[attachmentid=82]

A great hobby for one or fun for two.

Something a father can do with his daughter.

Or maybe two sisters each work on their own together.

Even something a big brother might do with or for his little sister.

They will also make great gifts - that show you took the time to make it for that special person.

Yes it can even be fun for boys to make and add to their train set. What about a haunted house!

A relaxing way to spend some time after a long day at work.

Something that can be used to decorate for the holidays or a wonderful center piece.

What a great way for two who are dating, to be able to sit at a table working on the house and talking.

The fun has just begun, for once it is finished it still needs to be painted and furnished.

[attachmentid=526]

This is the Sweet Heart doll-house kit that I bought for my daughter maybe 15 years ago, and we never got around to making it. Well it's a new year and I think it is time for me to make it. So that is just what I am going to do, and I thought it would be fun to share it with you all as I build it.

It just so happens that years ago someone had given me a book of wallpaper designs. The kind that a sales person would use to show you all the different types they have for sale to use in your house. So I thought they would be perfect to use on my doll house. The house only has four rooms, so I am going to have a bedroom and bathroom upstairs and the living room and kitchen down stairs. I picked out the different wallpapers for each room because I will need to put them onto the walls before I build the house. It will make it a lot easier to cut and glue the wall paper to the walls before I start building. Wish me luck, I will be back with more info as I go along and share some pictures when there is something that looks like a building.

Not much to report today, I did glue the four pieces of the roof, and let them dry over night. I also cut out the next four pieces of the side of the house and sanded them to remove the sharp edges.

The next step will be to cut out the wall paper, and glue them on.

New to report:

[attachmentid=527]

As you will see I worked on the first floor, the living room on the left and kitchen on the right. It may not look like much but all the wallpaper for the first floor is now done. Plus the front windows are also in place.

Some of my friends have asked what I will do with this doll house, and now I know. I collect Cherished Teddies and think my little bears will love a new home to live in. Even at my age I am finding this to be a lot of fun, and I am looking forward to when the walls go up.

I did find that when I glued the wallpaper in place, that the boards curled in somewhat. So I had to put books on top of the pieces to flatten the boards over night as the glue dried. Next step will be the second floor, to wallpaper it.

[attachmentid=529]

The wall paper on the second floor is now done. The bedroom on the left is a dark green with a flower rug floor. The bathroom on the right will be a light pink with a white floor.

The next step was to start working on the shutters. My tip would be to make sure you have some place for your pieces to lay out and dry, it does take time for the glue to dry and it will make it easier to work on the next step. This was very true when I starter to work on the windows to add the shutters and window boxes.

There are still somethings that need to be finished before I can attach the walls to the floors, and this will start to look like a house.

[attachmentid=530]

Little by little this project is coming together.

First we have the stairs that will go from the front room up to the bedroom.
Then there is the front step that will go where the front door will be.
The window trim for both sides of each window is done, and the flower boxes have been added.

With this kit it did not provide a piece to go under the window boxes, so there would have been no way for me to use them if I wanted to put tiny flowers in them. So I used some of the extra wood to cut pieces for each window box.

So the next time you want to make a kit, you might want to make a few adjustments to the design too. Remember anyone can make a kit to look exactly like the box but it is now yours to add your own special touches too.

Look it's a building now!

[attachmentid=531]

As you can see the two side walls and the front wall are attached to the floor.
There is also a small wall between the front room and the kitchen.
Then the second floor was added, and the extra window in the bathroom.
If you look really close you will also see the wood trim on the right side of the house, the left side has not been done yet.
Little by little it is starting to take real shape into a doll house.

IT IS NOW A DOLL HOUSE!

[attachmentid=532] [attachmentid=533]

Well adding the roof sure has turned this little building into a home.
I still need to work on a design to add a porch to my house. So with the extra scraps I am going to try and make one, since I think a home should have a porch.
Then I will be able to add the door and the step.
But first I will need to buy the hinges for the door. I will also need to build the door, and see about door knobs for it.
I want to see about adding a mailbox too.
There are also some extra's I would like to add to the home, like the hearts.
Then there is the roof that I need to finish, I am thinking of doing it in colored sand.
When all is done, I will need to paint the outside.
So there is still lots of work yet before it is done.
Once I finish the outside I can see about making things to go inside of it.
I hope you have been enjoying the journey with me as I work on my doll house.

It's a porch!

[attachmentid=534]

Well it took a little work but it is done, I was able to add a porch to my house.
There was no plans or material, but I worked with the scraps and to my surprise I was able to make this porch. I also found three little wood balls in my craft supplies and think they add a nice extra touch to the house.

There is also a gazebo that I had found at a rummage sale that I thought would be nice with the house, and I was right.

I still have more work to do on the house, but a paint job will sure make a big difference to this.

I hope I have inspired someone else to give building a doll house a try. There is nothing like the great feeling of making something with your hands and then seeing the finished product. There is such a great feeling of pride that comes with this.

Let there be color!

[attachmentid=535]

Hello - As you can see I have started to paint the house, and wow that is a job to take on. It is not that easy to paint such little things. It took me a while to pick out my paint colors, I had thought of light blue, and even a light purple. So as I was driving around town during the weekend, I took the time to really look at all the houses and see how they had been painted. It was a great way to see how colors make a home.
So I picked out four colors that I think will work well together:
Warm White
Toffee
Deep Burgundy
Black Forest Green

Let me know what you think.

As for me, it is back to painting some more of my little house.

Hello, this weekend I got a lot done on the house. Here is a close up of the roof: [attachmentid=538] It is a little hard to tell but I painted glue then added sand to each shingle of the roof.

Next came the porch, [attachmentid=539] you will see the two hearts had been painted and there is a picket fence like trim added to the side of the porch to close it off. Then the porch was painted white.

All of the trim on the outside of the house has been painted now, and the red hearts added. [attachmentid=540] So as you can see most of the house in now finished.

I still need to stain and polyurethane the floor of the porch and all the wood-work inside of the house. Plus I need to work on the door.

For you kids who may want to make a doll house but do not have a kit, you could take two empty shoe boxes and glue one on top of the other and then you would have an upstairs and downstairs home. You can then color the boxes to make different rooms. Then you too can have fun with a house you made.

I AM DONE WITH MY DOLL HOUSE!

As you will see the porch is now finished with the stain and polyurethane [attachmentid=542] and so was all the trim and the staircase inside the house. Even the gazebo is done.

The door is finished and has a tiny box for mail and newspaper. Above the door is the address plate of "1983" the year my daughter was born. [attachmentid=543]

So now I have put the for rent sign out and this is now the end of my story of building a doll house. Let me know what you think.

From time to time I will post updates on my little house as I decorate it for the holidays.

Time to welcome the new family to my house.

[attachmentid=546]