rebecuberduber Posted December 17, 2006 Share Posted December 17, 2006 My first dollhouse kit just arrived yesterday: a Christmas gift from my husband. :lol: He didn't order the shingles to go with the kit, though. So I'm wondering if I should order the shingles, or if there's some other crafty roofing I can make or find? -Rebekah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peggi Posted December 17, 2006 Share Posted December 17, 2006 Oh yes, sand paper, textured paint, or clay to name just a few. Go through some of the building blogs and you can see several variartions. Which house is it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebecuberduber Posted December 17, 2006 Author Share Posted December 17, 2006 Oh, great, thanks. I'll check the tutorials. It's the Harrison kit. Sandpaper is an interesting idea. -Rebekah er, building blogs, I meant. Not tutorials. Already checked the tutorials and all that was there was a thatch roof. Which is a really neat idea, too, but not the look I'm going for. -Rebekah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minis On The Edge Posted December 17, 2006 Share Posted December 17, 2006 I love the effect shingles give but my first houses I did not use shingles. I just painted the roofs :lol: .Holly shows something about using sandpaper shingles. Nutti likes to use textured paint for shingles. Deb shows a wonderful thatched roof and someone else has something else for thatched roofs so look at the blogs and pictorials. What look are you going after? That may help you decided how you want your roof to look. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebecuberduber Posted December 17, 2006 Author Share Posted December 17, 2006 Well, I'm trying to tone down the cottage look of the Harrison and make it look a little more city-ish. Maybe a house of a landowner just on the outskirts of town, or something. I figure for my first dollhouse I'll stick with the victorian era theme that's so popular, since it's much easier to find furnishings, etc. of this theme. I'm very excited. I'd always wanted a dollhouse my whole childhood, so now I finally get to fulfill my childhood fantasies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted December 17, 2006 Share Posted December 17, 2006 The fancy sandpaper shingles I made for the wooden Orchid were based on a real roof we saw in Virginia, but I have also cut strips of regular shingles from sandpaper. 60 grit is a nice scale thickness. I have also used double layers of construction paper and you could make tiles (or slates) from polymer clay. I used corrugated cardboard sprayed silvery to make "tin" roofs for a Buttercup and the Coventry Cottage. Tracy and some of the others make wonderful shingles from paperclay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ouchouch Posted December 17, 2006 Share Posted December 17, 2006 I HEART THE HARRISON Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minilinda2001 Posted December 17, 2006 Share Posted December 17, 2006 Hi Rebekah, Depends on how much time and effort you want to put into shingles. I used cardboard on my Buttercup. Sponge painted one side with a mixture of greens, browns and black. Each sheet turned out differently. Once dry, I traced the end of a craft stick on the unpainted side and cut out the shingles. UUUUUUUUUUU UUUUUUUUUUU UUUUUUUUUUU Actually, the cardboard was very easy to work with, and easy to cut and fit the gables. And did I mention cheep, cheep, cheep??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebecuberduber Posted December 20, 2006 Author Share Posted December 20, 2006 These are great ideas. Of course if there's a quick easy method that looks good, I would love it. But if time is what's required to get a polished look, I don't mind putting a little bit of time into it. I guess money is the biggest issue. It adds up fast working on a dollhouse! So I like the idea of working with cheap materials. -Rebekah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wenlaine Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 Wow Linda (minilinda), your Buttercup is gorgeous. I am so impressed!! Love the roof. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJEP Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 Wow Linda (minilinda), your Buttercup is gorgeous. I am so impressed!! Love the roof. I was thinking the same thing. I also loved Holly's house. It is great to see some pictures of other's houses that I haven't seen before. Rebekah, thank you for asking the question so I could see these great houses. I'm not much help on answering your question since I have only shingled since both of the finished houses and the one I'm working on came with shingles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heidiiiii Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 Beautiful houses! Rebekah, when I was doing the Orchid I didnt want to mess with all those shingles. So I went really unusual....Orchid...I used twine! This hobby can get so expensive. It is so much smarter to think of inventive (read cheap) ways to make your house be unique and have your own signature. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doogster Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 For a more city look and something a bit faster you might consider something like this: http://www.miniatures.com/hbs/global/Index....asp&P=0039 I'm still thinking I'll use them, or something like it, for a house, though I'd definitely recommend painting them. While they are black, they still look like plastic to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minilinda2001 Posted December 21, 2006 Share Posted December 21, 2006 Thanks Wendy and Carrie, glad you liked my BC! Heidi, what a fabulous idea to use string! Turned out great! The flooring is very distinctive as well. What did you use? Doogster, that link was worth a 30 minute drooling detour! Thanks! Soooo, Rebekah, have you chosen what you will use? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heidiiiii Posted December 21, 2006 Share Posted December 21, 2006 Thanks Linda. I used upholstery fabric remnants for the carpetting and I made the wood flooring with skinny sticks. I didnt stain that floor. I was kinda messing around with a design pattern. Quite a few of us handmake our own flooring with these sticks. It is time consuming but it is cheaper and you get a sense of pride in ownership! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted December 21, 2006 Share Posted December 21, 2006 It is time consuming but it is cheaper and you get a sense of pride in ownership! And if you stain them different colors you can work out all kinds of interesting parquet designs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebecuberduber Posted December 21, 2006 Author Share Posted December 21, 2006 Soooo, Rebekah, have you chosen what you will use? Nope, not yet. So many options!! But I still have a lot of time to decide. I've only got three walls up, right now. About flooring, since someone introduced the topic, I was carving in tongue and groove look flooring directly into the floor, but that is taking forever!! Someone brought up the idea of using coffee stirrers and I love this idea because I know of a place where I can get tons for free. I can use them for extra trim and molding and everything! They should be pretty easy to cut, too, since they're just thin pieces of wood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minis On The Edge Posted December 21, 2006 Share Posted December 21, 2006 Minilinda, I LOVE your Buttercup! You did a Fantastic job on that!!!! I totally love the shingles and the whole house looks Fabulous! Rebekah, I love the Harrison kit!! A dolllhouse shop I used to shop at had one in there window for 12 months and then one day I went there and it had sold. They did not do lay aways and I so wanted that house. It was wallpapered & electrified and it was just a dream house. It was a peach & brown & cream (Don't sound good together but it worked on that house ) I can not wait to see you start on yours!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebecuberduber Posted December 21, 2006 Author Share Posted December 21, 2006 Wow, those are almost the colors I'm using. The main house is a robin's egg blue color, and the main trim is sort of an almond cream, with accents in peach and brown. Ha, I say this as though it's all constructed. What I mean is, these are the colors I've picked. I'm painting as I construct, but so far it's just blue and brown. Haven't gotten to the other trim colors yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted December 22, 2006 Share Posted December 22, 2006 It was a peach & brown & cream (Don't sound good together but it worked on that house ) Actually those particular colors do work well together. Rebekah, any floor treatment you make yourself will necessarily take lots of time if you want it to turn out well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doogster Posted December 22, 2006 Share Posted December 22, 2006 Doogster, that link was worth a 30 minute drooling detour! Thanks! ;) You're welcome. That link is the miniaturist's best friend. Those guys are the BEST to deal with. Incredible customer service, great sales. If you haven't joined I'd definitely recommend you do, you get heads up in advance info on sales, can often get in on sales early. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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