Tiny Girl, Tiny House (4/5)

Okay, so, where was I when I started procrastinating and getting distracted arguing with people about whether or not it’s okay to body-shame a doll or not. Oh, right, I was working down my “to do” list.

Step Twelve: Start with the Floor

At first, I thought I was going to print a parquet floor out and simply stick it to a piece of cardboard, but I wanted something that looked a little more realistic than that. So, after hemming and hawing about it (because: procrastination), I dedicated the better part of an afternoon to it. I had lofty goals:

Unfortunately for me, such goals require things like skill, measuring, and patience. So…well, you’ll see where I ended up at the end of the post ;)

Step Thirteen: Cut your cardboard

Because my shelves are 40 cm deep and 90 cm wide, I went ahead and chopped a piece of cardboard to 39 cm deep and 89cm wide. I wanted to make sure it would fit, and the walls will be taking up some of the space.

I assume I don’t need a picture of a piece of cardboard here.

Step Fourteen: Popsicle Sticks make decent dollhouse floorboards.

Now, if you’re like me, you’ll cut an entire package of 50 or so popsicle sticks in half and chop the rounded edges off, making 100 neat little floorboards – minus the ones that cracked or snapped during cutting, those with discoloration, and so on. My hand was a little sore, but I also felt somewhat smug, somehow I’d managed to make my little floorboards in a much shorter amount of time than the tutorials I’d watched said I would need.

“Ha!” naïve me thought, “they don’t know what they’re talking about.”

Don’t be like me. Cut extra. Measure. Pay attention to the numbers, and overestimate. Otherwise, you’re going to end up needing to pause step fifteen to cut more popsicle sticks. I ended up needing a lot more than I estimated with.

Step Fifteen (post-extra floorboards): Glue, measure, repeat.

I didn’t want regular flooring for my little Barbie home – no, I wanted something fancy, parquet flooring at an angle. I thought it would look cool and, overall, I think it does. Unfortunately, little differences in positioning meant that I ended up with more than a few gaps. You’ll see that when I show you the end result, though, I’m getting ahead of myself (again).

For now, I suggest putting something you enjoy on the TV and get to gluing – you’re going to be here for a long while. For me, I took a few breaks in between for the aforementioned, humbling “need more floorboards” side quest, where I placed a board beneath and above the floor in an attempt to keep it flat while it dried. Progress was slow, but I made headway:

The cardboard was trying to warp. I may have just been using too much glue, but whatever the cause, I wasn’t having it. As you can see, there are gaps appearing everywhere (sigh).

Step Sixteen: Trim the edges

Now, as you can see, I had a lot of boards sticking out on the edge of my cardboard piece. I laid the cardboard down on a cutting board (yes, seriously), wood side down, and carefully, forcefully sliced them off with an xacto knife, leaving me with a lovely rectangle.

Step Seventeen (optional): Sanding

Because I’d just finished working on my computer desk, I still had all my sanding gear within reach. I put it to good use. Please, take note, if you are using an electric hand-sander, put it on a low setting and be gentle, otherwise you might find little bits of your floor flying every which-way (I speak from experience). Once the wayward pieces are recovered, re-glued, and everything is dry again, you can move on to the next bit.

Step Eighteen: Mod Podge

Now, I’m not sure if this is an optional step or if folks generally recommend it for doll floors or not, but I went ahead and gave my floor a once-over. In case you’re wondering, yes, I made a mess. The brush used for it was one I’d purchased just for this purpose, it’s currently taped to the side of the mod podge container.

Now, for me, this stuff costs about the same as the glue I buy – but if it’s more expensive for you, there are recipes for home-made mod podge online that other crafters swear by.

Step Nineteen: Enjoy your floor!

I know this floor isn’t perfect – it’s far from it – in fact, my brother joked that I shouldn’t pay the contractor because of all the gaps, haha. But, considering that it’s my first actual floor and I did it in a single afternoon, I’m pretty proud of it. Most of it is going to be covered by Barbie furniture, anyway.

Thanks for stopping in. I hope you enjoyed this incredibly delayed “Tiny Girl, Tiny House” post, and I’ll see you next time for the walls and windows.