The Willowcrest

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The Willowcrest by Greenleaf was my very first house and just thinking about it now, it makes me want to laugh because boy did I mess it up. :monkeydance: I found the kit in the back of a craft store. They only had three left and it was all dusty but thankfully, came complete.

I bought the kit and had absolutely no idea what I was doing. I didnt even know that the kit came the way it did with all of those sheets of plywood. I didnt know what glue to use or where to start but I took the plunge anyways. :icecream:

After struggling with it for about a month, I finally put it together. I used hot glue and had burns almost everywhere on my body. I thought to myself a million times during the process that I would never in my life build another house again...(yeah right). :monkeydance:

The instructions were very good and in the end, I actually did a great job but when the finishing part began, everything went down hill.

I hadnt realized that there were parts which were inaccessible after being built. I didnt have a craft store that sold anything mini so I didnt have wallpapering or anything else for it. I actually used shelfing paper that had a very small pattern as the wallpaper and I had to make my own mini tiles from a big vinyl tile. I used wood puddy instead of spackling or filler and it dried to a hard plastic that couldnt be sanded down. :jester:

I chose the wrong colors for it and it was so hard to paint after the windows and everything else was already in it...lol My husband thought I had gone insane during this time. I didnt know that shingles could be stained so I painted them but they didnt turn out to be nicely painted, they were badly painted. I was using way too much paint because I didnt know that a smaller scale could be painted with less paint. I was painting it like it was my living wall. :juggle:

lol the hot glue started "snapping" off after awhile but the paint was holding it together. The "wallpaper" was coming off because I didnt know what paste to use.

In the end I felt so badly about it and I became so sad at the mess I made that my husband promised me he would buy me another house and he would search online for mini stores so I could buy all of the things I needed.........awwww It still brings a smile to my face when I think about that and he kept his promise too. He found HBS for me.

My Willow went from a pale yellow, gray and white scheme to a red, white and blue scheme eventually and my mother in law took it with her when I wanted to just give it away. I never ended up happy with the way it looked.

Ive come a long way since then and learned alot through sites like these and I never forgot my Willowcrest. I still wish to find a kit and build it again, this time the right way. :monkeydance:

[nuttiwebgal]

aweee what a sweet but sad story!

and so did you MIL love this house enough to fix it?

the Willowcrest was my 2nd house but first 1" scale and I LOVE that house

but alas it is not mine anymore but I have my fond memories also.

arent you glad you didnt give up?

nutti :monkeydance:

[havanaholly]

I have a Willowcrest in the queue, patiently waiting its turn & for me to get really creative about where it'll go...

[More Minis Dollhouses]

aweee what a sweet but sad story!

and so did you MIL love this house enough to fix it?

the Willowcrest was my 2nd house but first 1" scale and I LOVE that house

but alas it is not mine anymore but I have my fond memories also.

arent you glad you didnt give up?

nutti :monkeydance:

The funny thing about that is that once my mother in law helped me paint the house red white and blue, colors she chose, she loved it. she loved it before then too. she is not into miniatures but she fell in love with house from the start, despite its flaws. :monkeydance: