Dollhouse

Posted by: Paulette

I finished the bookshelf dollhouse today. In all, it took about 3 weeks of work.

I got the white bookshelf from Goodwill for $3.50 on their half off Saturday. The furniture is made from cardboard, mostly from diaper boxes, newspaper, glue (TONS OF GLUE), fabric, felt and paint.

Bedroom

The furniture was put together as boxes. Rectangles glued together with hot glue, and the covered all over with school glue and newspaper. When dry, I added the details, like tiny buttons for drawer/cabinet pulls etc. And then painted them with acrylic craft paints.

The linens are sewn in miniature. And the headboard was tufted with tiny buttons. The lamps are made from a scrap of lace, dowel and a button. The flooring and wallpaper in this room were done with scrapbook papers.

Livingroom

 

The fireplace was made of cardboard and newspaper. The couch was made of cardboard, layers of felt, and fabric, all hot glued to the cardboard. The planters next to the fireplace are spools from thread, and the "candles" on the fireplace are beads.
I didn't buy anything except the bookshelf for this project. It was made from things I already had. I guess that's a great argument for hoarding, right?
The curtain rod is made from a bamboo skewer, and the finials on the end are pearl beads.

Kitchen right

Everything is hot glued into the house, so that the furniture isn't lost or destroyed by water. The rug was made of strips of fabric, crocheted into a chain and then sewn into a circle. When I started making the appliances for the kitchen, I thought it would be fun to give it a retro look. And I've always loved cherries.
 The EAT and utensils on the wall are made from
cardboard that was painted to look like zinc.

Kitchen, left

Bathroom

By the time I'd gotten to putting the bathroom together, I realized that it would be easier to make the faucets from oven bake clay, than paper mache. So they look more realistic in the shower. I made some boo boos, while putting the furniture into this room and scratched the paint. You can see where I tried to match the color and failed. All houses have imperfections. Why not this one?

It was a failure keeping the dollhouse a secret. So the girls know about it already and have attempted to play with it already.
All of the furniture is Barbie size. Thank goodness I don't have to make the dolls too!
One more present down and I don't want to think about how many more to go. It's 2 weeks until Christmas, and we have house guests coming. Aaaaak!