Today on my Greenleaf Dollhouse forum, a member was asking about tiling a wall. I posted a quick tutorial for how I made my tiled countertops. I thought my blog would be a good place to post it again. So, here goes.

Take your surface, whatever it may be as this would work just as well for a wall as a countertop, and apply spackle to the entire surface in a thin coat. I use spackle that is pink while it is wet but dries white. It really helps to be able to see where you have applied it. After allowing it to dry, apply another coat. Depending on the thickness of your layers, you could put on two or three layers. Bear in mind that you will be gently carving the lines of your tiles. If you want it to appear as if the tiles are thicker, use more layers of spackle. I sanded in between layers to achieve a smoother finish. Please remember to use breathing protection, as sanding will create a lot of fine white dust. After allowing everything to dry thoroughly you can apply your paint in whatever color you'd like. As a reminder, using this technique will create white 'grout' lines as you will be carving through the paint and making tile lines in the spackle. Allow your paint to dry and then apply a second coat. Once the paint is completely dry, you can begin carving your tiles. I use a straight metal ruler and a pointed tool, such as an awl. Do this step gently and slowly to make sure your lines are defined. In the photo of mine tiles, there are a few chips in the paint. I believe this happened because I did not allow the paint to dry completely. The counter will still work for me because it is going into an older house setting. Once you have finished your tile lines and are satisfied with the results, you can apply varnish to make it shiny and seal it. If for some reason you don't like how it looks, the color or the tile lines, you can re-apply some spackle and fix any issues. That is one of the great things about working in miniature. It is usually pretty simple to fix any problems you may have. Now...go and make yourself a beautifully tiled bathroom wall or countertop!