Michelle’s Miniatures: “The Mulberry” Art Deco Dollhouse. Art Deco and Craftsman Style, 1:48 Scale. Part 3

Modify Modify Modify!

Yes, Stare At the Stairs!

Since I’m creating a shallow “hall” at the back of the 2nd floor, the stairs provide an opportunity to do something a bit creative using the beautiful existing embossed stair stringers that are provided in the kit. I decided to use them to make kind of a screen, between the stairs and the Bedroom. 

I put some parchment over my Hall plan and glued up some trim....

I used some other trim to back the stairs so they would be plumb with the Hall wall. Why bother making a set of stairs no one was going to see?

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“Screening” the Stairs

I was originally going to use purple Gallery Glass between the trim pieces I glued up, but I really wanted something more etherial. I did a little research on the net and discovered Alcohol Inks. Tom Holtz has them in a little set of 3. Of course I bought too much, but following the directions I got the effect I was looking for on a small, clear plastic triangle I had cut out of a lettuce container to fit the stairs, and it was super quick! 

Let it dry and seal it with two coats of spray H2O polyurethane and you’re ready to go! Glue it to back of the wood and trim. That’s when I ordered some lighting from True 2 Scale.  I couldn’t resist! This little puppy is gonna have light!

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Tricky Windows

This kit has a serious challenge, papering the wall around the windows. Don’t get me wrong, the little sets of “glass block” that make them up are charming, but papering a wall with all those little blocks proved to be time consuming. I made stencils from clear plastic using the same lettuce container I used for the stained glass stair screen.

Clear plastic wall stencils made to cut the mural stock where the windows are.

I then gingerly cut out the window frames with a single edged razor blade on my mural paper and fine tuned them to each, individual window wall side. It was tedious and I messed up some of my mural stock and had to restart a wall, but I did get it done. 

I think I would suggest to Michelle she make the windows a pop out, so it would be easier to cut around them, glass blocks and all. A nice rectangle of window blocks.

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Rooms' Separation Wall

There were two partitions that had the flower wainscoting, and I needed to use them for the Bedroom wall separation. I had to cut one down so it would be the correct width and the other, I had to glue the cut off leftover bottom from the cut Michelle had made, and glued it back on. I then glued them perpendicular to each other in a “T” and “papered” the Bathroom side with paper I had made from fabric glued to card stock and polyied. 

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Finally, the “Sconces" Arrive!

It's amazing how something starts to come together with one postal delivery!! And you drop everything else you are doing of course!

After getting my bead caps from a vendor on Etsy, I was able to mock up the first floor almost to completion. And yes! The the little bead cap sconces will have light!! 

I finished the ceiling medallion, glued it up and made the cutout for the 1st floor stairs.

It's coming along!!!

Michelle’s Miniatures: “The Mulberry” Art Deco Dollhouse. Art Deco and Craftsman Style, 1:48 Scale. Part 2

Oh! Click here for the link to Michelle's Miniatures' "the Mulberry"! 

Moving on.......

Exterior Workings

As much fun as working on an interior is, the exterior is just as important to get done before the house assembly. I’ve already learned it is much easier to have them both done before glue up, and besides, that’s what Michelle’s directions say!

Right and center - adding texture and age.

I made a few tests and came up with a method to add a little texture to the exterior. I used craft chalk paint in a baby blue, and applied it with a stiff brush in a swirl pattern, not unlike what you might see on a real stuccoed house. I then diluted some brown craft paint and with a cloth, dipped it in the brown mixture and washed over the dry chalk paint texture. Its very subtle, but it did enhance the texture. After the brown dried I went washed over it with diluted white pearl metallic paint. That gave it a lovely glow.

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Gluing the Tops and Bottoms Together

The 1st floor walls and the 2nd/3rd floor walls are separate pieces in this kit. For my purposes I needed them to be one piece; the left wall as one piece, the right wall as one piece and the 1st and 2nd floor fronts as one piece. So I glued them together and used wood putty to fill in the cracks on the exterior, sanding them down after drying. I then painted all the exteriors using the three step exterior painting method I had come up with.

Glue those walls together!!

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Creating “Glass Block” With Gallery Glass™

In my online research of the Mulberry (I always try to find other examples of finished kits), I came across a completed one where the little square window holes had been filled in with some sort of clear plastic. It’s such a cool effect! I was able to track down the artist and she shared how she did it, a product called “Gallery Glass”. It’s usually used to create stained glass effects on glass and windows but she had successfully used it on her Mulberry. So I bought some clear Gallery Glass, set up the wax paper and began filling all those little holes!

Weighting down the wall pieces to discourage the liquid Gallery Glass from overflowing.

It took about 24 hours to dry completely clear, and I should have removed the wax paper about 10 hours in while Gallery Glass was still tacky. Oh well. Once it completely dried I was able to get the wee fragments of stuck waxed paper off with a cloth dipped in H2O and a gentle scrub. Next time I’ll use parchment paper.

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Front Wall Workup

Since the front of the dollhouse is to be front opening, I had to do something with the entrance that pushed into the home. It is a cool effect for the open back Mulberry, but mine is a front opening. I decided to make the front entrance flat with the rest of the front wall. A bit of modification, some extra trim and I’m happy with the look.

Modified front for a "front opening" Mulberry.

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Family Value!

The walls above the lovely wainscoting offered a wonderful space for scenic murals so I started scouring the internet for Impressionist art and came upon Monet’s “Water Lilies”, and decided to use it for the 2nd floor bedroom. 

The 1st floor mural was more challenging but then I remembered my dad’s photography, and all the wonderful natural scenes he posts to his Flicker account. Sure enough, there was a desert scene he took near his home that he had tweaked with some photo software that was perfect! I asked him for it and a couple of other files and the 1st floor had it’s focus!

"Mural" artwork and mantle artwork by Carl F. Berger, Sr. A lovely Utah landscape!

I cut up a laminate floor tile sample from Home Depot for the fireplace stone and used the parts from SDK Miniatures' quarter scale Arts and Crafts Fireplace for the fireplace itself. 

I then used software on my computer, sized and "mirrored" Dad's photo to create this lovely desert"mural". I also resized a photo he took of my mom in their sweet home, for the mantle artwork.  Very Craftsman indeed!

So far so good, I'm pretty pleased with the look! Stay tuned!