Stained Glass Window

Behold the magic of Gallery Glass Window Color! Found this paint in the glass tiles/stained glass section at Hobby Lobby. The paint becomes more translucent as it dries. The photos show the dry state (above) and the wet state (below) of the paint.

I would suggest painting the windows before assembly, but if you have already finished your house, don't despair! The paint is thick enough to paint the windows at an upright position and dripping can be avoided if you are a little careful. The Gallery Glass paints come in an array of colors. I have used teal and harvest yellow for my manor.

Bay Windows

The first and second floor bay windows are complete, at least on the inside. The outside will get the same treatment as the rest of the house exterior. At this point the shell of the house is complete. Now comes the fun part of decorating! :D

Landscaping

The pond arrived today! This will be part of the garden. I bought this from eBay for $9.99 (+$7 shipping).

Attic Ideas

Here are some wonderful tips and messages I got from my friends at SmallStuff Digest, and I had to share them on the blog!

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One way to make the doorway taller would be to raise the walls of the third floor by separating the third floor wall at the tabs and splicing in a strip of wood wide enough to raise the roofline to whatever height you want the top of the doorway to the tower, and reinforce it on the exterior wall with an ornamental pice of stripwood glued over the "seams", and make new interior walls.

Havana (FL) Holly

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Sumaiya? I just left the doorway off when I built mine. I hated the doorway because it blocked the view into the room. I think they made the doorway so small for 2 reasons the first reason is it's a hidden room and the doorways are always smaller and the 2nd reason is that you can take the tower roof off. I glued my tower roof down--didn't want the cat to knock it over and chew on it.

Jene

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If you can't find a good solution to the low door then perhaps you can find comfort in the authenticity of having a low door. Lower than normal doors were frequently used on medieval buildings including towers, castles and cottages. It forced the person entering to stoop. They were unable to come charging into a room, sword at ready, and kill the persons within.

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The best way for you to get the best information on your Garfield Manor Kit is at the Greenleaf Website http://www.greenleafdollhouses.com. When you get to the home page click on the Community Link that you will find on the left side of your screen. Then select the Greenleaf Forum. In the forum section scroll down and in the Miniature Forum section and click on the Forum: Questions about a Particular house. Here you will click on the Greenleaf houses and you are on your way to answering many of your guest ions. Another way to get to what you want is to put Garfield Manor in the search box. I hope this helps you.

Barbara

The Main Roof - Dry Fitting

I had a "So That's Why!" moment today. Apparently, making the tower room door taller was absolutely useless! The slanted roof cuts across the tower room in such a way that it's impossible to have the doorway any taller. I am crushed!


If I were any good at kit-bashing, I'd figure out a way to make the attic roof higher, since right now the third floor rooms seem very cramped and hard to access. I hope the Greenleaf designers will rethink the design in later versions and make the floor-plan more open for maximum use and enjoyment.

The Tower Roof

I skipped a few steps and decided to work on the tower roof. It would have gone a lot faster if I had used a glue-gun. I used wood glue instead which seems a lot more reliable to me, and it took ages to dry. The gaps between the joints will be covered once I add the roof tiles. I don't know why I decided to wallpaper inside the roof, since I cannot imagine anyone would ever look up inside; I guess this is where my obsessive perfectionist side prevails. I decided to keep the tower roof unglued from the tower room for easy access later.

The Tower Room

This is my favorite room in the manor now - the tower room. I think I will make it an artist's studio, since the lady of the house loves to paint as the afternoon sunlight streams in through the windows.

The walls still have tiny gaps where they join, but a bit of wood filler on the outside will seal that easily. I am making the tower roof right now...it's taking ages!