beginning construction of a really simple roombox. I had decided a month of so ago that I wanted to make myself a new roombox to take photos of my projects in. You have been seeing the same backdrop in my photos for a few years now and since it is just made of foamcore it is starting to show some wear and tear. At first I was just going to make the box and not do a tutorial. And if I had gotten around to it in the meantime that is probably what would have happened.

Then I got to thinking about what I was going to use when I start the electrical tutorial series to show you how to do the wiring. I realized that with a couple of changes to what I had planned to make it would be the perfect structure. Well, not totally perfect because it is made of foamcore but I will get into that in the electrical tutorial series. For showing you how to wire it will be fine. And for you to practice it will be fine. I am just not sure if the connections will last long term. Again I will go over that in the electrical series.

Then this last week I starting cutting the pieces for the box and thought maybe some of you would want to follow along with me. Since this is a really easy project to make I decided to throw in this as a series too.

The two series will be running at the same time. That is because in building a real dollhouse you have to do other things between the parts of the wiring.

So this week we are making our basic structure. I will say that I buy my foamcore from the dollar store, it is slightly bigger panels than the stuff from the craft store. For the pieces that I cut for this project I used 2 sheets but I have a lot of leftover pieces.

I started buying this foamcore for the size since I use a lot of it for making projects for my larger 18' dolls. I have come to prefer the way this stuff is made over the traditional foamcore from the craft store. You can use either but I am not sure if you will get all the pieces from 2 sheets. You will have to measure that out for yourself.

So here is the list of the cutting sizes that you need. (Note I misspoke in video on the size of one of the upper wall pieces- the correct measurement is here)

So you need to cut-

Base 10 ¼” by 13 ¼”

1 floor 10” by 10”

1 ceiling 10” by 10”

1 wall 10” by 10”

1 wall 10 ¼” by 10”

1 porch 10 ¼” by 3”

1 upper wall 10” by 1 ½”

1 upper wall 10 ¼” by 1 ½”

I do admit that the short upper walls were a total add on at the last minute the room. I had one of those middle of the night realizations that I needed to add a short wall on the top “floor” in order to do all the wiring. If you are just making your roombox for display and aren't going to be using it to follow along with the wiring tutorial you won't need the short walls on the top.

In addition to the foamcore, something to cut it with and glue you will need some straight sewing pins. Get the ones with small heads so you can hide them. They make our structure so much stronger. If you are adding the short upper walls you will also need some thin toothpicks.

Next week we will be adding some siding to the outside of our roombox and if all my electrical supplies arrive like they are supposed to we will start the electrical tutorial the following week. (Just so you know the first week of the electrical tutorial will be just an introduction where I show you what we need- that will give you a week to gather supplies too)

if you make this or any of my projects be sure to share a photo with me. I love to see what you make.

Dollhouse Miniature Trash to Treasure Umbrella Stand

Watch the video here.

This week's trash to treasure is super easy and probably one of the shortest videos I have ever made.

This one is really all about training your eye to see the possibilities of things you already have. So take a look at the nearest tube of lipstick and see if you can see the lid as an umbrella stand. Most of the lids but not all will work. I am sure you can even find some nice ones at the Dollar Tree and then they are really cheap. Mine all happen to be Avon because I have way more tubes of Avon lipstick than anyone will ever need.

If you the lid of your tube is too curved to stand you could even glue a button on for a base.

I know I had just seen a bunch of those umbrellas we made a few years ago but I can't find them today so I just used some fancy toothpicks to act as the handles of the umbrellas to so you could get an idea of how they would look filled.