Access Requires Doors.....

Doors Require Hinges... (I love hinges!)

I Think I mentioned, Dear Readers, that I was going to want access to the area behind the knee-walls in order to be able to reach the wiring that passes through that space. I decided that sooner was better than later for tackling the construction of the doors... the sort of task that brings a complete halt to further decoration if left undone! Above you can see the "workroom" wall removed (these walls are not glued in place) in order to measure and add a "brace" for the wall to butt against to keep it in the upright position. (Without a brace the wall can twist and not stay vertical.)

Here you can see both the walls removed 

and the knee-wall brace being tested.....

Here you can see the primitive wiring that I am going to need to upgrade...!

The Lovely Old Dollhouse is the first house I tried to do any electrical wiring, 

so it has been a learning project from the start.

The main wire for the outlet strip you see here

 is buried in the walls all the way down to the base of the house....

(I carved a channel and glued the wires in prior to decorating the lower floors).

This is the only plug strip for all the attic wiring! 

I am pretty sure my upgrade will consist of splicing the extension wires 

at this point rather than having these plugs which just come loose all the time.

Whether I add more outlets for each attic room 

and run new channels down the exterior walls is still undecided. 

It will depend in part on the total bulb count of the lights 

and the size of the transformer... I might need to get a larger transformer.

But meanwhile, I just needed to have access to the space behind the walls!

Here you can see the doorway cut in the wall, 

as well as a glimpse of the brace the wall butts against on the right...

And with the doors cut... testing for fit...

And with hinges attached....!

And with the doors open! 

(I Love hinges!)

And I needed to repeat the process for the bedroom side of the attic....!

Here you can see the Bedroom wall is temporarily removed to fit the bracing.

 

Nothing is glued in place yet because

 there are so many decisions about the wiring 

that I need to settle first!

For now the wiring is just extensions 

plugged into the plug strip in the hallway.

And with the furniture in place.... the doors are barely noticeable!

Hidden behind the furniture....

But I know they are there!

And in Pollyanna's Workroom too.... 

hidden behind all the tables...!

But Pollyanna isn't thinking about the doors at all...

She is trying to get started assembling some little furniture kits.

She is thinking she might need some better lighting....

and she is wondering if she has the right kind of glue!

So you can see, Dear Readers, 

(even though you can barely see them)

I now have my access doors...

And I got to play with hinges!

More Teeny Tinies....

Not Done....

I had so Hoped I would have a competed set of furniture for the Next Room to show you, Dear Readers, but Alas, I got distracted by small Snags and Big indecisions and have Not completed most of what has been started! The Next room in the Secret Christmas House is the Sitting Room, on the middle floor above the Library, on the smaller side of the House. It is decorated in pale green striped wallpaper, and I had made minimal alterations to the ceiling of this room back in the Winter, only adding a central ceiling medallion painted white. I am trying to stick faithfully to the kits as instructed, but I find myself adding a few details and wanting to change others.

The furnishings for this room consist of an old cast iron parlor stove, 

a round "Tea Table", two wing-back Easy Chairs 

and a single small side chair.

The Wing back chairs were easy to assemble, as was the parlor stove.

There is a printed "fire" glued to the back of the stove.

It looks amazingly realistic!

The Tea Table, on the other hand, 

was Not easy to assemble!

The pieces that you need to separate from the board

 are Teeeeeny-tiny and fragile!

And one leg needs to attach first to the Table top, 

while the other three attach first to the stretcher piece....

with the feet facing in the right direction!

And then you somehow magically make the two halves go together 

with glue involved in the right places and at the right angles....... 

and all the pieces are too small to hold onto without tweezers...!

Whew... did it work?

Heavens, that is Tiny!

After that Dear Readers, the tiny chair is a piece of cake!

And then they need to be painted.... 

dark "wood" color for the table and chair.....

And "cloth" colored for the Wing back chairs!

And this is where I start to get into trouble....

They recommend a pale green cloth color to go with the wallpaper ...

(and the curtains which I have not added either!)

And they say there is only one way to achieve the effect of cloth on these chairs 

and that is many Many MANY coats of paint!

                         I am starting with a white base color and just adding coat after coat.....

 This is seven coats of paint so far..... 

is it starting to look "soft" like cloth?

(Do remember to poke the pictures to enlarge them)

And on top of all those coats of paint, 

I am wanting to make them a darker green color....

rather than the pale green they recommend.

And then they say to varnish all the wood painted pieces 

with a "matte acrylic varnish".... 

(which I don't have in my supplies....)

Before adding the printed "cloth" pieces to these.....

There is a lace cloth for the table and "cushions" for the chair.

I guess I will have to find some acrylic varnish 

in order to finish all these tiny pieces of furniture.

So you can see, Dear Readers, 

I am momentarily snagged  by lack of supplies 

and decisions I still need to make.

The Teeny tiny furniture might not be All Done...

but it is ready and waiting

for many more coats of varnish and paint.

(Just how many is "many Many MANY?)

More Tiny Christmas House....

Inside and Out.....

No Matter how much work you put into it, Dear Readers, the progress on this Secret Christmas House kit is always Tiny! Even though the final room needing its interior walls decorated is the Largest and fanciest room in the House, it needed only the same treatments as the others. I started by making the gold picture frame to add to the printed wallpaper version. This time I made it from two layers of card, one cut slightly narrower than the other, and glued them together.

Here you can see it once it was painted with the gold paint....

which I applied in a textured manner to suggest the carving on the frame.

It is by far the largest and most elaborate frame in the house.

Here you can see I have glued the frame to the printed wallpaper.

And here the paper has been attached to the back wall of the Parlor.

Here you can see the ornate window in the Parlor 

before the wallpaper has been fitted.

The kit comes with interior window frames 

which are supposed to be glued to the wallpaper 

before it is attached to the wall...

but I found that was going to mean 

I could not adjust the placement of the frame 

over the opening of the window 

because the paper needs to fit the wall precisely.

So I fitted the paper to the wall first 

and then tested the window frame.....

And then I noticed that the interior frame 

was not exactly the right shape 

to match the exterior window frame!

The center cross bar was going to be too low 

and would interfere with the view in the window from outside!

So I removed the center portion of the frame....

Which you can see here.

And here it is glued in place.

And the door needed a frame around it like the ones in the other rooms.

At this point I had to postpone making the baseboard trims 

because there will need to be a fireplace mantelpiece 

to surround that beautiful glowing fire 

and until it is built I will not know where to end the baseboards.

The fireplace surround comes in a separate batch of kits....

 

 

Yes, there is an entire houseful of teeny tiny kits 

for all the furniture and decorations shown in these pictures!

But meanwhile, Dear Readers,

 I was also trying to make some tiny curtains....

 

From coffee filter paper painted with acrylic paint

 and "wrinkled" to shape as it was drying.

The idea is to let the acrylic paint 

act like the "glue" used in other methods.

They needed a brass curtain rod..... 

and maybe a draped top.....

Or at least some gold rope tie-backs....

But I am beginning to think I have to be

 more precise with the drapery folds.....

Because when I test them in the room... 

they just look messy!

Yes, I will need to refine the drapery a bit!

And that is not all I accomplished Dear Readers, 

I also made Tiny progress on the exterior of the house!

I really want to "finish" the exterior 

before starting on all those dozens of interior furniture kits.... 

if for no other reason than that I would hate to lose 

any of the final outer pieces before I got them attached!

The House is designed to sit attached to its own perfectly lovely table....

which I am painting a glossy silver gray.

But then I started thinking that maybe I shouldn't attach it to the table.... 

because what if somebody wanted to Play with it? 

What if there needed to be a garden...? 

or a beautiful Landscape....? 

Perhaps it should be able to sit on a larger table 

where the sides could sometimes be open ....?

So I painted a piece of cardboard to be a separate base.....

Making it look a little like the rocks on the foundation....

And then I glued it and the (painted) steps to the House!

I think this allows for much more versatility! 

And it can still sit perfectly on its own graceful table!

 

You can also see here that I have

 painted and attached the tiny window boxes.

The kit suggests that they be painted red, 

but I wanted to downplay the red on the exterior 

so I painted them green.... a much more traditional color!

There is a supply of green and red "bunka" included 

in this kit to make the greenery three dimensional. 

I have yet to try bunka.... 

so I am looking forward to learning how to work with it!

The exterior of the house still needs the "icicles" added 

along with the fake snow and "bunka" greenery....

and suddenly I am getting "Cold feet" 

about making this permanently a winter scene!

Really! 

I am just going to have to accept it....

It is the Secret Christmas House Kit after all!

And even if I decide to add a Garden.... 

it could be a beautiful Snowy garden scene!

So you can see Dear Readers, 

That a lot of Teeny tiny steps were accomplished,

Inside and Out.... 

And there is only a little more to do 

to finish this Tiny Christmas House Kit!

(If we don't mention all those furniture kits, that is!)