Dollhouse miniatures - Mini treasures wiki

diy

Page history last edited by Linda McD 1 wk ago

Dollhouse miniatures DIY - Do It Yourself

This page contains mainly links to other pages in this wiki with instructions of different techniques.

minis from trash - how to make miniatures out of trash

projects - instructions by themes
redone minis - you can modify miniatures and make them unique
redone dollhouses - dollhouse fans want to turn everything to look like dollhouses

Dollhouse miniatures DIY - Do It Yourself

Building a house

balconies ceilings doors fireplaces floors lighting roofs stairs walls windows woodworks

Outside the house

Other techniques

ceramics crocheting cross-stitch felting knitting needlecrafts macrame painting polymer clay patchwork sewing

General Techniques

Create Floorplans - 3D application description

HIRST Arts - fanatasy architecture with a varitey of techniques

Rita's workshop - various techniques are uses to create doors, walls, floors

Useful links

Architectural Styles - from Tudor to Art Deco, styles are listed alphabetically

Building Tips - building tips from Minishop

Great Buildings and Places - architecture around the world

Greenleaf Miniature Community

How To Turn Resin Into Metal - garbage can

Martha's Vineyard Cottages - RL Victorian exteriors

Open House - Noel and Pat Thomas aging and distressing technique

Tips and Techniques - wiring, moldings, wallpapering from SP Miniatures

Tom Walden's Miniature Furniture - how to use tools

Where to Start - from Mini Mansion

Workshop Miniatures Forum

DIY instructions on sale

Craft-Club

Micro Dolls Sculpting Classes

Van Wijk Miniatures - wood turning classes

Tricks of the trade

General tips to use in many different areas.

Clamps

Dollar stores sell Bungie cords for strapping luggage onto car roofs. They are very handy when you want to hold pieces of a dollhouse while they dry.
Micro Clips sold at Radio Shack are useful for all sorts.

Desk top

Use a 12' x 1'2' gloss ceramic tile as your multi-purpose work surface. Cutting won't damage it, paint and glue can be wiped or scraped off easily. Glass cutting boards work well too.

Foamcore

If you use foam-core, the way to keep it from warping (much) is to make sure the surface treatment, i.e., spackle or any other texturing material is identical on BOTH sides of the foam-core board, both in kind and in thickness.
The reason the stuff warps is because it is essentially a paper product and paper shrinks when it dries. The shrinkage "cups" the board as the painted side pulls in. So if you have an equal tension on both sides, it will stay relatively straight. Works whether you use PaperClay, Spackle, egg-carton pieces or just plain paint, as long as both sides are equal. Most importantly, both sides must dry simultaneously.
If you are only painting a foam-core wall or using a fairly thin layer of texture and you don't want to waste paint or texturing material, you can use this little trick: Paint a wide X on the back of the board, from corner to corner before you apply the thin texture on the top side ( use gesso or acrylic paint for this IF you are not texturing thickly). You will want to support the board so the paint on the back can dry evenly as the texture dries. If you are painting a board that is already assembled into a wall, you can make the X after the texture if you wish. The important step is that both sides dry at the same time. Once a board warps, you are out of luck.
One last thing: Use cornstarch in acrylic paint for making plaster, just adding enough starch to a heavy
cream-like thickness. Very inexpensive and the look is fantastic. this media can be used in layers to form stone, painting on a second & third coat to build up thickness (on both sides.)

Glue

2 Part Epoxy - use a piece of post-it paper and put a little of the No. 1 part in the left hand corner, then a little of the No. 2 part in the right corner. Take three tooth picks, one for the first part and one for the second part. The third is for mixing. Pull down a little from each using its own tooth pick and the third tooth pick to mix those small portions. The beauty of this is the separate parts will stay usable for hours, all ready and waiting for you.
Use one of those plastic tag ties that are used to hold price tags on clothing as a stopper in glue syringes. Leave a rather long tail on the tag and insert it into the point where the glue comes out. This keeps the glue from drying out in the point and it doesn't rust like pins do.
Glue too thick? Put the bottle of glue in a cup with about an inch of water and microwave on high for a few seconds. Now use the glue from the original bottle, or use the fine metal tip bottle without fighting with it. The fine tip bottle can be microwaved, just unscrew the top so you don't put metal in as well.
Glue Holder - directions
This to That - which glue to choose?

Jigs

In Michaels wood department, there are boxes shaped like a paper flat bottomed grocery bag. Tall, narrow, about 6" tall, they can be weighted with bags of buckshot. Perfect to use as a jig for assembling roomboxes.