Making Floors

I learned about making hardwood floors from my other remodels. First I had to use paper to make a pattern to cut out some card. Then I fitted the card in the space and finally cut and glued popsicle sticks down to the card.

I have a great hand-saving tool for cutting popsicle sticks. It's called 'Super Easy Cutter' by Midwest Products. It saves me from getting hand cramps. That's a lot of popsicle sticks to cut and I used to do it with sharp scissors. I like this tool better.

On a ground floor one layer is fine but on a second story floor, you have to do both sides to get it rigid enough not to bend. So I ran the sticks in opposite ways for each side. I thought about cutting a hole in the floor for a ladder or steps but I know from experience that although it might be cute, mice don't need ladders to climb walls. :)

The first story floor was pretty easy to measure but the second story was nearly impossible to measure so I stacked DVD's into the stump to the height I wanted and started piecing cards to the edges and taping them together until I had the whole second story floor covered. That was my pattern. So I cut out a single card shape and glued sticks to both sides.

Then I glued the first floor in and set a weight on it until it dried. I stacked the dvd's back up to set the second floor in and glued it in too.

The next day they were dry. I haven't decided how I want to finish the interior walls yet but I will probably use sticks on them to reinforce and help prop up the second floor. I might keep everything wood colored.

I have decided to cut out some windows and add some lighting. Next, I'm going to be working on the front.

Making The New Door

I started out with popsicle sticks and make a door by gluing them over heavyweight card.

Then I put hinges on the door and frame inside the stone archway I'm going to make. Everything is done on cereal box cardboard.

I made sure the door opened good. I'm going to cover the outside of the archway with my "stones" which are lightweight because they are made of paper clay. Then I'm going to paint them light tan and then grout them with lightweight spackle.

But first I made sure everything fit into place and looked just right. I really downsized that door for my mice.

I will have to go over the old doorway seam and make it look like it fits in with the old bark of the tree. That shouldn't be too hard to do while I'm adding more paper clay over the paper mache to make it sturdier especially around the roots which I've discovered are kind of weak.

Next - I' finish the doorway.

Stump Cottage Tear Down

WHEW! Let the fun begin!

So it took me a while to make room for my stumpy remodel. I didn't forget it. It's been in the back of my mind most of the year. I've been pretty busy.


DECONSTRUCTION

The first step is to remove all the old stuff, stripping it down to basic stump. Then I decided to make it mouse sized, I needed to make a smaller door and two stories in it. I cut the back off and set it aside. Then I cleaned out all the old paper and gunk inside.

I had to fill in the door hole to bring it down to the size I wanted the new door to be. I want to make a stone tilt out for the entry and door frame so I needed to make it out of card and glue it all together.

It took a couple of days for everything to dry. I had to bake my paper clay stones. My paper clay was so dry even after wetting it. I need a fresh batch of that stuff.

I had to make some stones out of paper clay so I could put them on the door entry way.

Next - working on the door.