Pastry Shop Doll House
One Christmas my granddaughter asked for companion doll house to go with her existing dollhouse. I believe the story goes that her favorite doll went to France to become a pastry chef. So I got to work.
Supplies
1/8 inch birch plywood
1/4 inch birch plywood
1/2 inch birch plywood
3/4 inch cherry cut scraps
3/4 inch walnut wood scraps
1/16 inch plexiglass
dollhouse windows
dollhouse door
Mini Red Wall Bricks Model Bricks
Gray tile grout
Oak corner molding
Pine 1/2 inch quarter round
copper flashing
wood glue
super glue
Assorted wood clamps
Jig Saw
Japanese pull saw
sand paper
paint and wood stain
Build Each Wall
I began by building each wall. The 1st one was just framing a piece of plexiglass. Others I would use a jig saw to cut the rough opening for windows. Some of the walls I wanted to appear to be brick walls. So I used mini bricks (from hobby store or Amazon) and used super glue to attach them to 1/8 inch plywood.
Assemble the Walls
Next cut a base for the pastry shop out of 1/2 inch plywood. Begin gluing each wall in its proper place. This requires many assorted types of wood clamps and a lot of patience. As the walls are connected the house will strengthen. In addition, I cut small scraps of hardwood to run along the top and bottom to help the walls adhere to each other.
Using 1/2 inch quarter round molding I framed the base to cover the raw edges of the plywood.
I used a heat gun to bend the plexiglass. A hair dryer will do the job as well
Second Floor
This pastry shop will have 2 floors. When finished the 2nd floor will lift off the bottom floor to allow easier access. Using the same procedure in step 2 I build and assemble the 2nd floor dinning room and balcony.
Paint and Stain
I find that painting or staining each piece individually makes it easier in the end. Also generous use of frog tape will the edges clean. Also we need to make the mini bricks look as if cement mortar was used. So I mixed up some tile grout and just smeared it on. These mini bricks are real fired clay so the grout did not stick to the face.
Finishing Touches
Glue corner molding to the brick walls. This prevents having to worrying about aligning the edges of the walls. Last bit is to glue the copper flashing to the roof and the fencing to the balcony. When all is done I will use a glue gun to put flowers along the edge of the balcony.
Last But Not Least
I created the shop sign in a word processor, printed them and glued them to 1/4 plywood. Of course my granddaughter filled the shop with all sorts of goodies