Windows, Doors and Pictures...
This Secret Christmas House kit has such wonderful windows, Dear Readers, I think they are the primary reason I bought this kit! To begin with, they have real tiny plexiglass panes! You can actually see through the windows and into the interior of the room.... if you can get your eyes close enough that is! And the frames themselves are composed of two layers of very thin laser cut wood so when they are glued together the frame has an ornate layered profile. This along with the lovely arched shapes.... such a European feature!.... makes the tiny house look so elegant and perfect..... even up close! But those window frames are a challenge to paint! The laser cutting leaves a residue of "burned" wood along all the cuts, and covering it requires several layers of paint! I only hope that I wasn't supposed to seal the wood with a varnish before painting it to prevent the burn from seeping through the paint over time. I started by applying a simple gesso primer to both sides of every window frame.
Of course, I forgot to take any pictures
until I was well along in the painting.
Above you can see the three frames on the upper left
have only the gesso,
while the others have been given a first coat of acrylic white paint.
You have to be very careful not to build up too much paint
in the corners of each tiny pane, as the surface tension of the paint
wants to accumulate in the corners!
Here you can see a little closer.
The window frame on the bottom left shows the reverse
or inside of the frame, which also needs to be painted
because it shows when you look through the windows from the inside!
Here you can see the inside being painted on most of them.
And here is the view through the Library window from the inside.
Yes, it definitely needed to be carefully painted too!
And while we are working on painting frames,
I was also trying to add my own frames
for the interior doors to these rooms!
If you recall, I had glued the library inside wallpaper in place
before remembering that I wanted to make
the door frames "three dimensional"
rather than just the printed paper image.
So I started to paint tiny door frames too....
And forgot to take pictures until I was done....
but here you can see I have added a frame to the door in the Library!
It was so much trickier to add with the wallpaper already glued in!
And for the Parlor room above the Library,
I wanted to add not only the door frame....
but I wanted the picture frames on the art to be "three dimensional" too!
Here you can see the completed frame
glued onto the printed wallpaper
prior to gluing it on the room walls!
And here it is glued in place, along with the interior window frame
which is a piece that comes with the kit.
And then the Parlor door wall needed a frame around the door
and a frame around the mirror!
Here you can see the paper is installed, along with the ones in the attic room.
And that room also had artwork which needed a frame!
I have to confess that it took me a while to realize
it would be much easier to cut the frame in one piece
rather than building it from four separate pieces as in RL!
The oval mirror frame for the Parlor taught me that!
So there is a reason the square frames appear lumpy and irregular!
(Sorry this shot is a little blurry... it is hard to get it in focus!)
But that is not all I managed to do this week, Dear Readers,
I also made good progress on the larger rooms
in the other wing of the house!
Starting with the other attic bedroom...
a frame was needed for the artwork....
I know it seems silly, but I really wanted all the art to have "real" frames!
And the frames that had me most worried
were the ornate ones for the Dining room walls.
There are two very elegant framed panels that look like Chinoiserie paintings...
and the frames are delicate gold and not straight edged but gently curved.
I started by tracing the shapes and transferring them to the card stock.
Then I very carefully cut out the center portion first,
testing it for fit on the artwork
before cutting the outside edge of the frame.
I made two and painted them with several coats of the antique gold paint.
I paint on the plastic because they don't stick to it.
The overflow of the paint can be cut away from
the edge of the frame once it has dried.
Here you can see I am testing one of the frames on the artwork....
the one on the left is just the printed frame.
Here you can see the wall paper with both the frames added.
I am so pleased with the results of these frames!
And so glad I practiced with all the other smaller ones first!
I think the frames make such a huge difference!
Of course it is difficult to get a good well-lit picture
once they are glued into the rooms!
And there was still the door wall for this room...
With the door frame and the mirror frame....
And I also added the baseboards in this room and the Parlor.
And that is not all, Dear Readers!
While I was working on all those window and door frames,
I was also pondering the exterior front door.
It is such a beautiful and elegant front door!
But something about it was bothering me.
The door frame is gorgeous.
But it is attached over the paper front of the house
and the "windows" in the door look much too blank and lifeless to me.
Should I make the windows look more like windows?
Should I paint them in and make them part of the door as if it is solid?
Should I go all wild and crazy and add a sparkly glittery look?
Or use a slightly less sparkly paper that still has some glitter to it..... ?
Well this is the Secret Christmas House....
so I went with the slightly glittery paper...
Because when the light is right....
it almost looks like the house is lit up inside with Christmas lights!
I have been leaving the most challenging room for last,
hoping that by the time I get to it I will have figured out what I am doing!
The end walls with the kit supplied trim still need their wall papers.
And the entire "Drawing Room" still needs it's artwork "framed" and the doors too.
And let us not mention that I am trying to figure out curtains....
Three dimensional ones rather than the flat paper ones that come with the kit!
So you can see Dear Readers,
I have been making great progress on this Tiny house.
The windows, doors and pictures
are Finally nearly all framed!
