mamabre Posted January 25, 2017 Share Posted January 25, 2017 I ordered my first house today and I decided on the Greenleaf willow house. I was just wondering if anyone has some general tips or a hoard of links to the build etc of the willow dollhouse? Or even to some shops with affordable prices or diy tutorials? I'm super excited and I cant wait for my house to arrive =] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sable Posted January 26, 2017 Share Posted January 26, 2017 Mostly online shops available now. Miniatures.com is a very popular site. There are others but I can't think of them just now. Someone else will. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sable Posted January 26, 2017 Share Posted January 26, 2017 Will you be electrifying it? Dollshouse.tv was my go to 1 year subscription which taught me every all of the basics. I highly recommend it. About $45, could be less now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sable Posted January 26, 2017 Share Posted January 26, 2017 http://www.revell.com/wood/index.html http://www.dollhouseminiatures.com/supplies/siding.htm http://cir-kitconcepts.com/shop/ http://www.susanbembridgedesigns.co.uk/Main_collection_Pastorale.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tlbradwisch Posted January 26, 2017 Share Posted January 26, 2017 http://www.manorhouseminis.com/ This is a nice site for mini's too 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamabre Posted January 26, 2017 Author Share Posted January 26, 2017 1 hour ago, Sable said: Will you be electrifying it? Dollshouse.tv was my go to 1 year subscription which taught me every all of the basics. I highly recommend it. About $45, could be less now. oh goodness..I assume you mean will I be putting lights in it.. I would certainly love to but I havent looked into that yet. Is that something I should do before I decorate it or can it easily be done after as an addition to the dollhouse? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L Swearengin Posted January 26, 2017 Share Posted January 26, 2017 Moreminis. She's got great tutorial for a lot of houses her willow crest is totally awesome. I know because it's in my living room. I love it. It's built perfect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sable Posted January 26, 2017 Share Posted January 26, 2017 1 hour ago, mamabre said: oh goodness..I assume you mean will I be putting lights in it.. I would certainly love to but I havent looked into that yet. Is that something I should do before I decorate it or can it easily be done after as an addition to the dollhouse? Yes, before you decorate. May I ask if you have a large or very limited budget? Lighting can be expensive, initially. If you can't afford the $70 starter kit, look into battery operated lights. I will find a great tutorial for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sable Posted January 26, 2017 Share Posted January 26, 2017 Susan Middleton has tons of YouTube tutorials: https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=UUFXMxRbkGTOphov-x8C9iiA if this link doesn't work just Google Susan Middleton Youtube Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kreativitea75 Posted January 26, 2017 Share Posted January 26, 2017 Links, huh? Start googling or checking youtube and you'll find a bunch of tutorials. Go through the gallery on this site and search for Willowcrest - members often describe how they accomplished what they did in their photos - it is a good place to start. Ebay and etsy have tons of stuff, but get a feel for prices on miniatures.com first. Etsy is more for handmade "art" and one-of-a-kind pieces that are beautiful. Ebay is fun for finding vintage stuff (house of miniatures furniture kits are my personal fave) - oh! and old copies of Nutshell News if you are into the vintage stuff - it was a great magazine that not only has good info but a lot of "how-tos" and patterns, etc. Wallpaper, flooring, and rugs: brodnaxprints.com and itsybitsymini.com Hobby Lobby is a good brick and mortar for some dollhouse basics and trim and wood and the jewelry aisles are fun places to find small things you wouldn't expect. And they always have a 40% off coupon going. sdk.miniature.net, northeasternscalelumber.com, and heritagelaserworks.com are some of my faves. I'm going to go check out those Susan Middleton videos... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wormwoodz Posted January 26, 2017 Share Posted January 26, 2017 6 hours ago, mamabre said: oh goodness..I assume you mean will I be putting lights in it.. I would certainly love to but I havent looked into that yet. Is that something I should do before I decorate it or can it easily be done after as an addition to the dollhouse? If you want to add a built in electrical circuit it is best to do it before decorating the interior walls and floors so you can hide the wires easier. Alternatively, you can also choose batery powered lights which operate individually and can be attached after the construction with glue and magnets. The main diference is one is connected to the electricity and the whole house can be lit with a flip of a switch, the other doesn't use wires but requires batteries and the lights have to be turned on individually. Honestly is up t you, you may build it without lights as well, the cost of all the fixtures can get a bit expensive and if you're building it for your daughter to play in she'll probably not care so much for those kind of details anyway. You can find several builds of the Willow from other users for that kit in the gallery. Some people also make blogs detailing their building process, which can be really helpful to understand how the house is put together and get new ideas. Before I got started on my first build checking other people's work with the same kit helped me a lot to figure out what materials I needed to buy and aproximate amounts etc. I get most of my supplies from the EU, you probably best check the suggestions above for the US. For construction I really like the building components from Houseworks (wood trims, rails, turnings, knobs etc), Brodnax and ItsyBitsy (wallpappers and floors). For lights and ceilling decoration (resins) Heidi Ott is my no.1 go to, I don't know if there are American distributors of this brand, they also make great dolls with removable clothes for the little ones to play. For a cheaper alternative to using dollhouse wallpapper, you might also want to check other options such as scrapbook papper or other printed materials, I personally love the prints from MiniatureCorner (UK) and used them a lot in my build. To do floorboards and such a lot of people use skinny sticks, wood coffe stirers or thin icecream sticks and works very well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted January 26, 2017 Share Posted January 26, 2017 Pinterest has a lot of dollhouse mini tutorial sites. In addition, we have a pinned topic at the top of this forum: http://www.greenleafdollhouses.com/forum/?app=forums&module=forums&controller=topic&id=1290 In addition to Ashley's suggestions for floors I have scribed "floorboards" directly into the kit wood and I have used strips of iron-on wood veneer I have first cut into "boards". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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