I started the Victorianna’s brick foundation way back in the summer of 2015, and this week I finally finished it! Like the chimney, the foundation is covered with pieces of egg carton cut into 1/8″ x 3/8″ bricks.
I started on one side…
…and worked my way around the front of the house, stopping at the edge of the post near the door.
Then I went back to where I’d started and worked my way around the back of the house.
Here you can see where the two kits meet up. There’s a gap underneath the birch plywood side that’s a little too big to cover up with brick.
I glued in a piece of thin strip wood to give the brick a surface to attach to.
I cut the bricks from the flat lid of an egg carton, which had writing on the inside. This will get covered up with paint.
I continued the bricks until I got back to the front, again stopping at the edge of the post near the door. The gap is where the stairs will go.
I used scraps of wood to make front steps.
Then I covered these with bricks. These bricks are a little longer (1/8″ x 1/4″) so they can wrap around the corner.
Next I painted the bricks with Craftsmart Brick Red paint.
When that dried, I applied brown and gray washes. This is the same process I used for the chimney.
After the washes dried I applied a coat of matte varnish to protect the paint before grouting.
Then I added Andi’s Mortar Mix.
I wiped it off with a damp sponge brush and dabbed with a paper towel to remove the excess mortar.
I pulled the tape off while the mortar was still wet and touched up some areas near the top that the tape had covered up. On one side of the house, there was a crack where the floor didn’t quite meet the foundation.
I filled this in with mortar. The exposed edge of the plywood will get covered up with trim.
(The bricks look “hairy” in those photos because they’re wet. The texture settles down once they’re dry.)
I haven’t glued in the stairs yet, but here’s how they’ll look.
I will need to add a bit of mortar where the top step meets the porch.
Finally, I added another coat of matte varnish, which tones down the “hairs” and the dusty look of the dried mortar.
The bricks look kind of flat compared to the egg carton stone I’ve done on other houses, especially the first side that I did back in 2015 (pictured below). Maybe I used a particularly flat egg carton on that side. And maybe because they’re so small, there just isn’t a lot of surface for the texture to show up on.
And I went a little too heavy with the gray wash on this back corner.
But when you pull back they look like weathered bricks, and that’s what matters! I like how the color complements the colors of the house.
The house is very close to done now! I just have to finish up the shingles and add some trim. Think I can finish it by the end of April?
Emily is a freelance writer, miniaturist, and adventure game enthusiast.
Fabulous!
There is a lesson here: Finish what you start when you start. For some reason–and it differs from project to project–we leave it right in the middle of something and then months or years when we go back to it, we have to figure it out all over again, trying to remember the paint formula that we used or which cut of wood. Anyway, to pick up a project even weeks later is daunting, but you have done a fine job of continuing brick work and making it look seamless. I do love this house. I have the foundation of the Bellingham to cover, but around here egg cartons are a necessary commodity. We have 14 hens, half of which give us eggs, 0-6 per day, so I’m always looking for egg cartoons and do I have the patience to cut hundreds of bricks? Well done, Emily.
The amount of work that has gone into creating and painting the number of bricks required is astonishing. Well done! I have started to collect egg cartons and will begin the long process of doing a similar foundation…feeling a bit daunted right now after seeing the amount of work you have done but the end result will be worth the time and effort. The house is looking so lovely!
Great job! This house came out so beautiful! I love how the colors all flow together. Just wonderful.
This is just spectacular! Such wonderful attention to detail…obviously a labour of love. Well done!
It looks wonderful. The brick came out great and the overall appearance of the house is wonderful.