building a doll castle - need ideas

[boheime]

I'm using some leftover MDF to build a doll castle. I think it will be played with more than a doll house and I don't have to worry about the fact that I don't have an easy way to miter edges to make a pointed roof.

It is 26" tall, 24" wide and 11 3/4" deep. There is a first floor, second floor, and then a half story where little dolls and animals can peek around the cut outs on the top.

After I have it all cut out and put together, I plan to paint it - grey with some stones here or there. I might paint some banners or stuff in the inside, but I think I'd prefer to leave decorating up to their imagination.

Do you have any ideas on how I could make the stairs? I could paint them, but I think I would prefer something permanent. Also, any great ideas on how to make the drawbridge moveable? I could just do a hinge with some sort of lock to hold it up, but that may not make it level when it is open. Am I better off just having an opening?

I don't have a lot of woodworking tools - handheld jigsaw and circular saw, a borrowed scrollsaw, handheld drill.....

Any suggestions?

[rere]

How about a ladder instead of stairs?Easy to make and doesn't take up a lot of room.

For the drawbridge you could hinge it(or even use some fabric tape) and then to keep it closed there could be a little piece of wood attached to the front of the castle above the door opening that could swing up to open it and swing down to keep it closed.And attached the the back side of the door opening you could nail a small piece of wood that hangs down past the opening just a bit to stop the door from being pushed in.And you could also put a little hole in the door to thread a string through.A knot on each side would keep it in place and also serve as a handle for opening and closing the door.

Does any of that make sense?