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What's New - We are adding new items to our web site everyday to bring you the best miniatures available! |
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Specials - These items are offered at a special reduced price for a limited time. Great deals at a great price. |
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Dollhouses & Kits - We carry a complete line of 1" and 1/2" scale dollhouses and dollhouse kits featuring Real Good Toys. These dollhouses are just waiting to be filled with dollhouse furniture, accessories, dolls, lighting and all the little things that make a house a home. Truly a family heirloom that will be handed down for generations. Not sure which dollhouse to select, read our article Which Dollhouse to Get?. Dollhouses come assembled and finished ready for play, assembled and unfinished or as a dollhouse kit. We carry such brands as Real Good Toys, Houseworks, House That Jack Built, Walmer Lilliput, Greenleaf, Corona Concepts and more. Dollhouses come in a wide range of styles such as Victorian, Georgian, Federal, Farm Houses, Cape Cod, Historical dollhouses, Log Cabins and others. Perfect for a girls first dollhouse or the serious collector, and all are priced to sell.
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| Dollhouse Furniture - Like going to a giant Dollhouse Furniture store. Dollhouse Furniture is shown in various categories such as Dining Rooms, Bedrooms, Living Rooms, Kitchen, Bathrooms, Nurseries, Offices, Music Rooms and others. Dollhouse Furniture finishes are available in Mahogany, Walnut, Oak, Pecan, White and Painted just to name a few. All design styles are available and once your furniture is in place your dollhouse is ready for accessories to give the finishing touch to each room. Dollhouse Furniture comes in sets as well as individual pieces. Made of the finest materials and hand-crafted in exacting detail. These pieces will make a great addition to any collection.
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Dollhouse Accessories - Every type of accessory you can buy for a real house we have in miniature for dollhouses. For the Dollhouse Bathroom we have towels, shaving sets, vanity trays, perfumes and all manner of toiletries. Dollhouse Kitchen accessories include pots and pans, foods, utensils, spice racks and much more. We have tons of miniature toys such as a rocking horse, jack in the box, trains, planes, wagons and tricycles. Fireplace accessories in brass or wrought iron and flames with embers that really light up. Hundreds of new accessories are being added on a regular basis. If there is a dollhouse accessory you want and you don't see it on the site, just send us an e-mail and we'll try to find it for you.
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Dollhouse Dolls - Check out our complete selection of playdolls
and beautiful porcelain dolls
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Plants and Flowers to fill every room of your
dollhouse, and don't forget the front porch
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Animals - In this section you will find dogs and cats
as well as farm animals, birds, fish and more
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| Lighting & Electrical - Dollhouse Miniature Lighting is the perfect way to give your dollhouse that elegant final touch. It adds a warmth and charm to your dollhouse along with a sense of realism. There are many styles and price ranges to choose from. For wiring your dollhouse we offer a selection of wiring kits from CirKit Concepts to fit any dollhouse size. We also carry a complete selection of wiring components and tools for any miniature electrical need you may have. We carry miniature lighting from CirKit Concept, Miniature House, Clare-Bell Brass, Dee's Delights, Town Square Miniatures and others.
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Components - In our Components section you will find everything you need to customize your dollhouse or build one from scratch. All components are of the finest quality and perfect in every detail. You will find working doors for the interior and exterior of your dollhouse. Windows can be bought working or nonworking. There are wood and asphalt shingles in a variety of shapes and sizes. All types of wood molding are available including baseboard, crown molding, door and window casing and much more. Staircases that turn right or left or just go straight are also here along with individual stair parts. There are dollhouse chimneys, shutters, siding, bricks and stone, and so much more all for your dollhouse.
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Tools and Supplies - continued
Building a dollhouse is not hard nor should it be intimidating, each step of the process is easy, it just takes time. Some dollhouses are made of 3/8" material, some are 1/4" material and some are 1/8" thick material. Also dollhouses can come as a kit, pre-built but un-finished or built and painted but un-finished on the interior. To build and finish a dollhouse you will need some or all of the following tools.
-Work Area
-Yellow Carpenters Glue
-Masking Tape
-Tack Hammer
-Nail Set
-Spackle
-Quick Grip Glue or Tacky Glue
-Ruler or Tape Measure
-Carpenters Square
-Straight Edge
-Pencil
-Utility Knifes
-No. 8 Oval or Round Paint Brush
-3/4" wide Paint Brush
-280 or 320 Grit Sandpaper
-Mitre Box and Saw
-Needle Nose Pliers
-Tweezers
-Wallpaper Paste
-Other Tools
Now let's discuss each item and what you will use it for.
Work Area - You will need a large enough work surface for your dollhouse to sit on and still have enough room to work and for tools.
Yellow Carpenters Glue - Use this glue to build the main structure of the dollhouse including all the walls, floors, and foundation and roof panels. Carpenters glue is very strong and will ensure the structure of your dollhouse will hold together and last for generations. You can also use this glue to apply shingles, though some people prefer to use Quick Grip Glue or a hot glue gun for shingles
Masking Tape - When gluing the main body of the dollhouse some parts will need to be held together with masking tape while the glue dries
Tack Hammer - Assembly of most dollhouses requires nailing min body parts together with small brads usually 1/2" or 5/8" and a tack hammer works very well as it is not to large.
Nail Set - If assembly of your dollhouse requires using brads you will need to use a nail set to sink them just below the surface of the wood for painting and applying trim.
Spackle - Once the brads are set below the surface of the wood fill them with a little spackle. You can then use sandpaper or a damp rag to smooth in preparation for painting or applying trim.
Quick Grip Glue or Tacky Glue - The beauty of these glues is that will hold right away but give you a few minutes of working time so you can adjust pieces into the proper position. For example you can glue on 4 pieces of window casing one at a time then adjust them into the proper position. These glues are used for installing all exterior trim including corner trim, doors and windows, roof edging and gingerbread, porch posts and railings and applying stone and bricks. We also use these glues for interior trim including base and crown moldings, door and window casing and building staircases.
Ruler or Tape Measure - Used for measuring a variety of different things when building a dollhouse such as the spacing for rows of shingles.
Carpenters Square - A small carpenters square 12" x 12" or 12" x 18" will work best. You will need this to make sure your dollhouse walls are square and vertical during construction. This will make every other aspect of building and finishing that much easier and perfect.
Straight Edge - I recommend using a flat metal yard stick. Used for drawing horizontal lines on the roof for shingles and trimming wallpaper. I put masking tape on the back of mine so the metal won't mark or damage wallpaper. If used for shingle lines wipe clean before using for wallpaper.
Pencil - When building a dollhouse I write all over it. I write on the floor what each room is such as Living Room, on the walls and ceiling where I want to put lights, my wiring diagram so I know where to run my tapewire, shingle guide lines and any other notes that are important.
Utility Knife - This is actually a few different cutting tools. The first is a standard utility knife which I use to trim shingles and square out door and window openings. Then there is the craft knife such as an X-acto knife for light duty trimming and cutting. Finally I use a single edge razor blade with my straight edge to trim wallpaper.
No. 8 Paint Brush - Can be round or oval in shape. Make sure the bristles are not to stiff and not to soft, medium is best. Make sure this brush is for water based paints such as latex and acrylic. Best to but at an art supply store as they usually have the best selection. This paint brush you will use to paint doors, windows, all trim and pretty much everything else except the dollhouse body.
3/4" Wide Paint Brush - A flat wide brush for painting the body of the dollhouse. Again make sure this brush is designed for water based paints such as latex and acrylic. Make sure the bristles are not to stiff and not to soft, medium is best. Works great for painting siding.
320 or 280 Grit Sandpaper - For a smooth finish on your dollhouse, sanding the wood and primer coats is important. We use 320 Grit sandpaper to light sand the wood before applying primer, then we sand the primer and apply two coats of paint for a perfect finish. For siding and MDF do not sand first, apply one coat of primer then sand
Mitre Box and Saw - The indispensable tool. If you don't have one, get one. You will use this to cut all your trim for the interior and exterior. Perfect for all your mitre cuts on baseboard and crown molding as well as door and window casing. You will find many uses for this tool once you have one. Do not get a chopper tool of any kind as they have a tendency to crush as well as cut.
Needle Nose Pliers - Essential when wiring and installing lights in a dollhouse. Also has many other and varying uses, just an all around handy tool to have when building a dollhouse.
Tweezers - Another important tool when wiring and installing lights in a dollhouse. Also useful for gluing small parts and attaching and installing small parts in hard to reach spots.
Wallpaper Paste - Needed for applying wallpaper to the interior of the dollhouse. There are a number of brands available, however we prefer Grandmother Stover's Glue. This wallpaper paste is a little thicker than others and requires a stiff brush to apply, but the wallpaper holds great with no bubbles or blistering. This all purpose glue that has many uses including applying wood floors.
Other Tools - There are a number of other tools used in building dollhouses. These include clamps, magnifiers, squares, screw drivers, drills and many other tools. These mostly have special applications and we will talk about those tools when addressing there need. They are not needed for general building and finishing of dollhouses.
If you have any questions about any aspect of dollhouse building just e-mail Ask Us!
The entire series of articles can be found at Let's Build a Dollhouse.
Please feel free to print these articles to use as a reference guide.
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