Faux-painted Dollhouse Shingles

Gosh!   I can't believe a week has gone by already and I haven't updated the tale of the roof re-do on the dollhouse!  I've been so busy working on the house, I just haven't had time to talk about it!   Sorry! ;-)

If you've been following along from the start, you know that my first attempt at applying a printable pattern of asphalt shingles ran into a number of problems (mostly with printing).    After a few frustrating attempts I tore the glued on paper "roofing" off and started over by painting the roof a basecoat of medium brown.   This has to be a kid-friendly roof treatment...so, no shingles (until child gets older).  The plan is to paint some faux asphalt shingles for the dollhouse!

The next step was sponge painting a texture in various colors to represent the colors seen in asphalt shingles.  I used the printable pattern I started with for inspiration and chose black, burnt sienna and a very light brown.    First application is black....looks pretty ugly at this stage.

Next I sponged in some medium brown....Burnt Sienna...starting to look better!

Then I added some very light brown accents.   I moved the sponge all over, adding color where needed but also leaving some of the original base color peeking through.   I also added more Burnt Sienna and more black where I felt it was needed until it started to resemble the texture on asphalt roof tiles.

Next step is drawing on the shingle lines.    I based the size of the shingles on the dimensions in the printable version of the shingle pattern, but made them slightly larger (less work for myself! *G*).    I put 2 strips of masking tape along the edge to mark guidelines.     Marks show up so much better on the tape than trying to find where I put a little pencil mark on the roof with that busy pattern!    

 Another benefit of the tape is saving time!   I don't have to mark the guidelines again to do the other side of the roof....just take off the tape and re-position on other side!  (Line up first line with ridge of roof)   Any places along the edge that got missed because tape was in the way are easily touched up.

I used a Sharpie Fine Point marker to draw lines (and a ruler...LOL).   First the horizontal lines and then the vertical lines, alternating each row.   After all was done I sprayed with a clear matte finish to seal.   The finished shingles are below!    Not too bad of an imitation if I do say so myself!  ;-)    Not easy for kids to damage either!

If you had the time and inclination, adding a little shadow for each shingle would sure enhance the illusion!   I would definitely take the time to do that if this were for an older child or adult!    But, as much as I enjoy doing all the little extra details....I don't have much time left to finish this before the birthday party!