Home-Made Toys for Girls and Boys/Chapter 16
CHAPTER XVI
A HOME-MADE DOLL APARTMENT BUILDING
Building Material. The apartment building is built out of grocery boxes. The boxes used for the units must be of equal size, and the thing to do is to select those in which a standard brand of goods come packed. If one grocery store doesn't have what you want, go to another. If the sides and ends of the boxes are in one piece, it will greatly simplify the matter of cutting the door and window openings.
The Room Dimensions. The boxes used in the model illustrated were 28 inches long, 13 inches wide, and 8 inches deep. These provided space for a vestibule 3 inches by 8 inches, a reception-hall 8½ inches by 8 inches, a living-room 12 inches by 18½ inches, a dining-room 12 inches by 15 inches, a kitchen 12 inches by 8 inches, a pantry 7 inches by 3 inches, two bedrooms—one 12 inches square and the other 12 inches by 8 inches, and a bathroom 7½ inches by 6 inches (Fig. 245). You may have to vary the sizes of your rooms a trifle, if you get boxes of
Fig. 245.—Plan of the Six-Room Doll Apartment.
different proportions, but it is probable that you can keep to the same plan arrangement.
The First Story Unit is shown in Fig. 246, and diagrams of its two partitions A and B, are placed to the right of it; Fig. 247 shows
The Second Story Unit, with diagrams of its three partitions C, D, and E, placed to the left and right of it, and Fig. 248 shows
The Third Story Unit, with diagrams of its two partitions F and G placed to the left of it. 
Fig. 244.—How the There Stories are Arranged Side by Side to form a Six-Room Apartment.
Fig. 243.—The Most Stylish Apartments in Doll Town.
Fig. 246.—The First Story Unit and Diagram of Partitions.
Fig. 247.—The Second Story Unit and Diagram of Partitions.
Fig. 248.—The Third Story Unit and Diagram of Partitions.
the same proportion to the wall space as is shown in the illustrations. Then, in cutting the openings, bore a number of small holes a trifle inside of the lines, to make an opening large enough to insert a small keyhole-saw or bracket-saw, and the cutting will be easy to do.
The Bay Windows on the second and third stories are built of cigar-box wood. Instead of cutting away the entire width of the box at the points of attaching these bays, it is a better plan to leave a narrow strip over the opening, as shown in Fig. 249. This will hold the walls together, and will form a "beam" across the ceiling. The side edges of the pieces that form the front of the bay must be slanted off so as to fit at the proper angles, and the window openings must be cut carefully, because the margin of wood around them is narrow and will split easily. Fasten together the members of the bays, also the inside partitions, with glue and brads.
Fig. 249.—In Cutting the Opening for the Bay Windows, leave a Narrow Strip over the Opening, as above, for a "Beam."
The Joints between the Units, when piled one upon another, are concealed by a band of wood ½ inch wide nailed around the front and two ends of the bottom of the second and third story units (Figs. 247 and 248). These bands should project about ¼ inch below the bottoms of these boxes, so as to set down over the boxes beneath. They must not extend around the back of the boxes, and cannot be fastened to the first story box, because they would interfere with placing the boxes close together as in Fig. 244.
The first story unit must be raised to the same floor level as the other stories, however, and a thin board of the same thickness as the projection of the strips on the
Figs. 250 and 251.—How the Removable Roof is Constructed.
Fig. 252.—How the Chimney and Chimney Cap are Made.
second and third story units must be nailed to its bottom to bring it to the same level (Fig. 246).
The Roof Construction is shown in Fig. 250. Boards H (Figs. 250 and 251) should be cut of the right size to form a projection of 1½ inches over the front and ends of the building, and the piece I should be cut to the proper shape and size to form an equal projection over the bay windows. Strips J and K are 1 inch wide, and should be fastened to boards H so they will come exactly over the front and end walls when the roof is set in place. Block L should be cut of such a shape and size that when nailed to strip K its front edges will come directly over the walls of the bay windows. A narrow strip nailed to the under side of the roof boards, close against the walls, will conceal the joint between the roof and top story and make a good finish molding.
The Chimney is made of two blocks (M and N, Fig. 252). Notch the lower block to fit over strip J, and cut the cap block large enough to project ⅛ inch all around.
The Windows. Old photograph plates can be cut down to the proper sizes for the window openings, but it will not cost much to have the paint-shop man cut them out of new material, if you haven't any. The glass should be just a trifle smaller than the openings. Fasten it in place with narrow strips of cigar-box wood. Window sashes can be indicated by striping the glass with black paint.
Make the Front Door out of a piece of cigar-box wood, and set a piece of glass in an opening cut about the size shown in Fig. 243. This door may be hinged to open, but it is better to fasten it in the opening, because small pieces are easily broken off their hinges. Fasten a small block below the front door for a step (Fig. 243).
The Inside Doorways, in the ends of the first story unit and in the back of the second and third story units, may be fitted with pieces of board that can be set in when the units are piled up in the form of the building, but it is not necessary to make this provision.
The Interior Trim. The door and window casings, picture moldings, baseboards, and other trimming should be made out of strips of cigar-box wood. Tack the strips in place with short brads.
A Fireplace must be provided for the living-room, and one easily constructed out of four pieces of wood is shown in Figs. 253 and 254. Cut blocks O and P of the same
Fig. 253.—The Living-Room Mantel.
Fig. 254.—Details of Mantel.
thickness, and make the shelf piece Q of the proper size to project an equal distance over the front and ends. Fasten the pieces together, then glue red paper to the wood, and when this has dried mark off brick courses with a pencil. The joints may be accentuated by striping with white or black paint.
Lighting Fixtures, simple to make, are shown in two splendid forms in Figures 255 and 257. Small brass screw-hooks such as are shown in Figure 256 can be purchased at any hardware store, and a couple of dozen of these, a lead pencil, and a number of large beads, will furnish you with enough material for making fixtures for every room in the apartment.
You will see by Fig. 256 that the lighting fixture shown in Fig. 255 consists of a screw-hook with its hooked end stuck through one of the little brass plates removed from another screw-hook, and then pushed into the hole in the end of a short piece of lead-pencil. Cut the pencil end about ½ inch long, push out the piece of lead, and if necessary enlarge the hole to accommodate the hook end. If the piece of pencil comes apart where glued, re-glue it. Glue the little brass cap to the top. Paint the pencil end white, to represent glass, and indicate metal division strips, or leading, with black paint or ink.
Figs. 255-258.—Two Lighting Fixtures and how to Make Them.
The fixture in Fig. 255 is better suited to the living- room and dining-room, and for fastening each side of the front door; the fixture in Fig. 257 is better for the other rooms.
Decorating. Suggestions for decorating a doll-house are given in Chapter XIV, but here are some additional ideas to suit the conditions of the apartment. It is the modern practice to tint walls of apartments, and the best plan is to cover the walls of each room with plain paper, using a paper of a different color for each room.
The dining-room should have a plate-rail on which to stand plates (pictures of plates cut from advertisements and pasted upon cardboard), and the walls below the plate-rail should be paneled with strips of cigar-box wood for division strips (Fig. 244).
The Outside Walls of the apartment building are supposedly brick; therefore paint them a good red, brown, or yellow brick color, and paint the roof cornice, and the horizontal bands between stories, white, as a contrast.