I finished applying clay to the kitchen bay and made sure it was completely dry before painting. I painted the stones in the kitchen bay to match the rest of the dollhouse and added all the trim, windows, shutters, and other details. I also attached little jewelry fixings to the fascia to match the front bay, and now I just need to wait for everything to dry before painting them white.
Next, I'm starting to shingle the dollhouse using new laser-cut speed shingle strips from Greenleaf Dollhouses. I bought two packs of diamond-shaped shingles and two packs of hexagon-shaped ones. I plan to create a patterned roof, following this tutorial specifically for shingle strips. If you have loose shingles and want a patterned roof, there's this tutorial available instead. Since there's already a guide for this type of roof, I won't repeat every step here. It's important to follow the tutorial closely to achieve the correct pattern.
I'll alternate rows of shingles between the hexagon and diamond shapes, starting by cutting and labeling the rows. I painted my shingles according to the tutorial's painting diagram, applying only one coat of paint. I want them to maintain their "shingle" texture rather than be smooth. The shingles may curl after painting but will straighten out once they dry.
I will apply the shingles directly to the dollhouse roof without templates since the roof has simple angles. I painted the roof black first to prevent any raw wood from showing. For application, I used hot melt glue, which is quick and easy. When cutting edges, I recommend using scissors instead of a box cutter, as my box cutter left jagged edges that needed straightening with scissors. Small toenail scissors with a curved blade work best for me, but if you're comfortable with a craft knife, feel free to use that.
Be careful with placement to ensure the pattern turns out correctly. My pattern is rounded at the top and pointy at the bottom due to alternating shingle shapes. If you use only diamond shapes, your pattern will be pointy at both ends. The tutorial suggests nine rows of shingles, but I only needed eight because I didn’t cut my first row in half or glue it upside down as instructed. Instead, I wanted some black from the roof to show through at the bottom edge, so I placed my shingles right side up with the diamond pattern touching the roof edge.
