u/ameryan

This build is nearly finished. Posting to see if anyone has suggestions of anything else I might/can/you think I should add? I left several things out of this that either failed or were too miserable for me to spend time on. Let me tell you a bit about this. The title on the box I have reads, "Dream House Pavilion," and I purchased it several months ago through TEMU before I decided not to order through them again. There is no identifying manufacturer on the box, so I don't know who made this, but I have found the exact same-looking kit from two other sources, with different names. One is from Tiny Craft and is called, "The Grand Townhouse," and another is called "The Dream House," sold by Nookcraft. I am thinking I got a knockoff, but seriously, what is going on.
The kit is make from scratch, meaning everything is glued, tons of paper to cut out and to try to form into a variety of things, such as lampshades, flowers, dishes, trays, pots, boxes. Tedious for me; some was doable; some I used other methods or substitutions for and re-laced several items within the house. I only made one leather chair, as it came out deformed looking, but I do think the green leather couch came out well. The spiral staircase is missing - that was an ugly, utter disaster. The ladder that goes to the loft is used instead - there is no way to get up to the loft now but magic. Almost all of the railing pieces are glued back together because they were impossible to off the wood sheet without breaking/splintering, no matter how carefully I tried. Although I love the look of the clear piano, that too, came out horrible. I used the piano as well as a few other things from my previously failed kit I wrote about before, The Dreamy Book Hall, that was an utter wreck and I'd also gotten from Temu with no identifying manufacturer. Also, next tome, I will sew the bedding and little pillows - that has to be better than trying to use glue. They came out rather ratty looking. The pre-cut wooden house pieces were well-fitting, and that part was not frustrating. I also like the lighting - lots of lights, and the three levels of the house are set up well.
Chomping at the bit to go on to something else, but want to finish this to display ready before I declare it done. Thoughts and ideas welcome.

Just found this on clearance sale at Michael's for $25.00. I had no idea there really is based on a real scorpion (2nd photo)!

The Dream Coffee Factory was a fun challenge. Everything fits together in this kit. I had a few instances where I struggled and every time, I found a tab not pushed all the way in, or that I had either missed a part, or aligned or installed it wrong. Be ]careful too - the longer thinner pieces will break - I had to repair a couple but that worked out for me, luckily. mostly built as designed, with some edge painting. I did substitute more realistic fake flowers for the flat painted ones, and that's about it.

Well, if we had a breeze, that is. It's hot! I finally finished this addition to the collection by getting the electrical situation sorted out. This one came with a broken switch, and I don't know why I dod 't reach put to get new one - I think because the one that came with not was so junky, I didn't want to deal with it again. I made a few changes; I left some shutter doors off because they didn' t fit (likely user gluing error) and I did not string all the beads. I also have it a new exterior. The paper wrapping that comes with this is lame. Yea, there was a lot of gluing.
Time to go on to the next one. I just finished the Coffee Factory, but it's not a nook, so I'll post that tomorrow. I just had the Typewriter out, but it literally scared me, some put it back. Maybe something easier :)

So after my dismal Library of Wonders fail (posted about a few times,) I needed a sure thing - a palate cleanser, per se. I want to start the Coffee Factory, but wanted a smaller project in between. I share my work space as a guest room, and since we were having company, I didn't want to have to put away a huge, prob messy project. Silent Corner Study was just the ticket for both reasons. It went together with ease - the pieces fit, were sturdy and the construction made sense, I can't tell you how wonderful it was to hear pieces 'snap' and fit securely. I think not break any pieces, except for one tab on one of the ladder rungs; my fault, I pushed too hard when it wasn't lined up. Those, and the way it looks when finished, are the positives. The directions were not too bad - better than many kits. It also helps that I used to working with this style of directions now from many other kits. This is my 14th build, not including the disastrous last one.
The main negative is the lighting. The lighting box that came with it failed - the switch. 2nd time this has happened to me with these kits. I substituted another, but it's a tiny bit too big to fit in the space allotted at the top back, so I just keep it out of sight behind the nook. They only used one light, over the desk. It's not sufficient. The other entire wall stays pretty dark. Had I realized this, when I had to finagle the wiring, I should have added another led light to place somewhere on that side.
Substitutions: many of the books I re-purposed from my other failed projects, in place of flat, cardboard slot in books - I had already made 190 books for that one! I used some 3-d objects instead of of the flat paper objects provided with the kit - the cat, added the little dog on the chair (he's not glued in - I can take him put or re-locate him at will.) I also did some sanding out of edges and some edge painting.
All in all, this Rolofe project was fun, fairly easy and I recommend it if you like libraries.
Next up: The Coffee Factory. I have the Typewriter awaiting, too, but that will wait a bit longer.

This attempted book nook was #13. I will never, and I repeat never not buy from one of sponsors and known manufacturer of quality kits again. This is a knock-off kit I got off TEMU. Some have lucked out with what they got there, but this was a nightmare. Nothing fit; some things so far off it was ridiculous. VERY cheap chipboard that broke it you looked at it. Early on, I decided to keep going and to just let the pieces fall as they did, and to title it 'Dreamy Bookhall after the Bombs Fell", and to add some details such as dust and cats and mice, etc but today I just have had it. Not wasting anymore time on this. Packed it away. I have several waiting in the queue. A few deep breaths and on to something else. When I first started this I posted about the problems and several offered suggestions. I want to reiterate that I have 12 successful kits done - this is not on me. Just luck of the draw, taking a chance on getting something for cheap. I sincerely hope no one else ended up with this cheapo knock off.

Big surprise in the mail today. And big Thanks to Pluck. the entire community for your help and support and Rolife for the special deals and generous prizes! #pluckthebunny #rolife

this Dreamy Book Hall has been a nightmare since step one. (yes, I have already posted a couple of complaints about this ) I’m sure now it is a knock off with very cheaply made materials. It came in a plain white box. The sheets of the library materials look fine (smell terrible) but none of them fit into the little holes. Almost all the tabs are too big. When filing them down a bit they kind of disintegrate into a cardboardy substance that will not hold a joint. With so many missing connections not being held by the tabs, even the glue is not working well. I am basically making a huge mess. Last night I was going to quit and put it all away, but today I think maybe I will turn it into a haunted library by making it look decrepit on purpose - some cobwebs and dust. Maybe a creepy ghost somewhere. Any ideas or suggestions are welcome.

My problem is I don't know enough to quit when I'm ahead. This book shelf was all put together, but had to be glued because the joints were all very loose. Instead of letting the glue dry (walk away!!), I tried to add the top piece. The whole thing fell apart and I broke that piece - one of the only tight fitting pieces in this particular piece.

and it takes a while, but it is very doable. I did not have any major problems until the electric switch. I do recommend you keep the booklet right with you. You will use it often even to identify and even measure parts that are very similar in color and size or both. The directions are very minimal and they start out a lot better than they end up. It seems like the last few pages, they decided they were done and skipped a few things. I never saw where to put two panel windows (shown in the last picture.) I know where the little curved piece goes, but I miss that at first. I’m going to skip the windows, but I think I may be able to get the little curved piece in - it goes towards the front and there are several other little odds(not all shown!) that I have no idea what they were supposed to be, You need to study the pictures to figure out what to do.
I tested my lights at the beginning and all worked fine except for I did not test the on and off switch. It turns out that was mis wired and did not turn the lights on or off. So I undid the wires and fixed that, but then I sabotaged that fix by getting the switch glued in the off position when I glued it into t
the front. There was no way to get it unglued without ruining it so the front of my building is not yet glued on. I need to get another little switch. They are probably like ??? (cheap!) each, but they sell them in large packages and I don’t need 20 of them. I will look around and when I fix that I will glue on the front and do a little bit more edge painting, and get things finished up to be the final product.
Do I like it? Yes. DoI recommend it? I recommend it to builders who want to build from the basic pieces and to use glue for putting things together. It does lengthen the process. If you want the pieces that come in sheets, you punch them out and then they mostly fit together and then you might not enjoy this. The vibe, of course,is personal opinion. I like it because it reminds me of when I was a kid and my parents rented a beach house for two weeks every summer - they weren’t quite as nice as this one though ;).
(I did add a few customizations with my own wording on the signs and the outside in my own paper. They also did the ceiling beads in an easier method.)

NowI I understand building a kit from almost scratch. First the flowers, now the tiny shutters! They measure 3 x 1.2 cm! These took all day, on and off, Letting every little slat dry or trying to place the next would knock it off. I think they look a little better irl than in the picture. Looking ahead, it is possible there will be something else in the sand in front of my house rather than the paper lanterns made with tiny little pointed scraps :) good thing I wanted this project to be a time-consuming one to slow down using up my kits

I might have posted this, but I don't think I labeled it as EVENT. Library of Wonders, finished. I enjoying building this, except I put my back ceiling on backwards, so used some fancy paper to add a ceiling instead of trying to take it apart. I found the paper ceilings and rooflines difficult to work with. Some builders commented on there being too many colors, but not for me. I like the colors and tried to perk up the gold trim a bit.

for Sea Breeze! I just started it - this one will be lasting a while because short sessions are all I can take. I got the beginning wiring done by watching a video, but the flowers from the twisted rope paper have put me over the edge. My paper won’t untwist all the way and rips when I try to spread it flat. Drove me to spend $6 more dollars on these. I will post again when the house is further along - hopefully in a better mood - and let you know how these work out!