Every little girl – and plenty of little boys – loves a dollhouse. The little furniture, the windows to peer through and imagine the goings-on of a lovely family in a lovely home, and of course the dolls themselves are all a big part of imaginative play at a young age. A good quality dollhouse can be a pricy proposition, especially if you have to buy the furniture separately.
Fortunately, it’s easy to make your own dollhouse at home. Not only will you save money on the dollhouse, you will create something unique and special – a true gift from the heart for the child in your life.
1Deciding on the Size of Your Dollhouse and Getting Started
The dollhouse itself can be as large or as small as you like. While a smaller dollhouse is easier to make, you don’t want it to be too small. Your child should be able to reach inside and maneuver the furniture easily, as well as move dolls around inside to create imaginative scenes. A great idea for a small dollhouse that is still easy to play with is a single-room dollhouse. These can be made from a simple box – either wood or even an old shoebox will do. A wooden dollhouse will stand the test of time better, but requires a little more work. You can easily build your own using wood glue and plywood.
A larger dollhouse can be made using a larger cardboard box, or again with plywood and wood glue. Remember that the more weight each section needs to support, the harder it will be to create it from wood using only glue. For a fancier dollhouse, use nails to secure the sections together. Start with the outer shell of the dollhouse, and then create the floors inside. If you like, you can cut out a square in the floor where a set of stairs will rise from one story to the next.
Cut out windows in the back and sides of the dollhouse in appropriate locations. You can cut simple squares, or make up a window of four smaller squares for more interest. You can add a peaked roof to the top of your dollhouse, or leave it flat. When you build your own dollhouse, it can have any architectural style you want!
2Dollhouse Decorating
Once you have a dollhouse in place, you need to decorate it. Start with the basics – window coverings, rugs, and wall décor. You can draw on many elements if you are the artistic type. Use markers to draw a clock on the wall, draw shutters next to the windows, or create art on the walls. You can also line the walls with drawer lining paper that adheres easily and comes in various patterns and colors. This is cheap, easy to apply and will mimic the look of dollhouse wallpaper. Your local fabric store has a ton of small remnants of fabrics that you can purchase for very little or, in some cases, free. You can use these scraps of fabric to create curtains around the windows. Simply glue them on either side of each window.
An old towel can be cut into sections and glued to the floor of the dollhouse to create carpet. You can also use paper coasters to look like area rugs. If you want real carpet, cut up an old bathroom rug or small entry rug to create the right size and shape for area rugs or to create wall-to-wall carpeting for your dollhouse.
3Make Your Own Dollhouse Furniture
The final thing you will need to make your own dollhouse is some furniture! Dollhouse furniture is very simple to make. Use small boxes such as jewelry and gift boxes to create tables and beds. Cover them with more of the fabric remnants to act as blankets and tablecloths. Dollhouse chairs can be made by adding an upright piece of cardboard to the edge of an upside down box, or by gluing Popsicle sticks together into the shape of a chair or bench seat.
Save the plastic caps from bottles of lotion, hairspray, cooking spray and anything else that has a round plastic cap. These make perfect little nightstands, end tables and even a dining room table in the smallest of dollhouses. Washed out yogurt cups turned upside down can serve a similar purpose. Save boxes from sticks of butter or margarine. They can be fashioned into dollhouse beds or even couches. Simply cover them with fabric remnants, and they will no longer resemble boxes, but comfortable doll furniture.
4Dollhouse Kits
If starting entirely from scratch isn’t your cup of tea, you can find great deals on dollhouse kits at craft stores and even online if you are willing to search. These kits give you all the basics of dollhouse construction, and you can continue with doing all the decorating yourself once you have put the kit together and are ready to add the furniture and décor. Dollhouse kits are an easy way to make your own dollhouse without the harder work of measuring and cutting wood, and are far less expensive than buying a pre-constructed dollhouse.
5
Secondhand Dollhouse Furniture
If you don’t want to make your own furniture, pay a visit to a few garage sales. You will find all kinds of small pieces of toy furniture that are cheap and still usable. Usually they are remnants of a purchased dollhouse that has since been lost or destroyed, or came with another toy set. You can also look for miniature tea sets, which are a popular tiny version of the larger one and will set your dollhouse’s table beautifully.
Although it can be a lot of work, making your own dollhouse is both fun and rewarding as well. When you put the time and effort into creating something special, you will have not just a toy, but a family heirloom your kids will cherish and pass onto their own kids. And if it doesn’t last that long, that just means your children had a lot of fun playing with it while it was around! The unique touches of a homemade dollhouse are often even better than the factory-made variety, so try your hand at it. Your child will love you for it!
