finished dollhouse books in bookcase

How Products Come to Life | Dollhouse Books

Dollhouse Books

books for dollhouse

If you follow us on Facebook, you without a doubt have seen our new dollhouse books.  The idea of using a facade for books instead of individual pieces came to me when I was at Disneyland.  Think about how Hollywood builds sets, the typically only build from facade of a building to save on time and cost.  The idea was that books can be highly detailed in the miniatures world, but sometimes–we are looking for something that helps fill bookcases and provide a back drop to something entirely different.  Our focus on the “set” is not the books–but we need the books to complete the set!

Our process to design, prototype and launch a product is a lot of fun, so I wanted to share what we do!  The first step is to research the sizing of the potential product, because we designed these for our dollhouse bookcases it works perfectly with them.  Once we have figured out the use, we begin working on the design layout in the computer.  You can see the first draft here–the red line represent the book binding details and the black lines are the cut pattern.

dollhouse books

Our first test typically goes through a series of power testing.  We can modify the strength of the laser to create the best looking pattern possible.  The first few attempts looked like mushy patterns, I couldn’t determine a shape from a line…  After only 5 attempts, each time adjust the settings, we nailed it!  You can see the image with the unpainted/unassembled books, they are literally just stacked together with the book facade thrown on top!  I was excited about the product and couldn’t wait to share.

first test of books in bookcase

The next step was to assemble and do some test fitting, it work perfectly!  Not all products go together and work as intended on the first try, but this one was great!  We immediately began working to figure out how can we produce many of these products and ultimately, what will it look like in the final environment.  We had to cut at least 8 book facades immediately to see if it would create the desired effect – and it did!  I was loving the direction, so we added a half set, so that we could add less books per shelf and have a solution for the top of our bookcase design.  Once we had them all in there, the next step was to bring them to life–we needed color, but the kind of color that would add depth and some texture without have a complex process of painting, inking and dry brushing.

So… I did what any parent with kids would do – I stole my sons markers!  It worked, creating a leathery, silky effect on the etched wood that ultimately produced a bookcase with 120 books in the blink of an eye!  We are excited about this new product and the potential it brings to solve a problem that everyone who has done a library has dealt with.    We look forward to the next product development and launch, but for now… I think a cool library is in order!  We will be listing our dollhouse books online in the coming days!  Please join our VIP newsletter to ensure that you are notified immediately when they launch.

finished dollhouse books in bookcase

DollhouseParts.com New Website Launches, Featuring Custom Dollhouse Parts

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Dollhouse PartsFebruary 4th, 2014 – http://www.dollhouseparts.com launched a new retail website with more than 150 unique dollhouse parts.  DollhouseParts.com features products designed and manufactured in the United States.  For the past 5 years, their team of craftsman has been working on custom dollhouse projects around the world.  Late in 2013, the owners of DollhouseParts.com decided to push the products out into a full retail environment as well as create relationships with other online and traditional brick and mortar stores to begin a wholesale program.

The full line of products at DollhouseParts.com includes: brackets, trim, fence, room dividers and much more.  Each piece is laser cut and hand inspected for quality, to ensure that when the crafter installs the part the results will be spectacular.  Many of the products come fabricated as standard 1” scale dollhouse parts.  However, many parts come in custom widths or heights to help ensure that the fit is unique and custom to your dollhouse.  You can also order custom sizes to suit your needs for your project.

The DollhouseParts.com product line is guaranteed to satisfy, or they will refund your order.  This comes from their desire to treat their customers the way they would want to be treated.  This simple and common practice seems to have been lost in the new age of the internet, but the traditional practices are what are driving the new product creation and ultimately the relationships.

The new website features a standard catalog of products, customer reviews, VIP club, detailed images and a 256-bit secure encrypted check out—aka SSL.  This fancy term helps ensure that your information is transferred securely.  They also do not store credit cards onsite, to help ensure that your information is never lost or stolen. “We created this simple model because this is how we prefer it”, stated Chris Fialkowski, Co-Founder of DollhouseParts.com.

The new wholesale program for dollhouse parts features a simple online form, which will immediately follow up for the required state information for US based resellers.  Once approved, the discounted rates will provide retailers an opportunity to stock up and begin selling Dollhouse Parts to their customers.

To learn more about the new website launch and full product descriptions, please visit http://www.dollhouseparts.com.

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