My Lily has begun to bloom...

[moonberry]

I finally took the plunge and opened my Lily this afternoon.

So far, I have labelled and cut out two sheets worth of pieces. My large craft knife with triangular tip doesn't like the wood very much and hurts my hand too much. I also lightly stabbed my fingertip with the sharp tip - had to get a plaster to cover the blood before I inadvertently created a crime-scene dollhouse!!!

So I dug out my grandmother's old wood carving chisels and used the straight edge to push straight down in each groove before separating the pieces.

I am super proud of myself - this is my FIRST ever dollhouse build and so far, so good. I'm also having lots of fun touching the pieces and envisioning where they go in the house and what colour schemes would go where.

Watched the first episode of Hemlock Grove and saw that the Godfrey daughter has a huge dollhouse in her bedroom - I wish they would show more of it!

Last night I also received another shipment of goodies - 3 red wine bottles, 3 white wine bottles, a walnut roll-top desk, quilt-on-a-frame, two paintings in gold frames, a baking dish, 3 antique clay jugs and Santa and Mrs Clause (resin figures). Such a happy day!

This week at the supermarket, in the "cheap pocket money toys" section, I found a little quad bike and 2 motocross bikes - all close to 1:12 scale - how super awesome is that???? They are very accurately portrayed with real suspension (and make vroom-vroom noises too). Naturally, the Hatter had to go check them out! Typical guy, hehehehehe.

Looks like I may have to add a "Big Boys Toys" shop to the mall with all of these vehicles heeheehee.

I hear my Lily calling.... have to go and cut another sheet before bedtime!

[Dalesq]

I finally took the plunge and opened my Lily this afternoon.

..... I'm also having lots of fun touching the pieces and envisioning where they go in the house and what colour schemes would go where.....

Definitely one of my favorite parts of each build :wub:

[havanaholly]

As I remove pieces I go ahead and begin taping them together into the dry fit.

[moonberry]

CRISIS: The entire sheet Nr 7 is rotten! As I separate each section, the inner wood core is just disintegrating.

These are the single and double window casings, porch railings, various roof trim and gingerbread trim.

So, do I try to glue the pieces together and just hope for the best?

What would the experienced builders suggest?

It will be virtually impossible to get a single sheet shipped overseas successfully (without breaking apart).

I want to cry

[Roxxie2]

Oh Dear Lene!!! If you have tried to glue them back together and that hasn't worked out, can you trace the pieces onto foam core or a similiar material and make new ones? This happened to me with the little Story Book cottage that I had. It was a VERY old kit and it just dried rotted. I made new pieces from foam core and once it was painted and sided you couldn't tell the difference. That's so frustrating when that happens....good luck!

[havanaholly]

Lene, I had that issue with my Glencroft kit, on the sheets that contained the door and window trims and frames. I really learned about waxed paper, glue puddles, toothpicks, clamps and *magic* words. Fortunately the problem was apparent before I started punching ot too mini pieces and I quick like a bunny slapped stain onto everything I wanted stained whilt they were all still in the plywood sheet. You can read all about it (without the specific *magic* words) in my section of the Team Glencroft building blog.

[KathieB]

Oh, noooooooooooo! I'd probably try squiring some wood glue between the layers and clamping if it's coming apart cleanly, but it sounds as if you're looking at a crumbling core. Since the parts are mostly delicate shapes, gluing could be troublesome.

I think Roxy's suggestion to make patterns and cut them from some other material is a good one and one that would cause less angst than the glue approach.

Thank goodness it's only one sheet!

[More Minis Dollhouses]

This has happened to me before too. I always fix it by gluing the pieces back together and then filling them through the sides with Spackle. I then sand and paint. If your going to stain though, you might want to fill them in using wood filler. I've never had a kit that delaminated so badly that the pieces couldn't be used but if that's what's happening to you, trading them out of 1/8" foam core will help. You just wouldn't be able to stain them.

[havanaholly]

I stained first, then used my utility knife and God alone knows how mini new blades to coax the pieces out, glued thebroken ends back, butting them together, and then used wood glue for filling the empty spaces. If it happens again, I'll just make new parts out of basswood.

[Dalesq]

I had this happen with the McKinley. The sheet that held the window trim and railing delaminated. There was no way to tell just looking at it; it wasn't obvious until I started removing pieces from the sheet and the core literally started crumbling and falling out.

At the time, I had no idea how to go about the various fixes that Holly and the others recommended. While I appreciated all their input, it was Greek to me, and I was so frustrated I wrapped the house in plastic and put it up on a shelf in the garage and went on to another kit. I'm just telling you this in case some of the fixes seem overwhelming. Take a deep breath and know that you'll get beyond this.

One of my cheatsy tricks is to photocopy the sheet before removing the parts. Sheets for the one inch scale houses might require copying in two pieces, but if you are trying to duplicate just some parts, it may not be too difficult to do on an open flatbed copier. This gives you the pattern for remaking pieces. An alternative to foam core or basswood is several layers of heavy card stock. Check out Chris's 1inchminis site for tutorials of amazing stuff she makes out of laminating sheets of card stock together. You could use this technique and it would be easier on your hands if you are trying to cut the curves for trim and rails.

You can also photocopy parts you've already removed for wallpaper, ceiling and floor templates. It can be a big help later during construction to have these templates.

Good luck and let us know what solution you are trying.

[Roxxie2]

One of my cheatsy tricks is to photocopy the sheet before removing the parts

Ohhhhhh Debora that is a good one! I wished I had know that trick a while back it would have saved me a lot of those "magic words" lol

I have tried to glue shattered pieces back together but they are never the same. I find making new pieces if at all possible to be the best solution. I have had to make quite a few new ones with my quarter scale houses but when they are finished I bet you can't tell which parts were re manufactured by me! I am not bragging just saying they worked out ok.

[havanaholly]

If holly had been building the kit for me, I would probably have made new parts; but it was for the Team Glencroft building blog, and I figured if (God forbid!) anyone else got a kit with the galloping delaminators, they could read how I coped with it and moved on. Actually all my repairs turned out pretty good, if I do say so.

[moonberry]

Oh, you are all fabulous mentors - thank you!!!!!

Many lessons are being learnt as I go on, this too shall pass!

I still have to order the replacement circuit board for my scroll saw that I blew up, so cutting basswood is out of the question for now. Can you believe they insist that I use a FAX MACHINE to send the order? Haven't seen one in an office in nearly 9 years...

I haven't found 1/8th inch foamcore board in Dubai, only the nearly 1/4 inch one (5 mm thickness).

I do have a few sheets of artist board - I will try some smaller pieces with it and then layer/glue them together to build up to 1/8th thickness.

I was thinking of perhaps removing the laminated veneer carefully from the crumbling bits and gluing that on to the artist board, then cutting away the extra board. Once finished, I might try and glue the back piece of veneer onto the back of the repaired section - so making an artist board sandwich. The veneers seem to have held up pretty well after being removed.

Those sections shouldn't impact the build too much if they are not spot-on 1/8th of an inch (I hope!)

I am a bit bummed at the larger pieces that I have to re-cut - long roof verges and large sections of roof trim - they look stable now, but I can see the rot starting in sections and I don't want them to rot further and disintegrate on the Lily a few years down the line.

I haven't unpacked everything from the box yet (limited space), so am marking/cutting each sheet as I go on. Fingers crossed that this was the ONLY problem sheet!

At least I'm using my wooden mallet and chisel to get the pieces out and it is going much better, with less splintering on the bottom veneer layer.

Lily, my darling, your labour is certainly painful so far!

[havanaholly]

...artist board...layer/glue them together to build up to 1/8th thickness...removing the laminated veneer carefully from the crumbling bits and gluing that on to the artist board, then cutting away the extra board. Once finished, I might try and glue the back piece of veneer onto the back of the repaired section - so making an artist board sandwich. The veneers seem to have held up pretty well after being removed.

Those sections shouldn't impact the build too much if they are not spot-on 1/8th of an inch...

If you glue the laminate to one side of the artist board and then lay the other piece of laminate on top you can measure to see how close to 1/8" you caan get. Actually for trims and window and doorframes, wouldn't you just need the wood laminate on the side that will show? The side you're going to glue onto the structure, IMO,wouldn't have to be wood, and you could work in layers of artist board with your one laminate layer to get your thickness.

[Selkie]

If you purchased it from Greenleaf, I would contact customer service and tell them what is happening. I have found them to be quite understanding and accommodating when it comes to standing by their products. I had to order a new sheet for my Garfield because it had issues and they were wonderful about it. I'd check all the sheets first to be sure there aren't other issues and then contact them.

[moonberry]

Whew!!!!!

I finally finished removing all the pieces. There was one more piece (not an entire sheet) that is crumbling as well - quite a large section of the porch foundation.

Some of the porch trim columns lost their bottom flared parts - they just shattered when trying to remove them - without chisel and with chisel, they all chipped.

One of the porch railings also broke (the top connecting beam) - can I fix it with papier mache strips? There is no other logical place to join it together without it cracking apart in future.

Quite sad that my first Greenleaf DH is of such poor quality. Goodness only knows how old this kit is. Unless they can send me all the individual pieces already separated, it won't make sense to send one entire sheet to Dubai - it would cost a fortune and would probably arrive shattered to bits anyway.

Now I have a dining room table full of pieces of wood and dust and my family has to eat wherever I can squeeze them in hahahahahaha.

I also took the plunge an hour ago and dry-fitted the 3 floor sections, centre partition, side wall and front wall, just to see what she looked like.

Aaaaaaahhhhhh but she is taking shape beautifully!

I've also re-read Gina's blog a couple of times to get an idea of the build and must admit, I was super scared that I would break one of the large sections - they required a LOT of manhandling to get them into position! I actually broke out into a sweat while wrestling the house together!

My Lily isn't even born yet and she is shouting loud and clear - she wants to live near the stormy ocean.

So much for "my" idea of a New Orleans theme

With the ocean/seaside theme in mind, I scoured Amazon and found a pretty little cream kitchen & dining combo set, a dark blue striped sectional living room set and a pretty walnut bedroom set with a dresser and 3 different drawer bureau/cabinets. Cannot wait for them to arrive here!

I also have my beady eye on a white crochet afghan for the living room.... I can practically see myself snuggled on the couch with a brisk wind chasing the sea foam onto the rocks!

I'm going to try using some of the off-cuts from the laminate sheets to make some additional shelves hanging off some rope (to add to the nautical theme). I saw one like it on Pinterest (RL size). I already have a few small lighthouses and miniature seashells to play around with. I was going to make a lighthouse themed coffee shop in my mall, but apparently, Lily has claimed them already.

Totally giddy over here, let me tell you!

[Dalesq]

Giddy is good! Sounds like you are making good progress and coming up with fixes for your problem. The Lily is a beautiful house and will be lovely by the sea.

[havanaholly]

Lene, you might want to hold off on ordering any more furniture until you get the shell built, or at least int dry fit to see how big your rooms are going to be...

[moonberry]

Lene, you might want to hold off on ordering any more furniture until you get the shell built, or at least int dry fit to see how big your rooms are going to be...

I'm aiming for a minimalist beach house look. I've already dry-fit the shell, so I have a very good idea of the room sizes now, and I examined Gina's photos of her Lily too.

I dreamed all night long of how I'm going to arrange the furniture!

The section sofa set will fit as is, or I can split it and put some pieces all around the living room. I want to add a few large houseplants too.

The rest of the open plan living room is for the dining table and chairs.

I may build a boxed seat in the bay window.

The rest of the kitchen set only has 3 pieces of furniture: stove, sink/cupboard and a fridge. Quite minimal lol.

The bedroom set's 3 other little cabinets are going to be spread around the house to give a uniform look.

I haven't even started looking at what to put in the attic rooms, maybe an artist studio or quilting room..... and then I still have another room left.

This is definitely MY private hideaway by the sea, no family or visitors allowed mwuhahahahahahaha!!!!

I saved an old top of mine from years ago, it has miniature pinstripe patterns on it, light blue. I think it will make amazing curtains!

Maybe I could even put down some glue walking footprints on the floor and dribble real sand onto it for authenticity? Goodness knows, there's no shortage of sand over here hehehehe.

Has anyone else built a beach house that I can look at for ideas?

[moonberry]

Oh, here's the furniture I ordered:

This is for the living room and I wish I could have it in real life!

See all the lovely cabinets? I think they are good value for money (if you look at how single items are priced).

My little kitchen - I just LOVE the table. There's a little dollhouse puzzle of a schooner on Amazon, I may have to buy it and "build it" on my little table!

[havanaholly]

Oh, that's going to look SO good! You wee livingroom set looks a lot like full-sized ones I've seen in furniture stores.

[HalloweenGhost]

Love your furniture choices!

[Dalesq]

Lene, Brae did a fabulous beach house with her 2011 Spring Fling entry "Baxter Point Villa." This is one of my all-time favorites; I'd love to live in a RL house just like this one. See photos on her blog here, I think you'll love the details.

http://www.otterine.com/blog/blog1.php/baxter-pointe-villa-a-pictorial

[moonberry]

Lene, Brae did a fabulous beach house with her 2011 Spring Fling entry "Baxter Point Villa." This is one of my all-time favorites; I'd love to live in a RL house just like this one. See photos on her blog here, I think you'll love the details.

http://www.otterine.com/blog/blog1.php/baxter-pointe-villa-a-pictorial

WOWZA! That is one awesome beach house!!!!

Thanks for the link Debora, I can get lost in all the little details. Those little bicycles, the fish tank, the kitchen... I could go on!

Where on earth would one buy the outside garbage bin? I love the realism!

[havanaholly]

...Where on earth would one buy the outside garbage bin? I love the realism!

Some things you make.