Simple Window Tutorial
•Posted on November 27 2023
So I know it's been a while since I have posted! I have been working on odds and ends in the Bellingham, mostly some decor stuff. But I have been feeling antsy to work on something different. When I bought my Bellingham, the seller informed us he had quite a few other Duracraft dollhouse kits available. So I did what any reasonable miniaturist would do and got as many as I could! One of those kits was the cute little Bayberry Cottage. Ever since I first saw it I knew I wanted to do a coastal vibe. And so here we are, at a window tutorial. I didn't do one for my regular windows in the farmhouse, but I have had a few people ask about them. I did these a little different than the first time, and I think it worked out for the better. Anyways, on to the good stuff!
Supplies:
- Cutting tools of choice to cut basswood and plexiglass.
- Plexiglass (I used 0.08 thickness)
- Wood Glue/PVA Glue and/or Super Glue (I used DAP RapidFuse for the entire window, it's kind of my favorite glue right now.)
- Caulk and Q-tips (Optional for filling seams)
- Basswood:
- 1/16' x 1/16"
- 1/16" x 1/8"
- 1/16" x 1/4"
- 1/8" x 1/4"
- 1/8" x 3/8"
- Paint/stain of choice
To begin, you need to measure your window opening in your house. Mine is 2.5"W x 5"L and for the purpose of this tutorial that's what I will be going by, but make adjustments as needed. I will also note that my walls are 3/8" thick, so this tutorial will not work for the very thin dollhouse walls.
I used my 1/8" x 3/8" basswood to make my window casing. I cut the top and bottom pieces at the full width of the window (2.5") and I cut the side pieces to be attached between those, so I simply deducted 1/4" (1/8" thickness + 1/8" thickness of top and bottom pieces) from my overall height of 5" to get my side pieces at 4.75".
I then glued them together. It's important to make sure it stays square as the glue dries. I have a t-square that I picked up from the drafting section at Hobby Lobby for about $7 that works perfect for this.
After the glue was dry, I painted the frame of the window and also the pieces that will hold my plexiglass in place. I painted a long strip of 1/16" x 1/8" basswood before cutting the pieces. To cut the strips I measured the inside of my frame opening, again cutting the top and bottom pieces the full width of the window with the sides between them. The top and bottom pieces were 2.25" long and the side pieces were 4.5" long. You want to cut 4 top/bottom pieces and 4 side pieces. You will notice that I painted all of mine blue, I wasn't really thinking when I started this, but I quickly realized that I did not in fact want blue windows on the inside of my house, so I stained them as you will see in the next pics. I'm pointing this out so you don't find yourself in the same boat:)
To attach the inner frame to the outer frame, I ran a thin line of glue on one of the 1/16" edges of the blue frame pieces, starting with the top piece. The trim sits flush with the front of the outer frame, so I set the inner frame piece all the way at the bottom of the outer frame if you are looking from above. I followed with the bottom piece and then the side pieces in the same fashion.
This is what it should look like flipped over. This will be the front or outside part of the window.
Next up is adding the plexiglass. My hubby picked this up for me at Lowe's. I think they sell it in bigger sheets as well, but I like the workability of the smaller size with my tools.
Leaving the film on the plexiglass, you'll want to measure out your window size. A ball point pen works pretty well for marking your lines on the protective film. I marked it at 2.25" x 4.75" and used my scroll saw to cut it out. I do not know what other tools you can cut it with, as I have not tried. But if cutting the thicker material is an issue, it can be replaced with a thinner film like acetate sheets.
Once the plexiglass is in place you'll repeat the steps for the inner frame (the blue frame) on the inside of the window. I did not glue my plexiglass in place, only the wood frame around it.
Front view with plexiglass in place.
This is where your window starts to come to life, the mullions! I chose to do mine in a transom looking pattern, but you can do them however you like. I used my 1/16" x 1/16" basswood and cut my horizontal mullion first. It should fit snugly in between your side pieces, but not so tight that it bends the mullion. I dabbed just a touch of glue on either end and set it into place.
Next up were the vertical mullions. Same thing as the horizontal.
Then I flipped it over and repeated on the inside. Not everyone adds mullions to both sides, but I feel it gives a more polished and finished look on both sides.
Now it's time to put the window in the opening. Mine was a tight squeeze so I did have to shave a bit of the opening to clean up some of the ragged bits it was catching on. I used a small chisel and just scraped the messy bits off.
Before cutting any trim, I pre-painted my pieces so as not to make a mess of the siding. For the outside trim I start with the two side pieces. These are made with 1/16" x 1/4" basswood measured the height of the window (5" in my case). They should be attached flush with the top and bottom of the window. You can choose to cover the outer frame we made in previous steps, or do like I did and put the trim on the sides of it.
For the top its just a series of trim pieces stacked. You can see I had a boo boo up there and had to start over, no biggy though since it will be covered back up. For the first pieces of the top, I used 1/16" x 1/8" with a measured length just enough to hang about 1/16" over on each side. I tend to eyeball a lot, but if you want to break it down it would be your window width (2.5") + your two side pieces (1/2" total width) + 1/8" (1/16" overhang on either side). The trim is laying so that it is sticking out from the siding 1/8" and the height is the 1/16".
It's just more stacking. The middle top piece is 1/16" x 1/4" cut to the same size as the window plus trim (2.5" + 1/2"= 3"W) or just measure from the outside edge to outside edge of the side trim. It's then stacked again with the 1/16" x 1/8" cut the same as the first one.
For the very top piece I used a 1/8" x 1/4" piece cut with a 1/8" overhang on each side. So the length of the piece below it plus 1/4".
I cut the same size piece for the window sill and added it to the bottom of the window.
Last but not least the bottom of the sill which is 1/16" x 1/4" cut to the width of the window plus side trim again.
At this point you could leave it, but I had some spots that weren't quit perfect, so I used my handy caulk and a q-tip and put some caulk in my seams being careful not get it on my blue paint. After that was dry I followed up with some touchup paint.
And that's all there is to it!
The current state of my Bayberry Cottage.
Original Post: April 22, 2020
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