These birch veneer shingles came in a big bag and even though they are all square shaped, they aren't all the same size. Instead of sorting them so they would be, I decided that I really liked the unique look of them being all different sizes on the dollhouse. I like this staggered look so I used it.
You can certainly sort yours so they are all the same sizes. You can get real asphalt shingles, which come in strips or you can make your own, either with the method I am going to use or you can cut sandpaper into shingles. The roof of this dollhouse is not too large and basically once you cut your sandpaper into strips, it is very easy to cut out the individual shingles. You can also spray your shingles with textured paint but to do this, you will have to make shingle templates and spray paint them before you apply them to your dollhouse.
I shingled my entire roof in about two days, shingling for a couple of hours each day. I shingled the side roofs first and then the back, leaving the front for last. Shingling is kind of like wallpapering, you want to do your sides first if the roof panels butt up against each other. This will prevent you from viewing rough shingle edges along the corners.
I discarded the chimneys that came with this dollhouse because my real house has none.
