Busy Busy

Today has been a busy day of construction.

Last night I got home after an 11 hour drive from South Carolina! But I still was able to put up the left and right side walls. I’m finding working on this doll house to be very therapeutic. It was relaxing to work on it especially after such a long drive.

Today being Sunday I had lots of time to work. I woke up and went to AC Moore and Michaels with the intention of finding things for the doll house (paint/wallpaper/etc), but I quickly gave up due to the LONGG lines. Black Friday seems to have turned into an entire weekend and I was not willing to spend hours standing in a line. I’ll try again another day this week, maybe even a trip to Home Depot or Lowe’s. So after accepting defeat, I came back home and set to work. The first thing I finished was the second floor fire place. It was easy, so moving forward I had the very false sense that everything else would be relatively easy as well. I was so wrong.

Next I worked on the right side chimney. The directions provided are confusing to say the least. I ended up looking at the picture on the box to get a better idea of what the directions were trying and failing to say. The name of each part gets confusing when trying to read the directions. I think I re-read it about 5 times before trying to begin. I would definitely suggest re-reading as many times as needed in order to try and get the best understanding. The picture on the front of the box saved my sanity. It was difficult to glue and keep straight, even with painters tape. My end product chimney came out bent, so I’m not sure what problems that many cause further down when I install it on the house. But for now its at the very least together. I need to complete the left side chimney but I definitely had enough of confusing chimneys for one day.

The last things I worked on were the first floor bookshelves and fireplace. The bookshelves were easier than the fireplace but in the end it all came together nicely. The hardest part was waiting for the glue to dry!

There were a lot of little pieces. It helped for me to write the names of the pieces as a list on a separate piece of paper and write on the pieces what part they were. I would check off the list as I found the pieces and labeled them. I found it to be easier to keep track of everything that way. I wrote in pencil on the wood so I could later erase or paint over it easily.

As I move forward I’m excited to start working on what I think will be my favorite part of this project, decorating! I’m planning from this point forward to decorate pieces while constructing the rest of the house. I think this will be the best way for everything to come together neatly and orderly. Painting and wallpapering coming soon!