I got Blue Times in the end. This one took me aaaaaaaaaages to make, about a month, in fact. Partly because of how much I customised it, and partly because it took me ages to end up going to Hobbycraft, where I finally found some decent glue!*

First observation: this one was really well-packed. The last mini house kit I bought, shipped from China, was in a terrible condition when it arrived, and one bag was open, with many pieces having fallen out.

This one cost about £20 on eBay, shipped from the UK. It arrived in a few days.

The quality of this one, however, I found to be lower than the first house I made. Both main wall panels were warped, one of the kitchen table legs was about 5mm too short and didn't have the tapered end. I had to make it longer with silicone glue (see if you can spot it). A piece for the support bars for the highchair was missing, and in the end the one I did get was too small when assembled, so I had to make it out of thick card instead. They bizarrely tell us to chisel the corner of the bedroom floor to a right angle, but there was absolutely no need for it. I'll have to repaint the corner, but even without customisation, that would have required repainting anyway as the original colour was white, but they don't mention it in the instructions. So do ignore that step if you buy this kit.

I bought a bookshelf for the two, and I still have two empty spaces. I managed to hold back and not buy another one just yet, though! I think I need to recover from this one first!

So, comparing it to the box, you can see I changed the colour scheme quite a lot (I did say I didn't like it at all!). I found some really nice giftwrap at work that would work well as a wallpaper, and I decided to work around this. So I've gone from Blue Times to Teal Times. I also though the dark wood effect would work better, and be a nice contrast to the whitey-white of the last dollshouse. Overall, I'm pleased with the new colour scheme.

I don't understand why there's no barrier on that side? I'm thinking of making one, because it's irritating me that there isn't one there. Oh as for the curtains, I just have't got round to making them as I am sick of the sight of fabric glue I DON'T KNOW HOW TO USE IT ON THESE KITS!!

I do get that they keep the walls on the bathrooms clear so you can actually see the room inside, but it's still strange! I mean, this looks like it's facing the patio or entrance to the house or something. Plus you'd get a great view while eating your dinner or sitting on the sofa!

I didn't do such a good job on the stairs. Oh well, it's too late now. But you can see here what I meant about the fabric glue. I think the only thing to do is to remake these and sew them on the machine, because I just cannot get the cushions to stick together.

Moving the sofa to the other side of the room meant there was more room at the base of the stairs, and you get less of a view of whoever is on the bog!

Things I've learnt from my second project:

• UHU Power glue works so much better than the glue they give you.
• Fabric glue is a right royal pain in the butt.

*Sad fact: on the receipt, under UHU glue it said: verified customer over 25 🙁 This is the first time I've not been asked to verify I'm over 18. I'm going to blame the fact that I had Tiny with me, and they assumed she must be my daughter.