DIY Floorboard tutorial for Doll Houses

Gel This is a really simple way to make floor boards and give them a shabby chic look not the dark teak wood floor boards from my earlier tutorial.

So, here is what you will need

MATERIALS NEEDED

1. Popsicle sticks
2. Coloring ink-White
3. Gel Medium
4. Glue
5. Nail File
6. Paint brush
7. Exacto knife
8. Rule
9. Pencil

1. Start with the number of sticks you will need roughly place them on the area you would be covering and then a couple extra just in case.. 2 extra usually works for me. Then i take the nail file and file on one side of the stick. You need to file only one side because obviously the other side will be glued down.. You could also use sand paper for this part if that's what your comfortable with. We sand the surface as it brings out the grain even better.

2. I then paint all the sticks on the side i have sanded. This stage requires patience, i use coloring ink as it soaks through the sticks and gives a beautiful realistic stain it is not glossy so it just colors the wood which looks quite natural. You need to apply several coats, and wait between each coat to dry i painted 4 coats. You can alter the number of coats as per your need.

3. Next using a ruler and pencil i marked the sticks at 2" and the cut them.. Some i cut at 1".. Use a sharp cutter and be very careful!!

4. Below you see the floor of the shadow box i am making and these little beauties are going to be the floor boards. Alternate the pieces like a real floor as you see below. I start with the 2" piece and then for the next line i use the 1" piece first and that gives me the hatched look.

5. Here is the floor piece assembled finished floor. To finish it of i give the entire thing a coat of gel medium. It sort of looks like you polished your floor. You can skip this if you want natural woody looking floor..

Hope this was helpful... leave a comment and join me again for more...

Ciao 

Ash