We already covered how to create miniature walls, miniature water, and miniature floors. So guess what we are going to talk about today? Right: how to make miniature roofs and some great insights for dollhouse roof ideas!
As usual, there are several ways to do this, from buying shingles (which is the easy way, but not the DIY way), to making them from different kinds of materials, let's try to get oversight and dive right into things!
Updated 15/07/26
1. How to make dollhouse shingles DIY using Balsa wood.
This is how I made my first project: my backyard shed, I just cut out shingles with balsa wood. This is pretty easy with just a crafting knife, you don't need a mini table saw for this. And then painted with gray acrylic paint.
If you wonder why it is still wrapped up in cardboard: it is covered against my predator-cats, until I get a final and safe place for it 😉
Would I do it differently now? No, I don't think so, I would still use balsa wood, although I would paint it very differently now to make it look more 'real' and weathered.
I would now use a mix of colors, like the way people paint their miniature walls, plus make it look more ' messy '. Because after all, it is a roof. But hey, you learn as time goes on, right?
The roof of my treehouse, however, is made from leftover veneer wood that I kept in my backyard shed. Look at what can be 'upcycled' ).
But that was the easy part. Have you seen what I did with it after this?
Something unique: covered the roof with pencil scrapes, yes!
Find out on my YouTube how I have been working on this:
Or even use sandpaper to make dollhouse shingles, here's how to do this!
2. Another doll house roof idea: Make a thatched roof.
I just love this method, and I didn't think about it before when doing research for this article. It is usually used for modeling, so on a smaller scale, but I think you can apply it to a 1:12 scale dollhouse for sure.
Materials needed :
- cardboard
- ruler, pencil, a drawing compass, and a crafting knife
- twine ( Jute )
- a comb and a brush
- balsa wood beams
- some foam board
- an empty ballpoint pen
- tinfoil
- coffee stirrers
A walkthrough:
- Draw and cut triangles on cardboard to make a structure to hold the roof
- If your cardboard isn't thick enough, but you do want thick triangles for a sturdier structure, glue pieces of cardboard together with a glue gun.
- Cut out a structure again from cardboard for the roof itself. Slightly cut it in the middle, but not all the way through. Glue on the triangles for support.
- have a large strap of cardboard, glue the twine on it, and wrap it all around the cardboard. Secure the end again with the glue gun.
- make sure that every piece of wrapped twine is glued on top, on both sides of the cardboard (but not on the edges Then, at the bottom, you can cut the twine in half. And separate it as well on top.
- comb and brush the twine so that it looks like thatch.
- cut out some beams and attach them to the structure and then cut out foam board for the triangles and attach them as well
- For a while, he talks about how to engrave the bricks in the triangles; you can find out about that in my miniature wall tutorial.