__Tips from Kevin Crider__

MAKE 500 to 1000 Dollhouse Bricks (or more) with less than twenty dollars.

THIS project takes a little bit of work at first to make the mold. But after that, its worth its wait in gold.

FIRST, buy one 7 pound box of "Poly Blend Sanded Tile Grout", "quikrete concrete acrylic fortifier" ( The fortifier does seem to make a difference ), and "concrete color", costs is less than twenty dollars.

MAKE (cheaper to make your own) or buy 1/8 inch wood strips (can be whatever size you want, I used 1/8 inch). Make a grid about 5" by 5" (makes approximately 70 bricks at a time) with the wood strips so that each square is the same size as your bricks (notch each intersection of the grid so they fit together and lay flat).

IMPORTANT You have to coat the entire mold with ( I use ) Wesson non-stick cooking spray, so the bricks won't stick to the mold. I also use a small piece of scrap wood to lay the grid on and spray it too so the grout doesn't stick to the scrap wood.

AFTER mixing your grout, fortifier and color, pour it into the mold and make sure every brick section is filled. 

USE a scrap piece of wood to lay across the mold and scrape off any excess grout.

LET dry over night.

TILT your mold up on one side, supporting it with your fingers and gently push each brick out of the mold using a push stick the same size as one of the bricks so it will go through each little square. So far though, my bricks have been practically falling out by themselves.

GLUE or hot glue them to your project and spray them with a clear coat (not glossy) to seal them so you can add the mortar lines... sanded tile grout works fine for this too. It can be applied easily and is easy to clean off the sealed bricks.

SPRAY the grid each time with non-stick before making more bricks. So far my total cost has been less than twenty dollars and I have made almost 700 bricks using about half a box of sanded grout. 

RECENTLY , I purchased a small sheet of plexy glass approx. 1/8" thick (cost two dollars) and made my mold from that using 5 minute epoxy ( less than two dollars) to glue it together. It takes a little more work but lasts a lot longer than a wooden mold. So far, its working great.

THESE bricks look incredibly real and add dimension to your project. After the bricks are installed and I add the grout between them, I like to finish them with an even more realistic touch by cutting a sponge or something similar to the rectangular shape of the bricks and use different shades of the coloring to make them look that much more realistic by dabbing over each brick to give the color patterns of real brick on
real houses.