Building "Ten Cent City"...recreating 1950's little houses

Post by **Howard** » Sat Feb 16, 2019 8:34 am

steve...

really good looking houses...and the sign!...so clever!...and i know i missed the boat by not putting a chimney on my february house...just may have to retro-fit mine...

my very best regards...

howard

Post by **Lynn** » Sat Feb 16, 2019 5:43 pm

Here's my February's house with a dowel shaped chimney made of rolled paper.

I added a small amount of fine glitter by Martha Stewart, silver for the house and white mixed with the white sand. The silver glitter with the white sand looked black but good with the colored sand.

Post by **Laurie** » Mon Feb 18, 2019 11:33 pm

Steve - you popped those two out quickly and it’s fun to have you on board building them also. Kudos on the nice looking sign.

Lynn - i like your little bit different take on your second house. The glitter looks nice with the sand. It isn’t real silver is it? I made the mistake of doing a roof in silver glitter and it has really tarnished.

Post by **sjleeds** » Tue Feb 19, 2019 11:41 am

PutzinVT wrote:Did find out a few things. Like sand is much more finicky to apply than glitter.

I have had the best results using silica sand, I think it came in a 100lb. bag from Home Depot when I had a pool that required it for the filter. I put it in an empty pepper tin and use that as a shaker.

I found glue and sand to be too difficult to work with. Matte Mod Podge works best for me so far. Spreads easily out of the jar and has a somewhat self-leveling property to it. Before I use it adhere the sand, I use it to seal up any gaps or seams along with the tops and bottoms of the corrugated and let it dry. On the corrugated sections, just before it's completely dry, I use a stiff piece of cardboard to square them back up.

I'll attach a few photos here of two current houses I'm working on that are textured with sand. They're not in the 10 cent City theme but, I hope the info. helps.

Steven

Post by **Howard** » Tue Feb 19, 2019 3:46 pm

Steven...

I have got to try the Mod Podge product!...the "self-leveling characteristic" you described would have come in handy on the May, house 5, Ten Cent City piece I just completed...the Elmer's Glue All I used was not my friend today...but I hope it won't be too noticeable when I post the image in May...

By the way...I like the way you put blue painter's tape on the inside of the window and door openings to keep the inside gluing surface clean and flat...great tip!...

Hope you'll post and share pictures here on the forum of the completed houses that are shown in the photos...they are true works of art...superior craftsmanship in my book!...

My very best regards...

Howard...

Post by **sjleeds** » Tue Feb 19, 2019 4:18 pm

Howard wrote:Steven...

I have got to try the Mod Podge product!...the "self-leveling characteristic" you described would have come in handy on the May, house 5, Ten Cent City piece I just completed...the Elmer's Glue All I used was not my friend today...but I hope it won't be too noticeable when I post the image in May...

By the way...I like the way you put blue painter's tape on the inside of the window and door openings to keep the inside gluing surface clean and flat...great tip!...

Hope you'll post and share pictures here on the forum of the completed houses that are shown in the photos...they are true works of art...superior craftsmanship in my book!...

Howard -

I think you will find the Matte Mod Podge to be a better solution than glue for sand. Paint adheres to it really well. I use the Gloss version of it for adhering glitter. Another version of their product that you might like is the Hard Coat version. It's especially useful on the flatties, brushes on easily, levels nice and wont cause pencil and ink to run like clear coats with solvents in them do. Two coats puts a nice hard shine on them.

Funny, I thought I learned the tape trick from your site. I must've picked it up somewhere else.

I will post pictures and the patterns to go with them when I finish them up for sure.

Steven

Post by **PutzinVT** » Tue Feb 19, 2019 4:40 pm

So am I understanding.

You coat with the sand and then paint over the top of that.

Your sand coating by itself looks awesome.
Wish I could coat as even as you do.

Steve

Post by **sjleeds** » Tue Feb 19, 2019 5:18 pm

PutzinVT wrote:So am I understanding.

You coat with the sand and then paint over the top of that.

Your sand coating by itself looks awesome.
Wish I could coat as even as you do.

Steve

Yes. I put the sand on first, then paint over it. A decent sized filbert brush does the job and it produces a nice even finish in the end.

Thank you for the compliment.

Post by **Howard** » Tue Feb 19, 2019 8:43 pm

steven...

yes...i use blue tape to mask areas i want to keep paint, sand or glitter off so i get a good glue bond between surfaces...but never through of doing it on the inside of openings...so...take credit for it!...

howard...

Post by **Lynn** » Wed Feb 20, 2019 5:52 pm

Steven, let me start by saying you are doing a great job on your houses.

You gave us a lot of really good helpful info. I also struggled with the Elmer's glue, tried using a wide brush in nearly new condition, but this sounds like a dream and I have some. I love the idea of taping the insides, always struggling to clean the inside surfaces.

Thanks so much for sharing.

I love this forum.